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Evil trade-offs: Security vs. UX | “The email you chose is already registered.”
It’s a fairly innocent string you expect to see. As a web developer, this is probably one of the first strings you had to code when building your registration flows. Most developers don’t realise the impact some of these details can have on their product or service security.
This string, in an online banking service, would disclose that there might be an account associated with the email, hence violating banking secrecy. The knowledge is also an important datapoint in spear-phishing attacks — the attacker already knows you have an account; they just need to copy the email styles of the service and send a message requesting a password reset.
If your app is an on the side dating service [1], this string might disclose a cheating case to an already suspicious partner. But the consequences can go beyond bad, to life-or-death scenarios.
Some reports [2, 3] have surfaced of governments using dating apps to detect and chase down people for their sexual identity — In some countries this can lead to torture and death [4]. The message that you just saw above, as simple it may be, can destroy someone’s life.
The alternative drives people, especially developers, insane:
An error occurred. Please contact support.
This message does not tell you anything at all. Why did the error occur? Can I solve the problem myself? What did I do wrong? Do I really need to contact customer Support? Wait for a reply? Arghhh!
Hell is paved with good intentions
We all want to maximise our users’s experiences. As developers, we know first hand how frustrating it is when software does not work, gives out vague instructions or is outright cryptic. But sometimes things are cryptic by design — evil trade-offs!
Yes… this is ridiculous, but we do it for email… (source — original source unknown)
The image above was found from a reddit thread of /r/softwaregore. The only explanation I can find for that disaster is a developer trying to be helpful. On the same thread we find a very descriptive experience from u/CleanBill that helps my theory:
Reminds me of a new developer I had on my team. I asked him to make a simple username/password login screen (…) it said things like (…) “The password is correct, by a x% , please reenter”. He said he tried to make it as user friendly as possible (NOBODY EVER REQUESTED HIM THAT!).
What’s missing?
Most of us have heard about User Experience. I would go as far as saying that we’ve heard too much about user experience in the past few years. We have also learned about security — SSL/TLS, HTTPS, Man in the Middle attacks, encrypting and salting passwords. And of course, we have learned to follow technical requirements. But one thing is missing.
Requirements are not going to detail every single string a developer has to show to the user. Some of these details are thought to be trivial, or are left out due to the non technical background of the stakeholder writing the requirements. We, as developers, need to be there to cover these holes.
In the age of startups, with teams fully made up of engineers and developers, we’ve been lacking legal background of product development. Simple introductions to topics like data protection (e.g. GDPR), banking secrecy or health data protection are oblivious to most developers. We also jokingly complain about how lawyers, compliance and “corporate” get in the way of developers.
Human security (not only technical security) should also be part of an engineer’s background—paying attention to all bits of informations being given away which can help in social engineering attacks.
So, next time you’re writing a response string, pop-up warning or form message, remember: some details can cause a lot of damage. | https://medium.com/tech-at-holvi/evil-tradeoffs-security-vs-ux-c29c76b52e9d | ['Sergio Isidoro'] | 2017-11-15 10:57:41.825000+00:00 | ['Security', 'Technology', 'Software Development'] |
Non-Spiteful Song | We got along
Or so I thought
It was your lies
That I bought
You said you loved
Me and me alone
But now you can’t
Answer your phone
I wish
I wish
I wish
I wish
I wish I could write you
A Non-Spiteful Song
But I can’t
I hated your guts
You told your friends
That I’m a putz
And I have the crabs
they came from you
Buy they only see
Your point of view
I wish
I wish
I wish
I wish
I wish I could write you
A Non-Spiteful Song
I want to say I still love you
I want to say I still care
That would be true except
You’re neither here nor there
‘Cause they called me today
And you’re forever gone
But I’m crying no tears
‘Cause what we had was wrong
You are
You are
You are
You are
You are where you forever
and ever and ever belong
And I’ll never write for you
A Non-Spiteful Song
No, I won’t ever write for you
A Non-Spiteful Song | https://medium.com/@mkgraylyricist/non-spiteful-song-2e4ff92c5e78 | ['Matt Gray'] | 2020-10-13 01:29:39.568000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Poetry On Medium', 'Lost Love', 'Heartbreak', 'Lyrics'] |
Environmental Intersectionality: Yes, It Exists | According to Leah Thomas of Intersectional Environmentalism, here’s what intersectional environmentalism is:
…an inclusive version of environmentalism that advocates for both the protection of people and the planet. It identifies the ways in which injustices happening to marginalized communities and the earth are interconnected. It brings injustices done to the most vulnerable communities, and the earth, to the forefront and does not minimize or silence social inequality. Intersectional environmentalism advocates for justice for people + the planet.
What marginalized communities? Well, Leah Penniman notes:
Today we have food apartheid, a system of segregation that relegates certain people to food abundance and others to food scarcity. If you’re a black child in America, you are twice as likely to go to bed hungry tonight as a white child.
[Image Description: Blue cloudy sky, mountain peaks in the background, green forest in foreground. White text reads: Intersectional Environmentalism.]
If you’re thinking environmentalism should *obviously* be intersectional…I agree. BUT I would also note that it hasn’t always worked out that way.
When I think of environmentalism in general, I have often had a (very not intersectional) image of “crunchy” white people shopping at Trader Joe’s with their recyclable bags whilst they sip glass-bottled kombucha and consider vegan quiche recipes.
I’m not saying that’s what environmentalism is, I’m saying that’s the image that tended to pop into my mind. It’s obviously extremely limited, but it does open a doorway to have a conversation, and that’s the point here.
Why crunchy? Why white? Why Trader Joe’s?
Well, let’s look at some of the ways in which my own intersectional identities have come together.
I’m from the rural midwest. I’m white. I’m female. I grew up lower-middle class in a Christian, Republican family.
[NOTE: The information in these next few paragraphs is NOT factual information. It’s my own hodgepodge of internalized ideas about who environmentalism was for, and it very much came from my own lived reality, assumptions, stereotypes, etc.]
We never shopped at stores like Trader Joe’s, so in my mind, it was a super elite and bougie place to get anything. If you shopped there you wanted organic things and used cloth bags, and I aligned those things with “environmentalism”. That led me to believe that if you could only afford to shop at Walmart and the Dollar Store, then you couldn’t afford to be an environmentalist. After all, in my imagination, it was really only rich white people who shopped at Trader Joe’s.
I had also picked up on the fact that “good” Christians were Republicans → “good” Republicans weren’t going to let the environment stand in the way of their individual freedoms → environmentalists were people to be wary of, as they were Democrats for sure. And based on what I had put together about the wealth and race connection, they must be rich white Democrats.
Growing up where I did, this demographic is commonly lumped into the anti-gun/anti-second amendment camp, and are the repository for a great deal of scorn about rich city-born people and their foolish ideas. In general, I didn’t have a great deal of respect for this group as a whole, so I threw out the baby, the bathwater, and the whole damn tub as well.
In all those imaginings, the honest truth is that I was working off of stereotypes that were impressed upon me in all sorts of innocuous interactions. They aren’t really things that were explicitly said to me….just things I pieced together, for better or worse.
Overall, governmental agencies that attempted to regulate much of anything, much less use of the environment, seemed pretty sketchy. In my senior year of highschool, I even wrote a scathing essay about how the EPA had cherry-picked data in order to ban smoking in public places (restaurants, for example), in a massive overreach of their power. (Imagine the horrors of banning public smoking! 😂.)
And in all of these imaginings about environmentalists, none of them contained people of color, or poor people, or people in either rural or urban areas. Environmentalism, in my mind, was all about the wealthy whites in the suburbs.
I grew up. I know that’s not the full picture.
And I realized we needed to do better….but I also felt (and feel) overwhelmed by the how and what. I try to make small choices that make a difference, but sometimes it seems stupid. A corner of my brain still associates wealth with environmentalism, probably because a lot of the showy mandates (Buy THIS! Shop HERE!) aren’t reasonable for people who don’t have a lot of disposable income. I never really thought that much about who I perceived the movement being for until I started doing more digging.
In July 2019, I read an article in my favorite magazine (The Sun), titled To Free Ourselves We Must Feed Ourselves, in which Leah Penniman was interviewed about Soul Fire Farms. Here’s a bit of what she shared:
Picture of Leah Penniman, wearing a headband, smiling into the camera, hands on her shoulders. Republished from The Sun article linked here.
In 2007, wanting to provide fresh food not just for their family but for the South End community, the couple [Leah and Jonah] purchased seventy-two acres of mountainside farmland in Grafton, forty minutes outside the city. They spent three years building a post-and-beam, straw-bale house on the property while both working full-time: he in construction and she as a teacher. And they began to restore the soil and plant crops using a mix of Western agricultural science and indigenous African traditions and spirituality. Today Soul Fire’s team of eight people operates a sliding-scale CSA (Community Supported Agriculture program) called Ujaama — Swahili for “cooperative economics.” Through it Soul Fire provides naturally grown produce, eggs, and chicken to about a hundred families in Albany, Troy, and Grafton, half of whom identify as “low income” (soulfirefarm.com).
Penniman’s journey with agriculture began early:
As a teen she spent time with her Haitian American mother in Boston and discovered agriculture when she took a summer job with the Boston-based Food Project. She went on to work at the Farm School, then to co-manage Many Hands Organic Farm. Though she enjoyed farming, the sustainable-agriculture movement was dominated by white people — mostly men — and she began to question whether she belonged.
That questioning is often the result of looking around and not seeing people who look like you. As a kid and young adult, I assumed environmentalism wasn’t for me because I looked around and didn’t see rural Americans in my family’s income bracket taking part.
I said: Ohhh. This is for “those other people”….
and moved on.
Thankfully, Penniman took note of the disparity and chose to NOT move on. Instead, she doubled down and:
…cofounded Soul Fire Farm with her husband, Jonah Vitale-Wolff. Located in Grafton, New York, the working farm also serves as a training ground for aspiring farmers of color who come there to learn about sustainable agriculture and reclaim a connection to the land severed by centuries of trauma and oppression. Many black people, Penniman says, disdain farming because they associate it with picking cotton on plantations. She helps them see how growing their own food fosters independence in the face of systemic racism. More than 80 percent of Soul Fire’s graduates go on to work as farmers and food activists.
Penniman’s work is a thriving example of intersectional environmentalism. It’s vibrant, powerful, inclusive, and based on loving others. I honestly wanted to copy pretty much her ENTIRE interview with Tracy Frisch here, but I’m not going to do that! Instead, I’ll send you over to The Sun to read it for yourself. | https://medium.com/i-am-intersectionality/environmental-intersectionality-yes-it-exists-b9bb31775980 | ['Hannah Hassler'] | 2020-12-19 02:46:39.889000+00:00 | ['Environmentalism', 'Intersectionality', 'Agriculture', 'Environment', 'Environmental Issues'] |
Choose the right Mobile Technology for your next application | Programming Language and Technical Architecture
iOS
iOS Architecture Diagram
Native iOS apps are developed using Objective C or Swift. While Swift is easy to learn and use, the learning curve of Objective C is quite steep. Swift is interoperable with Objective C.
The application code uses the Cocoa Touch Framework which relies on Media layer for Audio, Video, graphics, etc. Core Services provide the foundation and Core OS handles low-level features like partitioning, system configuration, etc. Kernel deals with hardware communication like networking, file system and all.
Android
Android Architecture Diagram
Native Android apps are developed using Java or Kotlin. Java is quite vast whereas Kotlin is easy to learn and use and offer much more in terms of Android app development. Kotlin is interoperable with Java.
The application code depends on Java Framework APIs which provides the View System and various Managers. When the code is compiled, it gets converted to .dex files which are executed by ART. The HAL layer provides interfaces to access the hardware and Linux Kernel takes care of the hardware communication and executing the commands.
ReactNative (RN)
ReactNative Architecture Diagram
RN apps are developed using Javascript and React framework. The JS code runs on Javascript VM and uses Javascript core engine to interact with native components using RN bridge. RN can be considered as a set of React components, where each component represents the corresponding native views and components. A custom protocol is used for message passing.
Flutter
Flutter Architecture Diagram
Flutter uses Dart as a programming language. Dart is not as polished as Java or Kotlin or Swift but it’s evolving at a very fast pace. Dart is also the official language for Fuschia (Google’s new OS).
The Framework layer provides whatever you need to develop an application in Flutter. The Framework layer interacts with Engine (low-level code) which takes care of events, rendering, VM management, etc. Embedder provides Native plugins, event loop handling, threading and packaging while creating applications. Like ReactNative, you get the native apps using Flutter and can be uploaded to the stores. | https://medium.com/globant/choose-the-right-mobile-technology-for-your-next-application-a96bc1fbfcfa | ['Sandeep Rathore'] | 2020-09-03 07:20:49.125000+00:00 | ['Mobile App Development', 'Mobile App Architecture', 'Mobile Technology', 'Flutter', 'Native Or Cross Platform'] |
A Crisis Is an Opportunity, but Only for the Rich | A Crisis Is an Opportunity, but Only for the Rich
Albert Einstein once said, “In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.” These are true and wise-words; when a crisis strikes, there is an opportunity to change things for the better.
However, when it comes to an economic crisis such as the one we are living through in 2020, whether or not there lies great opportunity depends largely on your financial position heading into the crisis.
For the rich, a recession is an opportunity to build future wealth; for everyone else, it’s just a crisis.
Recessions are a catalyst for economic inequality
During an economic crisis, two things tend to happen that present an opportunity to build future wealth.
Asset prices fall. Interest rates are lowered.
That means it’s possible to buy stocks and real estate at low prices and ride their recovery to future wealth. That sounds like a pretty great opportunity, and it is, if you are in a position to take advantage of that opportunity.
Here’s a few other things that end to happen during recessions.
People lose their job. Then they pile up debt. They struggle to pay the bills.
Since it is lower-income workers that tend to get hit the hardest during a recession, they have no funds available to them to take advantage of low asset prices.
High-income earners tend to be less likely to lose their jobs, which means they can take advantage of the opportunity to invest while prices are low or even borrow additional money to invest at low-interest rates.
That’s exactly what happened in the wake of the financial crisis
In my writing, I frequently discuss why you don’t want your home to make up too large a share of your overall net worth. In a nutshell, if your entire net worth is tied up in the place that you live, it becomes very difficult to access that equity should you need it.
Research from the St. Louis Federal Reserve illustrates that home equity accounted for a much larger share of black and Hispanic households compared to white households heading into the financial crisis.
Access to homeownership helped many minority communities begin to (slowly) close the wealth gap with white households between 1989 and 2007. Since so much of their wealth was concentrated in their homes, when the financial crisis hit and foreclosures skyrocketed, 20 years' worth of progress was erased in two years.
In the decade following the financial crisis, the stock market went on a historic bull run, with the S&P 500 increasing by 263% from February 2009 to December 2019.
Higher-income families, whose wealth was not overly concentrated in their home, could take advantage of that bull run, while lower-income households saw their wealth stagnate because they did not have surplus money to invest.
COVID-19 has been an accelerant for inequality
A lot of people have referred to COVID-19 and its impacts as a “change agent,” but in reality, it’s simply an “accelerant”; speeding up trends that were already taking place prior to 2020.
People were already beginning to shop online more.
More people were watching Netflix at home rather than going to a movie theater.
Economic inequality was already growing.
The nature of this recession and the COVID-19 crisis has taken trends that were set to play out in the economy over 10 years and made them happen in 10 weeks.
In 2020, during the most severe recession since the great depression, the stock market and housing prices are at all-time highs. There are a number of reasons for this. If you were to ask 10 different economists, each might give you a different explanation.
The asymmetric impact of this crisis
Here is a simple way to look at it.
One of the reasons that asset prices are at historic highs during this crisis is that high-income earners, AKA “the people who have money to buy these assets” have been relatively unaffected by the economic shock compared to low-income earners.
This recession will be an accelerant for economic inequality due to the disproportionate impact it has had on low-income workers.
The type of jobs that people could easily do working from home skewed heavily towards high-income earners. While low-income jobs in the retail and service sectors were absolutely hammered.
When the stock market cratered in March, those who were lucky enough to work from home saw their income remain stable, and their personal spending drop dramatically.
That meant they had more surplus money than they have ever had to invest while stocks were cheap. As the stock market has come roaring back, so has the wealth of the high-income earners.
As one of the lucky people who easily transitioned to working from home full time in 2020, I speak from experience. While 2020 has presented many difficulties, financial troubles have not been one of them for me.
To articulate how unaffected people like me have been by this crisis, allow me to share my biggest financial regret of 2020; the stock market recovered too quickly.
If the stock market had taken a longer time to recover, I could have invested more while prices were low and benefited even more from its eventual recovery.
High-income earners who have been working from home are living their best financial life.
Income is up.
Expenses are down.
Wealth is up.
Mortgage rates are down.
The morning commute is gone.
While at the same time, many low-income earners have been dependent on government emergency response programs and have been more likely to pile up debt.
A research letter from the San Fransisco Federal Reserve showed that workers in the bottom 25% of earnings made up half of the job losses during this recession.
If you are a retail worker in 2020, you were probably much more worried about paying your rent than buying stocks while the market was down.
So, yes, an economic crisis presents enormous opportunities for those who are in a position to take advantage of it. For everyone else, a crisis is just a crisis. | https://themakingofamillionaire.com/a-crisis-is-an-opportunity-but-only-for-the-rich-2751945efb3f | ['Ben Le Fort'] | 2020-12-09 16:23:44.340000+00:00 | ['Inequality', 'Wealth', 'Money', 'Economics', 'Society'] |
The Christmas Star Dec 2020 & What that means for 2021 | Christ’s birth is traditionally celebrated in the West on December 25th. Many Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on January 7. Neither date is likely correct in light of several clues uncovered by historians and facts in the Bible itself.
However, the general public is made aware of a Jupiter and Saturn conjunct or alignment being fed the excitement that this Bethlehem Christmas star will be visible in the Sky by the naked eye around Christmas. And it is true this alignment, will be visible and is rare. Many articles are saying that this will happen on December 21st which is also the winter solstice! That’s even more magical, isn’t it?
Well, let me share with you what is even more magical. In reality, it will actually be in alignment in two different astrological signs between the 17th and 22nd. On the 17th it will be at 29 degrees Capricorn and on the 21st it will be 1 degree Aquarius. Both in alignment, both planets in the same degree. The fact that they will be on the cusp of both astrological signs or constellations is much more fascinating to me. This is where the pure magic lies!
You see both planets have been in Capricorn for a year or 2. Saturn longer. Capricorn is about lessons learned, challenges, and struggles. Control: controlled by the powers-that-be. For example, as we witnessed in the United States and still do, their politics and elections. Capricorn also represents self-employment and autonomy. And we have witnessed many enter into the self-employment world, new because of the difficulties and the challenges since the Spring birthed a virus called Covid 19.
What does 2021 Bring?
As we leave this year prior to entering into 2021, both planets will leave the rigid, stoic, and challenging sign of Capricorn into the freedom-loving, an original, unique, humanitarian sign of Aquarius. And what’s even more fascinating is that each of these planets owns the other's sign. For example, Saturn's natural sign is Capricorn, and Jupiter’s natural sign is Aquarius. Therefore stoic Saturn is not comfortable in the freedom-loving sign of Aquarius. As Jupiter is not comfortable within the strictness of the sign Capricorn.
I will not bore you with too many details in the technicalities of astrology.
So what this means for 2021 is that our government large organizations including Pharmaceuticals agriculture educational Etc will be forced by the collective become more humane. the powers-that-be who fight against the collective. The 1% opposing the 99%. this is only the beginning.
In reality it will actually be in alignment in two different astrological signs between the 17th and 22nd. On the 17th it will be at 29 degrees Capricorn and on the 21st it will be one degree Aquarius. Both in alignment, both planets in the same degree. The fact that they will be on the cusp of both astrological signs or constellations is much more fascinating to me. This is where the pure magic lies!
Both planets have been in Capricorn for a year or 2. Saturn longer. Capricorn is about lessons learned, challenges and struggles. Control: controlled by the powers-that-be. For example, as we witnessed in the United States and still do, their politics and elections. Capricorn also represents self-employment and autonomy. And we have witnessed many enter into the self employment world, new because of the difficulties and the challenges since the Spring birthed a virus called Covid 19.
As we leave this year prior to entering into 2021, both planets will leave the rigid, stoic and challenging sign of Capricorn into freedom loving, original, unique, humanitarian signs of Aquarius. And what’s even more fascinating is that each of these planets own the others sign. For example Saturn natural sign is Capricorn and Jupiter’s natural sign is Aquarius. Therefore stoic Saturn is not comfortable in the freedom-loving sign of Aquarius. As Jupiter is not comfortable within the strictness of the sign Capricorn.
I won’t bore you with too much details in the technicalities of astrology. But what does this mean? Both planets will be in the sign of Aquarius for approximately a year give or two (saturn).
What this means for 2021 is that our government large organizations including Pharmaceuticals agriculture educational Etc will be forced by the collective become more humane. the powers-that-be who fight against the collective. The 1% opposing the 99%. this is only the beginning.
Read more from my ebook on my website. www.askhollyhall.com | https://medium.com/@hollyhall/the-christmas-star-dec-2020-what-that-means-for-2021-9758a6d2ec5b | ['Holly Hall'] | 2020-12-06 18:43:52.983000+00:00 | ['2021', 'Astrology', 'Predictions', 'Global'] |
The Medium Writing Meta I Needed Six Months Ago | The Medium Writing Meta I Needed Six Months Ago
I read Medium writing articles everyday, and have done since joining the platform in May 20. Whether it’s about writing here or in general I’ve devoured them and incorporated tidbits as I go. I’ve broken the $100 barrier every month since September so something must have stuck. The $100 was a goal to measure myself by, not a part time job, because I haven’t earned this little money an hour since McDonald’s in 1987 @ $3.05/hr.
If you want some help or advice with writing let me know and we can work together on the Story Smith or search your topic up on this fab meta with 125 linked writing articles. | https://medium.com/the-story-smith/the-medium-writing-meta-i-needed-six-months-ago-541291c36b5c | ['Teresa J Conway'] | 2020-12-17 12:20:07.056000+00:00 | ['Writers On Writing', 'Writing Tips', 'Writing', 'Writers On Medium', 'Authors'] |
Avoid exaggerating people… | Hello everyone,
Sometimes we all exaggerate an issue which is essential for us. However, some of us have this more common than usual. It is like how they live their life. In this story, I will strongly suggest that you should avoid them with facts, reasons and examples.
First, I need to explain what I mean; it would help you to understand all the facts I will mention later. I will give three types of behaviour that exaggerating people do.
1- Over-reactions on anything. A slightly different car passes, he/she says whoooo, wtf! Look at this! You add something to his/her plate, he/she shouts, become mad so sudden, talks about it so long. They experience something and response too different. Too happy, too angry, too sad for anything that ordinary people do not care.
2- Exaggerating something is not only being so surprised or over-emotional to react something but also would be speaking, telling about something so unnecessary, no one need to hear it, it is so rubbish, but this people talk about it. What it causes is nothing but low-level life conversation. One of my friends may talk so long about how she feels about a friend who speaks with another friend about something no one cares. They sometimes haunt for small details of events to make gossip or trouble; they can generate additional meanings on certain things to muddy the water.
3- Hidden exaggerating, keeping unnecessary ideas, feelings inside for a long time and never let them go. It affects their behaviour, you see, but it will not be meaning-full in your logic.
Why am I grouping this behaviour? Cause I have been dealing with them in my life intensely. It is still hard for me to get rid of, and it hurt me so much lately.I want to describe how I think about them to show someone like me to avoid them.
I am a direct person who intends to think positive and wish to be blind about unnecessary details that may make me sad. I force myself to be a good thinker about human to survive in this world. I speak fast, little, try to make jokes and understand. On the contrary, exaggerating people makes you sad, and does not care. They may behave you the unfair way, and you would be the one who is guilty cause you to initiate the over-reaction on them. All criticising, bad reactions sour your soul, and you may not realise. You feel stuck in their hell, but no one would understand.
Most importantly, you may loose realism, what is right or wrong? What is common opinion or behaviour about this small issue?
Best way to have good friend or partner, consider them in the beginning, decide what you want from a relation. And do not forget, the quality of your life highly depends on your social circle. Keep it normal; keep it good to be not one of them. | https://medium.com/@bookabstractor/avoid-exaggerating-people-261d10df665e | ['An Abstractor'] | 2020-12-17 19:39:27.054000+00:00 | ['Relations', 'Human Behavior', 'People'] |
Vacation! | Who to apply?
She wants a vacation from herself.
She’s so tired. | https://medium.com/3-lines-story/vacation-fde8a0db18e | ['Pawan Kumar'] | 2017-09-12 04:23:19.619000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Psychology', 'Love', 'Loneliness', 'Poetry'] |
Create and Deploy a Simple Web Application with Flask and Heroku | Say you’ve written a really cool script in Python to do some interesting data analysis and now you want to demonstrate it to others. Chances are, sending over a .py file and asking others to run it, or demonstrating yourself running it on the command line won’t have the same grasp as a nicely packaged and polished web application. By using the Python package flask , we can create one of these interactive applications fairly quickly. In this article, I will make a simple web application that displays the number of times the homepage was visited and deploy it on Heroku to share with others.
Note — All screenshots below are taken by the author.
Setup project and folder hierarchy
The easiest way to deploy our project downstream is to create a new repository on GitHub, where all of our files will live. So I started by creating a new repo at github.com/n-venkatesan/sample-webapp and cloning it to my local computer. When creating the repository, you have the option of initializing with a .gitignore file — I would recommend choosing Python from the dropdown menu to avoid unnecessary files being checked into Git.
> git clone https://github.com/n-venkatesan/sample-webapp > cd sample-webapp/
Now all we need to do is create a file called templates where our HTML file will live:
> mkdir templates
Done with setting up the folder structure!
Create new virtual environment
We want to start with a new clean slate for our development so that we only install the dependencies that are absolutely necessary for our application — this will be especially important later when we deploy our web app.
> python3 -m venv venv > source venv/bin/activate If you see the name of the virtual environment (venv) before the command prompt, you have successfully activated the new environment (venv) > Success!
We now need to install the dependencies necessary for our app, which will be flask and gunicorn , which is a Python web server interface that we need to run our application.
(venv) > pip install flask gunicorn
Cool — now we can start creating our app!
Writing HTML for the webpage
In our templates/ directory, create a new file called index.html . This will be the page that shows when we try to access our web application. To see what the rendered HTML looks like, you can open the file in a web browser. This tutorial assumes that you have a very basic understanding of HTML and CSS, but there are plenty of resources like W3School that can help you get up to speed.
Our page will just consist of two elements, a title that says Welcome! and a paragraph below that says This site has been visited n times. , where n is the actual number of times the website has been visited up to that point. We will nest both of these elements inside of a <div> block in order to do some CSS styling later on. The <br> tag signifies a line break between the title and paragraph.
<div>
<h1>Welcome!</h1><br>
<p>This site has been visited {{ count }} times.</p>
</div>
The only thing about the above HTML block that may appear new is the {{ count }} text in the paragraph block. The double curly braces ( {{ }} ) mean that you are running Python code within that block — so we are referencing the value of the variable count , which we will pass to the HTML template later on.
In its current state, our page looks like this:
Pretty basic — let’s add some formatting! First, let’s choose a different font for the text. I like to go to Google Fonts, which has a wide array of free fonts you can use — for this app, I chose a font called Rubik. Next to each of the font weights, there is a button that says “Select this style” — clicking at least one of these will open up a window on the right that has code you can copy/paste into your HTML to have access to that font! I just chose the Regular 400 font weight, and got the following code which I added to the top of my index.html file:
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com">
<link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Rubik&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">
Now we can style the page using CSS — we start by creating a style tag in index.html and putting all of our CSS code into here. We are going to make the font of all text on our page Rubik, which we can do by changing the attribute of * , which corresponds to all elements. Additionally, we will move all the content down by 50 pixels from the top the page, make the title red, and change the font sizes of both the title and paragraph sections. I’ve added this code right below the links for the fonts but before any of the actual page content.
<style>
* {
font-family: "Rubik", "sans-serif";
} div {
text-align: center;
margin-top: 50px;
} h1 {
color: red;
font-size: 40pt;
} p {
font-size: 24pt;
}
</style>
Looks much better! Now, we can add the Python backend that will run our application!
Creating Flask application
In our main project folder, we can create a file called app.py which will be the backend for our web application. The first thing we need to do is import the required packages.
from flask import Flask, render_template
Flask is what we will use to instantiate our application, and render_template is what we will use to connect the HTML we wrote above to our application.
We must now create our app, which I will store in a variable called app :
app = Flask(__name__)
Now, we need to deal with routing — a route is a URL pattern, i.e. the base URL of your website would have the route of / , whereas another route within your website may have the path /route_path . Since our application only has one page, we will only need to write a function for the / route. To specify the route, we use a decorator above our function with the form @app.route(route_path) . The function currently does nothing, as we just added a pass to the body.
@app.route("/")
def index():
pass
Our function is going to need to do 4 things:
Load in a file called count.txt which we will use to keep track of the current count of the number of visitors to the site Increment the count by 1 Overwrite the contents of count.txt with the new value of the count Render the HTML we wrote earlier with the value of the count variable inserted.
Loading current count
Let’s first create a file called count.txt in the main project folder with just 0 as the only character (since we currently have no visitors).
(venv) > less count.txt 0
count.txt (END)
Now in our function index() we can add the following code to read in the current value of count :
@app.route("/")
def index(): # Load current count
f = open("count.txt", "r")
count = int(f.read())
f.close()
We are opening the file count.txt in read mode ( r ), reading the contents of the file with f.read() , and casting the value to the integer with int() . Finally, we close the file with f.close() .
Incrementing the count
We can do this in one line with the following:
@app.route("/")
def index(): # Load current count
f = open("count.txt", "r")
count = int(f.read())
f.close() # Increment the count
count += 1
Overwriting the count value
Similar to what we did when reading in the count, we now open the file count.txt in overwrite mode ( w ) and write the value of the new count (cast as a string with str() ) to the file, before closing the file again.
@app.route("/")
def index(): # Load current count
f = open("count.txt", "r")
count = int(f.read())
f.close() # Increment the count
count += 1 # Overwrite the count
f = open("count.txt", "w")
f.write(str(count))
f.close()
Rendering the HTML
Now that we have the count incrementing every time we route to / , we need to render the HTML we wrote earlier, but with the value of count inserted. Remember how we had to create our index.html file inside a subfolder called templates ? This is because flask has a function called render_template() which automatically looks into this folder, and can take keyword arguments corresponding to variables that are referenced in the HTML file! In this case, we refer to the value of a variable called count in our HTML by writing {{ count }} . So, by passing the value using render_template() we can reference this in our HTML.
@app.route("/")
def index(): # Load current count
f = open("count.txt", "r")
count = int(f.read())
f.close() # Increment the count
count += 1 # Overwrite the count
f = open("count.txt", "w")
f.write(str(count))
f.close() # Render HTML with count variable
return render_template("index.html", count=count)
Running the application
We are almost done! To run our application, we need to add the following lines to our app.py code:
if __name__ == "__main__":
app.run()
The code above starts our application web server when we call the Python script from the command line. So now, to run our app:
(venv) > python app.py
* Environment: production
WARNING: This is a development server. Do not use it in a production deployment.
Use a production WSGI server instead.
* Debug mode: off
* Running on * Serving Flask app "app" (lazy loading)* Environment: productionWARNING: This is a development server. Do not use it in a production deployment.Use a production WSGI server instead.* Debug mode: off* Running on http://127.0.0.1:5000/ (Press CTRL+C to quit)
As revealed in the output, our web server is running at 127.0.0.1:5000 , which can also be accessed with localhost:5000 . Navigate to this URL and you will find:
Woohoo! Since the current value of count is also stored in the count.txt file, even if you stop and restart the web server, you will have an accurate total count value!
Deploying application to Heroku
Heroku is a service that allows you to deploy this Python web application so that anyone with the link will be able to use it. The first thing you should do is make a free account on Heroku. Once you have created an account, from your dashboard, click the button that says “Create New App”. From here, give your application a name and click “Create app”.
Before we can deploy our web application, we need to add a couple more files for Heroku to recognize. The first is a file called requirements.txt and is essentially a list of Python dependencies that Heroku server needs to install in order to run your app. Thankfully, by working in a virtual environment, you had already installed the needed dependencies. So creating our requirements.txt file is as simple as:
(venv) > pip freeze > requirements.txt (venv) > less requirements.txt click==7.1.2
Flask==1.1.2
gunicorn==20.0.4
itsdangerous==1.1.0
Jinja2==2.11.2
MarkupSafe==1.1.1
Werkzeug==1.0.1
requirements.txt (END)
Those are all the dependencies that installed earlier when you ran pip install flask gunicorn .
The second file is called the Procfile and it is the list of instructions to Heroku on how to run your application. This file will be a one-liner that specifies two things:
The web server interface to use ( gunicorn ) The name of the app ( app )
web: gunicorn app:app
Now that you have the requirements.txt and Procfile created, we can check all of this into our GitHub repo:
(venv) > git add .
(venv) > git commit -m "Added web application files"
(venv) > git push origin main
Now from our application dashboard, we can choose to connect to GitHub by pressing the associated button. We will then be redirected to log into GitHub and give permission for use by Heroku. We can then choose the repository that is associated with our project.
Connecting your Heroku application to Github
Finally, we have two options:
Automatic deploys — this will result in the application re-deploying every time there is a new push to the repository on the specified branch. Manual deploy — you can manually deploy the application from the specified branch by clicking the button
Automatic vs. manual application deployment
We will deploy manually for now — after clicking the deploy button, you will see the build log for a couple minutes, after which you will see if your app was successfully deployed.
You can click “View App” to see your awesome web application! You can see the results of this tutorial here. Keep in mind that if your app doesn’t receive a lot of traffic, it goes into a hibernation mode after a few hours, so the next time you try to access it, it may take a few seconds to spin up. Additionally, the Heroku machines are restarted once per day, so you will lose changes to the local filesystem. If you wanted the count.txt file to be unaffected, you should place it on a cloud file storage system like Amazon S3 and make requests using your application. For this example, however, I wanted to leave it simple, so the count will reset every once in a while as the machines are restarted.
All the code from this article can be found at this repository.
Final Remarks
Thank you for reading! You can see some of my work at my personal GitHub page. I appreciate any feedback, and you can find me on Twitter and connect with me on LinkedIn for more updates and articles. | https://towardsdatascience.com/create-and-deploy-a-simple-web-application-with-flask-and-heroku-103d867298eb | ['Naveen Venkatesan'] | 2021-03-03 00:49:59.488000+00:00 | ['Web Development', 'Data Science', 'Flask', 'Python', 'Heroku'] |
ZeroBank and AlphaWhale Capital Partnership Announcement | On June 8th, 2018, ZeroBank, the ultimate feasible ICO project in the money exchange and remittance industry utilizing the power of blockchain, smart contracts and sharing economy, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with AlphaWhale Capital (AWC) — one of the most well-trusted market-leading investment funds in the Fintech and cryptocurrency market.
The partnership between ZeroBank and AWC aims at achieving various objectives in investment and cooperation for the development and marketing of ZeroBank project. As global players, this partnership enables both ZeroBank and AWC to promote their products and services, as well as attract more potential users and investors.
Mr Ben Nguyen — Co Founder of ZeroBank and Ms Hillary Nguyen — Co Founder of AlphaWhale Capital
In the co-operation, ZeroBank will develop and deploy a non-commercial international money transfer platform with a mobile application for iOS and Android operating systems, utilizing blockchain and smart contracts. Meanwhile, AWC will invest in the project and advise on marketing, both during the fundraising process and when the platform goes into operation.
You can watch our video on the MOU signature HERE
About Zerobank:
ZeroBank is an innovative money transfer and exchange platform that allows instant non-commercial peer-to-peer transactions globally. ZeroBank employs the currently flourishing technologies — blockchain and smart contracts — along with the proven sharing economy model to remove the barriers in the traditional remittance and exchange systems, and make a breakthrough in the way people can send, receive, and exchange their money.
Via ZeroBank platform, money can be sent, received, and exchanged quickly, directly, at any time, anywhere in the world through a network of community agents. End-users will bear minimal fees since ZeroBank platform completely removes the interference of the centralized intermediaries like banks, or MTOs.
About AlphaWhale Capital:
AlphaWhale Capital (AWC) was founded in Singapore in January 2018. AWC operates in the cryptocurrency financial market and provides investment consulting services to high-tech companies using blockchain technology. AWC fund invests in ICO, Mining, and Trading to maximize profit to investors.
Stay updated on our channels: | https://medium.com/zerobank-cash/zerobank-and-alphawhale-capital-partnership-announcement-ce4bb0b189f8 | ['Zerobank - Your Local Currency'] | 2018-07-17 03:20:51.052000+00:00 | ['Announcements', 'Blockchain', 'Remittances', 'Partnerships'] |
8 Instagram Marketing Tips for 2021 to follow | Instagram marketing tips when followed will yield a solid return. Instagram is one of the second popular social media platforms that are highly preferable for marketing and advertising. This social media platform’s features and tools help generate higher leads and traffic, giving the companies a brand name and image.
The world is changing, and social media platforms became a powerful marketing tool for many of the world’s companies. Instagram got more than 90 billion people on board, which helps get specific attention from the target audiences and helps present your brand name on a global platform.
When it comes down to business, using this online platform changes with the company’s needs and product. One cannot just go o posting simple sinful contents on their account and expect others to like and admire them. One needs to get basic things and procedures done right to get the needed traffic flow.
Having a simple yet powerful strategy is the one that will help any company in the making or established gain more outdoor traffic. They’re some of the reasons that make everyone to go for this marketing tool:
It helps in building up better brand recognition.
A personal connection gets build up with your audiences through online conversation and communication, binding the trust factor.
It helps gain more effective insights into the customers and buyers, learning about their needs and desires.
Engagement through social media platforms like Instagram is cost-effective w | https://medium.com/@codetez/8-instagram-marketing-tips-for-2021-to-follow-96bd379d5d93 | ['Codetez Technologies'] | 2020-12-25 06:21:26.823000+00:00 | ['Instagram', 'Digitalmarketing'] |
Manifestation For Beginners: 7 Important Manifestation Tips For Beginners To Easily Manifest Your Dreams | Manifestation For Beginners: 7 Important Manifestation Tips For Beginners To Easily Manifest Your Dreams
How to Use the Law of Attraction as a Beginner. Manifestation Your Dreams By Law Of Attraction Expect Alexander Law of attraction Nov 23, 2020·6 min read
Manifestation For Beginners
Manifesting is a great tool that helps you get what you want by using positive energy and focus. No matter what manifestation technique you use, by envisioning the goals you want to achieve and speaking it into the universe, it is more likely that you will manifest your dreams.
7 Important Manifestation Tips For Beginners
Step 1: Get clear on what you want.
If you don’t know exactly what you want, you can’t actually take steps to make it happen. To manifest something, you must know what you desire.
That means you must get very clear on the specifics, detailing the features as if your manifestation is tailor-made for you.
To get started with this step, create a list of 20–25 things you want to manifest. Get specific about what you want and list the attributes in the positive (aka avoid using the word don’t).
“I want a car” might land you a 1965 El Camino without a working engine.
“I want a used SUV with less than 30,000 miles on it that’s priced under $15,000” streamlines your search quite a bit.
Side note: As you create your list, give yourself permission to want what you want today and be open to changing it tomorrow. The judgment of yourself doesn’t help you manifest anything.
Manifestation For Beginners
Step 2: Ask the universe.
Once you have your list, it’s time to amplify your signal to the universe by asking for what you want. When the universe is clear on what you want to manifest, then it can help you. If you don’t ask, it will still try to help you, but it guesses as to what you truly desire.
Don’t leave what you receive up to chance, ask for what you want.
There are a lot of ways to ask including prayer, meditation, visualization, and vision boards. An easy way to ask for what you want is to write a letter to the universe.
Ask the universe for what you want once a day makes your requests clearer and clearer.
Manifestation For Beginners
Step 3: Work toward your goals.
Manifesting is the art of co-creating with the universe. Working toward your goals increases your chances of receiving what you want. It’s also fun.
Write down 3 actions you can do today to bring you closer to your goal. If you don’t know what to do, use Google to figure out what actions you can take. It’s likely someone has struggled with the same issue and has written about it. Let yourself be inspired by what others have done.
Start taking action and keep taking action until you’ve reached your goal.
Step 4: Trust the process.
As you work toward your goal, it may question if manifesting actually works. You might get discouraged and frustrated. If you are sitting in the struggle and wondering when things are going to happen you aren’t trusting the process. When you question manifestation, you’re telling the universe to prove manifesting doesn’t work.
The Law of Attraction obliges by sending you experiences that keep you stuck.
To manifest, you have to trust the process.
Whenever you find yourself doubting, catch yourself and say, “I’m getting closer and closer to my goals every day. The universe has my back and it’s awesome.”
Repeat this phrase until you believe it.
Manifestation For Beginners
Step 5: Receive and acknowledge what you get.
The universe is always giving you help, but it’s easy to miss the signs (especially when they come in unexpected ways). When you start to acknowledge and receive signs from the universe, the universe will give you more of what you want.
A good way to get started with this step is to write down the evidence in a journal at the end of the day.
Make sure to include anything that happened to you during the day that moved you a little bit closer to your goal.
• If you are trying to get out of debt and your credit card company called to sort out a more appropriate payment plan, that’s evidence.
It can also be an inspirational quote speaking to you on Facebook.
Manifestation For Beginners
Step 6: Keep Your Vibration High.
According to the Law of Attraction, you attract what you are sending out. To attract more of what you want, you have to raise your vibration. Vibrations are like little radio signals you are continuously sending out to the universe. You must tune your signal to a vibration worthy of receiving it (read: stay positive and thankful).
All you have to do is to feel joy.
By spending 10–15 minutes a day (at least) doing something that makes you feel good, anything from watching a YouTube video or meditating, you’re ensuring your vibration stays high.
Remember, a crappy mood means you’re going to be rewarded with crap. Staying positive is the easiest way to be certain good things are coming.
Manifestation For Beginners
Step 7: Clear your resistance.
If you haven’t yet manifested what you want, it’s likely you are resisting what the universe has to offer. Doubts, pain, procrastination, frustrations, anxiety, fears, regrets and resentments are all forms of resistance.
And they are totally normal.
When you notice conflict coming up, acknowledge it, and remind yourself to breathe and relax. It might sound something like, “I’m frustrated again. I’m resisting again. I get it. All I have to do now is breathe, relax, and let it come. “
If you are having a hard time letting go of the problem, find someone to help you through it.
Manifesting your desires is 100 percent possible but, to do so, you must use ALL the steps.
1. Get clear on what you want.
2. Ask the universe for it.
3. Take action (help the universe make it happen).
4. Trust the process.
5. Acknowledge what is being sent to you along the way.
6. Increase your vibration.
7. Clear all resistance.
Manifestation For Beginners
Bonus Video For Manifesting Money Quickly
Get Free Video Presentation How To Magically Manifest REAL, Spendable Cash Starting In The Next 24 Hours… BY low Of Attraction expect Alexander..
Manifestation For Beginners
Now I want to hear from you. What steps of the manifesting process do you do regularly? What steps have you missed? Tell me what, if anything, you’re going to change in the comments below. | https://medium.com/@manifestation-money/manifestation-for-beginners-7-important-manifestation-tips-for-beginners-to-easily-manifest-your-aba2a1cff267 | ['Law Of Attraction'] | 2020-11-23 12:12:12.001000+00:00 | ['Manifestation Beginners', 'How To Manifest Anything', 'How To Manifest', 'Manifestation Tips', 'Manifestation'] |
Unknown Number | Photo by Plato Terentev from Pexels
Could you be the ex I’ve been ignoring
calling from another phone?
Or that wily debt collector
hounding me about a student loan?
Unknown number,
I know not who you are.
But your efforts are always wasted.
I really don’t know why
you leave a two minute voicemail
with nothing on it.
If you really are my friend,
then just text me, you son of a bitch.
Or email works too…
How long does it take for you to learn
that even my grandma
won’t talk to an unknown number.
Give up!
Your job is pointless!
All you do is waste my time.
I’d rather be writing or reading
or watching porn
instead of deleting your ghostly messages.
Your best chance is to wait around
for when I’m looking for employment,
that precarious time when I’ll answer anything
just to see if some asshole wants me
for a stupid interview.
But even then, unknown number,
I’ll probably just hang up on you. | https://medium.com/scuzzbucket/unknown-number-5cf14ef8e47a | ['Franco Amati'] | 2020-12-27 23:23:42.435000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Life', 'Prose', 'Scuzzbucket', 'Communication'] |
Page depth: How it affects your SEO performance | Page depth refers to the number of clicks you need to reach a specific page from the homepage using the shortest path. A page directly linked to the homepage is at depth 2 (the homepage itself is always 1!).
If a page needs more than 3 clicks to be reached, it will perform poorly because search engines will have issues to crawl it compared to a page available in one click.
In fact, deep pages have a lower pagerank because search engines are less likely to find them and so to crawl them. If a page is hard to find, crawlers won’t check them as often as pages at depth 2 and so they will lower their chance to be ranked.
Websites need to be thought in terms of tree graph because it offers an overview of the overall structure of the site and of pages performing badly.
How to improve your site structure?
1# Use your internal linking
If you own a large website with a lot of deep pages, reorganizing your internal structure manually could be a nightmare. If you do not want to start again from scratch, you can lower your site’s depth through the help of internal linking, using external backlinks and internal backlinks. It has the advantage to:
lower the number of clicks needed to reach a page on your website and to facilitate the crawler job
increase your user experience by providing your visitors additional valuable content
lower your bounce rate since users will have a better access to the information searched
Every time you create a new blog post for example, check if there is any opportunity to link to something relevant you have already written on your website. You can them create an internal link. But be careful, you should only link to something useful and avoid stuffing keyword strategies on anchor-text.
2# Use breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs will make it easier for your visitors to know where they are on your website. Categories are essential to organize your site but do not overuse subcategories because it will certainly take more than 3 clicks to get there. To know more about breadcrumbs you can check our previous article. | https://medium.com/oncrawl-seo-tips-tricks/page-depth-how-it-affects-your-seo-performance-71a1774ca29f | [] | 2016-05-06 14:45:04.409000+00:00 | ['Seo Tips', 'SEO'] |
ChainsNFT Overview | The Team
Chain Architect (Mike) — Founder/Creative Director
Michael aka Crypto-Jeweler, is the designer and maker of ChainsNFT. He has designed and built 3D jewellery models for one of the largest fine jewellery manufacturers in the US as well as celebrity jewellers in New York and Houston.
Chain Leader (Jacob) — Founder/Project Manager
Jacob is one of the main founders of the ChainsNFT project along with Mike. Jacob is mainly focused on the business side of bringing this project together.
Chains Utility (Leo) — Founder/ Utility Lead
Leo is a Founder and friend of Jacobs. He is in charge of leading the project’s overall utility. He is currently working on partnering ChainNFT with concierge services around the world as part of the utility ChainNFT is aiming to provide for their owners.
Wiz (Nick) — Discord Manager/Dev
Nick is the manager of Chains NFT’s Discord channel, along with being a part of the projects development team
Backseats — Lead Dev
Backseats has successfully created and deployed smart contracts for Lots_Tiles, NounCats, and NFTTaxGuide, giving him a proven track record of experience and ability within the developer community.
KINGDALEKOPRAHCLAUS — Community Manager
KINGDALEK is the creator of SpaceMonkeys, a successful collection of NFT’s. During the course of this he has built his own community from the ground up, giving him tons of experience and making him a great fit for this role.
BLIND.goblin (Thomas) — Creative Manager
Thomas is an Art Director and NFT artist. He has been an artist in the entertainment industry for well over 10 years. He’s worked for companies such as LEGO and Apple, among other places. Since 2009 he has spent a fair amount of time in the augmented reality field. | https://medium.com/@DropHook/chainsnft-overview-22de07640d93 | [] | 2021-12-27 21:01:48.549000+00:00 | ['Jewelry', 'Nft Collectibles', 'Jewellery Online', 'Jewelry Design', 'Nft'] |
Introducing TR33 Finance. Token Feature | Token Features
TR33.Protocol features a 10% burn function (5% burns for ever and 5% goes to the burning wallet in the form of a deposit).(0x000000000000000000000000000000000000dead)
If you sell before 2 minutes your initial 5% deposit stays in the burn pot (dead address) for a GROWER to claim! Selling before 2 minutes of buying means you have failed to let the money tr33 blossom.
TR33 aims to make people who dump their tokens seconds after buying on UniSwap suffer. Every 20 minutes, a GROWER who buys the highest amount of TR33 tokens and doesn’t sell before 2 minutes gets the reward from the burn wallet, (0x000000000000000000000000000000000000dead). This reward can either be in the form of extra tokens upon buy back or a straight airdrop of tokens to the GROWER’s wallet!
The permanent burn means the supply of TR33 is always decreasing and becoming more and more scarce, Oh and there’s no mint function…
Tokenomics
· 5000 TR33 supply with constant burn from the 0x0 address
· 2500 TR33 reserved for presale
· 1000 TR33 reserved for liquidity on UniSwap
· 500 TR33 reserved for team — (TEAM WALLETS WILL BE PUBLIC)
· 1000 TR33 reserved for future staking
How will the presale work? + Details
An address will be pasted into our Telegram where people can send ETH.
1 ETH = 50 TR33||Min Send: 0.5ETH — Max Send: 2ETH.
1 TR33 = 0.02ETH
Soft Cap: 20ETH || Hard Cap: 50ETH, no large presale!
Listing price will be the same as presale to stop a harsh dump upon listing.
IF YOU SEND OVER 2 ETH WE WILL KEEP THE EXCESS SO DON’T DO IT
Where is the website or contract?
· Website: https://tr33protocol.com/
· Mainnet contract will be uploaded nearer to presale date, however we do have a ropsten contract ready for public viewing, here: https://ropsten.etherscan.io/address/0x81c875a30396dd795d2e5491b9bcb7946f94e709#code | https://medium.com/@tr33protocol/introducing-tr33-protocol-233368a4eef5 | [] | 2020-12-31 14:02:10.542000+00:00 | ['Solidity', 'Crypto', 'Defi'] |
2021 Assemblage Submission Guidelines | The Backstory
Assemblage was originally created as an alternative multi-author blog to Medium, on its own website created using Squarespace. The submission and publishing process was much more time consuming than on Medium and in the end, the determination was made that writers would be better served with the publication on Medium. So, we came back to Medium on August 21, 2019.
Assemblage had a successful first season of its podcast. Season Two is still under consideration and we have plenty of guests lined up. Any writer who is accepted as a contributor to Assemblage has the opportunity to be on the podcast as a guest. Assemblage is meant to be a collaborative enterprise and the podcast gives writers a chance to step outside of the screen and onto the mic.
Assemblage is the continuation of the now-defunct Medium publications, Redoubtable and Uncalendared. And now, Assemblage is the publishing arm of A Work of Fiction, Know Yourself, Loose Words, and Recollection.
In 2020, we published 1,128 pieces on Medium from 98 different writers. Our most-read essay had 136,000 views and 52,000 reads. We had two essays with more than 2,000 fans. These numbers are great, but we don’t write for the numbers. We write because we have to.
In 2020, we also had to remove our submission requirements and shut down intake because of the digital barrage occurring on Medium, as well as the widespread plagiarism and encouragement to apply everywhere. You can educate yourself on why we did it below. Really, if you want to write here, you should read about why we stopped adding writers. | https://medium.com/assemblage/2021-assemblage-submission-guidelines-3dbd36b8d849 | ['Jonathan Greene'] | 2020-12-30 18:18:35.854000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Personal Essay', 'Poetry', 'Submission Guidelines', 'Publication'] |
“Send Her Back” Replaces “Lock Her Up” | At rally tonight in Greenville, North Carolina
“Send Her Back” Replaces “Lock Her Up”
Other than that, Trump’s got no new material.
We expected a lot more of the President at his first rally following his racist comments of last weekend that stirred up the country so much since then.
Some new broad sweeping vision however despicable it might be. Some heightened controversial proposals. Surely he had something up his sleeve if his racist Tweets were actually the brilliant political masterstroke a bunch of pundits with nothing better to do are making them out to be. But no. All we got was same-old. At the same time, the President accurately lambasted those very same pundits, saying they say:
“He’s really stupid. But then the next week he has a sinister plot to take over the world”.
Yes, when Trump brought up Rep. Ilhan Omar (D) MN, chants of “send her back” erupted. They filled the slot in his rally that used to be reserved for “lock her up”.
Here’s a glimpse (click on the photo to watch):
A pregnant pause, as some in the crowd chant “send her back!”
We’re not trying to minimize the repugnance of this chant. Yeah it does normalize saying those things, especially if the President says them first. But we’re so deep down that hole already. Does it really turn 2020 into a more stark “us against them” scenario than it is already? Regardless of who the Democratic nominee is, or how vivid a picture Trump paints for his devotees of the rising influence of Omar et. al. within the Democratic Party, and the damage they intend to do to this country. How could it?
And Trump’s fans taking the opportunity to shout out along with his latest punch-line? Big whoop. (Also, we think it’s interesting the people standing behind Trump by and large did not participate in that chant, as if they were told to hang back a bit by Trump’s team. And if they weren’t, nice show, mostly, of self-restraint.)
Trump himself also backpedaled a bit, or cast himself as a bit of a victim, as he often does, depending on how you look at it. Still calling his targets “hate-filled extremists”. But complaining “I’ll go back tonight: ‘oh SIR that was so controversial. SIR!’” (He doesn’t identify who’ll be saying that). Then he says: “No, I’m just saying it’s their choice. They can come back when they want.” Uh-huh…Only to quickly assert again that they “hate our country”.
If that makes no sense, here’s that clip (which won’t help), but here it is anyway (click on the photo to watch):
Other than that, Trump’s Greenville, North Carolina rally was tired. Stuff we could’ve recited in our sleep without even hearing it again: from bashing Arnold Schwarzenegger for failing to continue to make “The Apprentice” a success, to meeting a General “right out of Central Casting” in the Mideast named “Raisin”.
We’ve often lauded Trump’s brilliance as an insult comic, but even the best comedians come up with new material every year or two. Not so for Trump, whose rally speech has become a hodgepodge of old saws, call and response, and stale one liners. Even Trump has some realization of this. In an interesting moment of self-reflection, he wondered if he revived his “Pocahontas” routine a bit too soon. That’s his derogatory nickname for Democratic Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren. The President not expecting her to close as much ground as she has vs. the other would-be nominees.
And there were a few truly odd moments we really can’t explain. (And yes, we’re going to nitpick a little, because these were the only things that were interesting enough because we hadn’t heard them dozens of times or more before). First of all, Trump used the word “Goddamn” an awful lot, which he does sometimes, but not this prominently usually. Including in relating a very strange story, which Trump tells almost as a Biblical parable. Where a businessman who he doesn’t like, and doesn’t like him is supporting him anyway, because he’s rich, and he’s realized if he doesn’t: “he’ll be so goddamn poor!”
Here’s Trump expanding upon that and not really reaching a conclusion or moral. Or actually reaching several. Again, depending on how you want to look at it. (Click on the photo to watch):
Maybe people will make a lot of the fact Trump promised to “leave in 2024” and not become one of those so-called Democratically elected Presidents-for-Life he so admires. Like Putin. (Of course Trump didn’t say what he’d do if he loses in 2020). But anyway, we will never get worked up about the President simply saying he’ll be sane and do the normal thing. | https://ericjscholl.medium.com/send-her-back-replaces-lock-her-up-4ecd8e6c97b2 | ['Eric J Scholl'] | 2019-07-18 04:34:26.562000+00:00 | ['Racism', 'Politics', 'Democrats', 'Donald Trump', 'Elections'] |
Common Instagram Mistakes Marketers Must Avoid | Currently, Instagram is one of the trending and most used social media platforms. Because of this, many business owners are active on it, but your involvement is not enough. There are some basic things that all business owners must take care of to grow on Instagram. So today, in this article, we will see some common Instagram Mistakes that people make.
Common Instagram Mistakes
1. Don’t Buy Likes and Followers
You can buy followers from your Instagram account. The trouble is, you’re getting quantity, not quality when you buy likes and follows. Your statistics may appear great, but what would be the point if your audience was just filled with robots that didn’t say anything of value? The same applies to automatic comments.
What’s the purpose if you haven’t got a genuine relationship with your fans? Successful social media companies connect with real people. The money would surely be better to focus advertisements on look-alike audiences or organize a competition to encourage followers eager to do what you are doing.
2. Upload Quality Content
Instagram is a channel of vision. Then it should be lovely to look at, or, at least fascinating, if you’re going to submit something. However, you have no access to professional photography or high-end camera abilities, attempt to shoot naturally or with neutral backdrops. No picture, you’re better off than a poor picture. But there’s no justification for posting anything awful with so many excellent tools for modifying photographs and graphic design.
Read More: How to Increase Followers on Instagram
3. Posting
The proper quantity of postings on Instagram — or other social media platforms — is a balancing act. You may look frantic or upset by too many postings and too few postings, and you may seek out or be forgotten. So what’s the perfect number for Instagram posting? You may check out the current figures here, but note that the balance point changes over time with the evolution of user habits.
It’s also up to your brand and fans. It would be reasonable for a news site to publish many times a day, but a couple of times a week may make more sense for the make-up business. So be careful while your followers are online. Analyze and experiment with their timeline to find out what their content is.
4. Analytics
Another considerable error Instagram marketer makes is to neglect data. You should compulsively monitor the data so that trends and growth are identified. How can you reproduce your accomplishments if you strive to increase your engagement rate but not check your statistics?
5. Consistency
The most significant Instagram offense is posting dull or spammy material to the Instagram public. Account owners have to give something to followers. Create posts you care about — something fascinating, informational, or enjoyable. Give value to your followers to remark, like, and share And develop, hopefully, a deeper brand relationship. Don’t post only for the sake of posting.
The provision of great material will also incentivize new individuals to follow you. For instance, with this kind of uninteresting material, this phony sprinklers firm account I established here will not be very far. The fake social media manager should instead pose a question, hold a competition, share contributions or create a new topic.
6. Have a Strategic Plan
If you do not know what you are attempting to achieve, it is hard to attain success. Choose one objective to begin and build a strategic plan for it. Thus, every conclusion and a way of measuring your growth will be guided by something.
Read More: Instagram Growth Hacks
7. Maintain Your Website
Your account on Instagram is just one of the parts of your entire brand. You undoubtedly have a website, other social media sites, and perhaps even a store. All these aspects should be consistently linked to ensure that your brand is robust and prominent. Every profile should have your logo, and the visual style and the editorial tone should be identical to each element.
8. Error-Free Content
Sometimes even expert authors make errors. But an otherwise published piece might be negligent with a small grammatical problem. Make a short revision of your social posting procedure, and look at your postings for a second time.
Conclusion
Instagram is already becoming a fast favorite for everybody. With Instagram tools like automation, it is possible to maintain consistent branding on this network rapidly. With proper usage of Instagram, one can convert their followers to leads or clients. As a trending social media platform, avoid the common mistakes you are making and use Instagram properly to enhance your exposure and view in public. | https://medium.com/@guestpostmagzine/common-instagram-mistakes-marketers-must-avoid-b517558361a0 | ['Sofiya Hayat'] | 2021-12-29 16:28:12.048000+00:00 | ['Instagram', 'Marketingmistakes', 'Instagrammarketing', 'Howtogrowoninstagram'] |
The Ultimate Skincare Routine For Teens | Get Flawless Skin | The Ultimate Skincare Routine For Teens | Get Flawless Skin Uniqaya Jun 8·3 min read
Skincare Routine For Teens: Entered your teenage years? And now doing every possible effort to keep your skin flawless? And, even browsing so many internet remedies to get that one clear skin of your dreams? Quite Obvious.
We all love flawless skin and especially when you are at the best age of your life. But what about that acne and pimples which comes as a ‘jawaani ki nishani’ with this age, meaning: the foremost sign that you have entered the age of puberty.
Yes, with this sweet teenager filled with dreams and fantasies, there comes a challenge as well, your struggling skin. Don’t worry. We are not here to make you even more anxious. So, relax. Uniqaya has a wide range of best skin care products, especially for your age.
For now, we have an ultimate Skincare Routine For Teens so that you don’t panic the next time, a pimple appears on your lovely cheek. Or, maybe it won’t appear at all. A good skincare routine every day is as essential for your skin as having healthy meals every day.
Skincare Routine For Teens
1. Clean! Clean! Clean!
Due to the hormonal changes in your body, so many skin problems will develop. The simplest quick fix is to cleanse.
Remember the basic rule. Shampoo to your hair twice a week, cleanser to your face twice a day, and body wash to your body once a day.
Important Advice: Before going to bed, always cleanse your face gently to remove all day’s impurities, dirt, and excess oil.
2. Water has no alternative
Moisturizer is a must. Apply at least twice daily. Hydrated skin is naturally glowing skin. The right moisturizer will do the required repair of your skin as well.
Important Advice: Stay Hydrated. Drink a lot of water daily. This will keep your skin hydrated naturally and flush out the toxins from your body. You should always keep a water bottle with you.
3. Remove Makeup
Oh! Forget those daily soaps bahu (married women). Repeat after us, I will never mistreat my skin, no matter what. And sleeping with your makeup on is the highest form of disrespect to your skin. You might have a tiring routine all day, but it’s very important to remove makeup before going to bed.
Important Advice: Don’t share your makeup with anybody, not even with your best friend or your sister or your mother.
4. Healthy Habits
No skincare product or beauty product can beat the power of a healthy lifestyle. Right from day one of your teenage years, try to build healthy habits. Recognize your unhealthy patterns, like messed-up sleep cycles or overeating junk food, or unusual stress, and start working on them.
Important Advice: Don’t hesitate. Be it talking to your parents, elder sibling, or consulting a therapist or a dermatologist. Always feel free to ask for help. Analyze your needs clearly and talk to somebody.
Continue Reading at: Skincare Routine For Teens | https://medium.com/@uniqaya/the-ultimate-skincare-routine-for-teens-get-flawless-skin-ca8112f96e1c | [] | 2021-06-08 06:47:29.256000+00:00 | ['Skincare Tips', 'Beauty Tips', 'Skincare Routine', 'Skincare', 'Beauty'] |
Getting Started with Online Slots | Going for a spin on the slots is always an adrenaline rush, but with the innovation of online casinos, they’ve really taken this aspect of land-based casinos and made it better in the online version.
Nowadays, you can get into some beautiful games, as graphic designers use the latest technologies to create an immersive experience. Add in some cool themes, awesome bonus rounds and incredibly-generous jackpots and one can see why online slots are a blast. If you’re new to playing slots online, here are four basic tips to get you going in the right direction.
Tip #1: Take Advantage Of Deposit Bonus
Almost every casino will offer a sizable welcome bonus and deposit bonus. Many will also have loyalty programs (or rebates) that give you some kind of ongoing reward the more you play.
Make sure you take advantage of this upon your initial deposit as this will give your bankroll a boost right from the get-go, and most welcome bonuses have a time-frame in which they need to be used within. (Typically 14 days)
Tip #2: Find A Game You Love
To start, you’ll want to find a casino that actually has a huge selection. A solid variety is around 400 and if you get into that range, then you can really hone in on the game that you love.
There are many factors that you should consider when choosing the game for you. To start, think about the theme. There are games that range from Wheel of Fortune or game shows, to James Bond and other movie themes. There’s a theme type for almost any type of style you think of.
Next, take a look at the reels and paylines. That impacts how often you win. Do you like simple, straightforward games? If so, a three-reel option might work for you. If you like games with lots of action, more reels and more paylines is what you’re looking for.
Try them all out (many you can play for free at first) and choose the game that you’re going to really enjoy playing for hours.
Tip #3: Set A Budget
One of the most crucial aspects of playing online slots is to set a budget. The games are a lot of fun and if you get sucked in and don’t pay attention, you might find yourself blowing way past your limits.
The key to online slots is to start off with a budget. Set aside a reasonable amount for your session — an amount that you wouldn’t mind spending on any form of entertainment. If you end up winning, then that’s great: you can keep on playing. If you end up losing that amount, then you know it’s time to call it a day.
Tip #4: Play The Max If You’re Playing Progressives Slots
One of the most attractive types of slots — online or in-person — are the progressives. These games have massive jackpots, which can payout life-changing amounts. However, one of the most common mistakes is that new players don’t pay attention to the rules that they need to follow to qualify for these progressive jackpots.
In general, most slots have a basic system where you choose how much you bet per spin. However, on progressives, there’s generally a minimum that you have to hit to be eligible for the jackpot.
If your goal is to try to hit it big, the worst thing you can do is land the winning reels only to realize that you didn’t put enough in for the spin. Make sure you know the rules for hitting the progressive jackpot before you play.
Now that we’ve run you through the basics, you’re about ready to go for a spin. There are lots of other great books, guides and YouTube videos that can further improve your game. However, now you have the Coles Notes, which is enough to get you started. | https://medium.com/@scottmacdonaldmc/getting-started-with-online-slots-4aeb0e873fe8 | ['Scott Macdonald'] | 2020-12-02 20:54:40.668000+00:00 | ['Strategy', 'Online Slot Games', 'Tips And Tricks', 'Online Slots', 'Slot Machines'] |
How much longer can I carry this unspent love? | How much longer can I carry this unspent love?
There is an affinity I keep hidden in the deepest depths of my heart.
When I feel brave I empty that pocket
And let myself feel, let this love free
So that all the particles and the invisible forces
That you have illuminated in me
Make their way across the great divide
And find a way to you.
Until there is no space left
Skin to skin, heart to heart
I am there, once again right beside you
And this time around, I don’t hold anything back
It’s as simple as this.
I reach out to hold your hand
And whisper words that require no reply. | https://medium.com/hellowanderlust/missing-you-ef0bcd69e552 | [] | 2018-02-22 08:16:21.745000+00:00 | ['Love Letters', 'Poetry', 'Relationships', 'Ps I Love You', 'Love'] |
i see But i Don t Belive covid Will Destroy Paris | From Saturday, November 28, 2020: alleviation of confinement(reopening of shops, activities and walks within a radius of 20 kilometers with certificate, individual outdoor sports practice …).
From Tuesday, December 15, 2020: end of confinement, if sanitary conditions allow (end of certificates, travel between regions possible…).
From Thursday, January 7, 2021 : new openings (reopening of museums, theaters and cinemas …).
From Wednesday January 20, 2021: new openings(reopening of sports halls and restaurants …).
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE AREAS
Wearing a face mask is compulsory in public areas and enclosed spaces, under penalty of a fine of 135 euros .
in public areas and enclosed spaces, . Wearing a mask is compulsory from 6 years old .
. Public and private gatherings are prohibited.
CLOSED PLACES
Museums and monuments are closed until further notice (reopening scheduled for January 4, 2021)
are closed until further notice (reopening scheduled for January 4, 2021) The theaters are closed until further notice
are closed until further notice Bars and restaurants are closed until further notice
are closed until further notice Cinemas are closed until further notice (reopening scheduled for January 4, 2021)
are closed until further notice (reopening scheduled for January 4, 2021) Pools and gyms are closed until further notice https://blog.goo.ne.jp/speedlincks/e/5f0e406783e1f67a1883cb337b6890fc
http://beterhbo.ning.com/profiles/blogs/a-href-https-blog-goo-ne-jp-speedlincks-e?xg_source=activity
OPEN PLACES
Shops (record stores, bookstores, hair salons, toy stores, etc.), shopping centers and department stores reopen on November 28, 2020; open until 9pm maximum; opening authorized on Sundays until Christmas
(record stores, bookstores, hair salons, toy stores, etc.), and reopen on November 28, 2020; open until 9pm maximum; opening authorized Parks and gardens are open
are open Supermarkets, grocery stores and bakeries are open
and are open Pharmacies and healthcare establishments are open
are open The places of sale and computer repair are open
are open Police stations are open
are open Take-out and home delivery are possible from 6am to 10pm only
Places of worship are open (capacity of 30 people maximum)
are open (capacity of 30 people maximum) Cemeteries remain open
TRIPS
Any non-essential trip must be justified by an exceptional trip certificate under penalty of 135€ (for the first one). There are 3 types of certificate: the exceptional trip certificate, the proof of professional trip and the proof of school trip.
These certificates can be downloaded and printed from the website of the Ministry of the Interior:
A certificate — common to all three types of trip — in digital format can be downloaded from the website of the Ministry of the Interior: https://media.interieur.gouv.fr/deplacement-covid-19/. Once the certificate has been completed, a PDF is generated on your smartphone and must be presented in the event of an inspection.
Until December 15, 2020, it is therefore possible to do short trips, without forgetting your certificate, in particular:
professional reasons
take and pick up children from school
make short trips (3 hours maximum) within a radius of 20 kilometers around his home, including for a physical activity to do alone …
Discover the 20 kilometers radius around your home using the dedicated page on the GEOCONCEPT site : https://curio.instructure.com/eportfolios/8800/Home/ROBY_K90_FREE_FORTNITE_SKINS_GENERATOR_2020_free_fortnite_skins_No_Human_Verification
https://curio.instructure.com/eportfolios/8814/Home/ROBY_K90__FORTNITE_SKIN_2020_Hacks_Fortnite_Free_100Skin_Generator_No_Human_Verification_2020
https://curio.instructure.com/eportfolios/8824/Home/ROBY_K90_Roblox_Robux__2020_Working_Generator_How_to_Get_Free_Robux_
https://curio.instructure.com/eportfolios/8839/Home/ROBY_K90__FREE_robux_2021__FREE_ROBUX_GENERATOR__Roblox2020robuxclaim
https://gitlab.com/sam-pat/sakuna/-/issues/11
https://www.hybrid-analysis.com/sample/5e0ac67983d282af3f7e9bd6cefbae5eff31bca1b9d903cb7e6e4eb255e43010
https://authors.curseforge.com/paste/a1ac073f
https://ternopilinkling.com/user-blogs/topic/15917/#postid-20581
TRANSPORTATION
The wearing of a mask is compulsory for those over 6 years of age on all public transport, and failure to comply is subject to a fine of 135 euros
More information on transport
Alternative mobility offers and solutions
In order to ensure more comfort and the best possible protection for its travelers, RATP has been offering a service to monitor traffic in real time on its mobile application.
The RATP application is available for download from the App Store and Google Play
Departures by train and plane
Travel between regions is prohibited until December 15, 2020
Train and airplane departures may be cancelled.
Consult the websites of the SNCF and the airline companies concerned for more information.
In order to guarantee greater flexibility to its passengers, tickets purchased can be refunded or exchanged free of charge, according to the dates indicated on the carriers’ websites.
More information on the conditions of circulation and reimbursements of inter-regional trains
ADMINISTRATIVE AND TOURIST INFORMATION
The tourist welcome center at the Hôtel de Ville reopens on January 4, 2021 from Monday to Saturday 10am to 6pm (open Sundays during school holidays). Last admission at 5.50pm.
The tourist welcome center at Gare de Nord is closed until further notice
For any further questions, it is recommended to contact the embassy of your country of origin.
INFORMATION FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
The government has set up a specific file to help people with disabilities cope better with this health crisis. | https://medium.com/@games-reviws-and-hacks/i-see-but-i-don-t-belive-covid-will-destroy-paris-80bbfc8f0bee | [] | 2020-12-12 11:55:29.723000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Paris', 'Social Media', 'Earth'] |
Cat Lee Joins Maveron’s Investment Team as Partner | Cat Lee Joins Maveron’s Investment Team as Partner
A letter from our co-founder, Dan Levitan
credit: Michael Clemens
The saying, “you’re only as good as the company you keep” is a refrain I think about a lot. I’m incredibly proud of the team we’re building at Maveron and the founders we back. They are an exceptional group of people — both in their potential to create extraordinary things and as people who lead with heart — so adding a new Maveron team member is always a big decision. The alchemy of our team is something special. My mentor, Coach K, asked me years ago, “Do you love your team?” and that question has become one of my guiding principles in building our firm.
Today, I am excited to share the news that Cat Lee is Maveron’s newest Partner.
Cat’s early days in engineering at Lockheed Martin, followed by her experience from 2007–2011 at Google and Facebook, followed by her six-year tenure at Pinterest where she started as Head of Product Growth and grew into Head of Culture, gives her a unique perspective on how dynamic, thriving companies operate and has enhanced her ability to envision where consumer technology is heading. Cat knows how to build products and we’re convinced this experience is a great foundation for investing in and helping build consumer brands.
Cat’s values are aligned with ours and completely focused on prioritizing the people we back and winning the right way. She is wicked smart, a life-long learner, funny, and kind. She has a great smile! You’ll hear more from Cat in the coming weeks about what she’s interested in and her perspective as a consumer-focused investor. You can reach her at [email protected]. I encourage you to read her post on Medium about joining the firm. She’s also on Twitter and Instagram.
Over Maveron’s history, we have always had a female partner. That shouldn’t be remarkable, but in our industry — and tech broadly — it’s quite rare and something I am very proud of. As consumer investors, we know that diversity of age, gender, ethnicity, and culture gives us an edge in understanding consumer trends and attracting the best founders. That said, diversity for diversity’s sake has never been our goal. Hiring is about finding the right person who makes us better. After a rigorous interview process, we are thankful for the referrals we received and the talented candidates we’ve met. Special thanks to Aileen Lee, at All Raise, for introducing us to Cat.
Our culture embraces diverse perspectives because we are, in all seriousness, looking to change the world. Building a team that is culturally diverse, values candor, and collectively pushes each of us to get better every day has always been my vision for Maveron. I’m confident we embody this vision today and we will continue to develop and add to the team in the future to keep raising the bar. One of our values is to be unapologetically non-normal, something we also seek in the founders we back. One example of how we do things differently? In 2018, 70% of the companies Maveron backed had a female CEO which is extraordinary in an industry where according to TechCrunch, in 2017 only 17% of startups had a female founder. Cat’s addition to the team, Anarghya Vardhana’s promotion to Partner, and hiring Natalie Dillon as Senior Associate last year makes our investment team 50% men and 50% women — also generally unheard of in our industry. This balance ensures that our investment opportunities are sourced from an array of networks and that our decision-making comes from having unique, complimentary voices around the investment team table — both now and in the years to come.
We’ve set big goals for 2019 and all of us — Anarghya, David, Natalie, Jason, Cat, Pete, Elise, and I — are excited to be off to a running start. You’ll find us in coffee shops and at startups in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, and beyond meeting with founders of the next great consumer brands. Reach out if you have a big idea to change our lives for the better. Onward!
Warmly, Dan | https://medium.com/@maveron/cat-lee-joins-maverons-investment-team-as-partner-bb84d1316c95 | [] | 2019-01-10 21:51:04.531000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Consumer', 'Venture Capital'] |
Google Kubernetes Engine Integration With GCP SQL & GCP Load-Balancer Across Multiple VPCs | Hello Geeks, in this blog, I’ll explain how to integrate GCP Kubernetes Engine with GCP SQL Database and how to attach a Load-Balancer on a Kubernetes deployment and connect VPCs of two different locations. So let’s get started.
What is Google Kubernetes Engine?
Kubernetes is open-source software that permits you to send and oversee containerized applications at scale. Kubernetes manages clusters of Google Compute Instances(VMs) and runs containers on those instances with deployment, maintenance, and scaling processes.
What is Google Cloud SQL?
Google Cloud SQL is a fully-managed database service that helps you set up, maintain, manage, and administer your relational databases on Google Cloud. You can use Cloud SQL with MySQL, PostgreSQL, or SQL Server.
What is the GCP Load-Balancer (LB)?
GCP Load-Balancer is a program that distributes user traffic across multiple instances of your applications evenly. It reduces the risk that your applications become overburdened, slow, or nonfunctional and even prevents high latency by spreading the load.
What is VPC?
A Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is an on-demand customizable group of shared computing resources allocated within a public cloud environment, providing a certain level of isolation between the different organizations using the resources.
So, now we got a little knowledge of the terminologies that we will be using in this blog. Let’s start from our first step.
First, we will be logging in to Google Cloud Console, and we will be creating two projects. For this task, I will be creating one project for the development team and another project for the production team from the dashboard.
We can also create a project from the cloud shell available on the cloud console, accessed from the top right navigation bar.
The command below can be used to create a project from the above-mentioned cloud shell.
mishanregmi@cloudshell:~ (devproject)$gcloud projects create [PROJECT_ID]
Fig1. Creating 2 Projects
NOTE: Enable billing for both the project by going to the dashboard and navigate to the billing section to use all APIs and services.
Let’s first work on the developer project. In the developer project, we will be creating a VPC. A VPC will help us to launch our resources in a virtual network, which we will configure.
Fig2. Creating VPC
Using the same way, we have to create a VPC on the production project, and the region should be different as we will be trying to connect these two VPCs located in two different regions.
Now, we need to create a link or connection between these two VPCs, and this can be done with the help of a service provided by GCP called VPC peering. VPC peering connection is a networking connection between two VPCs that enables you to route traffic between them using private IPv4 addresses or IPv6 addresses. Instances and service gets connected as if they both are in the same VPC.
At this point, we will create a VPC peering on the developer project. Go to the navigation menu on the left and go to the VPC network, peering under VPC Network. When setting up a VPC peering, choose your VPC name, and to connect to the other side, choose the VPC network name of the production side. And create a VPC Peer, and you can see the status is inactive.
Fig3. Creating VPC Peering
Fig4. VPC Peer Configuration
Fig5. VPC Peer with inactive status
In the same way, we will create a VPC Peer on the production project, and under the peered network, we use the project ID and VPC name of the developer project. As the two VPCs have peer connections, we can see that the status has been changed to an active state.
Fig6. An active VPC’s Peer
Now, we create a VM instance on both projects(any configuration of VM is fine) to test if both VPC is connected or not. More so, we need to add a firewall rule on both VPCs with ingress setting (ingress rule is a rule that governs the traffic entering the VPC) to allow other VPCs to connect. Hereafter, we attach the firewall rule to the network card (nic) of the same VPC.
Now we try to ping both VPC instances to each other and check if they are connected or not. In the image below, we can see that both send signals to each other. Hence, they are connected.
Fig7. A Successful Ping
Furthermore, we will create a Kubernetes Cluster in the developer project. We will launch our Cluster using the Regional Location type and set nodes on three availability zone. Also, we need to configure the nodes stating the machine type and image we wish to use as our nodes(choose how you want).
To Know More: What is ZONE and REGION in GCP?
Fig8 Kubernetes Cluster
FIg9. Cluster Configuration
Fig10. Node image and machine configuration
After creating a Kubernetes cluster on the developer side, we will create a Google SQL database server on the production side. We’ll then integrate our database with Kubernetes pods containing our front-end application (I’ll be using WordPress).
We will create a Cloud SQL instance; we will add network security that allows all IP address to access our database(not a secure move).
Fig11. SQL Instance
Fig12. Adding Network
Fig13. Allow Firewall
Fig14. Instance Created
Now we create a database called “WordPress” in this instance.
Fig15. Database Creation
The interesting part switches back to the developer project and goes to the navigation panel's cluster menu on the left. The cluster we created will appear there and click on the connect button, and we will get a popup with a command. Run the command in the cloud shell. I prefer to open a new tab in the browser and open the cloud shell there as we will be working a lot in the cloud shell.
Fig16. Kubernetes Connect
Fig17. Connection Command
Fig18. Launched Kubernetes
We’ll use the command below to check the status of the 3 nodes we created for our Kubernetes cluster.
mishanregmi@cloudshell:~ kubectl get nodes
We can also use the following commands to check whether we have running pods or deployments in our cluster.
mishanregmi@cloudshell:~ kubectl get pods
mishanregmi@cloudshell:~ kubectl get deployment
The output doesn’t show us any pods or deployment, so we have created a deployment with pods (these pods will contain WordPress). As docker is the default container engine in Kubernetes, we are going to deploy docker containers. For the containers, we will use a WordPress image from the docker hub.
To get the WordPress image, follow the link.
// to create a deployment
mishanregmi@cloudshell:~ kubectl create deploy <name of deployment> --image=wordpress
Now when we check the deployment and the pods, we’ll get the information about them.
Kubernetes deployment resource will help us monitor our pods, and in case a pod fails or gets deleted, it will immediately launch another pod. You can see in the image below how a new pod is created with a different pod id when the old pod is deleted.
Fig19. Pod and Nodes
We can also scale our deployment and create multiple replicas (replicas are copies of an object). Scaling helps us create more pods of similar configuration and distribute it among all the cluster nodes.
// to create replica
mishanregmi@cloudshell:~ kubectl scale deployment <deployment name> --replicas = 5
Fig20. Scaling Deployment
As we have created 5 replicas and distributed among all three nodes, we need to balance the incoming traffic in all the nodes.
For balancing the incoming traffic in our server, we require a Load Balancer. Kubernetes has its Load-Balancer service, but as we are using GCP’s Kubernetes services, Kubernetes will automatically use GCP Load Balancer as an External Load Balancer. To show how a load balancer works, I am going to add one more deployment and then create 3 replicas of it.
Fig21. Test Deployment
After that, we are going to expose the deployment through a Load-Balancer. We will allow all HTTP traffic(port:80) through that Load-Balancer, which distributes the traffic to all nodes.
Fig22. External IP
Now when we copy the IP address and open it in a new tab, we can see some specs of the NIC of the present pod on which our LB has directed us. When we refresh the page, due to the Load-Balancer, we might land in another replica server. The images below show different IP addresses as a result of multiple page refresh.
Fig23. Server IP
Fig24. Server IP2
Above was the example of how a Load-Balancer works. Now, we will use our LoadBalancer (webdepo) to connect to our WordPress deployment.
Fig25. External IP
Now when we copy that IP address and then open it in a new browser, we get a starting page of WordPress, and we need to follow the steps mentioned below:
We have to choose our language.
Fig26. Language Selection
We have to fill in the database name we had launched on our MySQL server on the production project and the username, which will be “root,” and you can set your password.
Fig27. Connection Details
For the database host, we have to copy my database's IP address from the GCP console in the MySQL section.
Fig28. Database IP
Fig29. Host IP
After we submit, we will have to provide our information for configuring our WordPress.
When we install WordPress, we get redirected to the login page to log in with the same username and password.
Fig30. WordPress Login
So, after all the steps, we are finally in the WordPress dashboard. So with this, we have completed the integration of the GCP SQL Database with Kubernetes. Below you can see my WordPress accessed through my Load-Balancer (webdepo) external IP address in the address bar.
Fig31. WordPress URL
Now let me introduce a powerful and important service of GCP called IAM.
What is IAM?
Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a feature in GCP which lets you grant granular access to specific GCP resources and prevents unwanted access to other resources. It lets you adopt the least privilege security principle, so you grant only the necessary access to your resources.
Now, I’ll give you some information about IAM. I am going to provide edit access to the production project to my other mail id.
First, you have to go to IAM from the navigation menu. Then you have to add a member and provide the new user's credentials, set his/her role(owner, editor, view only) for the project, and you can also state the time and resources he/she can access, then click add.
Fig32. IAM Role
Fig33. IAM Member
Note that the user added above is only for the production project; thus, he cannot access other projects' resources. This can be clearly seen in the image below taken from the developer project from the main user and production project from the newly added user.
Fig34. Developer Member
Fig35. Project List
So, finally, we have seen how to create VPCs in GCP, how-to peer them, and we saw the SQL database creation in GCP. We also learned about Kubernetes and its cluster, nodes, pods, and we also learned how to distribute incoming traffic to several pods using a Load-Balancer. Finally, we ended with IAM roles in GCP.
Thank you for reading the blog, and please do suggest to me some ideas for improvement. Your suggestions will really motivate me.
Thank You Note
To conclude this blog, I would like to thank Mr. Vimal Daga for providing me the right knowledge and motivating me to write this blog. Thank you, Sir. | https://medium.com/swlh/google-kubernetes-engine-integration-with-gcp-sql-gcp-load-balancer-across-multiple-vpcs-4c37ac739120 | [] | 2020-10-20 09:49:07.658000+00:00 | ['Vpc Peering', 'Gcp', 'Mysql Server', 'Load Balancer', 'Kubernetes'] |
ES6 — Object vs. Map for storing key value pairs | We very often need to store key value pairs for various reasons. I found that most of the time people (including myself) use the Object data structure to achieve this though ES6 provides a Map data structure which really looks like what we should be using.
Let’s try to see what are the differences between these two shall we ?
Disclosure: I’ll call key both Map key (which is correct) and Object property as we’re talking about storing key value pairs in this post.
Basics
There are no big differences when using one or another when it comes to basic operations like adding or getting a value.
Object
// init
const keyValue = {} // add
keyValue['firstname'] = 'tony' // get
keyValue['firstname']
Map
// init
const keyValue = new Map() // add
keyValue.set('firstname', 'tony') // get
keyValue.get('firstname')
Interesting thing to notice: both return undefined when trying to get a value from a key that doesn’t exist
const o = {}
o['firstname'] // undefined const m = new Map()
m.get('firstanme') // undefined
Iterate
Storing and getting values is fine but we also most than often need to iterate through the collection.
It’s pretty easy with Map as it’s an iterable. This means you can directly use the built-in forEach function:
const kv = new Map()
kv.set('firstname', 'tony')
kv.set('lastname', 'stark') kv.forEach((value, key) => console.log(key, value)) // firstname tony
// lastname stark
which is not possible with Object . There are though many ways to overcome this issue. Two of them would be:
const kv = {}
kv['firstname'] = 'tony'
kv['lastname'] = 'stark' Object.keys(kv).forEach((key) => console.log(key, kv[key])) // firstname tony
// lastname stark
and
Object.entries(kv).forEach((entry) => console.log(entry[0], entry[1])) // firstname tony
// lastname stark
It’s definitely easier, less verbose and more readable with Map
Check for a key
Checking for a key in Map is pretty easy:
const kv = new Map()
kv.set('firstname', 'tony')
kv.set('lastname', 'stark') kv.has('firstname') // true
kv.has('nickname') // false
Where it’s not that so simple with an Object :
const kv = {}
kv['firstname'] = 'tony'
kv['lastname'] = 'stark' Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(kv, 'firstname') // true
Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(kv, 'nickname') // false
More details about checking if an object has a property here.
Here again Map seems handier
Count / Length / Size
Guess what it’s easier with Map as it has a built-in property
const kv = new Map()
kv.set('firstname', 'tony')
kv.set('lastname', 'stark') kv.size // 2
where with Object you have to create an iterable and then get its length
const kv = {}
kv['firstname'] = 'tony'
kv['lastname'] = 'stark' Object.keys(kv).length // 2
Time complexity
Which one perform better ? I wrote a small piece of code based on this StackOverflow post and ran it with size = 1000 :
const benchmarkMap = size => {
console.time('Map insert')
const kv = new Map()
for (let i = 0; i < size; i++) {
kv.set(i, i)
}
console.timeEnd('Map insert')
console.time('Map retrieve')
for (let i = 0; i < size; i++) {
kv.get(i)
}
console.timeEnd('Map retrieve')
} const benchmarkObject = size => {
console.time('Object insert')
const kv = {}
for (let i = 0; i < size; i++) {
kv[i] = i;
}
console.timeEnd('Object insert')
console.time('Object retrieve')
for (let i = 0; i < size; i++) {
kv[i]
}
console.timeEnd('Object retrieve')
}
and here is what I got:
Map insert: 0.099853515625ms
Map retrieve: 0.0751953125ms
Map insert: 0.095947265625ms
Map retrieve: 0.093994140625ms
Map insert: 0.076904296875ms
Map retrieve: 0.06005859375ms
Map insert: 0.0869140625ms
Map retrieve: 0.05908203125ms
Map insert: 0.078125ms
Map retrieve: 0.057861328125ms Object insert: 0.041015625ms
Object retrieve: 0.028076171875ms
Object insert: 0.035888671875ms
Object retrieve: 0.02783203125ms
Object insert: 0.038818359375ms
Object retrieve: 0.029052734375ms
Object insert: 0.035888671875ms
Object retrieve: 0.031005859375ms
Object insert: 0.035888671875ms
Object retrieve: 0.029052734375ms
Using Object looks to be faster but note that we’re talking about milliseconds here and dealing with 1000 key value pairs.
Interesting things to know
Object can only store string as key where it could be anything for Map . As an example the following is totally ok
const m = new Map()
m.set(['a', 'b'], true)
m.set(['a', 'c'], false)
Even if you specify a number as key, it will be treated as a string
const o = {}
o[1] = 'iron man'
o[1] // 'iron man'
o['1'] // 'iron man'
Object has a prototype this means there are already some keys set
const o = {}
o['constructor'] // ƒ Object() { [native code] } const m = new Map()
m.get('constructor') // undefined
where Map doesn’t
JSON supports Object but not Map
const kv = {}
kv['firstname'] = 'tony'
kv['lastname'] = 'stark' JSON.stringify(kv) // '{"firstname":"tony","lastname":"stark"}'
where
const kv = new Map()
kv.set('firstname', 'tony')
kv.set('lastname', 'stark') JSON.stringify(kv) // '{}'
so if you need to serialize the data to send it through a HTTP call for example Map wouldn’t be a good choice
Which one to chose ?
In my opinion Map should be your way to go when it comes to storing key value pairs unless you need to serialize the data. You can use not only string as keys, the fact that it is an iterable on top of has() and size will ease your life.
Object should be use when you want to represent something. You would thus probably use different logic for each property. | https://medium.com/javascript-in-plain-english/es6-object-vs-map-for-storing-key-value-pairs-9b06a7efece9 | ['Olivier Picault'] | 2020-04-24 13:09:56.161000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Programming', 'Web Development', 'Coding', 'ES6'] |
Lunaception — Aligning With The Moon | Lunaception is a term introduced by Louise Lacey in her book “Lunaception: A Feminine Odyssey into Fertility and Contraception” (1974), in which she discusses the influence of night lightning on the regularity of female menstrual cycles. This idea stems from the fact that in the olden days, ovulation was triggered by the energy of the full moon — the only source of light at night for early societies. The time of the new moon, on the other hand, has been the time of menstruation.
Human sustenance and well-being are tied to the turn of the lunar wheel and women are the cosmic keepers of the moon time. Maya Tiwari
Progressively, industrialization made us go away from paying attention to the moon cycles or creating rituals around them. Instead of bathing in the moonlight, we are bathing in the blue light emitted by our devices almost 24/7. Even though, not only blue light exposure, but all kinds of artificial light (like a street lamp or a light left on down the hallway) may disrupt the melatonin production and consequently impact other hormones.
How to work with night lightning to benefit your hormones?
Black-out curtains are your night-friends — Make sure, that the room you sleep in, is completely dark (so that you cannot even see your own fingers with lights off!)
Leave your electronic devices outside the bedroom… If it’s not possible, unplug your appliances like TV or router for the night (they’re often an unnecessary source of stand-by light)
If you are working on regulating your cycle or aligning them with the moon cycle: You can let a little bit of light in for 2–3 nights around the time of ovulation or full moon. Red light (eg. red light bulb) will be the least harmless and is said to trigger ovulation.
Adding Ayurveda to the equation
Even though we don’t have a valid scientific proof that the moon influences menstrual cycles, there are research papers out there showing that night light exposure has not only a negative effect on sleep quality, but also on reproductive hormones in women.
In this sense, lunaception is not a solely mystic concept, but also a reminder of the importance of what in Ayurveda, is called Dinacharya. Dinacharya corresponds to a concept of circadian clock. Everything is cyclical in nature. We are a part of nature, therefore we are cyclical beings. The more we are trying to escape this simple truth, the more troubled will be our health and well-being.
Furthermore, when I first heard of lunaception, something clicked. It matches not only with what Ayurveda teaches about our circadian rhythms, but also about the importance of cultivating rituals in general. They keep Vata (our ether and air element) in check… And balancing Vata is the most crucial when it comes to balancing hormones as well!
Yoga, astrology & creating lunar rituals
When I found yoga, at the beginning it used to be mostly a wellness practice for me. I found in it everything that I was looking for. More space and flexibility in the body, that eventually reflected in a deep feeling of inner peace, that I was searching for a long time.
Then, slowly, yoga started to take more and more space in my life. One day, I left a yoga class with teary eyes after the teacher sang the Haidakhandeshwari mantra during the end relaxation. Few days later, I spontaneously signed up for a 2-year long yoga teacher training in the same school that truly changed the course of my life.
As I shared with you my story, managing the hormonal imbalances, I eventually started to crave for more than physical asana practice. I embarked fully on a healing journey, trying out all possible tools and techniques out there. Finally, I found Ayurveda and Vedic Astrology. Even though they are different tools, they share the common goal and that goal is oneness.
As my cycles kept being irregular, even after introducing Ayurvedic routines, I found lunaception and decided to give it a try. I simply fell in love with the concept of aligning my usually long, unpredictable cycles with a rhythmic 28-days long cycle of the moon.
Later on, when I started to learn astrology, I found out the moon was the weakest point in my horoscope. The moon that represents the mind is a central point to look at in Vedic Astrology, when determining health & well-being of an individual. In fact, when you are being asked for your sign in temples in India, what they really ask you for, is your birth star (moon sign), not a sun sign, which we are more familiar with in western astrology.
Channeling the energy of the moon
Connecting with the energies of lunar mansions (Nakshatras) and following the phases of the moon became my spiritual practice. The work that I do around the moon is a tribute towards something greater than I am. I know, my task is to learn how to work with its energy and find out the ways to ride its emotional waves. The more I soothe into them, the less unpredictable and ferocious they become.
Moreover, something that always resonated with me was journaling and expressive writing, as I have kept a diary since I was 10 years old. Working with the moon taught me to direct the stream of thoughts on a specific area each phase for deeper insights and tackling healing one thing at a time.
It’s best to observe the moon on days of Purnima (Full Moon) and Amavasya (New Moon). I check the position — sign, conjunctions, aspects — and most importantly — the lunar mansion (Nakshatra) of the moon and adjust my journaling & yoga practice accordingly.
For example, the new moon in Ashwini Nakshatra — the energy of the new moon always invites us to go inward. Knowing the symbolism and deity of Ashwini informs us additionally that this time is especially auspicious to perform pranayama and expect the powerful effects through energy healing.
Wrap-up
Remember that approaching hormones is a complex area of healing and certainly, there was a lot of factors that contributed to me getting better in this way, not only lunaception. If you would like to learn the complete approach to balancing your hormones, check out my upcoming book Hormone Harmony — Yoga & Ayurveda For Balanced Hormones And Feminine Radiance. | https://medium.com/@martanaidu/lunaception-aligning-with-the-moon-951f738640ef | ['Marta Naidu'] | 2020-12-06 15:10:51.856000+00:00 | ['Hormonal Imbalance', 'Hormones', 'Yoga', 'Vedic Astrology', 'Moon'] |
Chrishell and Justin: What Really Happened? | Chrishell and Justin: What Really Happened?
source: usmagazine.com
I got on the Selling Sunset bandwagon when Season 3 of Selling Sunset premiered in the summer. The hype I heard about this show did not disappoint. I’m a sucker for real estate/HGTV like shows, and Selling Sunset has the added feature of the guilty pleasure that is woman on woman drama.
I watched the 3 seasons in one weekend, seeing the ups, downs and weddings these women went through. A major topic of discussion for Season 3 was Chrishell’s divorce. The trailer for Season 3 made it seem like there would be answers to what led to the divorce…but there weren’t. All we know (based on the show) was that Chrishell was told about Justin’s plans for divorce by text (which sounds terrible no matter what led to this) and that there are apparently 2 sides to every story (according to Selling Sunset cast member — Davina). And both Chrishell and Justin have been pretty tight-lipped about what caused this divorce.
Considering that Justin ended his marriage to Chrishell via text, there have to be 2 possibilities to explain this:
A — either Chrishell is a sociopath that he had to get away from
B — or Justin can’t confront things to save his life
Let’s find out what could be the real story using astrology:
source: imgur.com
Chrishell
Chrishell has good qualities, such as being ambitious, caring, idealistic, and affectionate. However, some of her good qualities can be to such an extreme that it could get her into trouble in relationships. Due to her Mars placement, Chrishell has intense emotions and can get easily hurt (which we have seen in Selling Sunset), and that could cause her to be moody and get into quarrels with others.
Chrishell’s Moon is in the “dreamy” sign of Pisces, and her Neptune was retrograde when she was born. Both the Moon and Neptune are in tough aspect to each other in her birth chart. Her Moon and Neptune placements cause her to not see situations and/or people clearly. When it comes to romance, she could have rose-colored glasses. This could lead to her getting easily duped.
Chrishell could have a hard time relating and accommodating another due to her Saturn in Libra and Uranus in Scorpio. She could also be jealous and possessive. A negative side of her Sun in Cancer is that she is capable of being manipulative and demanding in order to get the emotional security she wants.
Justin
Based on his planets and their placements, Justin is ambitious, easygoing, and compassionate. He is very romantic and desires having love in his life. However, he has personality quirks that could cause relationship challenges. Justin’s Moon (which represents his emotions) is in Gemini (a sign that is known to be restless and fickle). With his Pluto, Venus and Moon placements, Justin probably avoids conflict, doesn’t like to give attention to unpleasant things, and always wants harmony. Because of this, he could keep things to himself and withdraw. His Pluto has some square aspects which can make him argumentative — possibly to a severe degree. Justin could be very me-oriented. Justin has a T-Square in fixed signs with Uranus as the focal planet — which could make him very individualistic to the point of only looking out for himself. His Mercury inconjunct Saturn could make him ruthless, possibly taking advantage of others. Like Chrishell, Justin has his Uranus in Scorpio which makes it difficult for him to cater to someone else.
Their Internal Wounds and Comfort Zones got in the way of loving each other and could get in the way of achieving love in general (Chiron & South Node)
Chrishell’s Chiron (which represents internal wounds) is in the sign of Taurus and in harsh aspect to Venus (the planet that represents love). Taurus represents sense of worth, and having her Chiron in that sign, Chrishell could have internal wounds when it comes to her sense of worth. Those with Chiron in harsh aspects to Venus tend to give and give to their partner due to a fear of rejection, or they will avoid intimacy yet expect their partner to give them affection. Chrishell’s South Node is in Aquarius which could mean her comfort zone is being detached in relationships.
Justin’s Chiron (inner wound) is in Aries (a sign that represents individuality). This could lead to him having a lack of self-worth that could result in having challenges in self-assertiveness. Justin’s South Node is in Aries which could mean his comfort zone is not putting his partner’s needs into account in relationships.
Were they a good match in the first place?
source: filmdaily.co
Based on the elements in Chrishell‘s and Justin’s natal charts, there could have been challenges in their union. They probably had a natural sexual attraction to each other, but once together, challenges could have come up. With Chrishell having her Venus in Leo, she probably had high romantic expectations that Justin’s Mars in Capricorn could not meet.
Most of Chrishell’s planets are in Water signs, and she has no planets in Earth signs. This could mean that she is very sensitive and emotional, and may not be as grounded and practical. On the contrary, Justin’s planets are mostly in Earth and Air signs, so he probably is not as emotional and sensitive as Chrishell.
Justin’s Sun is in an Air sign (Aquarius), which could make him have a more detached and logical personality. Chrishell’s Sun sign is in a Water sign (Cancer), which makes her emotional and sensitive.
Justin’s Moon (which represents emotions) is in the relatively unemotional sign of Gemini, and Chrishell’s Moon is in the deep, martyr-like sign of Pisces.
Justin’s Mercury (which represents communication) is in the no-nonsense, workaholic sign of Capricorn, and Chrishell’s Mercury is in emotional, caring Cancer.
Justin’s Venus (which represents love) is in the nebulous, secretive sign of Pisces, and Chrishell’s Venus is in the more showy sign of Leo.
Justin’s Mars (which could represent sexuality) is in the no-nonsense, earthy sign of Capricorn, and Chrishell’s Mars is in sensitive, emotional Cancer.
Based on Chrishell’s Sun, Mars, and Moon placement, she would probably be a better fit with a more sensitive water sign.
Based on Justin’s Sun, Mars, and Moon placement, he would probably be a better fit with an air or fire sign.
Since the divorce, both Chrishell and Justin have found love again with other people (Chrishell with dancer, Keo Motsepe, and Justin with old co-star, Sofia Pernas). Time will tell if they have made better choices the next go around in love.
Thanks for reading this article!
Feel free to click the 👏 button, leave a comment, and/or share this article with those that you think will find it interesting.
To stay in the loop on Astronatic updates and new articles, feel free to do the following: | https://medium.com/@astronatic/chrishell-and-justin-what-really-happened-3006db6930e6 | [] | 2020-12-10 23:21:13.884000+00:00 | ['Astrology', 'Spirituality', 'Zodiac', 'Celebrity', 'Selling Sunset'] |
Dear Evan, Don’t Give Up On Jesus | Dear Evan,
Thank you so much for reaching out. Like I said, it’s humbling to be asked such an intensely meaningful and personal question. I didn’t want to give you a trite reply, so I took some time to think on it and give it the proper response it deserves. You asked for resources, and I do have a list I can personally recommend. If you don’t mind, I’d like to give them a little context and share some thoughts with you in regards to your dilemma.
I promise I’ll try not to toss out any platitudes or use Scripture to guilt or manipulate you. A lot of Christians do that when they don’t know what to say to someone hurting, and it’s not helpful or kind. I invite you to call out any BS if you see it in my response.
Let me start by saying that I see you. I don’t know you or what your experiences have been, but I acknowledge your struggle, your pain, your dilemma, and the sincerity of your heart that is so apparent in your reaching out. To be totally honest, I have had thoughts too of “walking away” because I’m still so hurt and disillusioned by what I’ve experienced (directly and indirectly) at the hands of other Christians. Every which way I turn, and in all the ways I’ve tried to maintain a relationship with Jesus, I’ve been struggling with anger, bitterness, and not wanting to be like “one of them.” Maybe you understand what I mean by that. But all the usual ways, contexts, and constructs of how to go about having that relationship all seem so hollow now. I don’t know if you’ve ever been in the midst of grieving and realized you hadn’t eaten all day and you’re incredibly hungry, but the sadness is so overwhelming you just can’t. It feels like that.
I’ve been deconstructing my faith for the past five years, trying to separate out who God is apart from his followers, and what I believe apart from what I’ve been taught in church. That’s not to suggest either of those things have been all bad. Not in the slightest. I’ve experienced both the greatest love and the greatest hurt within my church, and I’ve learned both foundational truth and complete nonsense there as well. Though I would not choose to return to that church, I am incredibly grateful for all the good things I’ve received while I was there.
I’ve struggled a whole lot with the teachings of the Evangelical church since then, especially those that are either not in the Bible at all or are loose and skewed interpretations of them. But here is one that jumped out at me while I’ve been thinking about your question:
There’s no mention in the Bible of having “a personal relationship with Jesus,” but I think that is a teaching that is spot-on, and what you and I and countless others have experienced is exactly why it’s critical.
We are not God; He is completely other than and above us in all ways. If our faith in and relationship with God is to survive and flourish, it has to do so apart from other people. That’s not to say other people aren’t a necessary part of our faith journey, but they are a part, not the whole of it. God is (or should be) the only constant.
Interestingly, your question caught me off guard and in doing so, allowed a little of the passion I’ve buried to bubble up again.
Don’t walk away, Evan. Your punk rock Jesus (I smile trying to imagine what that means to you) is still the same Jesus you fell in love with. His essence does not change. How He manifests or relates to us often does, depending on where we’re at. That’s one of the things I love most about Him. He comes to us in the ways we can best recognize and receive Him — tailored perfectly to our unique personalities and situations. You can see evidence of that throughout the entire Bible, and it is precisely because His people were so far off track, desperate, and hopeless that He chose human form, so they (we) could see without a doubt who God was. And He came to you as punk rock Jesus for reasons only you and He understand. That’s how precious you are to Him.
Now, I don’t ascribe as much to the devil as I did when I was part of the Evangelical church, but I do believe he’s real and is ultimately the source of all evils. I think it fits nicely into his diabolical plan that God’s own people would be responsible for turning others against Him, or at the very least, losing the special relationship they once had with God. I don’t say that to throw guilt your way, but I feel like, at least in my own case, it makes sense.
There are many good resources out there to help you sort out your thoughts, feelings, and faith. You will always find good arguments against believing in God, and you won’t have to look hard to find them. But I think your heart and spirit are telling you otherwise, and the Spirit Himself whispers the same. I don’t know who you know or what kind of style speaks best to you, so I’ll give you my favorite resources and tell you why I love them:
1. C.S. Lewis: ANYTHING HE’S WRITTEN. Seriously, he’s my all-time favorite. He’s brilliant, rational, genuine, and approachable. If you haven’t read it, Mere Christianity is probably the best defense of faith ever written — it might be just what you need right now. The Great Divorce is also an incredibly insightful story (as well as a quick read) about heaven and hell and the choices people make…and is nothing like the stuff that is preached on street corners. I think I’ve read it at least four times.
2. Henri J.M. Nouwen: If you don’t know him, Nouwen was a Dutch Catholic priest who, at one time, was a professor at Yale and went on to devote his life to living and caring for severely disabled adults in France and Canada. His writing is deeply intimate and personal, and encountering that outside Evangelical circles was a balm to my wounded soul. He wrote Life of the Beloved for his close friend who wasn’t a Christian, and I think you’d like that one. The Inner Voice of Love was probably the best thing I read during the worst part of my life.
3. My book, Grafted In: Leading Your Orphan Heart to the Spirit of Adoption. It isn’t just a shameless plug, because I really believe what I’ve written. Through my experience of raising and working with hundreds of orphaned children and adults, I’ve come to see that’s how most of us do life and function — like orphans rather than sons and daughters. My book helps you rebuild broken foundations and gives you actual steps you can take to draw near to the Father and reclaim your identity.
4. Rachel Held Evans: Faith Unraveled, Searching for Sunday, and Inspired. Rachel was probably the Queen of Deconstuction. Smart, funny, brutally honest, and perceptive.
5. The Evolving Faith Podcast: In their words, “this is a podcast for the wanderers, the misfits, and the spiritual refugees to let you know you are not alone.”
6. The Puddcast: Jonathan Puddle is an author and pastor who’s voice and perspective I trust. I know him through mutual friends, and he’s the real deal. He has interviewed pretty much all the heavy-hitters, but in a decidedly different way. His topics are challenging, personal, and introspective, with an honesty, authenticity, and gentleness that is so needed right now. My husband and I are currently working through his new devotional, You Are Enough.
7. For the Love podcast: Jen Hatmaker is deep, hilariously funny, and has personally encountered massive backlash from Evangelicals for her support of the LGBTQ+ community, among other things. She’s one of the few popular Christian “celebrities” I actually love and follow, because she seems to be as real as they come.
8. The Chosen: It’s a YouTube TV show you access through an app, and this series filled a huge hole for me. It’s an intelligent, insightful, and multicultural portrayal of Jesus and his disciples, focusing on “the chosen”…the relatable, imperfect people he built his ministry upon. There are eight episodes in the first season, and I’m anxiously awaiting the second. I absolutely HATE Christian movies (God’s Not Dead, et. al) but this one is in a class by itself. You won’t be disappointed.
There are, of course, so many more options than the ones I’ve shared, but again, these are my favorites.
Life is hard and complicated right now, but I take at least some small solace in knowing it always has been. Humanity, people of God included, has always been messed up. But God remains the same, and there is incredible hope, not only in His goodness and love for us, but also in that He always seems to have hope in us, too. Yes, we are helpless and hopeless without Him, but God has a crazy confidence and hope in us — which leads me to believe everything will work out in the end. And in the end, I do believe with every fiber of my being that our lives (and how we live them) matter. We are hardwired for God, which is why the overwhelming majority of people from the dawn of creation believe in one. And there is no God like Jesus. Not even close. No God anywhere or at any time is defined by sacrificial love towards the people He’s created, except for Jesus Christ.
Yes, the church, especially here in the States, is collapsing on itself. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it’s part of God’s plan to draw us closer to Him in a better, holier, more personal way. I have no idea what the practice of my faith is going to look like in the future, but my hunch is that it will be continually evolving. I think God’s ok with that, because if I know anything about God, what matters most is the inclination of my heart and life towards Him. That genuine inclination will shape my life to look like His.
Evan, punk rock Jesus is real and He’s yours. Nothing can take that away from you. Keep wrestling out your faith like Jacob looking for his blessing. He surely won’t let you go.
Michelle | https://medium.com/interfaith-now/dear-evan-dont-give-up-on-jesus-d43ddd53c70 | ['Michelle Wuesthoff'] | 2020-10-03 19:53:29.184000+00:00 | ['Religion', 'Jesus', 'Faith', 'Christianity'] |
There’s Only One Way to Beat Donald Trump for Good | There’s Only One Way to Beat Donald Trump for Good
Treat him like he’s boring.
We still haven’t learned much when it comes to Donald Trump. We keep making all the same mistakes. He’s not going away unless we do the unthinkable: Treat him like he doesn’t matter.
That would be hard, because the truth is nobody really wants Trump to go away — not even liberals. Americans are deeply angry right now. Half of us need someone to hate. The other half needs a hero who can hate on their behalf. Trump does both.
Donald Trump knows how indispensable he is. He’s a political novelty. So he intends to keep fuming over the election results. He’ll remain a looming presence in our lives. He’ll spend the next four years threatening a 2024 presidential run, even if he doesn’t actually plan on it. He might or might not get someone to ghostwrite a comeback book for him. He’ll continue holding rallies and calling into TV shows.
Here’s what you have to understand: | https://medium.com/the-apeiron-blog/theres-only-one-way-to-beat-donald-trump-for-good-68860064d20 | ['Jessica Wildfire'] | 2020-11-26 23:28:30.540000+00:00 | ['Social Media', 'News', 'Donald Trump', 'Society', 'Politics'] |
Counting at compile time | 1, 2, 3, 4, …
Counting at compile time is one of the world’s simple pleasures. We have taken the scala compiler and hacked something in to it to make it do things it really doesn’t look like it should be doing.
The standard approach of ‘counting at compile time’ utilises a type commonly called Nat . It’s available in libraries such as shapeless. We have types available, that look like this: type _13 = <something> — this represents the number 13. <something> is yet to be revealed.
Through type-class trickery and a clever definition of something we can make the compiler perform magic for us, and turn two types such as _13 and _3 into a third type _16 by ‘adding’ them together, all at compile time. You can, of course, also make it do any other arithmetic operation you can dream of, if you have the time to implement it.
A use-case might look a bit like this:
Here, Sum is our yet-to-be-defined typeclass which adds two Nat together. s.Out is an inner type of this typeclass, representing the sum of A and B . The magic thing is if A=3 and B=7 then the return type is 10 — not just a normal path-dependent type s.Out .
Why do we want to do this? Because we can! So let’s.
Nat Definition
Here’s what a bare-bones Nat implementation looks like:
You can go as high as you like, but eventually the compiler starts complaining as the type nesting gets too deep.
You can see that each number is just defined as the successor of the previous number. The full expanded type of _3 would be Succ[Succ[Succ[_0]]] for example. In any calculation we do, we could peel off a layer of _3 and then perform our calculation recursively on _2 . This is how the majority of Nat typeclasses (and type-level programming typeclasses in general) work.
ToInt
You may have noticed that these are purely types. Nothing else. No runtime version exists of these things, in this version of Nat I’ve just cobbled together. (Unless you did new _3 {} , but there’s really no reason to do that).
But, it’s a perfectly reasonable request to want to take a type N <: Nat and have the runtime integer it represents, n .
This could be done with macro magic, as in shapeless, or by defining companions like the following explicitly:
But I will forego these and derive the integer representations implicitly, as an example of a very simple compile-time calculation we can do on these Nat s.
We need a type-level function which takes in one type, a Nat , and spits out a run-time value Int . A compile-time (or type-level) function is a trait, and its arguments are its type parameters. The return of the function (either a type or a value) is contained within the trait. So it looks like this:
You can see how this would now work. If, in our code, we found ourselves in possession of a val i: ToInt[_3] instance, we could do i.value to get the run-time representation of _3 . Which we hope would be 3 .
How do we find ourselves in possession of these objects? We generate them implicitly, for every Nat . And then they’re available automatically for us whenever we need them.
Of course, implementing one implicit for each Nat would be horrendous. But remember above, where I pointed out _3 is one layer of Succ wrapped around _2 . If we knew the result of _2 we might in theory be able to calculate our instance for _3 . This is induction/recursion, so here’s what ToInt looks like:
Now you can do the following:
and we have turned our completely arbitrary Nat construction into real runtime integers!
Comparisons
That’s all well and good, we ‘proved’ our Nat can make sense as real integers. But we didn’t do any real compile time calculation on them.
The next step would be to have a typeclass which proves one Nat is less than or equal to another. Say this typeclass was called Lte (for ‘less than or equal’). Then an instance of type Lte[A, B] would be available implicitly if and only if A <= B (well, if their runtime representations held that relationship).
So it’s a typelevel function which has two arguments this time, and no return value or type: we just make it not available implicitly for invalid arguments. This would be roughly equivalent to an exception in a runtime algorithm.
So it’s very simple and looks like this:
Now we have to generate the implicit instances, again recursively. They are again reasonably simple:
So say we were trying to compute Lte[_3, _5] . Then we would call succCase implicitly with the arguments _2 and _4 , since we peeled away one layer of Succ on both arguments. We would continue peeling away until we tried to compare _0 to _2 , where we could call zeroCase and finish our recursion. We’d then zip back up the stack and return a value of type Lte[_3, _5] .
If, on the other hand, we were searching for a value of type Lte[_5, _3] , we would as a first step look for Lte[_4, _2] and so on. Eventually we would search for Lte[_2, _0] . However, zeroCase isn’t applicable since the _0 is on the right instead of the left. And succCase isn’t applicable since _0 is the Succ of no integer.
So we cannot compile a value of type Lte[_5, _3] — as we would expect since 5 is not less-than-or-equal to 3.
You can try it in a repl:
which is great! A genuine type-level computation. Our Nat are now ordered.
( Lt , Gt , Gte can all be defined similarly or derived from one another)
Addition
The big one.
This is the first time our typelevel computation returns a type as its result, rather than a value. We could, of course, add two Nat and return their runtime sum instead of their compile time sum if we wanted, but that would be boring.
So, we’re going to write a typelevel function Sum which takes two summands, and returns a type. It looks like this:
Notice that the return type Out is an inner type, not in the type parameter list. This is because if you wanted to summon an implicit Sum[A, B, Out] then you would always have to know the sum of A and B before you could summon it, which would ruin the point. Instead we want to summon a Sum[A, B] and have the compiler work out the innards for us.
We’re going to implement this naïvely at first, as we would want to write it, and then fix it when we realise the compiler won’t let us do that.
So, how do you add two numbers a and b together if all you can do is peel one layer of Succ off, and recurse?
Well, suppose we could write a = z + 1 , for some z . Which we definitely can do, for every a except 0 . Then we can see that a + b = z + (b + 1) .
That seems like a recursive step to me. We just need to plug in the zero case on top of it.
So, Sum could look like this:
Note here the return types. What we want to say is that the type of the implicit we’re generating is Sum[Succ[A], B] { type Out = sum.Out } , where the inner type has been fully realised as a type we calculated (in this case sum.Out ). Unfortunately this is not valid scala (though it should be) — but we’ll ignore this for now and examine the algorithm.
If you imagine searching for a Sum[_3, _2] , what would happen? We would examine succCase , and then recursively search for a Sum[_2, _3] . Then a Sum[_1, _4] , and then finally a Sum[_0, _5] , which is provided by zeroCase . We see the result of Sum[_0, _5] is just _5 ( type Out = B )- so we take this value, zip back up the stack and plug in the type _5 and we get an instance of type
Which works wonderfully… nearly.
Unfortunately due to limitations in scala the above type is not expressible in the position of a return type (or argument type come to that) of a function. We can’t specify inner types at that position. But we have to — we need to tell the compiler what the inner type is as the return type so it’s available at compile time rather than runtime.
Thankfully, someone once upon a time came up with a horrible hack known as the ‘aux pattern’ (aux meaning auxiliary). This is where we recognise such an expression is invalid, and we simply substitute a dummy type which is valid.
So we define this:
Think of Aux simply as an alias for what we actually want to express. Now we can revisit Sum and write it like this:
We’ve simply substituted Aux in. And, amazingly, this now works. You can test it yourself:
and we’re done! Genuine calculations performed purely at compile time. You can of course go further and define multiplication, or lowest common denominator, or exponentiation, or whatever you want. | https://medium.com/swlh/counting-at-compile-time-6338aa471492 | ['James Phillips'] | 2019-05-30 11:29:08.687000+00:00 | ['Scala', 'Functional Programming', 'Programming', 'Typelevel'] |
3 Self-Care Practices That Keep You Grounded | 3 Self-Care Practices That Keep You Grounded
Putting a critical lens on all that information and finding what actually works for us.
There’s too much to weed through
Every day, we are exposed to constant streams of information within access of our fingertips, telling us about the magical ways to live happier, healthier and wealthier.
What actually works for you?
I have a full-time day job. I’m a mom. I’m a blogger. I have a lot of things going on.
It can be overwhelming and almost every month, I reach a breaking point. But somehow, I manage to get myself together, patch up those loose seams and carry on.
Last summer, I became fed up with that cycle so I asked myself, “What can I do to minimize the build-up so that the breaking points don’t happen?”
Every day, we are exposed to constant streams of information within access of our fingertips, telling us about the magical ways to live happier, healthier and wealthier.
We can’t do everything and we shouldn’t do just anything but we can’t do nothing; therefore, I think it’s important to put a critical lens on all that information and reflect on what actually works for us.
I began thinking about all the self-improvement information that I’ve gathered from workshops, conferences, Ted Talks, podcasts, conversations with friends, co-workers, and family, random articles/videos in my social media feeds etc.
And I distilled all this information into 3 realistic and meaningful practices that I can actually do for myself almost every day. Since following them, I feel like I’ve been more grounded.
I hope sharing my self-care practices will inspire you to wade through that information overflow and filter what resonates with you to help maintain a sense of calm in the sometimes chaotic mess called life.
Also, I’m curious to read this in the future to see how I have evolved.
Disclaimer: I am not a medical expert so please consult your physician before following any of this blindly. Be smart about it, ya know?
Combining Yoga and Meditation
I had an on and off relationship with Yoga.
For most of my life, I’ve alternated between running and going to the gym. I joined the local recreation centre at the age of 14 and basically fell in love with strength training so much so that I did my undergrad in Kinesiology.
I have a naturally muscular and athletic build and so for most of my adult life, I’ve strived to build muscle and improve cardiovascular endurance. I’ve always had this misconception that yoga was for stretching and something you do after a “real workout” if you had the time.
That was until I met my husband who has been practicing yoga for the past 6 years.
He convinced me to try it so I took the plunge and paid for an expensive annual pass. Every night, we went to a power yoga class together.
Downward Dog, Upward Dog, Chaturanga, Savasana…
Then when I was 5 months pregnant, we moved and I stopped going. I somehow convinced myself again that yoga “just wasn’t my thing.”
After, my workouts became a mindless activity, a checkbox. I’d go on the elliptical/stationary bike/treadmill and put a Hallmark movie on; before I knew it, my 30 minutes was up and I’d be so relieved that it was over.
However, I wasn’t getting any joy from the actual workout. I’d be drenched in sweat and my legs would be sore the next day, but that wasn’t helping my feelings of being overwhelmed, contributing to that monthly breaking point.
So one day while searching on YouTube, I found a yoga routine and decided to try it on a whim. This one was perfect at just under 30 minutes. I tried it and I felt this high I had never felt before. My body became invigorated as though I had gotten a massage and my lymphatic system was reactivated.
So I started doing this routine, again and again, every day until it got to the point where I had memorized the entire set.
Now, almost every day, I’ll put some zen music on, do this routine and practice mindfulness through almost the entire thing. I’ll pause in a pose whenever I’m needing an extra push. I don’t need equipment and I can literally do it anywhere. And when it’s over, I’m elated rather than relieved.
I think before becoming a mom, with fewer responsibilities and more time, yoga just didn’t feel right. I had these extrinsic goals to meet. I didn’t need to make time for myself. I could easily pick up and go.
Now as a mom, my time is a scarce commodity. So if I’m going to exercise, I might as well get the biggest bang for my buck by doing something that maximizes both my physical and mental health.
How To Create Your Self-Care Practice:
Incorporate Meditation In Your Daily Exercise
Exercise, exercise, exercise. Everyone knows they should exercise.
Sitting is the new smoking.
Move more.
Sweat every day.
What do you do for exercise?
Dancing? Walking? Kettlebells?
Whatever it is, try and meditate during the session.
Turn off the TV.
Put your phone aside.
Focus on your breath…inhale, exhale
Pay attention to how your body is moving
Do a body scan from your toes to your head.
How does everything feel?
Stop viewing exercise as something you dread since you “have to do it.”
Instead, seize the opportunity to mentally check out. Your mind and body will thank you.
Viewing Intermittent Fasting As A Spiritual Practice
I’ve mentioned before that I don’t eat breakfast and that I practice intermittent fasting 4–5 times a week (usually for 15–16 hours). I’ve been doing this for the last 2 years because it works for my body.
It’s an easy and efficient way to manage my meals (ie. fewer meals to prepare and plan for)…plus a bunch of health benefits that other blogs have already talked about.
However, it wasn’t until I heard Terry Crews on Tim Ferris talk about how fasting is a “spiritual thing” for him that something clicked in my head. To me, the physical and practical benefits of fasting are a given but they don’t give me a meaningful purpose to do it.
The practice was something I just do.
However, I hadn’t realized the mental and spiritual effects that fasting has. I was merely going through the motions without being mindful about the actual process.
This change in mindset has helped keep me grounded.
The hour before I get to eat, I do my yoga routine. The feeling of hunger along with the mindful practice makes the experience incredibly humbling.
The discomfort of having fasted for about 15 hours actually enhances my ability to be mindful of my body’s movements, redirecting my thoughts about my daily tasks to what I’m feeling at the moment.
When it’s time to eat, that feeling I get before I take the first bite of whatever I’m eating reminds me to be grateful to have access to food pretty much whenever I want.
Imagine I didn’t know when my next meal was.
Imagine I didn’t know when this feeling would end.
When I finish my last meal before starting the fasting phase, there’s the same elated feeling I get after my yoga practice. My belly is full. I feel warm and fuzzy because my body is whole again.
I don’t know how to describe it but it’s definitely a spiritual thing.
How To Create Your Self-Care Practice:
Test Your Limits To Reinforce Gratitude
What have you taken for granted over the years and is no longer an indulgence but instead, has become a given?
What is something you can do every day that makes you slightly uncomfortable but also make you appreciate the good things you have in your life?
Do a little self-experiment.
Do you always put cream and sugar into your coffee?
What if you tried it black for a month? How bitter would that first sip of coffee taste compared to the sip you take at the end of the month? How would that sweet and creamy coffee taste after? Pretty damn good? Or perhaps you would prefer the black coffee and actually start to appreciate all the different coffee notes (citrus, floral, earthy, spicy) all those hipsters are raving about.
Do you always have your phone with you in case you get into an awkward scenario where you have to wait in line to buy a coffee and there is nothing for you to do?
What if you embraced that discomfort and actually noticed the details around you? The smell of the coffee brewing? The beautifully decorated cupcakes in the glass display? What if you didn’t check that notification on your phone? Would you appreciate it more when you did? Or perhaps you’d realize you didn’t need to check it all and save yourself those few minutes of distraction.
Do you eat dessert every day?
What if you split that dessert into 3 pieces and ate a piece of it every other night? How much would you savour each last bite? How much more would you look forward to it?
Brush Your Teeth Mindfully
A few months ago, I finally got rid of my toothbrush and bought one of those electric ones.
“Yes, welcome to the future, Katharine!”
These things have a timer on them that tells you when to switch from top to bottom. When I first started using it, it felt like ages before I could switch sides.
I had no patience for this (Ain’t nobody got time for this!).
So I started doing other stuff while brushing my teeth, whatever I could with one hand (pee, check my phone, pick out my outfit, do my eyeliner etc).
Almost every time, the toothpaste suds from my mouth would drip onto my clothes, making me wipe it and change my shirt, adding extra time to my already busy morning.
“No Más!”
I had to stop multitasking.
So every morning and night when I brush my teeth, I force myself to be mindful.
Every swirl, every spin, every brush, I am one with my teeth every step of the way.
Sounds kind of lame, but it’s working.
How To Create Your Self-Care Practice:
Embed Mindfulness Into A Daily Chore
What is something you have to do every day?
Shower? Put on clothes? Take off clothes? Wash your face?
What chore do you despise? Love?
Putting dishes in the dishwasher? Laundry? Vacuuming?
Choose one of these chores and do them mindfully.
Pay attention to every detail.
For instance, the simple act of washing your hands which I think most people do too quickly (including myself) anyway.
Wait for a moment when your hands are extra dirty, perhaps just having eaten hot wings/saucy ribs/oily pizza?
Move your fingers around to feel the stickiness between all the crevices. When you turn the tap on, pay attention to the sound of the water hitting the sink. As you immerse your hands into the rushing warm water, notice the colour of the sauce leaving your hands. Take a deep breath and savour the smell of the soap. Caress each fingernail, each joint, each palm. Massage each finger and thumb. Compare the feeling of your clean hands with the memory of your dirty ones. Rinse and repeat.
So Readers, what does self-care mean to you? What are some of your own self-care practices? | https://medium.com/change-becomes-you/3-self-care-practices-that-keep-you-grounded-abec4ba3b2cf | ['Katharine Chan', 'Msc', 'Bsc'] | 2020-12-01 19:40:35.878000+00:00 | ['Health', 'Self Care', 'Self Improvement', 'Personal Growth', 'Self'] |
MOMS Club Rock Painting Event | The MOMS Club of Medford has worked together with the Ceramic Barn to host a rock painting event on Oct. 22 from noon to 2 p.m. to help local children and families paint rocks.
There is a local group called Shamong Medford Rocks, started by Colleen McCaffrey, and it is helping to spread the word about this great group.
The idea is to get the kids outside finding rocks and hiding rocks that they have painted. It helps foster a sense of community locally and inspire creativity in the children. The rocks will be painted with the hashtag #shamongrocks or #medfordrocks and parents can snap photos of the rocks kids have found and post them on the group’s Facebook page. | https://medium.com/the-medford-sun/moms-club-rock-painting-event-2068a7163c91 | [] | 2016-12-19 15:55:23.798000+00:00 | ['Ceramic Barn', 'Headlines', 'Colleen Mccaffrey', 'Families', 'Entertainment'] |
Amazon Web Services (AWS EC2) | AWS Fundamentals & AWS EC2 Instances
Here, we will discuss the basic and important fundamentals of AWS. This tutorial will help you with the knowledge you need as AWS EC2 solutions architect and for interview preparation.
AWS Regions — These are the data centers across the world. It’s a geographical region. A region is a set of data centers or cluster of data centers. Each region has its own name & region code. For example, US-West(N. California) — us-west-1
What are the regional services? Few AWS services are region scoped, which means, those services are available in that region only. If you create an instance of a service in one region, you can access that service from anywhere around the world.
Availability Zones(AZs) — We call each group of logical data centers an Availability Zone. Each AWS Region consists of multiple, isolated, and physically separate AZ’s within a geographic area.
To know more visit AWS Global Infrastructure(click here) and which services are offered in which region? Check it out
IAM(Identity & Access management) — AWS Security for users, group & roles. You can secure each of your service in AWS using IAM. IAM is a global service and not a regional service.
Group — It’s a group of users. And you can set permissions to the group and users will inherit the permission.
Roles — Roles are not for users. Roles are specified for machines.
Policies — These are basically JSON documents which state what a group or role can do, that means, the permission for a group or role.
IAM Federation — Enterprises uses this IAM. Using this a user can log in using company credentials. Internally it uses SAML standards.
AWS EC2
AWS EC2 is capable of the below features:
Launching virtual machines( EC2 )
) Storing data on virtual drives( EBS )
) Distributing load across machines, i.e Load Balancing ( ELB )
) Scaling services using autoscaling group(ASG)
Launching a virtual machine (EC2) — AMI(Amazon Machine Image) — This is the operating system which we want in our virtual machine. For example, Amazon Linux 2, Windows, etc.
Amazon Virtual Private Cloud(VPC) — Amazon Virtual Private Cloud is a commercial cloud computing service that provides users a virtual private cloud.
Subnet — It is basically a subnetwork within a region, which means an availability zone in a region where you want to launch your instance. For example — us-west-3a, where us-west-3 is the region and ‘a’ specifies an AZ. There will be some other AZs in that region with names like us-west-3b, us-west-3c, etc. Each region may contain a minimum of 2 AZs(a-b) and a maximum of 6 AZs(a-f).
Adding Storage — You need to add storage to your virtual machine also called EBS volume to install your operating system.
Security Group — Firewall for our EC2 instance.
Key-Pair — You need to use/create a key pair file (.pem file) with which you will be able to access(SSH) the EC2 virtual machine instance from your local machine.
Commands to access EC2 in a Linux machine —
ssh -i keypairfilename.pem ec2-user@(ec2-public-IP)
You will get an error after executing the above command. The private key pair file which you download is usually an unprotected file with permission 0644, which means the file is too open to get leaked. So, before executing the above command you need to change the permission for your keypair file as below:
chmod 0400 keypairfilename.pem
Note: You can also use Amazon EC2 Instance Connect provided in the AWS portal to access your machine.
Security Group
The security groups are network security in AWS. They control access to ports & how the traffic is allowed in(described by inbound traffic rule) and out(described by outbound traffic rule) of EC2 virtual machines. Security groups can be attached to multiple instances. Security groups created can be used only for a region. Those groups cannot be used for instances in a different region.
Note: If you do not have permission to access the EC2 instance, you will be timed out while accessing EC2. Remember, the security groups act as a firewall to the EC2 instance, which means EC2 instances are unaware of the unauthorized users trying to access it. Firewall blocks those unauthorized requests before reaching EC2. You can restrict the security group role just to an IP and access to a port. By default, all inbound traffics is blocked and all outbound traffics is authorized.
Note: If you are getting a ‘connection refused’ error instead of timeout while accessing EC2, then it might be an issue with the EC2 instance.
Elastic IP — When you stop and start an EC2 instance, its public IP may change(private IP won’t change). So if you want your EC2 instance restrict to same IP always, you have to use elastic IP. It’s a public IPv4. So, when you create an elastic IP, you own that public IP in global network. And one obvious thing is you can attach an elastic IP to one EC2 instance at a time. So, the advantage of elastic IP is that you can change your EC2 instance to a new instance with same public IP without breaking your application call to EC2. You can create 5 elastic IPs for your account by default.
Create Elastic IP → ‘Associate Elastic IP address’ to your EC2 instance
To disassociate elastic IP→EC2 Instance → Networking →Disassociate elastic IP address
Important !! If you are not using the elastic IP address created for your account, you will get charged for the IP. So you must release the elastic IP address if you are not using it.
Note: Instead of elastic IP the more common way is to use random public IP with a DNS name or using load balancers without any usage of public IP/DNS(discussed later).
Command to update your EC2 with all the packages — yum update -y
Install HTTP server — yum install -y httpd.x86_64
To start HTTP server — systemctl start httpd.service
To make it enable across reboots — systemctl enable httpd.service
Now, to launch the web page from your machine you have to add an HTTP security group for the server with port 80.
http://(public-IP):80
EC2 User Data — It is basically a script which we gets executed when our EC2 machine starts for the first time only when you create. So you can write script to update packages, install new softwares, downloading files etc.
An example script:
#!/bin/bash
yum update -y
yum install -y httpd.x86_64
systemctl start httpd.service
systemctl enable httpd.service
EC2 Launch Types
On demand instances — (Short workload) — $0.10/hour
Pay according to usage time(billing/sec, after the first minute). So, mostly you get high cost. This is being used when you want any uninterrupted short workload. (No upfront payment)
Reserved instances — (1 or 3 years) — Known amount of time(Long workload)
1. Reserved — (Pay upfront) — 75% discount compared to on demand instance— Recommended for steady usage for your application for long term.
2. Convertible reserved instances (54% discount)— You can change the EC2 instance type.
3. Scheduled reserved instances(5–10% discount)(need for few weekdays specific time for running jobs etc.) — Required fraction of day/week or month.
Spot Instances — (Short workload) — 90% discount — You can lose these instances if your ‘max price’ goes below the current spot price. So, these are not recommended for database usage. It is used for workloads which are resilient to failure. So, when the current spot price goes over your max defined price, you lose the instance as they gets terminated.
Spot Block — Block spot instance for a specified time frame for few hours(1–6 hours) without interruption.
Spot Instance request — Requests a Spot Instance. The request provides the maximum price per hour that you are willing to pay for a Spot Instance. If you don’t specify a maximum price, the default maximum price is the On-Demand price. When the maximum price per hour for your request exceeds the Spot price, Amazon EC2 fulfills your request if capacity is available. A Spot Instance request is either one-time or persistent. Amazon EC2 automatically resubmits a persistent Spot Instance request after the Spot Instance associated with the request is terminated. Your Spot Instance request can optionally specify a duration for the Spot Instances.
A Spot Instance pool is a set of unused EC2 instances with the same instance type (for example, m5.large ), operating system, Availability Zone, and network platform. When you make a Spot Fleet request, you can include multiple launch specifications, that vary by instance type, AMI, Availability Zone, or subnet. The Spot Fleet selects the Spot Instance pools that are used to fulfill the request, based on the launch specifications included in your Spot Fleet request, and the configuration of the Spot Fleet request. The Spot Instances come from the selected pools.
Spot Fleet —A Spot Fleet is a collection, or fleet, of Spot Instances, and optionally On-Demand Instances.
The Spot Fleet attempts to launch the number of Spot Instances and On-Demand Instances to meet the target capacity that you specified in the Spot Fleet request. The request for Spot Instances is fulfilled if there is available capacity and the maximum price you specified in the request exceeds the current Spot price. The Spot Fleet also attempts to maintain its target capacity fleet if your Spot Instances are interrupted.
You can also set a maximum amount per hour that you’re willing to pay for your fleet, and Spot Fleet launches instances until it reaches the maximum amount. When the maximum amount you’re willing to pay is reached, the fleet stops launching instances even if it hasn’t met the target capacity. It optimizes your cost with lowest price available for the instances.
Dedicated Instances (75% discount — 1 year)—Dedicated Instances are Amazon EC2 instances that run in a VPC on hardware that’s dedicated to a single customer. Your Dedicated instances are physically isolated at the host hardware level from instances that belong to other AWS accounts. Dedicated instances may share hardware with other instances from the same AWS account that are not Dedicated instances.
Dedicated Host — (3 years — on demand price) —(More expensive) — Book entire physical EC2 server & you can control instance placements(Dedicated Hosts give you additional visibility and control over how instances are placed on a physical server). They gives you visibility of underlying sockets/physical cores of the hardware. Useful for the software with licensing model.
EC2 Instance Types — https://ec2instances.info/
R — RAM oriented — in memory caches applications
C — CPU Oriented — applications with high computing capacity
M — Balanced with all types — web applications
I — I/O oriented — databases
G — GPU oriented — video rendering applications/machine learning
Burstable Instances — T2/T3
When the machine needs suddenly high computation power, it utilizes the CPU heavily called burst. If the machine burst, then it utilizes burst credits. Again when it goes to normal state, burst credits gets accumulated again. If your application burst the machine always, then you can face performance issues.
T2/T3 Unlimited burst — It gives unlimited burst credit balance. You have to pay extra money if you go over burst credit, but you will never lose performance.
EC2 AMIs — AMIs are used to create our instances. AWS EC2s comes with lot of images like Linux, Windows etc. You can create your own custom image. Custom AMIs which you built are for specific AWS region, but you can copy it to other region. We can use/rent other public AMIs. By default AMIs are private and locked for your account only. To change you have to use modify image permissions. AMI uses Amazon S3 as storage.
Right click on instance and “Create Image”. Once you create the image it will be available in AMI tab.
You can make it public or private. You can give access to specific accounts in private. If you check create volume then anyone can copy it.
You can also copy the image to some other region.
Now using that image, you can launch a new EC2 instance like shown below:
EC2 Placement groups —
Cluster —All your EC2s are in same AZs, same hardware. One can use when one need high network speed/bandwidth with extremely low latency. But we have a high failure risks if the hard fails.
Spreads — All your EC2 instances are distributes across different hardware in a region. One can use this to increase maximum availability of the application. But we have a limitation here like we can have max 7 instances per AZ per placement spread group.
Partition — Partitions are set of racks in an AZ. We can create max 7 partition in an AZ and max 100s instances.
Elastic Network Interfaces (ENI)— They represent a virtual network card. They give EC2 instance access to the network. ENI can have a primary private IP(IPv4) and one or more secondary private IPs(IPv4), one public IP, one or more security groups. You can create ENI independently and attach or move them anytime to EC2 instances to save them from failover. They are bounded to an AZ.
Creating ENI
ENI created and it’s available.
Attaching ENI to a running instance
EC2 Hibernate — When you create an instance, the instance gets created with EBS volume(storage) where your OS gets installed. When you stop the instance, then data on the EBS is intact for the next start. When an instance terminates, the data on any instance store volumes associated with that instance is deleted. By default, Amazon EBS root device volumes are automatically deleted when the instance terminates. However, by default, any additional EBS volumes that you attach at launch, or any EBS volumes that you attach to an existing instance persist even after the instance terminates. So, when again you start your instance after you have stopped, it takes long time to start if your instance or application takes a long time to bootstrap.
You can use hibernation to pre-warm the instance. To pre-warm the instance, you launch it with hibernation enabled then bring it to a desired state and hibernate it, ready to be resumed to the same state as needed.
When you hibernate an instance, Amazon EC2 signals the operating system to perform hibernation (suspend-to-disk). Hibernation saves the contents from the instance memory (RAM) to your Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) root volume. Amazon EC2 persists the instance’s EBS root volume and any attached EBS data volumes. When you start your instance:
The EBS root volume is restored to its previous state
The RAM contents are reloaded
The processes that were previously running on the instance are resumed
Previously attached data volumes are reattached and the instance retains its instance ID
That’s all for AWS EC2 instances. Hope you enjoyed :) | https://medium.com/skyforce-technologies/amazon-web-services-aws-ec2-c72e6728147b | ['Skyforce Technologies'] | 2021-01-01 15:31:30.312000+00:00 | ['Ec2 Tutorial', 'Aws Solutions Architect', 'Aws Tutorial', 'Aws Ec2', 'Ec2 Instance'] |
Baidu to Train 100,000 AI Talents in Three Years | At a tech conference in Beijing yesterday, Baidu Vice President Yaqin Zhang plotted a bold course for the search engine giant. In response to a growing shortage of AI talents, Zhang announced that Baidu will train over 100,000 AI talents with expertise in engineering and product development over the next three years.
Trainees can learn AI, data analysis, and cloud computing skills on the Cloud Intelligence College (云智学院), an education platform launched by Baidu last year that offers online and offline courses, and awards specialized certificates to graduates.
“Our mission, on one hand, is to improve the employment competitiveness of trainees, and on the other hand, to ramp up companies’ product R&D capabilities,” says Zhang.
China is facing a shortage of five million AI talents. While the country is an AI business deployment leader with well-financed startups, its AI educational infrastructure is lagging. The US has six times more AI education institutions. Meanwhile, high demand has sent AI engineer salaries skyrocketing in China.
Earlier this month China’s Ministry of Education issued an action plan aimed at energizing Chinese universities’ capabilities in AI technological innovation, talent cultivation, and global cooperation. The action plan also pledges to educate 500 teachers and 5,000 students over the next five years in a joint effort with Sinovation Venture and Peking University.
* * *
Journalist: Tony Peng| Editor: Michael Sarazen
* * *
Subscribe here to get insightful tech news, reviews and analysis! | https://medium.com/syncedreview/baidu-to-train-100-000-ai-talents-in-three-years-850ab9c1cc01 | [] | 2018-04-26 20:26:23.056000+00:00 | ['Ai Training Program', 'Education', 'Baidu', 'China', 'AI'] |
They’re Trying to Break Up Revillagigedo Island | They’re Trying to Break Up Revillagigedo Island
UPDATE
As of the evening of September 10th, the Alaska Redistricting Board issued the following statement:
It has been brought to the Board’s attention that a few census blocks on the southern portion of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough were unintentionally omitted from the Board’s proposed plans adopted on Thursday, September 9. This was due to a software glitch and does not align with the Board’s stated intentions. Inclusion of those census blocks will necessitate more work by the Board which they will bring forward at the next scheduled meeting on Friday, September 17. The Board thanks the public for their prompt responses to this oversight and invites continued feedback on these initial Proposed Plans.
I am gratified to hear that it was not the intent of the Redistricting Board to split off precincts from Revillagigedo Island. Nevertheless, even if Revillagigedo itself remains part of one district, many of the concerns I wrote about below still apply to the potential removal of Hyder, Metlakatla, and Prince of Wales Island from a shared district with Ketchikan, which remains the hub city they are socio-economically integrated with. As such, I will leave my original article below unedited, and I still strongly urge Alaskans to submit comments and alternative plans to the Redistricting Board.
Original Article
After every census, states need to redraw the boundaries of their political districts to make sure every resident receives fair and proportional representation in government. Alaska has a Redistricting Board with five members who are supposed to be appointed “without regard to political affiliation” that is supposed to do just that.
Unfortunately, the two Proposed Redistricting Plans the board adopted at its meeting on September 9th make a mockery of fair, common-sense representation when it comes to the community of Ketchikan: BOTH of the proposed maps would divide Revillagigedo Island by placing two of its voting precincts—Saxman and South Tongass—in a separate legislative district from the rest of the island.
Revillagigedo Island is divided in both of the Proposed Redistricting Plans adopted by the Alaska Redistricting Board on September 9th.
Under both of these proposals (which do not differ at all in Southeast), the house district with the City of Ketchikan and the North Tongass voting precincts would expand to include the community of Petersburg and surrounding areas of central Southeast nearly 200 miles from Ketchikan. Meanwhile, Saxman and South Tongass would be merged into a ludicrous, 600-mile-long district combining the southernmost, northernmost, westernmost, and some rural central areas of Southeast Alaska, from Hyder to Angoon to Yakutat.
The Proposed Redistricting Plans create a 188-mile-long district with most of Ketchikan that stretches into north-central Southeast, and a 616-mile-long monster district combining the southernmost and northernmost portions of Southeast Alaska.
It should go without saying that there is little reason that the residents of Revillagigedo Island—who all attend the same events, schools, and churches, frequent the same businesses, and use the same government services—should not all have the same political representation. It should be even more obvious that the residents of Killer Whale Avenue, Old Dairy Road, and Roosevelt Drive should not share a political representative with communities as far away and entirely distinct as Hoonah, Gustavus, or Yakutat. And yet, apparently this DOESN’T go without saying when it comes to Alaska’s Redistricting Board.
Article VI Subsection of the Alaska Constitution sets out the following provisions:
Each house district shall be formed of contiguous and compact territory containing as nearly as practicable a relatively integrated socio-economic area. … Consideration may be given to local government boundaries.
Throughout the entirety of Alaska’s history as a state, the community of Ketchikan has had one representative in the Alaska State House. Over the decades, it is true that the communities included in the same district as Ketchikan have shifted back and forth: Often Ketchikan has been linked with Metlakatla, almost always parts of Prince of Wales Island, sometimes Wrangell, and at one point even Petersburg.
All of these past formulations made sense. Ketchikan is the hub city of southern Southeast Alaska, and we are clearly linked to Metlakatla, Prince of Wales Island, and Wrangell as a “relatively integrated socio-economic area.” Petersburg is less connected: It’s true that people from Petersburg will sometimes come to Ketchikan for services, but my understanding is that they go to Juneau far more frequently, which makes sense because it’s a larger city and there are more direct transportation links.
What absolutely does NOT make sense is to divide Ketchikan by separating the majority of our community from our friends and neighbors in Saxman, South Tongass, and the closely-linked communities of Hyder, Metlakatla, and Prince of Wales. There is nothing “compact” about a gerrymandered snakelike district stretching from Cape Suckling to the Portland Canal, a district with no socio-economic integration between communities as distant and disconnected as Gustavus and Metlakatla, and a district in which it would be a near-impossible task for a legislator to visit and represent all of the communities they would be supposed to serve. And, clearly, there is absolutely no regard in these proposed plans for the local government boundaries of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough.
There is one more factor that is an elephant in the room, and we need to call it out: Saxman is the only Alaska Native-majority voting precinct on Revillagigedo Island, and it may be the case that the attempt to merge it with other Native-majority communities hundreds of miles away like Hoonah and Yakutat is an attempt to “pack” as many Native voters as possible into a single legislative district in Southeast. That kind of race-based gerrymandering should be absolutely unacceptable to all Alaskans.
I do not know who is on the Redistricting Board, and it may certainly be the case that their ludicrous proposal for redistricting Southeast Alaska was made out of ignorance, rather than malice. Nevertheless, we need to do something.
Fortunately, the two plans the board adopted on September 9th were only proposed plans, and there is still time for the board to consider better, common-sense alternatives. The first place to visit is the Redistricting Board website, where there is even a tool provided for creating your own redistricting map proposal. I couldn’t even believe how easy it was to make a simple, common-sense legislative district for southern Southeast!
an easy-to-draw common-sense district for southern Southeast, containing all of Revillagigedo Island and the communities that use Ketchikan as their hub
As you can see, this district I drew contains all of Ketchikan and all the communities that primarily use Ketchikan as their hub—Wrangell, all of Prince of Wales Island, Metlakatla, and Hyder. The census population of this area (19,168) is actually even larger than the ideal average district size of 18,335. There should be no problem with creating a district like this.
Here is the link to submit public comments to the Redistricting Board. Please spread the word and submit your comments as soon as possible, or submit an entirely new map proposal if you can! A final decision will be made soon, perhaps in as little as one or two weeks. We need to make sure our communities have legislators who can really represent us, especially because these new boundaries will hold for the next ten years.
The time to speak out is NOW. | https://medium.com/@peterwstanton/theyre-trying-to-break-up-revillagigedo-island-aed853ed2bba | ['Peter Stanton'] | 2021-09-11 03:32:26.335000+00:00 | ['Alaska', 'Government', 'Elections', 'Maps', 'Politics'] |
The Unexpected Virtues Of Doing Nothing (Newsletter) | Have you ever met someone who started running, taking it seriously, like really seriously, getting the latest, arch-supporting, heated, toe-hugging shoes, the latest clima-cool running outfit that moulds to the contours of your body, and then just won’t stop talking about it? Or that one person, there’s always that one person, that *friend* who joins CrossFit and suddenly becomes a spokesperson for burpees? And tried to convince you every day to join in? I really value my knees, John, but thank you very much.
I have noticed that these days the new runners or CrossFitters are popping up everywheeeere, and they just will not stop talking about productivity. Be productive! Be productive! Be productive! Do all your tasks every day, read a hundred books a month, never rest. You must be productive or you will not achieve success. At first, I didn’t think there was something inherently wrong with that, this “culture of productivity” but during the COVID-19 quarantine, I discovered how damaging this way of thinking can be, *can* being the operative word here.
At some point, I saw some Tweets that professed things like, “If you didn’t learn a new skill, or read at least one book or discovered a new element in the periodic table during quarantine you are doing it wrong.” I can’t begin to explain how many things are wrong with that.
Read more
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Click here to join the newsletter! | https://medium.com/illumination/the-unexpected-virtues-of-doing-nothing-newsletter-66175ced9570 | [] | 2020-12-19 22:42:51.270000+00:00 | ['Rejuvenation', 'Life Hacking', 'Relaxation', 'Mental Health', 'Life Lessons'] |
Local Nomad Walks on the Wild Side — “Snakechild” | Local Nomad
Local Nomad Walks on the Wild Side — “Snakechild”
The alluring temptation of unbridled self-indulgence.
Synth-pop artist Local Nomad, aka Michael Desmond, unveils the music video for “Snakechild,” a song about the ecstasy and ultimate debilitating agony of rampant self-indulgence. This is a steamy, smoldering superb song rife with gooey bluesy energy and alt-rock brawn.
Talking about his pseudonym, Michael Desmond says, “Local Nomad is the resistance of sedentary life. It’s about seeking the strange and embracing the unknown. Wondering. Wandering. Young and Old. Everywhere and Nowhere. As cliche as it may sound — when I pick up a guitar and sing, it’s the only me. I feel at home.”
The tile of the song — “Snakechild” — refers to a real friend of Michael’s, whose life is made up of insensate passion for new sensations and, especially, debauchery. The song embodies myriad nights out on the town, reveling, drinking, dancing, and feeling the thrilling high of living on the edge. Still, when it’s all over, what’s left is a feeling of emptiness and dark depression.
Local Nomad
The video, directed by James Morano and Michael, is a trip akin to wandering through the aftermath of time spent in Kubla Khan’s pleasure dome, where the exit leads to Dante’s circles of hell. The visuals portray Local Nomad roving along empty streets, sitting in the back of a cab, wondering what’s going on and where he is.
Looking like the victim of a brutal assault, unkempt, with cotton shoved in his nose to stem the bleeding, he finally arrives at a tattoo parlor, where he takes a seat and watches as Courtney Raimo, of MTV’s How Far Is Tattoo Far?, works her art on his arm.
Opening on a thin, clanging piano, “Snakechild” proceeds to take on pulsing, writhing muscle as the bassline and drums kick in. Oozing and undulating on treacly textures, the melody, while dark and risky, is simultaneously gripping and full of spectral sensuality, giving the tune wicked beguiling energy, tempting listeners to enter.
Dark and potently imbued with an aura of primal licentiousness, “Snakechild” delivers a chilling, captivating soundscape — one that’s enigmatically appealing.
Follow Local Nomad Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Spotify | https://medium.com/pop-off/local-nomad-walks-on-the-wild-side-snakechild-d3680ffca95c | ['Randall Radic'] | 2020-10-23 10:53:06.804000+00:00 | ['Snakechild', 'Music Video', 'Music', 'New Music', 'Local Nomad'] |
Offline Sandwich | Distractions are bad. Distractions make you dumber. Eliminating distractions is impossible. We can try to contain them instead of eliminating them.
Offline sandwich is a way to structure your workday in a way that you put distractions into their boxes, thus giving yourself a good piece of quality time.
Offline Online Offtopic
Offline phase
focus
coding
investigation
Online phase
pull, push, watch the build
review commits — force yourself to do it
review PT — force yourself to do it
overcommunicate
Offtopic phase | https://medium.com/planet-arkency/offline-sandwich-30830ae5f16d | ['Tomasz Wróbel'] | 2018-04-23 16:56:31.873000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Lifestyle', 'Programming'] |
My Christmas? Bleak and getting worse, but no options are left if we’re to live in lockdown | (Note to self aged four months younger)
Dear Susan
What are you thinking to be leaving relatively COVID-free, sunny Australia for Europe, where COVID deaths are soaring and health and hospital systems are buckling under the pressure?
Sydney International airport…leaving home
To be saying goodbye to your big, loving family, friends, a good job and go and work in a region in meltdown over climbing daily COVID cases. And in winter? To live and work alone in an apartment in lockdown on the other side of the planet? Specifically, Hungary, where there are now upwards of 160 deaths and 5,000 new infections a day, a state of emergency, a curfew, restaurants, bars, cafes, hotels, schools for those over 14 are all closed. In short, the very opposite to your normal safe, privileged life.
And now it’s Christmas, Susan. You didn’t think about how rough that would feel did you?
(Note from present self)
Dear Susan
You’re right, it’s hard but I knew it would be. I couldn’t have foreseen how it would feel and how I would cope but I came here to work.
I’ve been training and working towards an international aid worker career for years. I’m finally free to do it. My kids have grown up. My husband is supportive. Then when COVID-19 hit, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies mobilized rapidly, raising funds and deploying technical specialists to support local Red Cross Red Crescent responses around the world. I was lucky enough to win a position as a communications delegate, and of all the places in the world, I was offered Budapest, Hungary.
Another sunny day in downtown Budapest
It’s not my first international deployment, and each one has been widely different. This post is for six months, supporting 54 countries in Europe and Central Asia, coordinating all-important messaging, finding opportunities to push out the facts about what people can do to stay safe, and to raise visibility of local Red Cross work which in turn builds trust in its unique community-based work.
And yes it’s tough. But it’s tough for everyone in Europe. People here are weary of lockdown. They’re over the grinding, never-ending nature of the pandemic. It’s been an extremely long year since the first case was reported in Europe, in France, on 25 January and things are only getting worse, as a cold dark winter deepens, and case numbers and deaths grow. Everyone I talk to has either had Coronavirus or had a loved one who’s been sick with it or tragically, died. A news site reports that the morgues have run out of room. People tell me they’re sick of people being sick and dying.
The economic impacts are evident everywhere. My apartment neighbours leave their lights off at night. Well-dressed people constantly approach me in the street asking for money. All over the city small businesses have signs up that they are closed permanently.
For people who already struggling, this coronavirus is pushing them to the limit. Migrants, the poor, those already sick or who can’t access any health care and those all alone in the world.
For me this Christmas, things couldn’t be more different from normal. I’ll be working or on call over the holiday period. My highlight will probably be joining my family via Skype at 3 am for a champagne in bed (real or virtual, I’m still undecided) while they enjoy their champagne (real), prawns, tropical fruits and blue skies.
But to be honest Susan, I’m a bit proud of how you’re holding up. You know the work you’re doing counts. You’ve learned that to stay strong and positive you keep busy. You’re amazed at how much variety you can squeeze into your day in in that three-room apartment. Pilates via YouTube. French lessons via Zoom. And for evening therapy you’ve even hand-stitched a double bedspread, while listening to podcasts and live broadcasts (thank you BBC World Service, ABC’s Bang On, Coronacast, Stop Everything! and The Book Show — I love you all dearly!)
You mask up and rug up and walk 10 km a day. Budapest is a beautiful city to walk in and there’s a new route each day with gorgeous new quarters to discover sans tourists. You have put out perhaps overly keen vibes that you’re in the market for friends, and new people kindly take me under their wing. So while the best bits are all closed and locked down, we can still go on walks and explore the countryside.
So Susan you’re just one of millions who have put Christmas on hold. You embrace the restrictions so we can survive. | https://medium.com/@susancullinan-50130/my-christmas-bleak-and-getting-worse-but-no-options-are-left-if-were-to-live-in-lockdown-13dce530d3a3 | ['Susan Cullinan'] | 2020-12-17 10:31:51.042000+00:00 | ['Coronavirus', 'Europe', 'Lockdown', 'Red Cross', 'Covid 19'] |
Empty Building to Battery Tower | As the world lessens its dependence on oil and Calgary looks to create more diversification in its economic approach were going to start seeing far more innovation from this once conservative metropolis.
We’re currently in a technological convergence whereby seemingly seperate, unrelated industry are making such headway on their development that innovation is overflowing into adjacent industries. 3D printing, for example, is now being used to reduce costs and parts in the rocket industry. Quantum computing will intertwine with mobile phone technology when Intel releases its first quantum chips. And AI is interfacing with the likes of Uber and Tesla who are quickly increasingly the quality of autonomous vehicles and aerial taxis which are already released to the surprise of many.
Taxis of the Future … are here.
Another fast increasing tech development has occured with batteries. Seems a lot of people don’t realize just how far this technology has come. And with Alberta being historically partial to oil and gas battery tech for electric vehicles has been mostly left out of the conversation. Even fewer have heard about Honesdale Power Generation systems made by the likes of Elon Musk in Australia.
Owned and operated by French renewable energy producer Neoen, the wind and battery systen acts as a back up and has saved Australians approximately $75 million USD in 2019, tripling from the year prior.
Calgary is having issues with filling empty building downtown. Some corporate building owners are switching to apartments rentals, others creating shared co-epace for entrepreneurs and small business’. Another approach has yet to enter public discussion, battery towers.
Imagine an electrified city that could pump out electricity to the grid from its core outward. Lowering the costs of tax payers, creating more jobs and ensuring a sustainable approach to energy.
Solar cell advancements are quickening like many tech sectors. Building windows could be replaced with solar windows that draw in the sun’s power and feed the internal system which is comprised of the newly developed graphene batteries pouring off the shelves out of LA start up Real Graphene.
Graphene remains cool, is 2 atoms thick, bullet proof, charges 5x faster than a typical lithium ion battery and has approximately 1500 charging cycles compared to 200 to 300. Graphene is expected to change the face of battery tech in the near future.
Calgary could also start producing these types of materials if deemed feasible. Create factory jobs to sustain the necessary supply chain like electric car battery manufacturing, be the next gigafactory for Tesla. Or we could stay smaller by leading battery production in cell phones, or design graphene power bank cases. The possibilities are endless.
By looking around the globe we can meld ideas together, build off new tech, and create relationships that will benefit everyone. We just need to use our imagination and start acting on future trends.
By Christopher Holwell
Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder. — Rumi
We’re just getting started here at The Forward and would love your support via our affiliate links and by hitting the subscribe button. Please help us take flight if you enjoy our take on reality. You can expect more on leadership, personal and societal growth — all with a little lean toward optimism.
Part of Creative Republic Media | https://medium.com/@thefwd/empty-building-to-battery-tower-810c0753a8d | ['The Forward'] | 2020-12-18 09:16:11.370000+00:00 | ['Elon Musk', 'Renewable Energy', 'Science', 'Calgary', 'Solar Energy'] |
Introducing Hornet — a lightweight IOTA node | The IOTA Foundation understands the need to fundamentally reshape the requirements of our software ecosystem to attend to the demand for the adoption of our technology. Partners and established companies from different industries expect a mature ecosystem of tools to use our technology and build on the Tangle, IOTA’s underlying data structure.
Along with our ongoing work on different pieces of our technology stack, like client libraries and MAM, we have always invested in ensuring participation in the Tangle through node software is as seamless as possible. The reference implementation, IRI, has undergone many changes and improvements over the last year with the goal to make the participation in the Tangle and the set up of private networks much better experiences.
We are also working on our highly performant node offering written in Rust. Called Bee, the first version of this node software will be out next year.
IOTA counts on a thriving ecosystem of developers contributing to tools and applications for anyone interested in innovating with our technology. The IOTA Foundation supports this ecosystem through the Ecosystem Development Fund.
Introducing HORNET
To evolve and diversify our node software offering, the IOTA Foundation has been supporting the development of a node implementation written in Go. This implementation — called Hornet — is now available as a beta version here. This is a more lightweight take on our Java node implementation (IRI). The functionality is on par with the latest version of IRI, with the exception of local snapshots, which will be added soon.
The Hornet team is a combined team consisting of members of our community, and one developer from the foundation:
Maximilian Hase (muXxer#1289)
Alexander Sporn (alexsporn#6593)
Sebastian Fuchs (IoTMOD#0279)
Luca Moser — IOTA Foundation (Luca Moser [IF]#4960)
The Hornet team did an amazing job building the node software. We are very happy to have Hornet as an addition to our existing ecosystem, and we look forward to seeing how Hornet evolves in the upcoming months and years!
You can read more about Hornet in this blog post.
As always, we welcome everyone to stop by on Discord . You can follow the development of Hornet on the #hornet discussion channel.
Follow us on Twitter to keep track of all the latest news: https://twitter.com/iotatoken | https://medium.com/iotatangle/introducing-hornet-a-lightweight-iota-node-2b3b750348f5 | ['Jakub Cech'] | 2019-12-17 15:02:38.635000+00:00 | ['Iota', 'Software Development', 'Research And Development', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Dlt'] |
Chameleon Ville : Cross-Chain NFT Game & Community Experience Beginning with Secret Network | Hello future Residents of the Chameleon Ville!
Cross-Chain, Beginning on Secret Network
With this article we’ll be marking the beginning of a very exciting era. As you might know, Chameleon Ville was first announced right before the launch of Secret Dogs, with an animated video of our French mascot, teasing Chameleon Ville in his house, playing the piano in his cozy living room then moving off to his Parisian apartment balcony and finishing up the announcement.
You can find the video here on this Twitter post:
Chameleon Ville Teaser Announcement
Make sure to follow us when you’re done watching by the way! =]
Reason we’ve decided to release this announcement video before the launch of Secret Dogs was to showcase the “Whitelist Pass” utility of Secret Dogs and showcase the first product in which Secret Dog Owners will be whitelisted for.
The Secret Dogs Whitelist Pass
While we’re on the subject of Secret Dogs, we’d like to thank you once again. Secret Dogs was a huge hit within the community and was the fastest sell out in Secret NFTs history. 64,750 $SCRT of sales in under an hour! Secondaries have also been quite successful so far. After just an hour of selling out, 2 Secret Dogs have been sold for 680 $SCRT and now the number is at 23 sold on secondaries.
With that said and as the graphic clearly states, all Secret Dog Owners will have a whitelist seat at the time of the initial Chameleon Ville mint on Secret Network.
Secret Dogs secondary sales are available here at this link:
https://stashh.io/collection/secret186wc7z6p88kd4ggyeledvwwe7cqmcnn9xev3su?status=buy_now
Now, let’s move on to Chameleon Ville
What is Chameleon Ville?
Elevator Pitch
Chameleon Ville is a Cross-Chain NFT Game & Community Experience in which you are a resident of Chameleon Ville. Being a resident means you can customize the look of your home whether that be outdoors or indoors. You can play games that are either shared across chains or chain exclusive and compete within the leaderboards. Earn money through playing said games, whether they’re at an arcade, a casino or elsewhere. Chat & meet fellow residents at meeting places such as cafes or restaurants and make long lasting friendships. Buy or sell items and furniture within the Chameleon Ville Marketplace using the in-game currency Cham (₵). Be a part of an ever-expanding community and become a legend in the Ville. Your character, your money, your choices.
Why Cross-Chain and Why Start with Secret Network?
We believe that the idea of having an NFT game Cross-Chain supports the shared goal of the decentralized finance movement. We want not to polarize Networks but to bring them together, let each Network’s communities learn and get to know more about other communities, bringing awareness and value to multiple Networks instead of sticking to just one.
Reason we’re doing our initial launch with Secret Network is because we’re creators within the Secret Network community and this is where we think needs NFT projects with quality. The community knows us, they trust us and our marketing power is currently best spent for Secret Network where we already have a built-up following. The move from Secret to future planned networks like Solana or Avalanche is one that we’re very excited for both as creators and for the awareness that it’ll bring to Secret Network.
The NFT Collection
What are we minting?
Each minted Chameleon is your entry pass for Chameleon Ville that you can also of course buy or sell on NFT marketplaces. Each Chameleon you hold, whether they be on one wallet or several, is their own unique character in the game. Minted Chameleon’s metadata ID is linked to their Game Profile upon logging into Chameleon Ville. The NFT and the Game Profile is then linked, so the selling or buying of an NFT also transfers all the In-Game items, assets and currency of the Chameleon.
Collection & Art
The Art Direction is fancy, elegant, fun yet not chaotic. We’re aiming for top quality with every trait and go for a unique yet desirable approach.
Original Art Derivatives
Below is a tease of some of the beautiful residents of the Chameleon Ville that you can mint.
Total supply is 4,444 and the Chameleons are derived from these main traits:
Background: Color, Gradient, Special
Primary Color: Color, Material, Special
Secondary Color: Color, Spots/Stripes
Headwear: Hats, Caps, Beanies of all sorts, Color Variants
Innerwear: Shirts, T-Shirts and other Innerwear of all sorts
Outerwear: Jackets, Coats, Robes, Scarfs of all sorts
Neckwear: Collars, Glowsticks, Special
Mouth Type: All sorts of mouth variants
Eye Type: Lids, Color, Special
Eye Color: Color, Special
Facial Accessories: Glasses, Goggles, Monocles etc. of all sorts
* Designed with rarity and desirability in mind to ensure each minter is satisfied with their Chameleon, whether that be the Chameleon’s looks or its metadata.
* High quality and print-ready.
Utility
Each Chameleon you mint can now be processed through Chameleon Ville and be linked to their In-Game identity.
Upon launching the game, you’ll be given a choice to select your preferred Chain/Network and doing so will prompt you to connect your wallet. (Note that the Chain on which you have minted your Chameleon is the Chain you’d start playing from.)
Concept Art / Does not represent the final look of Chameleon Ville.
Concept Art / Does not represent the final look of Chameleon Ville.
Each Chameleon you own will be linked to a profile on Chameleon Ville with which you can change your username and customize many other things. Your Chameleon will act as your identity and profile picture on Chameleon Ville.
The Game
Home Customization
The chain on which you mint your Chameleon (Secret Network, Solana, Avax, Ethereum) determines which region you reside in Chameleon Ville. Once you have a home, you’ll be put in the region with a default home that you can customize and level up with your Cham (₵).
This is a constructed concept art of the outdoor look of your home and an isometric view of Chameleon Ville. (Art and UI do not represent the final look of Chameleon Ville.)
Concept Art. Does not represent the final look of Chameleon Ville.
Indoors is your living room that serves as both an NFT Showroom and a place for which you can invite fellow residents in Chameleon Ville to take a glance and admire your artistic and creative expression. Your home is fully customizable, meaning you can buy, sell and exchange your furniture, your painting frames (that serve as an on-chain NFT showcase or just a JPEG holder), your piano or other musical instruments, the paint color on your walls, curtains, carpets and of course a place for which you can give your Secret Dog a home.
Concept Art. Does not represent the final look of Chameleon Ville.
You can list your furniture to sell or buy furniture with Cham (₵) within the in-game marketplace or just quick-sell your items for a quick buck. Our marketplace is an ever-growing in-game shop of items and furniture that get updated with new content regularly. Content Updates can range between Basic, Special and Exclusive. These updates can be all sort of different things; A set of chairs, new patterned walls, new painting frames or a 1 of 1 Grand Piano piece.
You can choose to leave your home completely private, invite only or public for your chain or public for cross-chain.
Social
The social aspect of Chameleon Ville is quite important to the Game Design.
You can visit cafes and restaurants or events in the cross-chain town center to socialize and meet new people. You can chat in-game through direct messages and have your own inbox for friend requests and messaging. You can invite fellow residents of the Chameleon Ville to check out your home or invite them to a competitive game within the Arcade or Casino.
Games
In Chameleon Ville, playing games is essential to the in-game economy and acts both as a way of having fun and earning Cham (₵). Games can be both Chain-specific (e.g. A game that only Secret Network Chameleons can play) or Cross-Chain. Gaming aspect will consist of several games within each Game Area (Casino, Arcade, etc.) Every game has their own leaderboard, both chain-specific and cross-chain and there’s time events for games that reward top players with special furniture, items, Cham (₵) or all three.
That’s it for today’s article!
There is still so much we want to share about Chameleon Ville and we hope this article gives you some idea of our values and the scope we’re going for.
We’re currently setting up our Discord server and Website, but you can follow us on Twitter and join our Telegram chat to be kept up on updates and ask any question.
We also recommend you snatch a Secret Dog from Stashh’s Secondary Sales while the prices are fairly low. Both to be ready for Chameleon Ville’s whitelist mint and to be an early supporter of the on-going development.
Join us. Reserve your spot in Chameleon Ville. Become a legend. Your character, your money, your choices.
This time we are flying higher.
Here’s our socials:
Twitter : @ChameleonVille
Telegram: @ChameleonVille | https://medium.com/@ChameleonVille/chameleon-ville-cross-chain-nft-game-experience-beginning-with-secret-network-3e20e12c090c | ['Chameleon Ville Nft'] | 2021-12-29 17:22:24.813000+00:00 | ['Nftgaming', 'Nft Marketplace', 'Nft Collectibles', 'Nftart', 'Nft'] |
PASSION/RENJANA | be a good person for yourself | https://medium.com/@yogapriambudi/passion-atau-renjana-8f6f5544455f | ['Yoga Priambudi'] | 2020-12-18 03:44:50.886000+00:00 | ['Renjana', 'Passion', 'Mindset', 'Mindfulness', 'Education'] |
“Science” by definition, is what the majority of scientists on earth believe at any given time. | “Science” by definition, is what the majority of scientists on earth believe at any given time. This does not mean it is true. For example, the majority of scientists today believe life is a result of evolution by natural selection. However, this does not make it true. There are a growing number of scientists, based on a growing body of evidence, who believe Darwinism is wrong. However, because they are not the majority, then what they believe is not considered science, unless and until the majority of scientists on earth agree.
There was a time when Copernicus’ view was in the minority, a time when Galileo was in the minority, a time when Einstein was in the minority. Because a view is not the majority, this does not necessarily make it wrong, but it does mean that it is not “science”, unless and until the majority of scientists agree.
You are criticizing me for using the term “science” instead of scientists, so now you know the difference. Using the term “science” is accurate as long as it represents a majority view, even if some day it is no longer a majority view.
Science used to believe the following 5 things listed below; each number noted below at one time was by far the majority opinion of living practicing scientists on earth.
The Universe is a result of deliberate design and creation by an Eternal Creator, also called “Primary Cause”. Nothing can exist unto itself, without a primary cause. What this means is that energy, light, motion, intelligence, life and mathematics cannot rationally exist unto themselves. Even if they could possibly do so, all scientific experiments demonstrate the opposite conclusion, including all known experiments here in the 21st Century. The atom is the smallest part of matter. The sun and planets revolve around the earth. There is only one galaxy, which is static and eternal.
Numbers 3,4 & 5 are no longer “science”, because they have been demonstrated by evidence to be incorrect. They are no longer “science” because the majority of scientists no longer agree.
However, numbers 1 & 2 remain “science”, because they have not been demonstrated by evidence to be incorrect.
What you and Richard Dawkins and all atheists are trying to do is just eliminate 1 & 2, without providing any evidence to substantiate your position. This is why both you and Richard Dawkins are not practicing science. What you are promoting has never been established by evidence to be correct or even remotely possible.
You can’t just decide you don’t like the fact that Jesus is smarter than you, so you can freely go around pretending he was wrong about God. Both you and Richard Dawkins will have to answer one day for what you do, whether you like it or not. We can’t just pretend there is no God, because God exists, anyway and, we are responsible to what we teach God’s children, however good or bad it may be. | https://medium.com/@web-33696/you-missed-the-point-entirely-b067ce07e892 | ['Richard Aberdeen'] | 2021-07-07 00:02:29.620000+00:00 | ['Atheism', 'Creation', 'Evolution', 'Jesus', 'Science'] |
Nervos’s Multi-Layer Architecture: Designed with Scalability in Mind | Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash
This is the third in a series of blog posts exploring the key ideas behind the development of Nervos. Each article will alternate between a core tenet of Nervos’s governing philosophy, and a use case that illustrates how these principles are intended to work in practice. Today, we focus on what has been called blockchain’s scalability “trilemma” and how Nervos’s multi-layer design can overcome it.
Blockchain’s Scalability Challenge
Scalability is perhaps the number-one challenge facing blockchain projects today. Major existing blockchains currently handle transactions at a rate that is a fraction of what would be needed to compete in mainstream verticals like finance; Bitcoin is limited to 7 transactions per second (tps), versus an average of roughly 2,000 tps for Visa.
The blockchain community understands this, and has proposed many scalability solutions in recent years. These solutions fall into two categories: on-chain scaling and off-chain scaling. On-chain scaling solutions aim to expand the throughput of the consensus process, creating blockchains with native throughput that rivals centralized systems. Off-chain scaling solutions only use the blockchain as a secure asset and settlement platform, and shift nearly all transactions to other layers. Nervos falls into the second category.
Nervos’s Multi-Layer Structure is Designed to Scale
Nervos has been designed from day one with scalability in mind. A key element of our philosophy is that blockchains lend themselves to a multi-layer design, with the highest-value functionality — store of asset — performed by Layer 1, and high-volume transactions shifted to Layer 2.
As Nervos Lead Architect and Researcher Jan Xie explained in an op-ed:
Attempts to solve the trilemma typically commit a key error: the assumption that all transactions must take place on a single, base layer of the blockchain. This is to misunderstand what is actually revolutionary about blockchains, and what their transformational power can accomplish
Nervos is premised on the idea that a blockchain’s ability to store value in a new, decentralized, immutable way is the fundamental capability that sets it apart and makes it a transformational technology. This function, and the large amount of computing power it requires, should be reserved for Layer 1. The high volume of transactions taking place between users, each of which individually requires much less power, can be shifted to Layer 2. This allows us to maintain the network’s ability to store assets and units of value in large volumes while still scaling to accommodate mainstream demand.
Layer 1 for Store of Asset
Blockchains’ greatest power lies not in processing transactions but in storing value. Assets stored on a blockchain become immutable, just like inscriptions carved on the walls of ancient Egyptian temples. Because storing information immutably in this way requires a lot of computing power, it should be reserved for high-value, long-term assets. This has important design implications, which we have made central to the Nervos architecture.
Nervos is built to separate and spread the different functions of the network across different layers or components. This offers greatly improved functionality over current solutions. Coupling all functions into a single layer would likely slow transaction throughput to a crawl. Instead, we process these activities on a secondary layer, leaving the base layer of the blockchain to store only the value of assets. This is intended to achieve speed and scalability while preserving decentralization and security for the crucial function of the blockchain: the store of value.
Layer 2 to Scale, and Beyond
In a multi-layer protocol like Nervos, the base layer blockchain acts as a settlement layer, while the Layer 2 network routes cryptographic proofs that allow participants to “take delivery” of the asset. All activities of the second layer are cryptographically secured by the underlying blockchain, and Layer 1 is only used to settle amounts entering or exiting the Layer 2 network. These designs operate without any delegation of custody (or risk of loss) of funds and enable instant, nearly free transactions. In this way, the multi-layer design of Nervos avoids the scalability trilemma.
(We invite you to read our previous blog discussing the challenge of state bloat, which is likely to arise once scale is achieved, and the innovative ownership model Nervos uses to avoid this problem)
The Sky is the Limit
Scalability has been a crucial element of Nervos’s design from day one, and we have built a multi-layer network we believe will offer the best solution for rapid growth of decentralized applications. This opens the door to true, broad-based adoption of blockchain technology as a basis for many mainstream applications. The next installment in this series will explore the real-world possibilities that can be unlocked once we move past the “trilemma.” Please check this page for regular updates over the coming weeks. | https://medium.com/nervosnetwork/nervoss-multi-layer-architecture-designed-with-scalability-in-mind-7655910d9828 | ['Nervos Network'] | 2019-12-05 16:30:24.342000+00:00 | ['Bitcoin', 'Layer 2', 'Scalability', 'Blockchain', 'Editorials And Comments'] |
How are you feeling about 2021? | Have you ever wanted to pour anger onto paper? I wish I knew how. I feel like having a good loud cry and punching the living daylights out of someone, but I can’t. I want to puke out all the sadness in me, into words. But even that doesn't seem to be easy.
I am just so furious, so tired, so sick of this. ALL OF IT.
The Pandemic, the new-normal, my marriage, my barely existent sex life, my emotional turmoil, the neverending parched Sahara that is my heart…everything.
It's a fucking shit-show.
Is everyone else feeling it? I don't get how everyone has just been saying, “Oh 2020 you are awful”. Hello…What do you think is gonna happen on January 1st, 2021. Will you wake up to find the pandemic over? Will global warming and the effects of effing climate change auto-reverse itself? Will all the world problems end?
Nope, most probably not.
I am typing vigorously here, trying to vent all my feelings onto this screen. But what exactly am I feeling?
Let's see —
ANGRY
Mind-boggling, boiling rage. At everyone and everything. I feel so furious and I have so much to say to certain people in my life…but every time I start to form the words in my head, the intensity of the feelings scares me. It's like a bomb with a fuse that dies down just before exploding. I am never able to fully express my anger…so it simmers in me. A slow burn…painful, poisonous, and toxic.
ZONED-OUT
My brain feels like mush most days, especially when I read or watch the news. Oh come on, alien monoliths, pandemic, political shitshow, melting glaciers, burning forests, dying people…which reminds me, did the murder hornets leave yet? Does anyone know? Since March, I have felt it. My brain shuts down, refuses to process any more of the bad scary news coming in. Result, brain fog, brain mush, and denial. Zombie-zoned mental state. Eat, sleep, fuck…repeat. Only in my case…there is no fucking.
HORNY
Well, that's no surprise, right? I am almost always that way. Especially with the kind of life I lead, I hardly have human touch around me. My husband doesn't touch me…all, and I no longer want him to. I get laid (if I am fortunate) about once every three weeks. I choose busy lovers, they are better than needy ones. But then this is the side-effect. Also what really sucks is, I had plans today but they got canceled as my lover had a family emergency, so I guess that's it as far as sex goes for me in 2020. Done, dusted, and not fucked enough.
(No am not pissed at my lover, he is a genuine guy and I care about him, just clarifying that here. I know people, you probably feel sorry for me. Oh, trust me I feel fucking sorry for myself and my poor sex-starved hungry body more than any of you can, but no hard feelings for my lover. It's fucking life, it happens.)
RECKLESS
Anyone else feeling it? Sudden spurts of recklessness. Who knows if we will make it to tomorrow? So why not just do it all today? I do feel that way for a bit every single day. Do I act on it? Mostly not. But yes the thoughts are there. A feeling of complete abandon, letting go and running wild. I swear I have had thoughts, of running naked through a field or a beach..telling the world to go fuck themselves. But the visual that popped up in my head wasn't anything like the movies, lol. It was more of me falling flat, tripping over my own fucking feet, face in the sand, ass in the air, a complete disaster… as if I am not already one. It stopped me.
SAD AND EXHAUSTED
I am sad, you all probably already know that. I get angry, I boil over but eventually, all of my feelings conclude into sadness and exhaustion. This entire year and life, in general, has me exhausted. Tired to the fuckin bone. All of this worry and fear drains a person. Add to it the effort of trying to implement some of the numerous self-help advice floating around, ugh…that's even more tiring. And all pretty damn useless.
It all seems pointless to me, the whole loop of life. We go on and on and on and on… hoping to reach some unseen destination. But what about the journey? What if this journey is only giving us pain, heartbreak, infinite anxiety, and stress? How do you even know there is a destination? After all, someone rightly (were they right though?) said, ‘Life is about the journey, not the destination’. Who said this? Google will tell you.
I am too sad right now to go google it.
So as the shit-show that is 2020 ends, what do I hope for? I hope for the rest of my journey to be full of sanity, peace, health, and passion. Don't get me wrong, I count my blessings, trust me I do. Every single day…
But we are humans and this bloody nonstop barrage of stress bombs needs to end. Let me be a responsible person and add in a PSA here — ‘Mask up, sanitize, and stay in, people. This New Normal is here to stay.’
2021 will be a continued shit show…hopefully shorter than 2020.
And now I shall go take care of myself, at least the horny bit….
Cheers!! | https://medium.com/the-bad-influence/how-are-you-feeling-about-2021-139d6700c18f | ['Wistful Writer'] | 2020-12-14 21:02:36.210000+00:00 | ['Sarcasm', 'This Happened To Me', 'The Bad Influence', 'Satire', 'Thoughts'] |
Merriam-Webster’s politically offensive additions and updates for 2020 | Merriam-Webster’s politically offensive additions and updates for 2020
Amerika. noun \ Amer·i·ca | \ ə-ˈmer-ə-kə \
A nation of complacent, coddled assholes finally waking up to a long-overdue, interminable day of reckoning.
“Suck it, Amerika, you narcissistic, Tiger-King-watching miserable lot pricks.”
Apocalips. noun \ apoc·a·lypse | \ ə-ˈpä-kə-ˌlips \
When your dictation software glitches, causing every sentence you utter to be transformed into meaningless, garbled walruses.
“Todd’s unfortunate apocalips ruined another promising text relationship.”
Buttigeig. noun \ Boot·uh·judge | \ ˈbüt ˈə ˈjəj \
An impressive feat of political, popular, or mainstream acceptance or ascent by a gay person in a nontraditional setting.
“Wow, Kevin really pulled a Buttigeig at that Masonic Lodge meeting.”
Chad. noun \ˈchad\
A man who tries to grab his spouse’s p*ssy between Zoom meetings, even though they’ve both gained 20 pounds, resemble half-drunk yetis, and haven’t showered for days.
“Hey, Siri, find a divorce lawyer. Chad has groped me for the last time.”
Civiliesation. noun \ civ·i·li·za·tion | \ ˌsi-və-lə-ˈzā-shən \
The dawning realization that America is a nation founded on a system of institutional racism, oppression, slaughter, immorality, and lies by cross-dressing imperialist superspreaders.
“Children, gather round and let me tell you the true story of our civiliesation.”
Covfefe. noun \ co-fee-fee | \ ˈkōvˈfē ˈfē \
A milder, more curable form of COVID-19 only contracted by the rich, immoral, and unrepentant.
“President Trump’s covfefe was easily treated by a helicopter ride to Walter Reed, the care of 13 clinicians, intravenous doses of remdesivir and steroids, and an SUV victory lap down Rockville Pike.”
Democrazy. noun \ de·moc·ra·cy | \ di-ˈmä-krə-sē \
The idea that the United States has a fair and rational form of government.
“Amerika proved that one election can’t undo decades of democrazy.”
Dystopeeia. noun \ dys·to·pia | \ dis-ˈtō-pē-ə \
The disturbing urge to urinate when discussing COVID-19, climate change, craft cocktails, or other apocalyptic signs of our impending doom.
“Watching CNN made my dystopeeia so bad, I had to wear Depends.”
Ickstremist. noun \ ick·strem·ist| \ ik-ˈstrē-mist \
An angry, unmasked person waving a misspelled sign, wearing camouflage, and scream-spitting SKOAL juice in your face.
“Make sure to wear a full-body condom to visit Uncle Joe because he’s an ickstremist.”
Four Seasons Total Landscaping. noun \ Four Sea·sons To·tal Land·scap·ing\ ˈfȯr-ˈsē-zᵊn-ˈtō-tᵊl-ˈlan(d)-skāp-iŋ \
An event touted as swanky that turns out to be sleazy.
“Ronnie’s bar mitzvah at the Best Western was a full-on Four Seasons Total Landscaping.”
Karen. noun \ Ka·ren | \ kə-ˈren \
An insufferable woman who posts elaborate home-cooked meals on her Instagram while bemoaning the hardships of remote schooling, missed manicures, a messy house, and still having a job.
“The last straw in my friendship with Karen was when she posted that paella.”
Home schooling. noun \ home school·ing | \ ˈhōm — ˈskü-liŋ\
A euphemism for letting your kids do whatever they want all day so that you can fully apply yourself to working remotely, mind-numbing panic attacks, and the occasional lesson about Jesus.
“Home schooling has really improved my kids’ online gaming skills.”
Liberal (secondary meaning). noun \ lib·er·al | \ ˈli-b(ə-)rəl \
A person who believes masks minimize the threat of COVID-19.
“Those liberals are disrespecting my rights by not breathing COVID all over me.”
Proud Boy. noun \ˈprau̇d ˈbȯi \
A man who is so impressed by his own bigotry, racism, and stupidity that he can only be called a child.
“Though they had no clue what the rally was for, the Proud Boys enthusiastically showed up to get drunk and roam the streets, looking for a fight.”
OK, Boomer. noun, idiom \ ō-ˈkā ˈbü-mər \
A pejorative expression used to belittle people old enough to remember the hit 1980s TV show Here’s Boomer about a heroic stray mutt who wanders from town to town helping people overcome challenges.
“OK, Boomer.”
Punditz. noun \ ˈpən-dəts \
A group of political commentators who are completely full of sh*t.
“Let’s turn now to our punditz for some divisive analysis and inflammatory rhetoric.”
Remote learning. noun \ ri-ˈmōt ˈlər-niŋ \
A euphemism for four hours a day of monotonous, screen-based activity that impart no learning whatsoever but thankfully prevent your child from disrupting you repeatedly at work to ask where his Baby Yoda hoodie is.
“Instead of a time out, I thought it would be educational to send my son into remote learning.”
Russian interference. noun \ ˈrə-shən ˌin-tər-ˈfir-ən(t)s \
A fool-proof, common idiom denouncing Russia as the root of all governmental malfeasance.
“Perhaps the earliest modern sign of Russian interference was standardized testing.”
Socialist. noun \ ˈsō-sh(ə-)list \
Anyone benefiting from infrastructure, transportation, public schools, parks, libraries, public safety, the military, Medicare, and Social Security. Or has ever used a rest-stop bathroom.
“A bunch of socialists are taking a breath right now in Amerika.”
Sociopath. noun \ ˈsō-sē-ə-ˌpath \
A person who openly expresses disdain for 99 percent of the population, yet still captures 47 percent of the popular vote in a presidential election.
“The sociopath was ousted, thanks to the thin residual threads of human decency.”
Tiger King. noun \ ˈtī-gər ˈkiŋ \
Any overhyped streaming television series inexplicably binge-watched by millions of people.
“IMHO, Cobra Kai turned out to be just another Tiger King in disguise.”
Toobin. noun \ ˈtü ˈbin \
A person with an irrepressible need to touch and/or show his genitalia during Zoom meetings.
“We had to take the weekly sales meeting offline once Ron revealed he was a Toobin.”
White privilege (secondary meaning). noun \ ˈ(h)wīt ˈpriv-lij \
The societal advantage that comes with having a huge cache of toilet paper.
“Sharon denied her white privilege until neighbors broke down her door and carried her Charmin Mega Rolls incontrovertibly through the streets.”
Woke (secondary meaning). adjective \ ˈwōk \
When you look ugly as f*ck in your Zoom meeting because you literally woke up 3 minutes before it started.
“I’m turning off the camera because I’m so woke right now.”
Yeet. noun, verb, adjective \ ˈyēt \
A multipurpose, highly utilitarian Gen Z slang term that has so many fluid meanings it can be yeeted in place of almost any part of speech in the English language.
“’Yeet!’ Chuck roared in celebration after yeeting his underwear into the yeeting crowd.”
Zoom. noun \ ˈzüm \
A popular web-based videoconferencing tool that exposes people’s facial flaws, technological incompetence, and poor taste in interior design.
“I would rather risk COVID than endure another Zoom cocktail hour.” | https://medium.com/the-hit-job/merriam-websters-politically-offensive-additions-and-updates-for-2020-c6f1bf20ad4b | ['Marya Jones Barlow'] | 2021-01-08 18:03:25.371000+00:00 | ['Words', '2020', 'Satire', 'Politics', 'Humor'] |
Week 62 — Happy Halloween!. October 26 to November 1 | Week 62 — Happy Halloween!
10/27/20
Still from The Comeback Trail (2020)
The Comeback Trail — George Gallo, 2020
I was lucky enough to get to watch this movie as part of a special screener through the Boulder International Film Festival. At this point, it’s probably been released to the public, but I still get the special distinction of saying that I saw it first. It has a similar premise to The Producers (which I’ve never seen) in that it’s about a couple of producers making a movie that they want to fail. However, in this case, they want to kill the star actor and collect his life insurance money to pay off their crime-boss investor, played to perfection by Morgan Freeman. The casting in this is a lot of fun; Robert De Niro is a talented comedy actor, as is Tommy Lee Jones, surprisingly. Zach Braff is there too, and obviously he is also very funny.
I wasn’t super in the mood to watch anything when we chose to put this on. We had to watch it before our ticket voucher expired, after all. Against my will, I found myself enjoying the ridiculousness of the movie. That’s something else that bears mentioning; it is much more farcical than I was expecting. Robert De Niro gets attacked by a bull. Tommy Lee Jones rides a horse through a burning covered wagon. Morgan Freeman is constantly flanked by hilariously dim cronies. I found it very enjoyable. I don’t mind a little silliness in my movies, especially when presented by very respectable actors. It seemed like this was a movie made just for the fun of it, and everyone involved was having a good time. | https://medium.com/film-a-day-diary/week-62-happy-halloween-c376ea6b186f | ['Sarah Cole'] | 2020-12-08 01:30:53.924000+00:00 | ['Diary', 'Filmmaking', 'Daily Blog', 'Film', 'Film Reviews'] |
OpenBazaar at Scaling Bitcoin Conference in Milan | Written by: Chris Pacia
This month I had the opportunity to attend the third Scaling Bitcoin conference in Milan. My purpose for going was to stay on top of the latest developments in Bitcoin and keep an eye out for collaboration opportunities for OpenBazaar and OB1 related projects. Now that I’m back, I can give a review of sorts and talk about some of the cool ideas that were proposed and discussed.
Firstly, the Scaling Bitcoin conferences seems to be evolving away from being exclusively about scaling and to a more general technical conference where bleeding edge ideas are presented. There were still a good number of presentations that were scaling-related, of course, but also a good mix of other ideas to improve Bitcoin. All of the presentations were of high quality, but I’ll comment on a few standouts.
MimbleWimble
The darling of the conference in my opinion, mimblewimble, was dropped on the internet by an anonymous mailing list poster as picked up by Andrew Poelstra and others. The basic idea is to use the same technology behind confidential transactions to turn blocks into a sort of big coinjoin transaction. Blockchain sleuths would not be able to use the transaction history to figure out who paid whom the way they can do today. A side benefit of this format is that much of the data in the blocks can be dropped allowing the blockchain to be compressed to a very small size.
Possibly one downside is that transactions still need to be broadcasted to each node, meaning there is still an opportunity for active attackers to record all transactions and link transactions together. This attack could possibly be foiled by grouping transaction together before broadcasting.
Most attendees I talked to about mimblewimble were very hot on it, but were holding back their enthusiasm until it could be demonstrated that it could scale (for example if they can make the lightning network work on it).
TumbleBit
I spent a good deal of time talking to Ethan Heilman who presented TumbleBit ― an anonymous coin mixer/payment hub. Whereas previous tumblers required users to trust the person running the tumbler to not keep logs which could de-anonymize users, TumbleBit makes that impossible through the clever use of cryptography. In addition to unlinkability, payments made through the tumbler would largely happen off chain.
Over the years there has been some talk about building these type mixing protocol directly into wallets to encourage their use, improving fungibility and increasing the anonymity set, but we’ve seen little movement in that regard. Maybe going forward there will be an opportunity to collaborate and get TumbleBit–or something like it–into OpenBazaar.
Ethan also offered to take a look at the OpenBazaar protocol to see if he can find ways to break it which, of course, would be great to have more eyes and more people with technical expertise reviewing it. It will only make the protocol stronger.
Notable Mentions
In the interest of time I’ll just offer a few more highlights:
I found Peter Todd’s talk about having miners skip validation and just focus on ordering, while requiring nodes to do their own validation to be an interesting rethinking of how consensus is achieved.
talk about having miners skip validation and just focus on ordering, while requiring nodes to do their own validation to be an interesting rethinking of how consensus is achieved. Emin Gun Sirer’s presentation on Bitcoin covenants was cool. People I spoke to about it liked the concept of covenants and suggested some ways of extending them further with Merkelized Abstract Syntax Trees.
presentation on Bitcoin covenants was cool. People I spoke to about it liked the concept of covenants and suggested some ways of extending them further with Merkelized Abstract Syntax Trees. Side note: It was nice to seem movement on bip 150/151. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.
I also had a short chat with Pierre who recently published a simulation of the FLARE routing for the lightning network. I talked to him about a routing simulator I wrote recently (which I didn’t publish since it was just a hack job to give me a rough idea of how well it would work). I think we both kind of agreed that there is still more work needed to optimizing routing and give us the greatest probability of finding routes from any one random node to another random node for a range of values. The routing needs to be very reliable for lightning to become widely used, in my opinion.
I had a really interesting chat with Mark Friedenbach from Blockstream about some of the advanced things they are working on. I won’t publish what they are as I don’t think they have made them public yet and I’ll let them talk about it when they’re ready, but they are super cool and at least one of the projects is something I’ve been wanting to work on myself and would probably be working on if I wasn’t working on OpenBazaar.
from Blockstream about some of the advanced things they are working on. I won’t publish what they are as I don’t think they have made them public yet and I’ll let them talk about it when they’re ready, but they are super cool and at least one of the projects is something I’ve been wanting to work on myself and would probably be working on if I wasn’t working on OpenBazaar. I spoke with Joseph and Laolu (Lightning Network) about collaborating on an SPV wallet implementation in Go. They wrote a small (and incomplete) SPV library for their lightning network project which I forked and have done some work on to beef it up. There is still a good way to go though and I’m hoping we have the opportunity to work together to get a solid implementation for both of us to use.
and (Lightning Network) about collaborating on an SPV wallet implementation in Go. They wrote a small (and incomplete) SPV library for their lightning network project which I forked and have done some work on to beef it up. There is still a good way to go though and I’m hoping we have the opportunity to work together to get a solid implementation for both of us to use. I didn’t get to attend Roger Ver’s free speech party and was disappointed that it was held at the same time as the main reception. Both parties ended up smaller than they would have been and it reduced the opportunities to network. If it was scheduled as an after party, or better yet a party on Sunday night, I’m willing to bet most conference attendees would have gone. There were lots of people looking for a party on Sunday night but there wasn’t one scheduled! Maybe a missed opportunity.
So all around the conference was very productive and it was good opportunity to make connections and stay on top of the latest developments. Assuming future Scaling Bitcoin conferences follow the same format I will be looking to attend them as well. | https://medium.com/openbazaarproject/openbazaar-at-scaling-bitcoin-conference-in-milan-e46a73ba43c6 | [] | 2016-10-19 21:30:33.197000+00:00 | ['Openbazaar', 'Bitcoin', 'Conferences', 'Blockchain', 'Milan'] |
Battery Shortage: Where To Get That Much Cobalt | The Top division media start discussing the so-called Cobalt Crunch. Forbes interviewed Ivan Glasenberg — chief executive of Glencore: “…We have seen the investments that car companies are making in electric vehicles, Glasenberg said. They will need battery supply. It will require a lot of cobalt, and we all know the geological scarcity of cobalt.”
Cobalt is a rare metal that has tripled in price over the past year to $80,000 a ton, with 60% of global supply coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo immersed in a permanent civil war.
How sincere was Mr. Glasenberg talking about the “geological scarcity” of cobalt?
Indeed, the continental deposits of cobalt are quite limited. But what the biggest mining corporations are silent on is the tremendous seabed resource of cobalt numbering millions of tons. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (in the Pacific ocean) alone contains 134 million tons of cobalt, for example.
If someone starts mining those super-rich seabed deposits, the market price of cobalt will inevitably go down. Will such a situation be advantageous for the world mining behemoths? Barely it will. Both EVs manufacturers and ordinary consumers will benefit from it. Because the abundance of the seaborn cobalt can make them less dependant on the current cobalt suppliers…
However, sooner or later some seabed mining trailblazer will start flooding the world mineral market with cheap cobalt — it’s just a matter of time. And most probably it will be some Chinese company since China has the largest reserved seabed mining area of about 86 000 square kilometers.
Hence, some apparent questions arise in this regard: why is the total disregard for seabed mineral deposits continuing on the global scale? Why don’t the leading mining corporations occupy the seabed mining sector to monopolize the mineral market?
If the problem comes to an appropriate deepwater mining technology only, it is not a problem at all — there are no unsolvable technical tasks — just recollect SpaceX with their reusable launch vehicles.
What is necessary to meet the challenge is dedication along with the focused efforts backed by the sufficient investments. By the way, the present New Cobalt Rush is to trigger a new investment boom. However, the investors are recommended to reconsider their priorities… | https://medium.com/extractive-industry-2-0/battery-shortage-where-to-get-that-much-cobalt-b276acfa458c | ['Krypton Ocean'] | 2018-05-14 06:59:06.676000+00:00 | ['Resources', 'Electric Car', 'Mining', 'Oceans', 'Investment'] |
Imagine World line— Big Picture | This article wants to help you imagine the World line of particles. Generally, it’s a line from the past to the future of a specific particle. Also I’m sick of watching movies that don’t make sense! They’re still following understanding of time from Back to the Future or Terminator Genisys, etc! My problem with those movies is the way they deal with The grandfather paradox.
The grandfather paradox is a potential logical problem that would arise if a person were to travel to a past time. The name comes from the idea that if a person travels to a time before their grandfather had children, and kills him, it would make their own birth impossible. — Wikipedia
Those movies’ logic is simple, what happens in the past would rewrite the future, but what if something changes the cause that has been produced itself! Then like in the Back to the Future they start to disappear! What?!
By the way, the picture that I want to draw is also simple and I hope writers read this article before they create another nonsense! However, if you are a writer and someone gives you the link to this article you may want to just jump to For Writers section, because until then I would draw a sketch of a serious scientific paper! Also be ready to rethink what you already know without thinking that an amateur Physicist solved this puzzle, as here we will not talk about totally new concepts. Just old stuff with new arrangements to make a consistent picture. So here we are!
Assumptions
Let Second law of thermodynamics be correct.
The second law of thermodynamics states that the total entropy of an isolated system can never decrease over time, and is constant if and only if all processes are reversible. — Wikipedia
Everyone knows that it’s correct. Just break an egg and try to bring it back like before breaking.
Here we think of thermodynamics entropy as Shannon entropy, because they have the same formula to calculate. As Shannon entropy is a measure of information in the system, this also means the total information of an isolated system can never decrease over time. I know people would argue that thermodynamics entropy is not information, but I would say deal with the fact that it’s information. Please! Also I can continue like this. As you can see in the above definition, being constant for total entropy of an isolated system means the process is reversible. On the other hand, in classical theories we have an official argument. It says conservation of information for instance in Newtonian Mechanics means being reversible in time. Where they actually talk about the Second law of Newtonian Mechanics and change of t to -t to see the equation is not changing. Or in Quantum mechanics take Schrödinger equation and do the same with t , to see the equation is not changing. They call it conservation of information, but also they will argue this information is not that information! mmm! Not acceptable!
Anyway, they behave the same, so in this article we accept that we have just one definition of information, so Shannon entropy, thermodynamics entropy, and information are all the same.
In reality, time is not reversible because generation of information is the clock ticks.
Let the Many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics be the correct interpretation.
The many-worlds interpretation (MWI) is an interpretation of quantum mechanics that asserts that the universal wavefunction is objectively real, and that there is no wavefunction collapse. This implies that all possible outcomes of quantum measurements are physically realized in some "world" or universe. — Wikipedia
As far as I know, this is the only consistent interpretation of quantum mechanics as it accepts the fact that subatomic particles would entangle with the environment around them, so it’s unavoidable to think the entire universe is out of the scope of entanglement. If you ignore this fact, you would encounter paradoxes. If you accept it, you’ll end up with MWI.
Pattern
Here we need to describe what the world line looks like. To do so, we need a model to describe it, so if we define a model, we could prove it’s behaving like what our assumptions imply.
Lightning Pattern
In thunderstorms, there is ordinary lightning like the image below.
Borrowed from https://www.treehugger.com/types-of-lightning-4864273
Here we want to mathematically describe it. First you can notice it’s a graph. So you may think the tree graph is the structure of this lightning. But it’s a little bit more complicated. The lightning in the picture above, is a discharge of negative charges from clouds to the ground. So basically negative charges, aka electrons, move toward the electric field, to find the ground and hit it. In their search for the ground, these electrons hit the air molecules and change their directions. Also the electric field is not a constant vector there, so electrons cannot find the straight direction to the ground. The result of this Trial and error process of searching is that some branches would fail to hit the ground. But finally one branch will find the ground and all electric charges will discharge over that branch, where you can find that branch more bright in the above picture. Lets name them. Call the failed branches dead-end branches, and the successfully found the ground branch, the final branch. We should mention there is no guarantee to stop those electrons to join each other again in their search path. Which mathematically avoids us to call that structure a tree graph. Because in a tree, branches cannot join.
Let’s define the lightning graph. It's a Directed graph, where globally is a tree graph, but locally can have loops. Also the direction in this graph is from root to leaves.
Quantum Mechanics
In quantum mechanics, we describe a system by quantum states. For instance, an electron beam has a state, where it shows the direction of propagation, momentum, and how it’s a wavefunction. So after the electrons in the beam pass the Double slit they produce a wave pattern, the same as light waves would produce it. But in case of quantum states, when they hit the screen they have to follow the eigenstates of the screen system, so based on the MWI they would fall into different worlds depending on different eigenstates of the screen. Where in each world an electron would create a dot, respect to the eigenstates that it falls to, on the screen.
Did you notice we didn’t have to talk about observer or measurement, or the Wave–particle duality in above description. Just the eigenstates of the screen are different from the eigenstates of the empty space, so electrons have to project their state in the Hilbert space, where those states lives, to the new system(screen system) and create worlds(branches). Also only wave behavior is needed in this description. No particles. Just dots, which are the eigenstates of the screen system. Also notice in lack of particles, the world lines would be tangent to the path of information movement.
Let’s talk more about Quantum observers. In all the official interpretations of Quantum Mechanics, measurement forces the existence of observers that are different from simple particles, which is contradicted with Special Relativity Principles
If a system of coordinates K is chosen so that, in relation to it, physical laws hold good in their simplest form, the same laws hold good in relation to any other system of coordinates K’ moving in uniform translation relatively to K. — Albert Einstein
Read coordinates K and coordinates K’ as observation of particle A and observation of particle B . Also read a particle as a dot on a world line. Before, we already mentioned that world lines are tangent to the path of information movement. This implies every particle are observers. Which in fact is consistent with the above description of Double slit experiment. You may call it a new interpretation, but in my opinion, it’s just Special Relativity Principle. So now that we satisfied the compatibility of MWI with classical mechanics, which means world lines are a thing in Quantum mechanics, we can come back to Double slit experience again.
What would happen to all those worlds that have been created by hitting the screen by electrons? Their outcomes are different and they make dots in different positions of the screen, so all those worlds are created, but the environment doesn’t care about the position of a dot of an electron on the screen. It cares more about the pattern a bunch of electrons draw on the screen. By environment, we mean the rest of the world. Nothing would change if the dots’ position were different, because the pattern on screen is still the same, so the created worlds would join together afterwards.
In other words, the electron world line would create sibling branches, when it hits the screen, and would merge afterwards with sibling branches to become one branch.
What if we split the screen in two sides and say if the electron hit the right side we will kill Hitler(Assume we’re in 1920!) and if it hit the left we will do nothing. In that case the electron’s world line who hit the right side would merge together. Also the same would happen to the electron’s world line of the left side. So in the end, we have two distinct world lines from initially one world line of an electron. Then two distinct branches would be created. Does it remind you of Schrödinger’s cat? me too! But imagine someone did this with Alexander the Great, so we have enough time for branches to completely separate! Do you think for an observer on the Andromeda Galaxy world lines of left and right sides of the screen would be different? In its perspective the both branches have been merged. So when you watch a system globally enough you would see a lot of the world lines are merged together. On the other hand, if you observe the screen locally enough, all the world lines of different dots would be separated.
World lines are totally directed lines as they start from the past and end to the future. Also as we argued above they would merge together if you observe them globally enough, which means there are local joins.
Evolution
Evolution is described like this
This is followed by three observable facts about living organisms: (1) traits vary among individuals with respect to their morphology, physiology and behaviour (phenotypic variation), (2) different traits confer different rates of survival and reproduction (differential fitness) and (3) traits can be passed from generation to generation (heritability of fitness). — Wikipedia
In my understanding of these facts, they just want to say Evolution is a search for better fitness to the environment. Hah! Is fitness related to increasing information? To answer let’s checkout Shannon entropy, which is a measure for information. It can be easier to understand it if you think of it as uncertainty. For instance, assume we produce two pens which are exactly the same. We name the pens one and two, then randomly give those pens to Alice and Bob. How certainly Alice can answer that her pen is the one? How much she is uncertain about the answer, we’ve created more information. Notice the creation of information happens when we produce two identical pens, but the uncertainty happens after we distribute the pens. But they are different ways to think about the same thing.
After all, factories, given their products are identical, are actually information generators (Based on the second law of thermodynamics, that’s why it looks like time ticking in favor of Capitalism! haha! Sorry! We have to be serious in this part!). Species are factories for their kind, so they are information generators, but there are limits pushed by the environment to restrict their production, such as lack of resources, other species, etc. On the other hand, time wants to tick, so species change themselves to fit more to the environment to produce more and more to make the time tick. Notice that when we say to make the time ticks, it actually means time ticks in the direction to produce more.
This clarifies what’s happening in the dead-end branches. Those branches are the ones where production is stopped so time is not ticking there, because in their search they reach the state of not being productive. Which means they don’t increase the information so time would not go forward. So these conditions imply that world lines are matches for lightning pattern as defined in the previous section.
You can think that maybe in some universes/worlds dinosaurs are still alive, if they would still be productive. In the end we cannot conclude that. Maybe our universe is the dead-end one!
The takeaway here is that the Evolution is the process of Trial and error, just like lightning. They both are the same algorithm for searching.
Big Picture
So the question is where this lightning pattern lives? As we’re in the realm of Quantum mechanics and every state in Quantum mechanics lives in Hilbert space so the Hilbert manifold is where this beast lives. This picture is looking clear when you replace electric fields as a guideline for electrons in lightning with increasing entropy direction in the Hilbert manifold.
Be aware that world lines originally defined to be in 3+1 dimensional space-time, but here we talk about world lines in Hilbert manifold. In both definitions a world line comes from the past and goes to the future.
However the question that you may think of is if for each branch the whole world gets copied, then what would happen to the conservation of energy-momentum? The answer is the energy-momentum lives in the space-time manifold and those branches live in Hilbert manifold. Those manifolds are perpendicular to each other and branching in one would not affect the other.
There is still another question. Does the branching of a whole world happen instantly? This is a tough one. We don’t know, but instantly doesn’t mean the whole world gets copied for the new branch. It can be a lazy copy, where for the observers in those worlds it looks like the branching is instant but actually whenever a different measurement happens in the new branch the information gets copied there.
Here we want to ask an important question, which makes all these sense. How can we measure these worlds to make this scientifically acceptable.
As far as the author can think of, the only way to measure them is to make a time machine. A time machine would move a world line to intersect with itself in the past. Quantum mechanically, where that intersection happens, the system in the intersection point would change in the way to have new eigenstates in the Hilbert space, which means new branches in the lightning pattern would be created. As you can see in this model the time traveler would never reach the The grandfather paradox, because the time traveler would create brand new branches to live there. So no erase, no rewrite, no paradox.
Time machines
Let’s start from Complexity classes.
In computational complexity theory, a complexity class is a set of computational problems of related resource-based complexity. The two most commonly analyzed resources are time and memory. — Wikipedia
In these classes there is a P class that classical computers can solve. Classical computers are working imperatively and sequentially. We can think of steps of solving a problem in those machines like dots on a single line(world line). Also there is a complexity class named BQP.
In computational complexity theory, bounded-error quantum polynomial time (BQP) is the class of decision problems solvable by a quantum computer in polynomial time, with an error probability of at most 1/3 for all instances.
Where mathematicians prove that all P problems are inside BQP, but there are problems in BQP that are not in P. If a classical computer tries to solve those problems, it would take infinite time to solve it, where a Quantum computer can solve them in finite time. This means Quantum computers are not solving it like the dots on a single line. A Quantum computer can have a more complex pattern of dots on multiple lines, which means they can loop back in time. Quantum computers are initial versions of time machines. However, this is just one way of interpreting the power of Quantum computers, but there are other ways to think about it without time loops. I just emphasize here that with a great chance time travel is possible and we will experimentally prove it.
Anthropic principle
The anthropic principle is a group of principles attempting to determine how statistically probable our observations of the universe are, given that we could only exist in a particular type of universe to start with — Wikipedia
The picture that we come up with until here can explain why the world is really fine-tuned. This makes our existence more probable by merging worlds and makes a lot of branches dead-end as described in previous sections. After all, it’s a search algorithm so it can tune some constants and events. Also it let us go further. This picture is not even making our life more probable with respect to fundamental physical constants, it also answers why there was no other massive comet to hit the Earth after Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event or why we’re in a branch that world war II ended soon enough so we’re still alive! All because our world is still productive.
For Writers
This is the section that I let my imagination fly. To honored writers who are looking for consistency, the Edge of tomorrow is the correct pattern to follow. The whole war scene is basically a Quantum computer to calculate how Omega can win the war. It’s exactly a BQP decision problem. However time travel of information inside the head of Tom Cruise without any equipment looks a little weird! ;)
For those who grasp the concept I have a new nonsense theory, which is good for sci-fi movies. If time travel is possible and the traveler would create a new branch then there is a possibility that we are already inside a man made branch. Then can you think of any scenario? I can! The Egyptian pyramid construction techniques are a mystery as there is no way human technology of that age could have made them! So, people from the future built them for a reason that can have different scenarios and I don’t care here. But time travel can fix the problem of their construction techniques.
I have another perfect scenario! Imagine in the future some elite society who has time machines and ability to keep people alive as much as they want or the rules allowed. They want to colonize the Galaxies but they need good seeds to spread. By good seeds, I mean good information. Part of the information comes from science, technology, society, etc. that that society already has and can spread them. The other information will be genetic information that deserves to be spread everywhere. However, given that they have time machines, to have access to their best genome information, they can look over all times and choose good genomes. But what are good genomes? For sure they will look for the genomes who actually build the ground for their science and technology, so they can do the same all over the galaxies, in case of new problems. For instance, Newton had no child, but he deserved to be colonized everywhere. Even now, if every company that uses his theories gives him a small percent of their revenue for every time they use them, he would be the most rich person on the planet. Not that he just deserved to be spread, the elite society needs him to do so. Therefore, the plan will be to replace a fake corpse with the real science and technology legends of the history in their final moment of life, to keep them alive and avoid new branches in that moment. If I was a religious guy I would say that it’s heaven for those legends! haha! Although it doesn’t support justice as the religions have been promised! haha! It’s based on economy and information resources.
It was the final joke that I had. haha! What other scenario can you build with this?
References | https://medium.com/predict/imagine-world-line-big-picture-9ba946b261f7 | [] | 2020-10-28 18:32:24.910000+00:00 | ['Time Travel', 'Quantum Computing', 'Evolution', 'Quantum Physics', 'Physics'] |
Sonos announces new artists contributing to its Sonos Radio services | Sonos announces new artists contributing to its Sonos Radio services Jerry Feb 1·1 min read
Sonos has announced new offerings in its Sonos Radio music-streaming services. The ad-free Sonos Sound System will launch three new shows: Object of Sound, a weekly music and culture podcast; Black is Black, a monthly radio show “examining the black diaspora’s impact on modern music;” and Unsung, a biweekly show hosted by the independent British music publication Crack Magazine.
[ Further reading: The best smart speakers and digital assistants ]Subscribers to Sonos Radio HD ($7.99 per month) will gain access to new stations curated by Icelandic singer Björk, British electronica duo The Chemical Brothers, American singer and producer, D’Angelo, and English singer/songwriter FKA Twigs. These same artists will contribute one-hour segments to the Sonos Radio Hour on the free version of Sonos Radio.
Back on the paid side, subscribers will also gain a new hip-hop and R&B station, Blacksmith Radio, hosted by artist manager Corey Smyth.
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/@jerry68167075/sonos-announces-new-artists-contributing-to-its-sonos-radio-services-e4094df725e5 | [] | 2021-02-01 02:49:33.641000+00:00 | ['Cutting', 'Mobile Accessories', 'Chargers', 'Entertainment'] |
A Special Blackshop Honoring Kamilah Aisha Moon | On September 24, 2021, our dear friend Kamilah Aisha Moon got the call to join the ancestors and went on up home. Kamilah to some, Aisha to others, Ms. Moon if you were fortunate, her sudden departure left us with an absence; left us, well, in her own words, “clanging/ like bells/ out of tune.” Aisha was so many things to us: icon, mentor, sister, student, jokester, hype person, music aficionado, poet, princess, friend. There’s no way to capture all that she was and all that she remains.
To end this year, Blackshop asked seven friends and colleagues of hers, from various circles, to reflect on Kamilah Aisha Moon. We asked three questions:
*Would you please share a favorite memory about Aisha?
*Would you please talk about a favorite piece of her writing?
*In 25 words or less, how are we keeping the spirit of Kamilah Aisha Moon with us?
The response we received are heartfelt, incredible, and cathartic. To take a line from one of her favorite musicians, they are the joy inside our tears.
We want to thank our contributors for taking the time out to share.
Thank you to our Editors for offering this space.
And thank you, dear readers. We’re hoping you’re holding someone close.
See you in 2022.
Tina Chang
T ina Chang
Favorite memory:
I had the honor of celebrating Aisha in 2013 when she launched her beautiful poetry collection, She Has a Name. We shared the same publisher then, Four Way Books, and we were giddy with excitement about her launch. Though I knew Aisha was loved, it wasn’t until the evening of the launch at Dumbo Sky in Brooklyn that I witnessed just how loved she truly was. There were feelings of expectation, admiration, and pure bliss as we watched a beautiful film Rachel Eliza Griffiths had made to honor Aisha. It was a full-throated voicing of their sisterhood and the feeling of vibrant kinship was palpable in the room. There were shared poems, songs, instrumental music and Aisha’s greatest wish was that, by the end of the night, the chairs were pushed back and there was dance! To witness Aisha realize her dream, to see her shine in the light of friends and family, and to be on the receiving end of Aisha’s wide and generous smile was, for me, pure joy.
Favorite piece:
Aisha’s poem, “Mercy Beach” appeared as part of the Poetry Society of America’s program, Poetry in Motion. It was a large scale poster installed at my home base subway station in NYC. Each time I pass by the poem (even now), I say hello to Aisha. “Mercy Beach” is a poem that speaks to shadow as much as it does to light. It gestures to pain as well as grace. It is, as its title suggests, merciful in all ways and every time I read it, I hear Aisha’s voice:
They grow & break grief into islands
of sun-baked stone submerged in salt
kisses, worn down by the ocean’s ardor
relentless as any strong loving.
May they find caresses that abolish pain.
Like Earth, they brandish wounds of gold!
25 words or less:
There is a waterfall located behind my home. At the base of this waterfall, I saw an egret rise into the air and I knew for certain it was Aisha. Each time I visit, I can feel her presence and we keep the spirit of Aisha with us every time we put pen to paper, every time we lift ourselves up from what held us back.
Roohi Choudhry (Photo: Shiva Muthiah)
Roohi Choudhry
Favorite memory:
Aisha and I lived together as roommates in a small Sunset Park apartment. I cherish so many memories of the cozy home we made together as women writers trying to make sense of our New York highs and lows. I especially love that Aisha made sure to celebrate our little victories. When I finally quit a soul-sucking day job, I came home that evening to a pair of red roses and a note on our table. We celebrated the arrival of her first box of copies of her first book, too. We played Ella Fitzgerald and opened a bottle, and she whispered “wow” as she flipped through her own printed words in her own hands.
Favorite piece:
I’ve always loved her essay “It’s Not The Load That Breaks You Down; It’s The Way You Carry It,” and I know it resonated for so many women who’ve shared those experiences with the medical system. I remember all the notes and appreciation she received after it came out and how much those stories moved her. Lately though, I’ve been returning over and over to her poem “To a Dear Friend Mothering Misery.” I’ve repeated that line, “the world needs your music too much,” so many times when I’ve felt hunched over by her loss and all the accumulated grief of this pandemic. And each time, I want to say, but what about us? We need your music, Aisha. She did leave some of it behind for us in these poems. It’s not enough, but it’ll have to be.
25 words or less:
By noticing the music of everyday stories that are too much to bear but whose mischief we laugh at anyway, quiet and private.
Ellen Hagen
Ellen Hagan
Favorite memory:
When I think of the greatest readings, the most memorable events, the best parties, the brightest community hangs, I always, always see Aisha and the way her stunning, radiant and inviting energy would bring everyone together. Each year we hosted a holiday party in our uptown apartment and she was there every single year. Perfect attendance. Even after Aisha moved out of the city, she flew back for the party — and what felt like an event to celebrate, uplift, dance, toast and just be together. Aisha was the one to stay late, to debrief, reflect and stay shining with you right up until the end. When I think of Aisha, I see her surrounded by so many who loved her, who wanted to be near her laughter, style, her endless sharp thoughts on the world, politics, music, poetry, pop culture. Oh, how lucky to have loved Aisha and to have been there late into the night — basking in her brilliance.
Favorite piece:
The work of Kamilah Aisha Moon lives in everything. Her voice shows up in a constant and continual way. Lately, the poem I return most to is: Initiation for Rachel Eliza. What a testament to sisterhood and the deep bonds of a friendship that has weathered the death of a beloved. There is the ultimate seeing in this poem, the generosity and tenderness of grieving with a loved one. This poem is a gift, an offering. It is such deep heart work and lives unafraid of the heartache. Sits directly with it. Offers breath and space for sorrow. But then in these last two lines, there is suddenly something new — a rebirth. A holding on. Somehow, a facing what is next — together. This poem is full of such boundless love.
When mothers are planted,
daughters begin a furious blooming.
25 words or less:
We will continuously bring her work to our students so we can study what greatness looks like on the page. How to be song and salve, how to be vulnerable, resonant and profound.
Dennis Nurkse
D. Nurkse
Favorite memory:
Aisha wasn’t a sound byte person — she didn’t cultivate a persona, she was Aisha. My first memory of her is indelible but so quiet — she was reserved in class until it was her turn: I wondered if she was comfortable: then she shared an amazing poem and a radiant smile. I realized she had been concentrating on the other students, giving them space.
In my mind, I still see her silently picking up the check for friends at a time when she was between jobs.
Favorite piece:
Aisha’s poem “Storm” ends “forgive me,/my dearly departed,/ for crying out/so often, for still needing you/so damn much.” In her work, it’s painful to say this, she’s so present. Her books are exceptionally grounded — in empathy, responsibility, the things that keep the world from flying apart — and they are not performative: empathy isn’t postulated, it takes struggle: in “Watching a Woman On the M101 Express” the poem doesn’t shift its gaze to the self, but is careful to ask whether that gaze might be a burden to the other. All Aisha’s work is informed by a wild love. She spoke of future projects with a large canvas. She’s an indispensable poet.
25 words or less:
We have to read Aisha’s books. We have to keep writing though the world says “why?” or “who cares?” We have to pick up the tab for friends even if we’re short and they’re flush.
Left to Right: Kamilah Aisha Moon and Mendi Lewis Obadike
Mendi Lewis Obadike
Favorite memory:
My friendship with Aisha spans almost 40 years so far. As anyone who knows her might say, it is hard to choose just one favorite memory. I met Aisha in the summer of 1985. We were 11 and we had both made first clarinet in Tennessee State University’s Summer Band Camp. On the final day of camp we played a big concert and met each other’s parents. They got along really well. We exchanged numbers, but it was the last day of camp and I kind of thought we might never see one another again. But the next fall, we found ourselves in the same homeroom in 7th grade. We continued to play clarinet throughout junior high. Our families celebrated holidays together. We took high school Creative Writing together. After high school, we met up in Atlanta throughout the 90s. New York in the 00s. Cave Canem events. Because of the difficulty of focusing on just one memory, I am fixated on the beginning of our friendship. Band camp. We played a lot of music that summer, but our favorite songs to play were the arrangements of “In My House” (Mary Jane Girls) and “Watermelon Man” (Herbie Hancock). On breaks during band practice, we would stay in the band room and she would go to the piano to work out the melodic lines from whatever hip-hop we were listening to in those days. In later years, when I imagined her at work on her poems, this is the posture I would imagine. Although we saw many changes in our lives, the Aisha I know at 48 is at her core the Aisha I met at 11: funny, generous, wise, conscious, joyful, bluesy, and very, very funky.
Favorite piece:
I have been spending time reading a lot of her recent poems. Among these the poem “Storm” hits so hard. The image of sitting in the dark waiting out so many kinds of storms. The whole poem brings forth a mood and an indirect argument, but the lines that send me are these: “Candlelight for two / is a date; I faintly / remember those. / Candlelight / alone / is a séance.” There is so much communication with the dead throughout her work. The other poem that has been on my mind almost as much as this one is a poem called “Nova” that she wrote for someone in mourning in 2003. I don’t think it was ever published, because she sent it to the person, but she sent me a draft and we workshopped it quite a lot. Interestingly, because that situation was very different from the circumstances of her passing, the first draft she sent me speaks perfectly to my mourning. It begins “I am light again” and directs the reader in this way: “Do not unravel / Chase blame or curse the moon / Face the sable sky each night / Sing us both to sleep”. I try.
25 words or less:
Because I refuse the past tense, I must carry her intention and attention to the people she loves. I must also write “healing, beautiful words” (a charge she sent me in that 2003 email).
Iain Haley Pollock (Photo: Rachel Eliza Griffiths)
Iain Haley Pollock
Favorite memory:
The last time I saw Kamilah in person, I wasn’t expecting to see her. I had taken my elder son to the farewell event for the Langston Hughes House. Seeing the novelist Renée Watson joyfully build community and literary energy at the Hughes House had been inspirational to me, and I was sad to lose that space. About an hour after my son and I arrived, Kamilah, who had moved to Atlanta a year or two before then, walked in — she was in town visiting her dear friend Rachel Eliza Griffiths. Now when I remember her entrance down the side hall that ran parallel to the space that had once between Hughes’s living room, I see a fedora or newsboy jauntily perched on her head — her crown. Photos from the event don’t bear out this vision as accurate, and this seems more a reflection of my memory folding experiences together to form a general impression of Kamilah — confident, stylish, wholly her own person. With Kamilah on the scene, my mood ticked up. She checked on me, we caught up, and she was kind to my son. We laughed together a bit, listened to poets pay homage to Watson’s vision of the Hughes House, and took a jubilant photo with a mess of other poets under Frank Morrison’s portrait of St. Langston. Walking away that evening to get my son home in time for dinner and bed, I remained sad about the loss of the Hughes House, but I was reminded that literary spaces are moveable feasts, that they are important because of the people who gather in them and that those people — Renée, Rachel, Kamilah — were still in my life. That last live interaction with Kamilah encapsulated all my other interactions with her: I left with a body relieved by laughter, with a mind empowered by insight, with a spirit buoyed by joy.
Favorite piece:
While I find Kamilah’s work in Starshine & Clay moving and powerful, I have a soft spot for debut collections from poets I met at the Cave Canem summer retreats between 2006–2009. Our collections seemed connected to me, distinct but related pieces of a shared project, part of a literary movement. So, Kamilah’s first book, She Has a Name, will always be important to me, and I’ll always be thankful that Cave Canem intertwined our paths as poets. Of the poems in She Has a Name, I come back to and admire “Portrait at 34.” The poem mixes the doubt we often feel about bodies and the ultimate faith in and appreciation of our bodies we need to survive. The poem begins outside the speaker: a lover pays her a dubious compliment — calls her face “a Sahara” — and then moves to a blown kiss meant for another that the speaker pretends was directed at her. This external validation is not adequate, cannot make the speaker appreciative of her body. After some envy of daffodils (and perhaps a refutation of Wordsworth’s simplistic formulation of joy), the speaker catalogues her body: “sepia freckles,” “serpentine spine,” “the stomach’s soft pages of flesh,” “feet as smooth as limes,” “Tear drop breasts.” Through this laying bare and taking stock, the speaker arrives at gratefulness: “Thank you bones, thank you valves.” As we all must, the speaker finds gratitude in the basic structures and functions of the body that sustain her. In addition to arriving at faith in the body, the poem serves as a meditation on being thirtysomething, that uncertain time sandwiched between the heedless optimism of the twentysomething and the mature resignation of fortysomething. All told, this poem is instructive to me as a poet and a person. As a poet, I admire the poetic craft — the movement from external to internal; the tightly controlled but varied syntax; the chiseled imagery — that allows Kamilah to write a poem that exhibits the vulnerability necessary to write affectively about the self without straying into self-absorption. As a person, I appreciate the reminder that all validation exists within and that only I can find the ultimate beauty in my own body.
25 words or less:
To honor Kamilah, I am daily working on seeing wonder (especially the natural world) and, without papering over hardship, I am working to spread joy.
Mecca Jamilah Sullivan (Photo: Kathyrn E Raines)
Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
Favorite memory:
This is the hardest question. There are so many memories, conversations, journeys. One that I keep returning to lately is a simple weekend around 2008. We we were hanging out in her Brooklyn apartment, listening to music and doing nothing in particular. We ate red velvet pancakes and sipped on the tequila drink she was into those days, meditating on agave, the word and the flavor. For a reason beyond my memory’s reach, we decided to have an impromptu photo shoot, posing first together and then separately, images of us hand on hip, arm in arm, head on shoulder, tucked into our chunky flip phones. I remember being struck by how regular the moment was, but also how unusual. We were grown ass women in a teenage thrill. I remember the soft, open ease that spread on Aisha’s face as we made took those pictures. I still have them, their grainy, shadowed shapes still whispering, her eyes still soft and bright as ever.
Favorite piece:
One of Aisha’s innumerable generosities was that she taught us how to grieve. Her perspective on loss was loving, exquisite, and instructive. This is true not only of her poems and essays that engaged grief directly, but also of the subtler romance with longing that glimmered beneath so much of her work. So much of both She Has a Name and Starshine and Clay reflect this deep, studied, illuminating view of just how to grieve, and how to survive our longing. For me, this is especially meaningful in the context of the losses of the body — of bodies marked as different by race, gender, desire, and ability — and the failures of the world to accommodate those bodies. Her poem “Eulogy” is exemplary on this front. In it she writes: “When eyes break water, what is reborn? I could almost hear her laugh as long-standing damns burst. She is a saint of light now, and I claim this morning breaking clouds and window panes as her new smile. Breaking as blessing. Why do we forget this has always been the way?” She taught us how to mourn how to grieve her, and try to make meaning from the loss.
25 words or less:
Listen to Prince, Stevie. Dance. Show up, out. Raise a glass, an eyebrow. Write. Gift her poems to those who need them: all of us. | https://medium.com/anomalyblog/a-special-blackshop-honoring-kamilah-aisha-moon-905f36f99d31 | [] | 2021-12-21 17:38:33.567000+00:00 | ['Literature', 'Featured', 'Blackshop', 'Interview', 'Poetry'] |
Neighborhood Champions: Lord of the Spud! | Get ready for a whole new way to have fun, compete, and collaborate in Upland!
With the property development sandbox coming out mid December, we’re also working on some really awesome competitions based on temporary building construction. Property development will be driven by Spark (which is a token). However, the sandbox (which will allow players to play with the property development interface) will use a temporary resource we’re calling “Spud”.
During the sandbox competitions, Spud will be used to build properties. All players of Uplander status and above will receive Spud when it is distributed. Spud will have no direct utility beyond these sandbox competitions.
One way that players will be able to gain access to more Spud is by becoming a “Neighborhood Champion”. Neighborhood Champions will get a 2x Spud bonus, and they will also be able to allocate an amount of bonus Spud to other members of their team. Neighborhood Champion status will come into play when we hold neighborhood sandbox competitions. These competitions will pit neighborhoods against each other in a unique new game of strategy. Players will have to build alliances and work against other organically formed teams, scoring points for your team, and attacking the points of your opponents. The winning neighborhood(s) will receive a prize that will boost that neighborhood’s development rating (read more about neighborhood development rating in our roadmap to property development).
Only a limited number of neighborhoods will qualify for these sandbox competitions. While we are not yet announcing the criteria that will determine which neighborhoods are selected (and who their Neighborhood Champions will be), there is one way that you can ensure you become Neighborhood champion this weekend: Winning one of 3 neighborhood minting challenges.
How It Will Work
These 3 neighborhood minting challenges will measure the number of newly minted properties in each of 3 neighborhoods. These neighborhoods will be announced when the challenges go live, Saturday at 12pm PT. The challenges will last 3 days, ending will end on Tuesday at 12pm PT.
Each challenge will have 2 tiers (creating 6 total challenges).
Tier 1: Executives and Directors
Tier 1 winners of each challenge will become a Neighborhood Champion, when neighborhood sandbox competitions start (although winners are not bound to competing on behalf of that neighborhood). While players will be able to self organize for the competitions, the extra Spud a Neighborhood Champion can allocate will allow them to act as somewhat of a commander for their neighborhoods building strategy. Tier 1 winners will also receive the Neighborhood Champion Badge and an UPX prize.
Tier 2: Pros, Uplanders, and Visitors.
Tier 2 winners will receive a Junior Champion status (which will come with a 1.5x Spud boost) and will receive a smaller UPX prize.
If a player in tier 2 becomes a Director or Executive during the challenges, they will be moved up to tier 1. | https://medium.com/upland/neighborhood-champions-lord-of-the-spud-8243e20ea622 | [] | 2020-11-20 22:12:32.523000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Eos', 'Nft Collectibles', 'Potato', 'Nft'] |
You Are Underestimating the Power of A Power Plate | When it came, I had no intention of using it. I love cardio and don’t really waste too much time with weights or machines in the gym.
My mum insisted that I just had one go. Just one. I stepped on and had it on a small to medium vibrating level which I don’t think felt very nice. She turned it up, just to show what it could do and how powerful it was, and that most definitely was not nice.
“Can you feel all your fat shaking about?”
I don’t need a machine to feel my fat shaking about, Mum. But yes, I could feel my fat vibrating around everywhere.
I kept on the machine for a few more seconds and I was warming greatly to it, to the point where it began to feel very nice. I might just stay on here for a few minutes.
As well as feeling fun and helping to realize a bit of tension within, a power plate is completely underestimated. Some of the best things about a power plate is that sometimes it can require no movement at all. You can just stand on it if you want and it can still reap some minor benefits for you. | https://medium.com/in-fitness-and-in-health/you-are-underestimating-the-power-of-a-power-plate-d769f6ea2d28 | ['Shamar M'] | 2020-12-25 20:01:09.533000+00:00 | ['Gym', 'Yoga', 'Health', 'Workout', 'Fitness'] |
Diane Downs: Hungry Like the Wolf | Meanwhile, investigators digging into Downs’ background revealed some troubling patterns. She was born Elizabeth Diane Frederickson on Aug. 7, 1955, in Phoenix, Arizona. As a teenager, she rebelled against her parents’ conservative Baptist upbringing and began going by her middle name, Diane. At 14, against her parents’ wishes, she got into a relationship with 16-year-old Steven Downs, who lived across the street.
After high school, Steven joined the Navy and Diane attended Pacific Coast Baptist Bible College. After only one year, she was expelled for promiscuity and went back to live with her parents. Nonetheless, the two continued their long-distance relationship until November 1973, when Steven came home from the Navy. Diane ran away from home and the two were married.
The marriage was rocky from the start. They fought about money and Steven’s suspicions that Diane was cheating on him. Diane often left Steven and went back to her parents, but they would always reconcile.
In 1974, despite the problems in their marriage, they had their first child, Christie. Diane stated that she didn’t consult Steven about getting pregnant, she just did it. A year later, she gave birth to their second child, Cheryl. According to Steven, she was “the only woman I know who gets pregnant to cheer herself up.” But as much as she enjoyed pregnancy, she didn’t seem to enjoy actually raising children. “She treated the kids like crap,” he said.
At this point, Steven decided he didn’t want any more children, and, probably feeling he couldn’t trust Diane to continue using birth control, he had a vasectomy. Diane got pregnant again anyway, but terminated it.
In 1978 they moved to Mesa, Arizona. There, Diane engaged in multiple affairs with her coworkers and became pregnant yet again. This time she carried the child to term, and in December 1979, Stephen Daniel (“Danny”) was born. Steven accepted Danny, even though he knew he was not his father.
But less than a year later, Steven and Diane divorced.
Diane spent the next few years bouncing from man to man, moving in with one after another, and occasionally trying to reconcile with Steven.
In order to support herself, she tried to become a surrogate mother but failed two separate psychiatric exams — one of which indicated that she was psychotic. She found this extremely funny and would often brag to friends about it.
In 1981, she finally got a full-time job as a postal carrier in Arizona. While she was at work, she would usually send the children to stay with various family members. But the neighbors voiced their concerns about the kids’ well-being when they were with their mother. They said the children were often hungry and would beg for food; in cold weather, they wouldn’t have coats or appropriate shoes. They said if Diane couldn’t find a sitter, she would leave 6-year-old Christie alone in charge of the children. One neighbor said that Cheryl had told her that she was afraid of her mother.
Despite this, later that year, she was finally accepted into a surrogate program where she earned $10,000 for carrying a child and surrendering it to adoptive parents.
It was also during this time that Diane met and fell in love with her coworker Robert (“Nick”) Knickerbocker. | https://delanirbartlette.medium.com/diane-downs-hungry-like-the-wolf-c127a228e8f7 | ['Delani R. Bartlette'] | 2019-05-20 13:01:01.407000+00:00 | ['True Crime', 'Crime', 'Murder', '80s', 'History'] |
Why Discuss Feminism In Hushed Tones? | A man who said it the right way!
Models in the industry are often exploited by their agencies, with a promise of payment of dues which are held back by them over the due course of several months. Such are the situations that the models have to be available on call any time of the day, with no standardized pay or order to sustain their side of the story.
I have so many times on LinkedIn as well as newspapers have seen female achievers being described as “Female” achievers. The first female this or the first female that, while it’s important to acknowledge the milestone and the struggle that went behind being the first, later on, it shouldn’t be generalized as a female entrepreneur for example. The playing ground should be level, her job is of an entrepreneur, not a female entrepreneur.
It’s abundantly clear that our specific views on these issues are rooted deeply in our own personal and direct experiences, rather than in any data, research, or science surrounding the issues.
There are millions of people who both inwardly and outwardly do not support the idea that there should be equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women
There are thousands of people who feel we’ve already arrived at equality for men and women.
There are also thousands of people who believe we’re not at all there yet, and support continuing efforts to pave the way for equal rights for men and women.
So let’s see what it really means to be a feminist?
Understanding Feminism
Realize before Reacting!
It is synonyms with gender equality.
Why is it opposed?
Emma Watson when she was asked not to talk about Feminism
Many people fear that feminism will mean that men will eventually lose out — of power, influence, impact, authority, and control, and economic opportunities. Many people believe that feminists want to control the world and put men down. Many people fear that feminism will overturn time-honored traditions, religious beliefs, and established gender roles, and that feels scary and wrong. Many people fear that feminism will bring about negative shifts in relationships, marriage, society, culture, power and authority dynamics, and in business, job, and economic opportunities if and when women are on an equal footing with men.
As 2021 inches closer day by day, I progress a day closer to becoming a female professional in the tech industry. Over the course of my life, I have realized directly or indirectly that women are still struggling. While the corporate world has its “diversity hiring” in place, many other industries like the creative, entertainment, non-profit organizations fail to embrace this inclusion even to date.
We are so long into the century, and still have to question female authority and her abilities, we still have the reigns over her freedom, we still fail to respect and dignify her.
She means ALL women :)
It is important for society to understand,
we are not here to take your jobs, your riches, or your power, we are just here to take ours!😁 | https://medium.com/@itsmeishathakur/why-discuss-feminism-in-hushed-tones-46fd29769d1e | ['Isha Thakur'] | 2020-12-16 07:47:53.407000+00:00 | ['Gender Equality', 'Empowerment', 'Women', 'Society', 'Feminism'] |
Launching a Crypto Hedge Fund | Trading, holding, and mining. These are just some of the many ways you can use to profit from cryptocurrencies. But do you know the other ways? It’s definitely possible to have your own cryptocurrency fund.
On this article, you’ll learn how to create and promote a crypto fund with the help of a management platform.
What’s a Crypto Fund?
When you decide to get into the cryptocurrency world, it’s important that you have enough crypto assets with you. People who mine cryptocurrency have a lot. However, for people who are new to this technology, mining a good amount of cryptocurrency can be a challenge because of the increasing complexities involved in the mining algorithms.
The crypto fund refers to the managed capital of the digital money available for the investors to replicate. It works like a bridge between the trader who creates the fund and the other party who’s going to invest in the fund. The main goal of creating a crypto fund is to earn crypto assets, which both parties can benefit.
Since cryptocurrencies want to substitute the fiat currency, the crypto funds have become a digitalized version of the fiat currency. Since crypto is decentralized, anyone can start a fund by simply introducing a new cryptocurrency. Therefore, several types of crypto funds come up with strategies with the sole intention of satiating the appetite of both the traders and the investors and to help them grow their digital assets.
Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund
Cryptocurrency hedge funds are initial forms of cryptocurrency funds that have become popular among the masses because of the convenience that they offer. Just like with other hedge funds, a crypto hedge fund provides minimum risks with remarkable profitability. The investors simply need to pay a small fee if they want to take part in the fund. Nowadays, there are several hedge funds which give the investor the opportunity to capitalize on his money and earn huge profits from it.
Among these are:
Logos Fund
MetaStable
Polychain
Cryptocurrency Mutual Fund
From the name itself, a cryptocurrency mutual fund refers to those types of funds that are created as a result of the investments made by multiple investors who have pooled their capital in crypto to purchase and hold the fund. In exchange, they will be given fund shares. These funds will serve as a great option for startup traders who want to increase their digital assets.
Some of the popular mutual funds are:
Prism
The ICONOMI Fund
The Token Fund
Cryptocurrency Index Fund
The increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies has encouraged investors to start trading in this currency in the same way that they do with the fiat currency. Thus, the crypto index funds have emerged as a means for the newcomers to get into the crypto stock market.
Here are some of the growing cryptocurrency index funds:
Bit20
CRYPTO20
HOLD 10
Cryptocurrency Investment Fund
The Cryptocurrency investment funds work like an all-inclusive platform for investors allowing them to capitalize their money together. These funds allow you to monetize your assets to avail of the market advantages or to provide support for the mining machinery. The funds often come with higher risk. Nevertheless, they yield higher profit margins.
Some of the most notable Cryptocurrency investment funds include the following:
BK Capital Management
Grayscale’s Bitcoin Investment Trust
Pantera Capital
Why Should You Invest in a Crypto Fund?
Even though cryptocurrencies are slowly gaining a lot of attention, many are skeptical about the strength and the authenticity of this digital currency. A lot of investors are still afraid of investing in a cryptocurrency fund. One of the most common issues that people present is the fact that the currency is still in the infancy stage. People are not confident about investing their capital given the risky deals.
But there are certain benefits that you could enjoy if you give the Crypto fund a shot:
The biggest benefit of investing in a Crypto fund is that the Cryptocurrency is set to become the currency of the future. Thus, investing in these funds means you’ll be able to secure your future.
The Crypto funds come with higher profit margins although this also comes with higher risks. Yet, this is how you would be able to earn good money.
The process of Cryptocurrency mining is now becoming more complicated unlike in the past. As a result, the rate of crypto mining is also lowered because of the significant turnover that people have towards Cryptocurrency, as well as the extremely complicated mining algorithms. Therefore, investing in these funds is now much safer.
Why Create Your Own Crypto Fund?
If you’re now convinced that you should participate in the Cryptocurrency funds, the next thing that you probably want to know is how to create a separate crypto fund. Those who have created their funds would agree that starting your own Crypto fund would surely come with several benefits.
It’s a convenient means of earning Cryptocurrency without getting trapped in a complex mining algorithm.
It’s a safe way for newcomers to earn Cryptocurrency and get into the Cryptocurrency world.
It only requires a minimal amount of time to build your Crypto assets using your own Crypto funds unlike with other methods.
How to Build a Crypto Fund
Coming up with your own Crypto fund will not require a lot of effort from your part. You just need to make sure that you’re in the right platform where you can look for appropriate investors to start your fund. Here are the requirements for coming up with a Crypto fund:
A platform that’s in accordance to the type of fund you wish to create, whether it’s an index fund, hedge fund, or mutual fund.
A strategy that will allow you to share your profits with investors.
Your crypto wallet credentials.
What Are the Potential Profits
It’s hard to predict the profit margin of Cryptocurrency funds specifically. The reason is that cryptocurrencies are volatile and usually comes with a 20%± change in the cost in a given day. Therefore, when devising an initial investment plan, these fluctuations must be kept into consideration.
The good side of the Crypto fund lies mainly in the same fact. Cryptocurrencies’ volatility can lead to the generation of bigger profit margins, but the only trick is to keep a close eye on the currency rates. If the rates are low, you should take this as an opportunity to grab your share. On the other hand, once the price starts to increase again, then you should immediately sell your assets. That way, you’ll be able to enjoy greater profits.
For example, you have bought 300,000 Stratis in the previous rate at a rate of $0.01 per share. Thus, your $3,000 initial investment should now earn you around $1 million, since the current rates have increased to $3.5. This is basically how investing at the right time can make people become a millionaire in only a short amount of time.
Crypto Fund Creation
One of the most common problems that beginners are faced with when getting into the Cryptocurrency venture lies mainly on the initial investment. Most of the time, they will look for someone who can lend them the money, so they can proceed. To fill this need, several venture capitalists and investors have come up with the willingness to invest their cryptocurrency assets with you. However, it’s still a challenge for most beginners to look for these types of investors. To address this problem, several dedicated platforms have been created recently to allow fund managers to meet with investors. The platforms will provide an opportunity for newcomers to create crypto funds for them.
Here are the steps you should take:
Come up with a strategy on how you’re going to make a call for these funds. Others would opt to run “donations” on their ICO campaign, while some would choose for a crypto venture that’s investment-based.
Next, figure out an appropriate value of investment for your fund.
Now it’s time to make your plans come true. So start approaching investors to create your crypto fund.
Be open to sharing the tokens with your investors in exchange for the Cryptocurrency that they are investing in your campaigns.
Crypto funds are a safe avenue for those who find it a challenge to get into the complex process of mining as what most venture capitalists would recommend. This is especially applicable for beginners who know nothing about the complex algorithms.
Planning Your Crypto Fund
The thriving cost of Cryptocurrency has gained the attention of numerous capitalists around the world who are looking to invest their assets with data miners. Creating an ideal strategy for fund management to rapidly increase Blockchain assets is truly a wise idea especially if you don’t have enough significant assets with you.
When coming up with a plan for your crypto fund, you should put your focus on some of the most basic questions that could pop in the mind of your investors whenever they hear the term “fundraiser” call. Among these questions are:
What would I gain after investing in your fund?
Why should I be interested in investing with you?
How long will this venture go on?
You must have the answers ready to these questions.
Keep in mind that the main goal of creating crypto funds is to add your digital currency. Furthermore, the investors who have agreed to help you in the process will also anticipate getting their own rewards at the end of the campaign.
Creating Your Fund
Below is a quick guide on how you can create your crypto fund management.
The Initial Coin Offering (ICO)
Setting up a crypto fund is pretty much the same with offering profit share to investors in your company. Your IPO transaction will serve as the basis for attracting investors to your company. Therefore, you must begin by preparing a white paper agreement that would discuss your project concept, project duration, as well as the distribution of virtual tokens in between you and the investors. Above all, it should disclose the overall goal of your campaign.
Search for Investors
Next, you have to look for suitable investors who would be willing to lend their Blockchain assets. An effective way to look for an appropriate investor for your Crypto fund is to utilize online platforms.
Share Tokens
Right after you run your campaign, you can start sharing your tokens with your investors. This is the main thing that your investors would be interested in from the time you launch your ICO.
Top 3 Platforms for Crypto Fund Management
With the increasing number of platforms for online crypto asset management, certain hindrances associated with the conventional method of managing crypto fund are being taken away from the methods of crypto exchange. These fund management websites offer a combined platform for both the crypto managers and investors. Among the most popular platforms are:
Tokenbox.io — This is the number one solution for all matters relating to Cryptocurrency fund. It provides a platform to fund both managers and investors, and they can also take care of all the legal matters concerning the tokenization.
— This is the number one solution for all matters relating to Cryptocurrency fund. It provides a platform to fund both managers and investors, and they can also take care of all the legal matters concerning the tokenization. ICONOMI — This platform was established mainly for digital asset management and is based on the Ethereum smart contracts. It serves as the podium for DAA managers as well as the investors that can help to strengthen the economy of cryptocurrency.
— This platform was established mainly for digital asset management and is based on the Ethereum smart contracts. It serves as the podium for DAA managers as well as the investors that can help to strengthen the economy of cryptocurrency. Melonport — This platform claims to work as a system of tools that aims to empower the investors and traders in setting up their own plans for crypto funds. Working within a pre-defined set of rules, this system provides decentralized services that are convenient for all parties involved in the ICO.
Promoting Your Fund
As soon as you start creating a Crypto fund, determine how you can go about gaining the attention of more investors? Effective marketing and promotional campaign are highly essential for the overall success of any business. This principle should also apply when it comes to creating Crypto funds.
Effective Way to Promote Crypto Funds
Marketing a Crypto fund is somewhat different from the traditional marketing techniques. Smart promotion is important in the overall success of your Crypto fund. You should aim to target your potential investors and fund traders who would be willing to join you. However, targeting a broader audience may not be a good idea. It’s not advisable to apply the spamming technique because your project is definitely not spam. | https://medium.com/blocktoken/launching-a-crypto-hedge-fund-db0ade2a9778 | ['Genson C. Glier'] | 2018-11-08 05:33:49.689000+00:00 | ['Blockchain'] |
I Know Everything About You, and I Still Love You | “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16, ESV)
The title quote is by Anna Draper in “Mad Men”, who consoles and expresses her love for Don Draper despite his many mistakes and people he had harmed during his time as a Madison Avenue ad man. He is womanizing, unfaithful to his wives, an unapologetic alcoholic, and an incredibly abusive and selfish boss.
But, he then goes to California to be greeted by the unconditional love of the only person in the world who ever knew him. Although I don’t agree with and am disgusted by Don Draper’s decisions, I really am not that much better in my mistakes and my sin.
Do I have an Anna Draper in my life? Do I have people who still love me even though they know my demons and all my fatal flaws?
Yes, I do. My mother is one of those people, but I also have many friends who love me unconditionally and who still see me as a good person no matter what my mistakes are.
To me, Anna Draper is the embodiment of Matthew 10:16, someone who forgave a man who wronged her
In the verse, Jesus commissions the Twelve Apostles to go forth in a dangerous mission because they will be among wolves. To survive, they have to be wise as serpents but to follow Christ, they have to be innocent as doves. To say that there were a lot of people hostile to Jesus’s mission is an understatement, but Jesus told his followers to be innocent as doves because following Christ’s love outweighs human pettiness any day of the week.
And Jesus calls us to follow him.
Most of life is learned not through preaching, but experience. How many people have been told that smoking is bad, but do it anyway? How many people have been told that drinking is bad, but do it anyway? I certainly know that I’m a person that has to learn more from experience than from any warnings or preaching, and I know that most human beings are the same.
For that, I think I am the luckiest person in the world. For what it’s worth, that love is usually reciprocal. If a friend is a good enough friend, their mistakes don’t matter to me. My loyalty and unconditional love is my biggest gift, but also my biggest curse.
I have friends who have been convicted of horrible crimes, and to protect their privacy I won’t reveal which ones, but they’re some of my best friends. I still love them and don’t judge them; and they still love me.
For the majority of people, their biggest critics are themselves
No one will judge them more than they judge themselves. We tend to be much more critical of our own flaws, and less critical of the flaws of others. And while that might not be healthy, think about the converse of being super critical of other people’s flaws but never critical of your own — that’s self-righteous sin at its finest.
I am a super flawed person. I am selfish. I don’t donate enough. I too frequently don’t give to the homeless. I have prejudice in my heart. I fail all the time at the morals I preach. I am not a good enough friend, son, brother, or boyfriend too much of the time.
That’s why I try to love others, no matter who they are, no matter what they’ve done. Mercy trumps justice any day of the week. And while I believe everyone should be held accountable and be given justice, that doesn’t mean that their mistakes make them undeserving of love.
How can anyone grow without knowing that they’re loved?
For what it’s worth, the person who knows everything I’ve done and still loves me is Jesus
I am as much a sinner as Paul or Peter were, and yet I constantly subconsciously elevate myself above others. But I don’t have the right. I believe that no matter who you are, no matter what mistakes you’ve made, Jesus still loves you. It’s not something you have to earn — it’s something you always have.
I think back to the people who still love me, even though they know everything about me. Those people have had to take substantial leaps of faith to love me despite knowing every flaw I’ve had.
I can only hope that the world rids itself of its self-righteousness and gives more grace. You can think someone is wrong, but why don’t you look inward to see how you are wrong and not up to par of the perfection standard too?
Despite my faith, I have never once gone up to another person and accused them of being a sinner. It’s simply not my place because I’m not God. You can say that something is a sin, but I have always felt like both Christians and non-Christians have a very immature view of sin. Self-righteousness is a sin. Gluttony is a sin. Greed is a sin.
I am the foremost of sinners and make many mistakes that people don’t know about. Just on my run today, I almost ran into someone and knocked into them. I’m not always kind to others, and can get angry and defensive when I feel like I am being attacked. I am too impatient. I can become too imposing about my political beliefs.
The world needs more mercy and grace, and less judgment. And so I endeavor to be more like Anna Draper, who is someone who can love everyone around them, no matter what they’ve done. I am proud that, to this day, I have never called someone else out for being a sinner when I sin so much; all the time. | https://medium.com/koinonia/i-know-everything-about-you-and-i-still-love-you-fcb7ec1fa83 | ['Ryan Fan'] | 2020-08-27 23:53:17.748000+00:00 | ['Spirituality', 'Television', 'Ideas', 'Relationships', 'Religion'] |
What impedes your emotional healing | Life is magnificent, magical, but also, when it hits, it hits real hard. It tends to leave behind the emotional scars, and spiritual ones, and we in turn, in order to protect ourselves from the same kind of hurt again, we build walls, hell, we build fortresses. This prevents negativity pouring from the outside environment, but it also filters out all the joy and pleasantness of life. And upon realizing, with time, most of us learn to lower our defences and be a little more vulnerable. We give ourselves the needed time to heal, to settle and to stand up on our feet again, but the scar still remains. Why does this happen? In all of the healing processes, is there something we are forgetting? We grieve, we accept, come to terms, we overcome, we hope, and sometimes, we relapse, healing is something very very messy, it takes effort, it takes time. So where to we go wrong, and how to keep from repeating this vicious cycle again and again?
1. Forgiveness
The concept of forgiveness is still very vague among most of us. We are usually very critical of ourselves and do not forgive easily when it comes to us. And talking about forgiving the other person, we might forgive to seem like the ‘bigger person’ in the picture. Forgiveness is seen as something which can be held over the other person, well, to truly forgive is to ‘forgive and forget’, never to be raised again in any other conversation. And if you’re not ready yet, it’s better not to forgive rather than such forgiveness and hurting all over again.
2. Self pity
Pitying yourself is something which will always stand in the way of your healing. When you feel sorry for yourself, you usually are reliving the past in a very subtle way, you are reacting to something which has already happened and you reacting to past can never change the past. Instead of saying ‘I feel sorry I had to go through that’, try ‘I am proud of myself for overcoming a trying situation with such courage’. It makes a huge difference when you change the way you talk to your self. Instead of being the victim, turn the dialogues around and talk like a god damn warrior.
3. Excessive carefulness
Have you ever noticed how smoothly things and situations tend to run when there is no conscious worrying about it? Same applies here, strain yourself with conscious and excessive care, and the task at hand is ruined. Take deep breathes, just relax, try some relaxation techniques, it will help keep conscious excessively running thoughts at bay. There is a significant improvement in our performance when we are in a flow. Sit back and let things roll over on their own.
4. Your comfort zone
Usually, your comfort zone is what you need most when healing. But stay there for long and that harms your recovery, we don’t need ourself fixated on a problem by standing at the same place, take as long as you need, but also, take the littlest step out of your comfort zone. It helps keep us moving, we don’t need our healing process be stunted.
5. Don’t let the hope die
Many a time, we will find ourselves repeating the same patterns of behavior we are trying to end, and that is okay, that happens. The more important thing here is, you recognize it and you are aware that you need to change it. What you need to know is, you will eventually make it happen. You failed a couple times does not mean you are a failure, you make mistakes, mistakes do not make ‘YOU’.
These are some of the things we need to keep in mind while we are on our journey to improve ourselves and heal ourselves. We do everything right to make sure we are on the right path, but there are usually the smaller and subtle things we unknowingly overlook. | https://medium.com/@riyakhajuria/what-impedes-your-emotional-healing-d5af24cdc9b7 | ['Riya Khajuria'] | 2020-12-26 12:27:56.774000+00:00 | ['Selfhelp', 'Emotional Wellbeing', 'Psychology', 'Mental Health', 'Self-awareness'] |
Muslim dalam lingkaran demokrasi | in In Bitcoin We Trust | https://medium.com/@faithfulmuslimah/muslim-dalam-lingkaran-demokrasi-4ec3203914f8 | ['Faithful Muslimah'] | 2020-12-25 15:05:20.099000+00:00 | ['Pemimpin', 'Demokrasi', 'Muslim', 'Indonesia', 'Islam'] |
Introduction to music information retrieval with LibROSA and Beat Saber | In this article, I am going to illustrate some of the works around music information that I work since the past few weeks applicated to a specific game Beat Saber.
Beat Saber kezako?
Beat Saber is a Virtual Reality (VR) rhythm game released in 2018 by the Beat Games who, by the way, has been recently bought by Facebook. The principle of the game is in your VR headset you are immersed in a 3d world where you have to destroy the blocks and avoid obstacles (align with the song played). I invite you to watch the last video that they release on their youtube channel to understand the logic behind the game.
For me, this is THE GAME THAT IS SHOWING HOW VR IS COOL, and it’s a must-try for the one that is curious about VR (the gamer is available on most of the headset of the market).
The game has a list of tracks that have been made by the beat games, and they are cool, but on PC there is a community that is developing their tracks for the game (UGC) with the song of their choice, the principal place where this user is posting content is bsaber.com.
The website seems to be tolerated by Beat Games, and I think that is making the game popular.
I decided a few weeks ago to build a scraper of the songs on this website (same work that on my previous article, still not the owner so not sharing) for multiple things :
In this place, I have a marketplace where I have users that are proposing and rating content, so a perfect place to build a dataset around recommendation engine
When I looked at the massive catalogue of the website, most of my preferred songs were not here, so why not building from the current songs available an ML system that could build levels based on the song that you want to use.
On this last point, when I presented my idea to some of my friends, they redirect me to the work of OXAI and their DeepSaber project, and yes, it’s that (it’s incredible what they have achieved). I am planning to use the work that they have done to help me to build my system in the future (but still need to ramp up on deep learning).
My first assumption to work on the recommender and generator was to analyze directly the tracks and songs produced by the community, lets’ start by the song.
Description of the situation
One of the most popular packages in Python to do music analysis is called libROSA, and I am inviting you to watch the talk that has been done by Brian McFee on the package.
For this current article, I am using version 0.7 of the package.
To illustrate the concept around music analysis, my primary references are :
The definitions/schema found in the book fundamentals of music processing of Meinard Muller that seems to be the reference in the domain of music processing
The Youtube channel 3Blue1Brown that is doing a fantastic job to explain scientific concepts (God I wished that I had this kind of resources when I was a student in engineering)
This excellent repository made by Steve Tjoa, an engineer of Google that I am highly recommending; that is mixing libROSA, the book of Mueller and other resources around music information retrieval.
I decided to choose two songs to be my ginny pigs :
One of the coolest electro song released during the last decade was Midnight city of M83
The other one, you are going to hate me is Toss a coin to your Witcher of Sonya Belousova & Giona Ostinelli (I know the song was out of your head, but now it’s back)
These two songs have different genres, and I think they could be a good start because their user reviews are goods on bsaber.com.Let’s start the analysis of the songs.
Music information retrieval
The song that used in the background of a level in Beat Saber can be seen (like all the songs) has an audio signal. Let’s see some concepts.
Amplitude
The sound generates a vibrating object that is causing displacement and oscillation of air molecules that are producing local regions of compression and rarefaction, in the book of Mueller, there is a clear illustration of that phenomenon.
Fundamental of music processing — music representations
The sound recording is equivalent to catch the air pressure oscillations at a specific moment (the periodicity of the capture is called sampling rate sr). In LibROSA to build this kind of diagram, you can use this command:
import librosa # To load the file, and get the amplitude measured with the sampling rate amplitude,
sr = librosa.load(path_song)
# To plot the pressure-time plot
librosa.display.waveplot(amplitude, sr=sr)
And for our two songs, there is their pressure-time plot.
As we can see, the two songs have different waveforms, the song of M83 looks to have more phasis that the one from the witcher (with “calm” periods in the beginning and around two minutes). This visualization is offering a good illustration, but let’s zoom in (in the middle of the songs).
As we can see Midnight city looks more complex (noisy ?) in term of oscillation of the amplitude that the one from the witcher (but still remember that’s on a specific period of the song)
So now we have something more tangible to analyze with Beat Saber level, but one crucial fact is that these signals are quite complex, and maybe it could be useful to make them simpler so let’s call my friend Fourier.
Fourier transform
The principle behind the Fourier transform is to decompose a complex signal in combination with multiple signals. I don’t want to do all the theory behind the process(school nightmare), but I am inviting you to watch an excellent resource made by 3Blue1Brown on the subject (thanks to my colleagues in the UK for the link) it’s 20 minutes but worth it.
The idea with the transform is to detect the simple signal hidden in the song and estimate their intensity. To leverage this operation with libROSA, you can easily use this piece of code.
### # Build the Fourier transform
X = librosa.stft(amplitude) # Apply a conversion from raw amplitude to decibel
Xdb = librosa.amplitude_to_db(abs(X)) # Build a spectrogram librosa.display.specshow(Xdb, sr=sr, x_axis="time", y_axis="hz")
This code provides us with a graph called spectrogram that is a representation of the time versus a frequency with a colour scale related to the power of the signal (defined by the frequency). There is the spectrogram for our two songs.
As we can see, the two songs are sharing a very different spectrogram:
Midnight city looks to be a song that is composed of signals with higher frequency than the one from the witcher
The witcher looks noisier than Midnight city; I don’t know how to explain what I am seeing
This kind of silhouette is present in the witcher but not as this one. But still, the signal even decomposes complicated to analyze (because of his complexity). Why not decompose it between accompaniment and vocals.
Vocals and accompaniment splitting
To do that, I could have used premade scripts that can de found on libROSA package, but my research, when I started to work on this project, led me to a tech blog article from Deezer that open-sourced a tool call spleeter.
Deezer released this end of 2019 built on TensorFlow v1. I didn’t find the paper or the presentation made during ISMIR 2019 (big conference around music information retrieval). If you want to hear the results of the separation (and that is good) on Midnight city and toss a coin, you need to go to this link to download the separate files in the spleeter folder.
What is the impact of an amplitude point of view?
The signals are less complicated from a general point of view but still very noisy. (and zoom is still illustrating that).
Still, I think that this is kind of separation can be useful in the context of building tracks based on the song’s amplitude.
Let’s start now to cross the data from the Beat Saber track and the song.
Dive in the Beat Saber side
From the files downloaded from bsaber.com, I have the song that I analyzed previously and the levels (with the notes obstacles, etc.). For this article, I am just going to analyze the normal track and the number of notes posted per second on this track (not the kind of notes).
As we can see, there is multiple phasis on the notes displayed per second in the songs, but let’s add the amplitude of the songs in this figure. By the way, to compare the amplitude at a second scaled, I needed to make an aggregation per second (with an average of the absolute value of the amplitude).
The number of notes played seems to be highly dependent on the amplitude of the signal. In Midnight city, we can distingue the period of calm wit the 0 notes played and the more intense period with a higher amplitude. For the witcher, the analysis is less clear, but still, we can see some phasis in the notes apparition. Let’s now focus on the vocal.
From this analysis, the track on Midnight city doesn’t look affected by the lyrics, and for the witcher, there is a notable impact of the vocals around one minute. To finish, I am going to cross the spectrogram with the notes played (still I needed to make an aggregation per second, I decide in this case to take the max).
From the spectrogram of Midnight city, there is an interesting pattern that seems to appear, the area of the song that has more high-frequency seem to have less 0 notes moment that the one with a lower frequency.
For the witcher, the spectrogram is maybe less expressive.
Overall for my point of view, the analysis of the spectrogram can give exciting insight that could be maybe useful to build a model for tracks based on song.
Conclusion
This article was a brief introduction to music analysis; there is a field to mine, and trying to build systems like recommender engine or track builders around that is going to be fun.
For my next steps on these topics: | https://towardsdatascience.com/introduction-to-music-information-retrieval-with-librosa-and-beat-saber-48daedb8653e | ['Jean-Michel D'] | 2020-02-10 16:54:41.694000+00:00 | ['Signal Processing', 'Music', 'Data', 'Dataviz', 'Videogames'] |
You Can’t Bury God | Photo by Caleb Woods on Unsplash
You Can’t Bury God
Why try to silence, dismiss or bury Christians? If that sounds like hyperbole, compare several recent competing news narratives with a 1979 turning point that reshaped our world.
“That took guts’’ Reba McEntire declared when fellow country artist Thomas Rhett prayed with the crowd for his fallen friend. Is it so hard to pray in our secular world?
People of faith feel outnumbered (we’re not). Non-believers seem to want believers to keep quiet. McEntire told the crowd:
“Thomas Rhett, thank you for praying…you’re special. That took guts. That’s what we need right now, a little more God. We’ve got to give this world back to God.”
“A little more God’’ vs. people trying to bury God. Some other recent examples:
“Religion is in decline as more adults check ‘None’ — less than half of American adults attend church regularly while 26 percent claim no religious affiliation,” The Wall Street Journal reports. If so, why is the rest of the world so intimidated by public expressions of faith?
as more adults check ‘None’ — less than half of American adults attend church regularly while 26 percent claim no religious affiliation,” The Wall Street Journal reports. If so, why is the rest of the world so intimidated by public expressions of faith? “ No one is above the law, ” Democrats repeat in a daily talking point. But St. Paul countered “if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.’’ (2 GAL 5:1, 13–18). Donald Trump frequently adds: “We don’t worship government, we worship God.”
” Democrats repeat in a daily talking point. But St. Paul countered “if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.’’ (2 GAL 5:1, 13–18). Donald Trump frequently adds: “We don’t worship government, we worship God.” Culture means the “cult of what you worship” or place first (what you hold sacred). Beto O’Rourke calls for penalizing churches and religious nonprofits supporting the more than 4,000 year-old belief that sacramental marriage is a sacred union between a wife and husband. Christians need to be penalized for maintaining sacred traditions?
Beto O’Rourke calls for penalizing churches and religious nonprofits supporting the more than 4,000 year-old belief that sacramental marriage is a sacred union between a wife and husband. Christians need to be penalized for maintaining sacred traditions? The NBA, Hollywood and other U.S. businesses made headlines last week for stifling American free speech. China to punish any dissenters . In each case, accepting the atheistic communist policies of China (good for their bottomline) was more important than the First Amendment (protecting free speech — including the right to worship as we see fit).
China to punish any dissenters In each case, accepting the atheistic communist policies of China (good for their bottomline) was more important than the First Amendment (protecting free speech — including the right to worship as we see fit). Raising the powerful cross makes rulers and laws are secondary . The chattering class erupted when they heard Christian Ralph Reed’s thesis for a new book: “Render to God and Trump.” The theme (he’s since changed the title) is a reference to Matthew 22, where Jesus said “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” while putting God first.
. The chattering class erupted when they heard Christian Ralph Reed’s thesis for a new book: “Render to God and Trump.” The theme (he’s since changed the title) is a reference to Matthew 22, where Jesus said “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” while putting God first. The Trump administration repeatedly raises religious freedom (rights the Democratic National Committee questioned in a recent resolution courting non-religious voters). Trump challenges China for “human rights violations and abuses” against more than 1 million Muslim Uyghurs imprisoned in “re-education” camps.
He warned the United Nations: “Global bureaucrats have absolutely no business attacking the sovereignty of nations that wish to protect innocent life.”
“Far left socialists are trying to tear down the traditions and customs that made America the greatest nation on earth,’’ Trump said Saturday. “They reject the principles of our founding fathers — principles enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, which proclaims that our rights come from our Creator.’’
“We want God,” the chant that still terrifies
If religion is really in decline or “on the run’’ why are people so threatened by God and people of faith? Particularly any time God or His teachings are mentioned?
The most controversial word in the world? Jesus. Peter Kreeft argues “Jesus’’ remains the most controversial word in all human languages, that merely saying the word immediately raises or lowers the room temperature.
Perhaps the clearest example of this need to silence and bury Christians is displayed in the new film, “The Divine Plan,’’ which debuts nationwide November 6 for a special one night only nationwide release to gauge the national market for a pro-faith and freedom film.
The film builds on more than 15 years of research from historian Paul Kengor as well as other leading scholars and two Catholic bishops. “The Divine Plan” (both a book and film version) explains how communists plotted to kill St. John Paul the Great, seeing his words and his very existence as a threat to their power. It also reveals evidence Reagan and JPII believed Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was a “closet Christian.”
God is like Kryptonite to non-believers
God is to doubters what Kryptonite is to Superman, director Robert Orlando shows in this combination of documentary, docudrama and graphic art novel.
Superman could do anything — but he immediately buckled when a foe pulled out a piece of Kryptonite and the same thing seems to happen to non-believers when they hear some mentioning God, Jesus, prayer or their teachings.
Rather than debate or engage people of faith, the Left (then and now) rejects and tries to silence them. The story: a modern miracle set at the intersection of culture wars, faith and freedom.
Starting with “God and Ronald Reagan” in 2004, Kengor’s research. shows how Reagan and JPII both realized God was the Achilles Heal of the communists, that a Divine Plan and belief in God were the one adversary they could never answer.
Superman could do anything imaginable — until he was faced with Kryptonite. Non-believers seem to react the same way to God. If they don’t believe, then why is God so intimidating? Could it be because God is love and truth itself?
“We want God!’’ the crowd chanted in 1979, defying their atheist overlords.
The turning point arrived 40 years ago, when John Paul, nine months after ascending to the Throne of St. Peter, returned to Poland where he quickly had millions chanting “We want God, we want God, we want a God!”
While The New York Times dismissed his impact (at the time) as mere momentary symbolism and nostalgia, the communists quickly realized he had stripped their defenses bare.
Five months later, on November 13, 1979, the Secretariat of the Central Committee issued a secret edict:
“Use all possibilities available to the Soviet Union to prevent the new course of policies initiated by the Polish pope; if necessary with additional measures beyond disinformation and discreditation.”
Nine Russian leaders, including Gorbachev, signed this 1979 edict. Six months to the day later, the pope was shot by a communist-backed assassin.
“Of course they tried to assassinate him,” Anne Applebaum tells Orlando and Kengor. “They understood exactly how dangerous he was as an ideological force.”
Why the fear of religion is suddenly intense
When you seek to make new rulers and government your No. 1 priority (your people’s new “god’’ and ultimate authority) the true God (truth and love itself) is viewed as a threat to that priority.
Revolutions from the French Revolution of the 1790s to the Communist Revolution of 1917 and the National Socialist and Communist takeovers of the 1930s and 1940s and beyond made shuttering churches and arresting clergy one of their first priorities. And 2019 Democrats similarly warn the Church to be quiet and go along or face consequences.
The latest Pew data finds that 55 percent of Americans have a negative view of socialism and 42. percent have a positive view. The biggest selling point among the 42 percent? About 31 percent of that minority believes socialism “creates a fairer more generous system.” Just 4 percent of pro-socialist Americans think socialism is “better” than capitalism. But if we are all equal, doesn’t God remain at a higher level?
U.S. Attorney General William Barr, a Catholic, sees today’s secular Left using a religious-like militant fervor to stop religious traditions, telling an audience at Notre Dame:
“The campaign to destroy the traditional moral order has coincided and I believe has brought with it immense suffering and misery… Among the militant secularists are many so-called progressives. But where is the progress? Those who defy the creed risk a figurative burning at the stake: social, educational, and professional ostracism and exclusion waged through lawsuits and savage social media campaigns.”
Barr stressed: “The problem is not that religion is being forced on others, the problem is is that irreligion is being forced — secular values are being forced on people of faith.’’
Perhaps not surprisingly, “The Divine Plan’’ film was previewed at the White House earlier this summer, perhaps influencing some of the pro-God and anti-socialist messages coming out of the Trump administration.
The film was welcomed at the White House by Calista Gingrich, U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican and the co-director of a powerful 2010 documentary on JPII’s 1979 visit to Poland, “Nine Days that Changed the World.”
At the UN, Trump positioned socialism and communism as the enemy of faith, calling for truth, the main goal of faith:
“We will rediscover all truths… Socialism and communism are about one thing only, power for the ruling class. Today I repeat a message for the world that I have delivered at home. America will never be a socialist country. In the last century, socialism and communism killed 100 million people… With God’s help, together we will cast off the enemies of liberty and overcome the oppressors of dignity.”
The Divine Plan shows nationwide on November 6. Reserve your seats here. | https://medium.com/catholic-way-home/you-cant-bury-god-53bfeb393675 | ['Joseph Serwach'] | 2019-12-23 03:53:05.640000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Love', 'Secularism', 'Religious Freedom', 'Persecution'] |
One Tweak to IncreaseYour Etsy Shop Sales. | How to increase your Etsy shop sales with one simple tweak.
If you are like the majority of sellers on Etsy there is something you have a knack for, like making pottery or finding (and reselling) cool vintage flatware. You wanted to make a few bucks off of your talents and turning to Etsy was a no-brainer. I totally get it! Opening the shop is a great first step to success but SELLING requires more than going live and waiting for your sales to pour in. You HAVE to actively do something every. single. day.
A lot of shop owners that I have mentored over the years are frustrated with low (or no) sales and cannot understand why their shop struggles. They have done research or read books but still are stuck with sales that suck. We can talk about ALL of the things most shops need to improve for DAYS but the point of this post is to give you ONE simple tweak to improve your sales.
Why Listen to Me?
First let me say, I know what I am talking about, really. I’m not trying to sell you my $10 downloadable “sales guide” to selling on Etsy because that is not how I make my income. My initial income came from actually SELLING on Etsy and founding Three Bird Nest in 2011. I am sharing my success in hopes that you too can experience sales growth. My story is an entirely separate post (or 12) so let me get back to the reason for this one, how to increase YOUR shop sales.
One Simple Tweak for Sales Two words…Hero. Image. What is a hero image you ask? This is the first, main, image that the marketplace uses when shoppers are searching on the site. It is CRITICAL that your image is better than your competition, not necessarily the best photo you have ever seen, but better than your competitor’s. You are given a small 1.5" square of real estate opportunity to capture your potential customers’ interest to buy YOUR item over the others. You need to make sure they click on YOUR image.
How can you do this? Marketplaces are a different beast compared to getting the sale or conversion on your own website. This means your approach needs to be different. Put efforts into thinking about how your item(s) should be photographed. For example I searched Iggy Dog Collars and here’s a snapshot of the results. What photo makes you want to click on it? I personally like the image of the gray Iggy with the mustard color collar (top left). It is close enough too see the product, you gete an idea of the collar’s scale, the lighting is good and clean. Now do this with your own products and see what you could do to make positive changes.
It’s time to make the tweaks for your shop and see your sales improve. Think about the following…Do you have good lighting? Should you shoot flat lays or on model? Did you crop the image enough? Is it too far away or close? You can invest in an inexpensive tabletop shooting tents and lighting kit once you have a budget that allows you too invest.
Can’t wait for you to see your sales grow with this simple tweak! xo | https://medium.com/@imaliciashaffer/why-your-etsy-shop-sales-suck-d9ae54fad245 | ['Alicia Shaffer'] | 2020-12-26 07:15:10.892000+00:00 | ['Sales Tips', 'Marketing', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Tips And Tricks', 'Etsy'] |
How to Ship Multiple Paintings Overseas? | If you are new to shipping fine art overseas, most likely you will start with learning some tips on how to transport artwork safely and securely. There are many guidelines and much useful information on this matter online, so it won’t be a big problem to get the answers to all your questions. What you will find out is that proper packaging is the most important thing to pay attention to. Another obvious truth is that it is always better to ship multiple paintings separately in different boxes. Unfortunately, the latter is not always possible. Due to the cost of such shipment, not every artist or collector can afford this method of art transportation even if it is the safest one. So what is the way out? We have a solution for you!
How to Ship Multiple Paintings Overseas?
At Fine Art Shippers, we have been serving artists and collectors for many years, and over this time, we have developed a whole range of different packing techniques to satisfy any need and budget. If you need to ship multiple paintings overseas but have a limited budget, the best way to do it right is to ship them together in a custom wooden crate. Such a crate should be built in full accordance with the shipping requirements of the artworks being transported and reinforced with foam inside. Besides, it should be built using special wood that is allowed for air transportation.
Another important thing here is that every single painting should be properly packed first and only then placed in a crate. Keep in mind that this method will work only if you are shipping paintings of the same size. Also, it is not suitable for shipping large artworks. Oversized paintings require individual crates, as they are more susceptible to damage.
If you are looking for the safest and yet cost-effective way to ship multiple paintings overseas, do not hesitate to contact Fine Art Shippers. We will find the right solution to suit both your needs and your budget! | https://medium.com/@fineartshippers/how-to-ship-multiple-paintings-overseas-77306c13e347 | ['Ilya Kushnirskiy', 'Fine Art Shippers'] | 2020-12-12 00:18:05.097000+00:00 | ['Logistics', 'Shipping', 'Packers And Movers', 'Art', 'Painting'] |
The case for Artificial Intelligence in logistics | The case for Artificial Intelligence in logistics
Artificial Intelligence is the next big thing, logistics has always been a big thing. So why aren’t they often mentioned together? Rlucato Dec 14, 2020·5 min read
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
Logistics is all around us. The clothes we wear, the food we eat, our smartphones, everything we use and consume on a daily basis has been brought to us by logistics. Take a look around you. In all likelyhood, the building you are in (or the building nearest to you) has been built with plywood coming from Brazil, cement coming from China and tools coming from Germany, which met thanks to logistics.
The enormous amount of data constantly generated by warehouses, depots, distribution centers, delivery routes, shipments and other aspects of the supply chain makes logistics the perfect field in which to apply Artificial Intelligence algorithms. And yet, save (possibly) for some of the largest players, logistics hasn’t generally been able to keep pace with the recent developments in A.I. As pointed out by a recent collaborative report by IBM and DHL:
only 10% of current systems, data, and interactions include elements of AI analysis and results¹.
Why is this the case?
The reasons behind such a tardy and lacking adoption are both historical and technical. Logistics is an an activity that has literally always existed. Large-scale civil and military logistics were already practiced as far back as Ancient Persia and Greece, while the Roman legions owed much of their might to an efficiently organized supply chain². Today’s logistics is the result of over two millennia’s worth of experimentation, trial and error, progressive additions and failed attempts. Swift innovation in such a stratified discipline is impractical.
But this is just one side of the story. Acceptance of Artificial Intelligence is also hampered by a set of more practical reasons. The modern, global marketplace has spread out the supply network and extended the reach of local manufacturers. Goods can sit in tens of different depots across several continents before they reach their final consumer, and at every step of the way the merchandise is typically handled by a distinct carrier. Before getting into your hands, the device you are using to read this article has likely been through more countries than the average person will ever visit in his or her entire life. This heterogeneous and composite system, and the fragmentary data it produces, is hardly ideal for the adoption of a technology that more often than not relies on a steady supply of clean and uniform data.
How to change this?
For one thing, heavy-duty introduction of Artificial Intelligence into logistics will require specialized providers. The same software makers that develop A.I. solutions for image recognition are unlikely to possess the infrastructure and know-how it takes to tackle optimal planning problems. Logistics is a very peculiar activity and necessitates specific software solutions.
Secondly, a fair degree of data standardization will be helpful. As long as each logistics firm keeps using different data formats, structures and patterns, coming up with comprehensive Artificial Intelligence models applicable to all stages of the supply chain will be a daunting task. And chances are systematizing this type of information would not prove particularly difficult: logistics companies generally have similar processes, comparable inputs and outputs and even use the same enterprise software.
Finally yet importantly, as is the case for any innovative product, incorporating A.I. into logistics will require a great deal of trust, patience and perseverance on the part of business owners, managers and workers. Much like the global supply chain we presently rely on wasn’t built in one day, Artificial Intelligence won’t become one with logistics in a few days, or a few years for that matter. Appreciable results will take time to manifest themselves, and continuous investment in research and development will be imperative, but the long-run benefits will be abundant and mutual.
Photo by NASA on Unsplash
What can A.I. do for logistics?
The added value that Artificial Intelligence can bring to logistics is great. At its core, logistics is a large collection of organizational problems. It involves planning what to move, where, when, how and in which amount. Artificial Intelligence, which is especially efficient at recognizing patterns, estimating possible future scenarios, calculating combinations and optimizing processes, can assist logistics provider in coordinating combinatorial tasks, ensuring faster, cheaper and more efficient execution.
One of the most fitting examples of application of A.I. to the field of logistics is warehouse optimization, and more specifically picking optimization. Picking is the activity of moving through the warehouse to fetch the items that are needed to fulfill orders. Accounting on average for over 50% of all expenditures³, picking is by far the most expensive warehouse operation. Artificial Intelligence can drastically reduce picking costs and times by computing the shortest picking paths among all possible combinations.
A second example is the optimization of delivery routes. In much the same way as shortening picking paths can reduce warehouse costs, traveling shorter delivery routes can reduce shipment costs. Think of a mailperson having to deliver 100 letters to 100 different houses. What’s the sequence in which to visit all 100 houses, such that the complete path is shortest? Being able to find that sequence can decidedly increase the efficiency of the process.
Merging A.I. and logistics will be one of the grandest goals of our century. A goal which, if brought to completion, will fundamentally reshape our supply lines and lead to faster, cheaper and more sustainable logistics. This will have a profound impact on our consumption habits and on our very notion of use of goods.
This story was brought to you by Adamas
Adamas is a startup which develops Artificial Intelligence software for the optimization of logistic procedures. Do you want to know more about us? Visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn! | https://medium.com/adamas-dev/the-case-for-artificial-intelligence-in-logistics-587afd1edbde | [] | 2020-12-14 09:18:21.292000+00:00 | ['Warehouse', 'Logistics', 'Supply Chain', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Machine Learning'] |
How Barstool Upended Sports Media | Polarizing. Humorous. Irreverent. Satirical. Misogynistic. Brilliant.
All of those words have been used to describe Barstool Sports, the upstart sports and pop culture media powerhouse that has emerged as the new leader in edgy, satirical content.
When compared to its competitors, Barstool is the bad kid on the block — a title that the company has quickly embraced.
Don’t believe me? A quick Google search will yield a trove of controversies and scandals.
From The Daily Beast:
[Barstool Sports] has developed a reputation for trafficking in misogynistic and boorish blog posts, which now can total close to 100 per day.
From The Washington Post:
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy caused yet another wave of controversy Wednesday, disparaging the appearance of a female employee during the company’s “Barstool Radio” program.
From NBC News:
Last year, several female reporters accused Portnoy and Barstool fans of verbal harassment, making light of sexual harassment and doxxing them.
That’s only a small fraction of the negative headlines that have hit the company. Such a backlash would force any other business to shut down, but not Barstool Sports. Instead of ignoring the controversy, Barstool has decided to embrace it. As Dave Portnoy, Barstool’s founder and president, has continually emphasized, the company is “uncancellable.”
For a brief moment, let’s move past the scandals and focus solely on the company. How did Barstool Sports become so popular? How did the media company emerge as a leader in sports content, becoming an alternative to ESPN, Bleacher Report, and others?
To understand the company’s meteoric rise, it’s important to first understand how Barstool began. | https://medium.com/the-intelligence-of-everything/how-barstool-upended-sports-media-c87c1ab43d7e | ['Aaron Schnoor'] | 2020-09-29 19:38:39.384000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Marketing', 'Business', 'Social Media'] |
3 Tangible Steps in Combating Prejudice In Data Science — ClosedLoop.ai | 3 Tangible Steps in Combating Prejudice In Data Science — ClosedLoop.ai
We all want our algorithms to be fair, but sometimes, it’s tough to know how to start.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
When we think of prejudice, we tend to think of the most obvious ways that it shows itself. The current zeitgeist has surfaced the harm done by passive acceptance of injustice. As a data scientist, you have an important responsibility in making progress toward fairness. Often, the drive will have to come from you as the practitioner. It can be difficult to know how to approach this issue. I’m going to focus on three concrete ways in which you can work towards eliminating bias from your data science decisions.
1. Measure Fairness in a Meaningful Way
Say the word “accuracy” in reference to a machine learning model, and data scientists will come out of the woodwork to explain why it’s not the right metric. They’ll continue by listing a half dozen better ways of quantifying effectiveness. It’s doubtful those same semantic warriors are as well versed in ways of measuring fairness in ML models. We want our models to be fair just like we want our models to be effective and performant. Consequently, we measure fairness. What you report about a model reflects your priorities, and measuring fairness should be a priority.
Measuring fairness in models can be challenging. In an attempt to avoid introducing bias in our models, many datasets will not include demographic information. This is a great illustration of good intentions leading to bad results. You should record demographic information, even if it’s withheld from the model. Without this information, it’s not possible to measure how your model performs across these lines. If your company is not recording this information, consider advocating on behalf of doing so.
Once you have the ability to measure fairness, you’ll need to choose the right metric. In a previous post, I discussed a metric for quantifying bias in healthcare called group benefit equality, and drilled into a somewhat technical description of why I believe it is the most appropriate measure in the context of healthcare. If you detect prejudice in your algorithm, provides a nice description of how you can use SHAP scores to start quantifying why the decision is biased in the way that it is.
2. Don’t Let Your Data Get WEIRD
Researchers in the social sciences often have issues generalizing their theories. One reason is that they conduct experiments on college students, which represents a narrow band of society. The description for these data sets are WEIRD: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. Such a phenomenon is okay if you’re only trying to make predictions about those groups. When you try applying social theory to other parts of the world, underlying assumptions about norms break down. Most datasets we use have similar assumptions about how an individual will generate data, and can often lead to inequality.
This effect can be particularly bad in healthcare. There are pronounced differences between the way rich and poor people use health systems. For example, poorer individuals use ambulatory services to get rides to normal appointments. This is difficult to anticipate when you’ve never lacked access to a car. Oftentimes, subject matter experts (SMEs) will be keenly aware of such phenomena. Collaborating with SMEs is extremely valuable for brainstorming ways to account for such effects, particularly in the feature engineering stage.
The things that aren’t recorded by the data are an even greater challenge to deal with. Healthcare professionals know that a huge portion of what determines your health is based on your home and work environments. Just a few examples of health factors tied to wealth and zip code are access to healthy food, exposure to harmful chemicals, and easy access to green space. Accounting for these effects are difficult, but can often be the key for gaining insights to why a group measures low in fairness measures.
3. Focus on Real World Effects
One of the biggest aspects that differentiates great data scientists from the rest is their ability to understand how their model impacts the real world. The reason this is so important, is that understanding the intended use has an impact on how you define the group you make predictions about, and how you define your outcome. While focusing on intended consequences will make you a good data scientist, considering unintended consequences will make you a great data scientist.
For example, you might consider building a model to predict if a person will be hospitalized due to a heart attack. One reasonable step might be to limit your population to those individuals who have a previous diagnosis of a heart condition. Filtering the population in this way is a double edged sword. While it will make your model more precise, it will also filter out those individuals living with no previous diagnosis. If a person is getting regular checkups, it is more probable that the conditions building up to a heart attack are recorded. By excluding individuals who have unusual usage patterns, you end up building a model that will direct resources to individuals who are already getting the best care.
One of the best aspects of working on data science is that healthcare provider’s and patient’s interests align. Healthcare providers want to predict severe medical complications so that interventions can be applied. As an example, if you note that a person is a risk for a fall related injury, the intervention might be to get them a step-stool. It’s deadly simple and really effective. Win-win. Many of the known inequalities in healthcare are impactable. Actively engaging with SMEs should guide your modeling efforts to help make those efforts more effective. Your models have the potential to make people healthier, help the bottom line, and create a more equitable healthcare plan. That’s a big of win-win-win as there is. | https://towardsdatascience.com/3-tangible-steps-in-combating-prejudice-in-data-science-closedloop-ai-fb514b4d8400 | ['Joseph Gartner'] | 2020-09-24 18:39:13.878000+00:00 | ['Data Science', 'Algorithmic Bias'] |
Count All Kids | How the census impacts my community and the importance for all family members to be counted regardless of age or immigration status
By John C. Yang
This year’s decennial census is gathering imperative data giving minority groups a much-needed voice for where the $1.5 trillion of government funding will go annually. The Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities need to be counted accurately and fairly as we have historically been undercounted with one in five Asian Americans, and one in three Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders being part of hard-to-count communities. While it is crucial that all underrepresented groups fill out the census, it is just as important that all children in a household are counted. Data from the Count All Kids campaign show that around 10 percent of all children in the United States are unaccounted for and it is essential that we decrease the percentage of undercounted children in this year’s count.
Growing up, my family and I were, at one point, undocumented. In recent years, immigrants and those in mixed-status households have been villainized and portrayed as people of less worth to the United States. However, in my experience and view of this nation, we are wholeheartedly part of this country’s dynamism. America’s vitality is not inherent to her land, it is inherent in her people and the everchanging demographic of the country. Yet, too many in our communities do not know how they can do their part to ensure all of us are heard. In messaging research that we conducted in 2018, we found that 47 percent of the AANHPI population was unaware that all people should fill out the census regardless of immigration status. Therefore, it is on all of us to amplify the message that everyone counts, and everyone must be counted in the census.
We understand the confusion and even the fear attached to filling out the census, but it is important to note that the Census Bureau does not share its information with any federal law enforcement agencies, like ICE. Thus, when completing the 2020 census everyone should be able to feel comfortable in responding and know their responses are safe. The Census Bureau has removed any question about immigration status, a topic that has created fear among communities of color. It was a crucial step in everyone being counted accurately without fear of retribution.
It is equally important to note that the agency’s data dictates considerable funding for public resources affecting the future of many AANHPI families across the country. Everyone is entitled to an education, as a constitutional right, therefore making schools a top priority for funding allocation. The census data allow the government to see how many children are in each school district. There is $47 billion of educational funding that has to be divided between states and then within school districts which means having an accurate count of the number of children in a particular location is crucial data for funds to be distributed fairly.
Census responses help federal and local governments avoid overcrowding in healthcare facilities and illuminate what health services are needed in a particular community. With the pandemic, we are seeing how crucial information like this is for the deployment of resources to the right areas during a natural disaster or crisis. The data also display how many residents are using the roads and what kinds of transportation or new infrastructure might be needed. These data influence the proportion of money that will have to go toward public resources in order to avoid dilapidation and most importantly, making sure our children grow up with the necessary resources around them to thrive.
It is not only government funding that use census data. Local businesses employ them to study their demographics to determine what products need to be created or where best to sell certain products to its customers. At my local Costco, they sell kimchi because the previous census showed that my district had a larger Asian American population, including a large Korean American and Chinese American community who eat this product regularly. The census influences how businesses develop their inventory, and where to open new stores. Selling kimchi is only a small addition to Costco’s inventory but its significance is much more; my community feels recognized.
The census only comes along every ten years and therefore vital for every household to complete it while remembering to include all members within the household, no matter their age or immigration status. Without accurate participation in the census by our communities, our voice is suppressed, and the representation of this nation’s minority groups is diminished.
We should be proud of America’s diversity. I am patriotic because I believe diversity is what makes the United States stronger and more dynamic. The gives all our communities the power to be seen and to reflect the rich diversity of our nation. So, don’t wait another minute. Tell your family, friends, and neighbors to fill out the census today. When we empower everyone to fill out those ten questions, we empower our communities to receive the resources and political power they need to thrive for the next ten years.
John C. Yang is the president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC. For Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander resources, go to CountUsIn2020.org. Complete the census by Sept. 30 at my2020census.gov. | https://medium.com/advancing-justice-aajc/count-all-kids-b60e0b81d7b7 | ['Advancing Justice'] | 2020-09-23 13:23:30.529000+00:00 | ['Census', 'Pacific Islander', 'Aapi', 'Asian American', '2020 Census'] |
Dua Edebiliyor musunuz? | AgEcon | no social media | simple life | mind mapping | loves IT only for productivity | NGO volunteer | [email protected] | https://medium.com/@aykutgul/dua-edebiliyor-musunuz-a67d680ed134 | ['Aykut Gül'] | 2020-12-26 15:44:34.452000+00:00 | ['Prayer', 'Life', 'Dua', 'Türkçe', 'Religion'] |
The Bittersweet Reason I Began Writing | The summer morning that I sat down with my laptop, I asked Nick to be with me and to help me let the words flow. It was difficult at first, but after a while, the words came easier. He became my muse.
At first, it was just journaling. Then it became more creative, coming up with ideas and stories, playing with new words and phrases, and digging deep into my imagination to search for new worlds.
I’m not sure if I would be writing now if Nick was still physically here. I like to think that I would. I love writing and the more I do it, the easier it becomes, and the better I get. But I know now that my writing is my tribute to him and a way to feel close to him.
I’m not suggesting that one needs to lose a piece of their heart to begin writing or embark on a creative journey. That’s just the way it happened for me. Of course, I would give up everything to have my son back. Even my writing voyage.
But it’s not an option; God had other plans for both Nick and me. I don’t have to understand it, but I do know that I will continue my writing journey. Nick would want me to. | https://medium.com/publishous/the-bittersweet-reason-i-began-writing-31247c2e69ec | [] | 2019-01-03 21:31:00.825000+00:00 | ['Child Loss', 'Grief', 'Writing', 'Life', 'Creativity'] |
Surviving A Crisis… How The Plant Kingdom Can Help You Thrive | You can’t deny that 2020 has been a crisis of a year.
No one looking back at New Year’s Eve 2019/2020 would have expected the upheaval the world has experienced: the Covid 19 pandemic, devastating fires across the globe, political unrest, racism, riots, ‘murder hornets’, climate disasters, the loss of beloved public figures, financial crashes.
Yet, opportunity has also been able to be found this year. The opportunity to actively find the positive and the good in the world, in little moments and big ones. The opportunity to go deep and look inside to see how you can still grow and flourish despite the obstacles. The opportunity for you to be an innovative and conscious leader in a time screaming out for them.
I won’t deny that at times this year, I’ve experienced the anxiety and low vibrational energy that the rest of the world has felt.
So as I regularly do, I’ve turned to my plant friends in these times. It’s such an ingrained habit in me. And, as I regularly am, I’m struck by the lessons provided to us by the Plant Kingdom in a crisis.
Crisis Guidance from Pioneer Species
You know I am a big fan of pioneer species. These are species that first come up in an area after a fire or deforestation. I usually talk about pine trees, but instead I would like to share how shrubs have really inspired me in moments of difficulty.
Shrubs seem like an unlikely pioneering species. Most people just think of kinas weeds that come up in barren land, when instead they carry out a very important function. Most shrubs reproduce quite quickly. Kin’s seeds are often dispersed by wind and can grow in poor soil conditions under the harsh sun. Plus, kin grow relatively fast and require little water. Perfect for when an area suddenly finds itself with no tree canopy in dry, hot climates.
These shrubs create shade for seedlings, kin’s bushy bodies also create conditions at the base with lower air and soil temperatures and higher water levels. Plus, kin capture windblown objects, like twigs and leaves, which drop to the surface. As these decompose, they turn into potassium which helps the little seedlings retain water during dry periods.
Going into Lockdown
During COVID-19, my nucleo home went into lockdown (we’re in another one as I write). I live with about 20 people, including children, in a community region with more than 70 people. A large number of these people found themselves suddenly without an income or with children at home every day.
As I sat there thinking about how to balance my needs with the needs of my house and regional community, I kept going back to the shrub. COVID exposed everyone to harsh conditions. So the first thing to do was to create a cover to help protect from too much sunlight. This meant protecting the mothers who suddenly found themselves without childcare, yet still had work or other situations to take care of. It also meant taking care of the elderly. Or in the case of my home, those sick, in a way that was sustainable for everyone.
The next phase was to create a nutrient rich soil. Being someone with online experience, I went about sharing elements that could nourish those that needed to pivot their businesses. In order to have a healthy economy for everyone, it made sense for me to balance my time between tending to my own clients and helping people in my house learn how to take their businesses online.
In the short term, I used my own personal resources (software accounts, organizational skills, business materials) to accommodate them. And in the middle-term, we all won because they were able to more quickly get a new income stream up and running. Most of this was done by doing some things myself while they learned how the online world works. I dropped knowledge in bite-sized chunks that they could convert into the information they needed for their businesses. I did not personalize my knowledge just for them. Instead did some stuff for them and shared what they could do in order not to lose their existing client base while they transitioned.
In other words, I became a nurse shrub for members of my home. This translated to less income loss and more solidarity overall.
Learning from plants in a crisis
Humans and plants certainly don’t naturally react the same way in a crisis. Plants are not subject to the emotional reactions humans have. (those darn pesky emotions). Kin use plant logic to adapt to a crisis and changing circumstances more impartiallythan humans can. For plants, the goal is evolution and survival. So kin are apt at conserving energy while considering what’s changed. Then look at how to use the new landscape and resources it offers to not just survive, but thrive. When kin do this well, plants use the change to create new conditions. Often times, these are of more benefit then the previous ones.
That’s not to say that humans can’t learn how to behave the same way as a plant does in a crisis… and thrive through it. It just takes us longer at times to work out how.
If you examine how your own personal habits and logic affect your response to a crisis, would you say they were effective or beneficial to yourself or your greater community? If you try to react quickly without a deep understanding of the possible effects of your behaviors, could it be that your reactions aren’t optimal?
By mirroring the plant world’s ability to slow down and consider your new circumstances before reacting, you realize that you can use the behavior of nature to influence how consciously and effectively you respond to a crisis.
By doing so, you create your own new conditions to share with your personal ecosystem for their benefit as well.
The best way to ensure your survival is to have a survival plan.
So while you might not have a crystal ball that tells you exactly what’s going to happen so that you can create a specific plan, you can have models to refer to if a crisis occurs. That’s what you can learn from plants!
A nature-inspired way of being prepared for a crisis is to simply spend time outside. Observe and look to understand the various functions plants carry out so you can readily implement their wisdom when you need to.
You know that nature journal I keep encouraging you to have? This is when it becomes super useful.
Every time you go out and record what you see in sketches, relationships, and actions, you go deeper. You start to delve into the various relationships plants have and how those contribute to the overall ecosystem.
Another idea is to examine your own responses to previous unexpected events. How you might be able to change these responses in the future? Journaling is a great exercise to help with this. I find journaling outside while I’m connecting with nature really beneficial. In this way, I use both my logical and non-logical mind. I integrate the whispers of the plant alongside their physical functions to get a more complete understanding of what is going on.
The next time you’re facing a crisis, before just acting for the sake of taking action, I invite you to consider the humble shrub. How can you consciously and calmly utilize the resources you have available, in a timely manner, to provide shelter, encourage the production of new nutrients, and create a lasting, positive impact that ensures you and your ecosystem thrive, not just survive?
This post was originally published on my blog. | https://medium.com/@tigrillagardenia/surviving-a-crisis-how-the-plant-kingdom-can-help-you-thrive-d0d4dfc01ea4 | ['Tigrilla Gardenia'] | 2020-11-23 10:33:19.184000+00:00 | ['Biomimicry', 'Crisis', 'Life Lessons'] |
United crush Merseyside hopes of a trophy | A cold dry evening at the Goodison Park saw 2000 fans in attendance losing yet another chance of winning a trophy in the last 25 years. United got the match underway and boy did they start strong. For a side that has been criticized time and time again this season for being too slow to get the ball running they got off to a blazing start. Either Solskjaer is a legendary coach in the making who is getting the best from an inconsistent squad, or more likely his recruiters were not so hopeless after all and United are showing signs of living up to their potential. We can’t be sure right now but one fact will remain, Ed Woodward might sport the smuggest grin in the Premier League right now considering the recent performances of the team, 3rd in the PL and semis of the League cup, not a bad weekend!
Paul Pogba and Edinson Cavani returned to Manchester United’s starting line-up as manager Ole made nine changes from Sunday’s thrashing of Leeds. Only captain Harry Maguire and playmaker Bruno Fernandes retained their places. Meanwhile, Ancelotti opted to rotate his goalkeepers with Robin Olsen coming in for Jordan Pickford. Seamus Coleman captained the side with his first start since mid-October after injury.
The match started with fast attacks from Manchester United who were fast on the pitch and were stiching good passes in the final third. Chances for United came from the work of Greenwood won the ball on the edge of the Everton box, and rolled it to Fernandes for once was not able to pick out a simple pass to Cavani. Had he done so, a tap-in for Cavani wasn’t a bad way for him to start. Corners and crosses were aplenty as United kept the pressure on the home side. The defensive line and the goalkeeper not being able to get DCL into the game with some long balls hurt them as United kept on pressing and kept the ball of DCL’s reach. It had been a truly dreadful start for Everton. They had none of the ball and had been sloppy in defense.
Everton finally mounted an attack in the 23rd minute as Sigurdsson broke into the United box before having his shot blocked. Five minutes later, United again had the ball and Bailly burst forward carrying the ball from his defensive line to the Everton 18 yard box, creating an attack for his side. Fernandes cut onto his right, crossing the ball in. Van de Beek met it but the ball was deflected wide for a corner. The home side had started to get a foothold in the game, although they have not created any chances of note. United should have scored, at least once, early on and it was defiantly something they were after, Everton on the other hand had a little more control over the game.
Source : Getty Images
The second half was less exciting for the first 30 minutes with both the sides trying to create some chances but neither of them being able to make any decisive strides into the opponent half. With the last 15 left Ole brought on Rashford and Martial to break the deadlock. In the 87th minute though, United sprung into action again with a counter. Anthony Martial found a delightful pass to Cavani and a sensational shot from the Uruguain striker found the back of the net! Later as Everton threw bodies forward in the United box to conjure up an equalizer they were caught by a strong counter by the United forwards as Martial broke into the box and rolls the ball calmly home with the last kick of the game.
Source : Getty Images
United deserved to go through they had plenty of chances at the start and at the end of the game and were technically sound for the most part. Everton, on the other hand, failed to create much at all. Disappointing performance from the home side in front of their side.
Some Numbers from the game —
- Manchester United have reached the League Cup semi-finals for the 16th time, second only to Liverpool (17) in the competition’s history.
- Everton failed to register a single shot on target in the second half, with Gylfi Sigurdsson having 57 per cent of their total attempts (4/7).
- Manchester United have scored in each of their last 25 away games in all competitions, since a 2–0 defeat at Liverpool in January.
- Anthony Martial is the third substitute to both score and assist a goal for Manchester United in all competitions this season (Mason Greenwood v Luton, Edinson Cavani v Southampton), with no sub having done this for the club in either 2018–19 or 2019–20.
- United made a total of 9 changes in their team from the last game they played, some squad depth :P
Hope you liked this, subscribe if you want to keep reading more! Like for the content.
This post is not meant to hurt anyone’s feelings or cause unrest, if you have any issues do comment and I’ll make sure to note your points and make corrections! | https://medium.com/football-explained/united-crush-merseyside-hopes-of-a-trophy-3e7a7fab2f7c | [] | 2020-12-24 20:22:27.804000+00:00 | ['UK', 'Football', 'Sports', 'Manchester United', 'England'] |
How my style changed when I became a software engineer | How my style changed when I became a software engineer
…basically, explaining why I showed up to the interview in a suit.
This is back when I was a PM, and I wore this suit to work almost weekly. I loved it. Also, congrats to my brother for graduating.
TL;DR While I dressed a bit more formally as a PM, I changed my style to being more casual as a dev, as it fit the audience I interacted with. This set a tone for those working with me. I used both styles to leverage the situation I was in, and you should, too.
P.S. If you’re ever looking for free fashion advice, feel free to shoot me a message, and I would be happy to lend an eye.
It’s August in Austin, and despite it breaking triple-digits in temperature almost daily, I’ve decided to show up to work in a cotton two-piece suit. You can see it in the picture above. I’ve got an interview for a new development gig, and despite the fact that not a single person on the new team wears suits, I’ve shown up for an interview in one. A suit. For a software engineering job.
It’s quite possibly rule zero of interviewing: don’t overdress.
“That’s a bold strategy, cotton…”
This wasn’t some blunder, or laziness on my part.
I also knew this wasn’t going to be how I dressed if I ended up taking the job (which I did.) This being said, I was very intentional about which suit I picked. It wasn’t charcoal. It was unique and a little bit quirky. It also made a big statement.
Miraculously, that statement wasn’t “I have no idea what I’m doing.”
My style at work helped take the place of weeks of getting to know my personality.
Rewinding a bit here. In my first job, I talked to a lot of people outside my team. UX, marketing, merchandising, and, in a very corporate way, this usually happened in 30-minute time slots. The other 8-odd hours a day were spent with my team, and they knew me well. I would frequently meet new coworkers, and my outfits became not only a conversations piece, or a way to remember me, but a brand associated with me.
It didn’t have to be dramatic. Interesting shoes go a long way. Given that I was interfacing with other teams a lot, these outfits got a lot of face-to-face time. It created a noticeable, however small, reputation that preceded me. That’s (partially) why I was very deliberate about outfit choices. I had to create a way to stand out that was a great addition to the work I was delivering.
I could write many more articles about this effect, and it’s important in the context of my old job. What happened when I took the new job, though? There’s definitely a reason that HBO’s Silicon Valley dresses all the PMs like career fair attendees and software engineers like, well, software engineers.
I switched from spending a large portion of time interacting with external teams to spending a large portion of time interacting with just my team. My PM, my pairs, and my manager. This change in environment required a change in style to match.
Spot the PM. (Silicon Valley, HBO)
Developers just aren’t as external as PMs. I had to change up my style.
Even though I just spent a few paragraphs preaching about how my “dressing up” turned out to be a huge advantage for my professional brand, I’m no fool. Given the new situation I was in, changing jobs from being a PM to being a software engineer and not changing some part of my style would be like showing up to a Halloween party dressed as “myself.” Technically correct, but probably not the right move.
This is mostly tongue-in-cheek.
Even though the above graph is not actually how I make fashion choices, safety is a huge factor in how I dress. Staying on my brand was smart, but not adapting to the situation I was now in was riskier. Calibrating, in this case, meant moving the casual factor up a notch. I bought a few polos, ditched the blazer, and bought a second pair of AllBirds. Yes, I know, AllBirds are almost a cliché at this point, but I genuinely enjoy them. So sue me.
Did this mean that I was abandoning the brand I had established? Absolutely not. I just wore different things to express myself. It didn’t mean buying an entirely new wardrobe either.
Here’s how my outfit shift is playing out so far.
Monday
PM (Before): Quirky button up, blazer (no matching pants), khakis, Oxford shoes
Engineer (Current): Same quirky button up, khakis, Oxford shoes
Sometimes it’s really just removing the blazer. I have a lot of fun dress shirts from Bonobos (No referral, I just like their stuff.) and I kept wearing those, just with the sleeves rolled up.
Tuesday
PM (Before): First suit day. Loafers or Oxfords for the shoes.
Engineer (Current): Well-fitting Polo, the blackest jeans you can get, AllBirds
Big contrast. I’ve had to up my Polo investments. I like Brooks Brothers, RL, and Banana Republic for those.
Wednesday
PM (Before): Button-up, patterned or colored chinos, oxfords.
Engineer (Current): Crewneck sweater, chinos, sneakers
I don’t really think wearing sneakers as a dev, or at a tech job in general, is particularly groundbreaking, but it’s in stark contrast to what I would wear in my last job. No complaints yet.
Thursday
PM (Before): Button-up, patterned or colored chinos, Chelsea boots.
Engineer (Current): Another Polo day with jeans and AllBirds.
AllBirds are my guilty pleasure.
Are they the slimmest profile? No.
Are they the hottest trend in fashion? No.
Do they fit in with what I used to wear? Also no.
But do they blend decent form, great function, and durability into one comfortable shoe? You bet.
Friday
PM (Before): Typically second suit day. Loafers.
Engineer (Current): T-shirt, bomber jacket, jeans, Chelsea Suede boots.
Friday was usually my most creative day out of the week to test out new fits and looks, and that trend continues with my new job. | https://medium.com/swlh/how-my-style-changed-when-i-became-a-software-engineer-7c3e2dc27151 | ['Jameson Zaballos'] | 2019-11-13 10:02:40.682000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Software Development', 'Mens Style', 'Fashion', 'Confidence'] |
The Courage Called Waiting | We wonder why we get so bothered. The beauty of waiting comes after the fact. You’ll experience many opportunities to choose patience versus agitation when waiting is the burden of the hour. Recently, I received an email from the DSPS (Department of Safety and Professional Services) in Wisconsin telling me they had no record of my application for my LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) my SAC (Substance Abuse Counselor) in training forms. Knowing COVID has already delayed so much, I rejoiced when I opened the email, only to sit stunned. What did the school forget to do? I wondered.
After two emails the school responded and said they will resend the forms. Another six weeks of waiting is now underway.
When my heart sank, I noticed doubt creeping in and the way my heart skipped a beat bothered me quite a bit. Taking a deep breath I counted my blessing, practiced owning my frustrations and anger so honesty stayed true. I think proceeded to step into the plan and move forward.
Here are a few ideas to consider when you, too enjoy the journey of waiting. | https://medium.com/better-advice/the-courage-called-waiting-f8116a573dce | ['Pamela J. Nikodem'] | 2020-12-05 07:04:43.165000+00:00 | ['Personal Growth', 'Life Lessons', 'Courage', 'Personal Development', 'Self'] |
Humanity | I saw a baby girl wandering around a garbage, looking at "thrown food" and searching for life over there! I just stopped there to know that what she is going to do with her life. After a few minutes, I noticed that she had found nothing but a hopeless hope for the life. She left, may be for another garbage but the silent questions were echoing behind her disappearance. Questions that of 21st century, and questions that of HUMANITY at all!
I felt ashamed of myself, I didn’t dare to even think of being a part of this “world of science, technology, advancement”
At the end, I thought, “firstly we must be humans. Being real humans, we will be having the feelings of true love and empathy for all. It won’t make any sense that who belongs to which tribe, social class or ethnicity. We won’t come around such “man-made” identities. If we are humans, then none of these concepts will make any sense. We just would be loving and being loved everywhere, anywhere in the universe. And if we are real humans, we won’t be NON-HUMANS! | https://medium.com/@mohanbheel2018/humanity-5c883fbeaf18 | ['Mohan Bheel'] | 2021-04-13 19:06:46.549000+00:00 | ['Human Rights', 'Poverty', 'Poverty Stoplight', 'Humanitarian', 'Humanity'] |
Simple Secret to Happy Life | We’re all think that the happiness is only achieving something at peak. There is no denying of that Happiness Peak, but its a big one for the future.
For something that’s to be achieved in distant future we’re struggling everyday, we sacrifice a lot in life and we do the things that we don’t like.
And there is no denial for the necessity of those efforts,
“But Why Be Unhappy While Trying”.
We’re all have different targets in life but it doesn’t mean our journey to that has to be unhappy.
“Be Happy Today”
It might sound simple but its important to remind our self everyday. Because with several situations on our journey towards our future goal will we’ll skip our today’s happiness.
But important thing is skipping these small happiness might lead to frustration in our journey towards our future goal.
Someday it might lead to a thought that why do we have to keep on running.
Reason for that is by human nature its not possible for us to hold on to suffering for long period of time.
Its necessary for us to see little happiness often.
Problem with people running towards success is that they listen to a lot of talks, observe the people around them and conclude that their idols are running hard and so they have to run more harder.
“Highly Driven People Burn Out Fast”
By seeing a lot of successful people we might think that we’re the only ones who’s not running hard or not achieved the necessary things for the life.
When having these thoughts
“Don’t Over Complicate, Remember to Smile”
We need today’s happiness as well as tomorrows happiness.
We’re running with the hope that we’ll be happy tomorrow, but we can already be a little happy today. So, enjoy the today’s small happiness first.
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow”
Small Happiness can be like:
Think of playing, go and play.
Think of eating something, eat it.
Think of buying something but doubted that it might not be valuable, if buying that won’t cause a lot of trouble or money loss, buy and enjoy it.
Enjoy all the happiness possible today,
“But Don’t Hurt Others & U”.
It might still intrigues to skip everything and run towards the future goal and there is no doubt that we’ll achieve it one day.
But when that happens remember to not have any regrets when looking back.
“A Regret Free Life”
Another important thing is small breaks and happiness will motivate you to keep on running.
What if we’re afraid to take break from running?
Just Try! we’ll immediately notice a lot of happiness around us.
“Stay Happy Win Fast”
Thanks to Dr V S Jithendra for sharing this ideas in Tamil. | https://medium.com/@bkmagnetron/simple-secret-to-happy-life-3f6f0dc9154d | [] | 2020-12-23 07:30:47.470000+00:00 | ['Burnout Syndrom', 'Stress Management', 'Happiness', 'Goals In Life', 'Burnout Prevention'] |
Would You Like to Know Exactly What to Eat to Lose Fat and Get Healthy Without Giving Up Your… | in In Fitness And In Health | https://medium.com/@gajendrachauhan735/would-you-like-to-know-exactly-what-to-eat-to-lose-fat-and-get-healthy-without-giving-up-your-df73654e5dee | [] | 2020-12-26 04:03:15.488000+00:00 | ['Weight Loss Tips', 'Weight Loss', 'Weight Loss Supplements', 'Weightloss Recipe', 'Weightloss Foods'] |
dLab Cardano Fellowships. We’re funding 5 research and… | Our first dLab/emurgo accelerator cohort starts in just a couple short months, and we couldn’t be more excited to get to work. If you haven’t seen our Call for Startups yet, please check it out! We’d love to hear from you if you’re building a blockchain or DLT startup.
But I don’t want to talk about startups today. I want to talk about fellowships. In addition to five startups, we’re also interviewing and hiring five Cardano Fellows. Individuals selected for the fellowship will be funded for a full calendar year to explore new topics in decentralization and distributed ledger technologies with applications for the Cardano blockchain.
Or, said another way, we’ll provide a $60k USD stipend for you to come hang out with us and build neat stuff for a full year that will improve the Cardano ecosystem. We aren’t expecting candidates to pitch us a fully baked solution; you just have to convince us that the problems you want to investigate are worth working on, and that you’re the right kind of person to find useful solutions and produce tangible results.
If the startup accelerator is about funding people who have identified solutions, our fellowships are about funding people who have identified problems.
In most cases, we expect that selected fellows will be developers, but we’re also happy to fund researchers or others who may be learning to develop as part of their journey. We expect some fellows to work on open source, while others may be creating educational resources, products or infrastructure. Some projects we fund may have startup aspirations, with obvious routes to commercialization, in which case accelerated acceptance into a future accelerator cohort is an option. Others may achieve sustainability through a non-commercial route, for example, by building an active open source community around a critical new software library. Others might be pursuing pure research, where the outcome is publishing and advocacy. We’re open to all of these options — because the blockchain ecosystem is still at an early stage — and many different types of thinking are needed to push us forward.
Throughout the residency period, the selected fellows will work with SOSV and EMURGO leadership, publish regular updates on their progress, participate in events, and receive access to development resources, mentors and program partners. We’ll work with fellows early on in the process to establish goals, and make sure they’re getting the help and support they need to be successful. In addition to the core topic that the fellowship is exploring, fellows will also be expected to explore areas of overlap and work with resident accelerator companies.
The following is a list of topics we’re actively thinking about that are certainly appropriate for fellowships. If you’re interested in working in one of these areas, we’d love to talk with you. But we’re also interested in hearing about different areas we haven’t included here if you feel that they’re relevant to dLab and Cardano.
Blockchain Education
We need to work together to onboard the next generation of developers who understand blockchain technology, and how to write and test smart contracts using Solidity, Cardano’s new Plutus language, and existing languages like Python, Java, and Rust. That means creating content and scalable educational resources. We’re looking forward to working with fellowship applicants who are passionate about educating others, particularly those who are interested in unconventional or experiential approaches.
Of course, in the process of creating educational materials to explain difficult things, we often stumble on better, simpler, more abstract ways to do those things, which leads us to…
Developer Tools + Frameworks
Developing and deploying serverless code to a blockchain still feels very foreign to most developers. We’d like to simplify that experience in order to accelerate network growth and create more decentralized apps. This means that we’re looking for eager developers who are interested in tooling, OSS libraries, adapters, and frameworks (have you messed around with those new React Native bindings yet btw?). With the release of the IELE language and its VM, now deployed on the second Cardano testnet, it’s a great time to consider the tooling that needs to be developed around these innovations to get more developers in the front door and building useful things.
As usual, some inspiration can be found from tools that already exist. Embark, for example, is a framework for developing and deploying decentralized applications on the EVM, encapsulating common development, testing, and deployment operations and easing developer workflows. Another example is Ganache, part of the Truffle suite, which provides developers with a local blockchain that can be used for development and testing, without having to sync or deploy code to a live testnet; it’s both a great learning tool and a crucial piece of a decentralized development kit. Smart contract security testing is another area that needs more tooling focus.
Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) play a big role in tying this all together and providing streamlined tooling for developers; Remix, for example, is an IDE originally funded by the Ethereum Foundation that’s been forked to support the IELE VM. It’s a great starting place but we’d like to take this to the next level and talk about what the next logical evolution of these tools will be.
Infrastructure + Extensibility
The flip side of the developer tools coin are production services that make it easy to deploy and support certain classes of applicants. A good example is Emurgo’s recently-launched Yoroi web wallet, which leverages a hosted full node API infrastructure in order to provide lightweight access to clients. There’s a clear need for hosted enterprise services like this that enable other applications and we believe that there’s a real opportunity to create a product, or a self-sustaining public service to fill that gap. Best yet, we’ve already got a head start on this one and a first customer ;-). Interested?
There are similar needs in areas like interoperability and security. And, as far as Yoroi is concerned, there are also opportunities to build services and integrations on top of the wallet, transforming it into an application platform. If you have specific ideas here, we’d love to discuss them.
Accessibility + User Experience
As we wrote about in our Call for Startups article, one of the biggest obstacles to widespread adoption of any blockchain is the end user experience. We’re looking to fund fellows who have radical new ideas for humanizing the way we interface with wallets, smart contracts, and decentralized applications.
For example, if we’re going to scale demand beyond early adopters and special purpose financial instruments, we need to rethink the way that users interface with these services. The average user paying for a service in ADA or transacting with a dApp probably shouldn’t need to know anything about cryptographic hashes or QR codes. As such, one area we’re particularly interested in is exploring alternate ways to identify (e.g. naming) and discover individuals, contracts, and apps. Not that we hate QR codes or anything. But there’s certainly some room for improvement here.
Developing World + Social Impact
“If your project is solving for transparency, fraud and reducing the costs of moving money or identity, blockchain has a lot of potential to help,” wrote Doug Galen of Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, in an article written for FastCompany earlier this year about blockchain and social impact. Cardano and other blockchains have obvious potential to address many societal issues that plague us. Many of those problems are exacerbated in the developing world, where we expect many of the most important developments to have the greatest impact, likely leapfrogging adoption in the rest of the world.
With one of EMURGO’s stated goals being to create a more connected and equitable world using the Cardano blockchain, it’s no surprise that creative ways to achieve financial inclusion is at the top of our list of interest areas for fellowships. In addition to making financial products more inclusive, blockchains have the potential to grant digital identities and personal data management to millions of individuals with no formal economic identity, such as refugees. Other areas where we’d like to see fellows investigating include agricultural data exchanges (empowering rural agricultural producers), systems for recording and enforcing land use rights, decentralized energy markets, and preserving freedom of the press. Government use cases are frequently discussed; in addition to direct democratic process (admittedly not a near-term objective), the immutable and transparent nature of blockchains lends itself well to recording and auditing government activity, and can be used for compliance, verification, and distribution of benefits. Frameworks for inter-jurisdiction identification and compliance in smart contracts are a particularly interesting area for us.
Can blockchain applications curb government corruption? Put an end to human trafficking? Prevent hyper-inflation? We’re anxious to find out and we’d like to talk to people who are working on practical near-term solutions to society-scale problems, who also understand that solutions here are more than technical; they’ll require careful coordination with the right progressive policymakers.
Join Us
I hope this post has given you a better idea of what we’re trying to accomplish with the Cardano fellowship program. Our goal is to provide an alternative type of funding to interesting people who want to come experiment with us for a year, build interesting new things, and accelerate adoption for the Cardano ecosystem.
If you’re a hacker, researcher, or an ambitious learner who is passionate about the potential of decentralization, we’re accepting applications for our first five fellowships now. Apply by November 30th to be part of the first wave. | https://medium.com/dlabvc/dlab-fellowships-15498a9e0859 | ['Nick Plante'] | 2019-01-17 19:31:50.176000+00:00 | ['Funding', 'Fellowship', 'Startup', 'Blockchain', 'Research'] |
The most underrated instagram functionalities that can confuse you | The most underrated instagram functionalities that can confuse you Might it be said that you are overpowered by such countless instruments and functionalities given by Instagram? Do you regularly get confused on the best way to utilize each instrument to its fullest so you get benefitted toward the end?
Assuming you’re a web-based media advertiser these apparatuses and measurements are some tea for you.
However, for the overall population, may confront issues working a portion of the highlights.
Relax, we as a whole have confronted such issues once! Simply follow this rundown of normal issues confronted with probably the most underestimated Instagram functionalities so you don’t get confused once more.
What is Instagram disappearing mode?
Need to have private talks that you don’t reflect in your visit history! All things considered, presently it’s conceivable with Instagram’s evaporate mode.
Once the disappear mode is turned on, your messages with a specific individual or record get deleted once the talk closes.
These messages occur in a unique talk and are impermanent and fall to pieces, however you want to turn on the disappear mode for this element to work, if not, your messages would become long-lasting.
Appeared in late 2020 as another element, this mode allows you to have private talks which get deleted when the other individual has seen the message and when the visit moves past. In any case, how to utilize this component truly:
How to pin comments on Instagram?
Did you miss the component to nail remarks to Instagram as you could have on YouTube?
Try not to stress as Instagram has carried out its new component of sticking remarks in presents that are featured on an individual perusing the post.
This way the clients can mirror an inspirational vibe through the remarks on their posts and surprisingly moderate remarks including misuse or antagonism.
Definitely, yet what’s so new in this component?
With Facebook mixing every one of its elements into Instagram, the informing in Instagram is changed with a Cross-Application Informing highlight wherein we can consistently speak with our Courier companions being in Instagram.
Think about what!! You would now be able to share video content with your Courier companions while you’re in a video visit by tapping on the video symbol and choosing the substance you need to observe together.
Alright, however how to refresh Instagram Courier to encounter these marvelous new elements? How it’s done: | https://medium.com/@nuformsocial/the-most-underrated-instagram-functionalities-that-can-confuse-you-427da0e0ffa3 | ['Nuform Social'] | 2021-12-23 05:57:26.273000+00:00 | ['Digital Marketing', 'Facebook Marketing'] |
Write a C# program of throwing an exception when dividing by zero condition occurs | Write a C# program of throwing an exception when dividing by zero condition occurs codeboks ·Dec 13, 2020
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
namespace code
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{……..continue code for click here… | https://medium.com/@codeboks/write-a-c-program-of-throwing-an-exception-when-dividing-by-zero-condition-occurs-70d27a57b2c3 | [] | 2020-12-13 17:21:01.124000+00:00 | ['Coding', 'Code', 'C Sharp Programming', 'Csharp', 'Assignment'] |
How the Nonverbal Communication Behaviors of Girls Change When Near a Boy | How the Nonverbal Communication Behaviors of Girls Change When Near a Boy Defne Tangulu Aug 27·15 min read
Abstract
This paper investigates how the body movements (shifts in posture, playing with hair and clothes etc.) and facial expressions of girls between the ages of 15–30 differ when they are with similar-aged boys compared to when they are not. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into and to understand how girls act differently depending on whether or not they are near a boy. This paper includes real-life observations of girls between the ages of 15- 30 in open spaces such as parks, restaurants, bus stops, train stations, and benches by the Zurich Lake. These observations were made by specifically paying attention to body and hand movements, as well as the facial expressions of girls, and by assuming that the girls that were being observed were attracted to boys and not another gender. Finally, a conclusion was drawn by emphasizing the main points of the paper and stating the common behaviors found throughout the observations that explain how girls act differently when near boys.
Introduction and Context
Most girls tend to act very differently around boys than they do around girls. A lot of factors affect how they act: the attractiveness of the boys, their proximity to them, and who they are with. Some girls, especially ones in high school, seem to think that acting “different” makes them more attractive. This is also visible in outdoor spaces such as parks, bus stops, train stations, restaurants, and the lake/riverside. Some ways that girls show their attraction to boys are:
Holding eye contact Frequently smiling and overall having a happy face Sitting directly facing the boy Grinning Licking their lips Giving fast glances Moving towards the boy Touching the boys’ hand
Knowing these signs and recognizing them is important not only for boys but also for girls, especially in high schools and in the work environment since recognizing them would lead to better understanding the courtship behaviors of girls. This paper is relevant to all genders that would like to know the common behaviors of girls when they are attracted to a boy and how they act differently when a boy is near them or next to them compared to when they are only with girls.
A total of 7 observation days formed the basis of this study, with 1–3 groups of people being observed on each day. The locations for the observations will be by the lakeside park, the park, the benches by a river, and the benches by the Zurich lake, as these are the most densely populated places. The observations will be made in warm weather (24–30°C) as there will be more people to observe. On each observation day, the common behaviors exhibited by girls when around boys will be kept in mind and notes will be taken to record how many times these common behaviors are demonstrated by the observed girls.
Body movements (shifts in posture, shifts in weight on the legs…) and hand movements (talking with exaggerated hand movements, playing with hair and clothes…) will also be observed. The age of the girls will also be taken into consideration; their age can be roughly determined by whether or not the girls are with a supervisor, the clothes they are wearing, and whether or not they look old or young. The age will then be assigned to a rough age category (15–20, 20–25, 25–30). It is very important to note if the girls are in groups of only girls, or mixed-gender. Photos and videos will also be taken during the observations to show whether or not the behaviors that were being sought for were found.
It will be a naturalistic observation, therefore, the people will be observed from a distance at each location in order to make sure that the girls being observed do not see that they are being observed, as people tend to act differently when they know they are being watched. Following these observations, a conclusion will be drawn using the common behaviors found in all the observations.
2. Background
In this section, more detailed explanations of the common behaviors that girls exhibit around boys will be explained as well as what courtship and quasi-courtship behaviors are.
2.1 — Courtship Behavior
Courtship behavior is behavior that almost always indicates romantic attraction to a person nonverbally (i.e. touching them on the legs, arms, and hands, holding eye contact…). These behaviors are usually easily spotted, hence why they are being watched for carefully in the observations that are being done in this paper.
2.1.1 — Facial Movements
Facial movements include holding eye contact, excessively smiling and laughing, raising eyebrows, licking lips, etc. Facial movements are often a vital part of showing attraction to boys. Girls tend to always smile and seem happy and often hold eye contact with a boy to indicate their attraction, whilst boys seem to spread their legs and try to seem physically bigger and therefore stronger. Girls often look at the other person’s lips while licking or biting their own lips, which is also a common behavior in showing attraction to boys. A “coy glance”, which is a half-smile and indirect eye contact, is also used by girls and women all around the world to show attraction.
Image 1
As seen above, in image 1, eyes are used as a main way to show courtship behavior and signs of attraction towards boys. Girls use their eyes to flirt and get a boy’s attention and they do this by slightly smiling (a “coy glance”) and usually not showing any teeth, the opposite of the picture above. As seen in high schools, girls tend to move their head from looking down to the ground to looking up at a boy’s face so that it seems that they have “swift” movements.
2.1.2 — Hand and Feet Positioning and Movements
Girls tend to touch their hair and fix their clothes often when around boys and this might be to seem neater, prettier, and more attractive. This will be one of the main aspects that will be looked for in the observations. Girls also tend to put their hair behind their ears or shoulders in order to show more skin. Feet are usually positioned outwards in order to seem more “open” and approachable, as seen in image 2.
Image 2
Usually, if the feet and knees are inwards and the girl is playing with her fingers a lot, as seen in image 3, it shows signs of nervousness, uneasiness, and can sometimes even mean that they are not attracted to the boy, especially if they are not moving their legs while laughing or smiling.
Image 3
2.1.3 — Body Positioning
Body Positioning includes shifting weight in the legs while standing, which way the legs are crossed when with a boy (towards him or away from him), and which way the face and body are facing (i.e. towards a specific boy in a mixed-gender group with multiple boys). Body positioning is a strong indicator of attraction and of courtship behaviour. Slowly starting to come closer to a boy or starting to lean in closer to a boy are also common signs of attraction.
2.2 — Quasi-Courtship Behavior
Quasi-courtship behaviors are certain actions that girls and boys do that can be interpreted both romantically and not romantically to achieve a non-sexual goal. Quasi is defined as: “that appears to be something but is not really so”. During the observations, specific attention will be paid to identifying courtship and quasi-courtship behavior, in order that the wrong conclusions will not be drawn.
2.2.1 — Clothing, Jewelry, and Hair
The way that a girl styles her hair, puts on certain kinds of jewelry, and wears certain kinds of clothes can be seen both as a way of putting effort into one’s self, or to feel good without intending to attract boys. Girls can wear short clothing to make their legs seem longer and make their body taller. They might do this to achieve a non-sexual goal using behaviors that are normally made to show attraction.
3. Nature of the Observed People
The people that were observed either talked in German/Swiss German or in English and were assumed to be German, Swiss, or from an English-speaking country. The groups observed ranged in age between 15–30 and were put into the rough age categories of 15–20, 20–25, and 25–30. The people observed ranged in different group types: only girls, a girl and a boy, two girls and two boys, and two girls and multiple boys. The people were observed in the park, the lakeside park, the benches by the Zurich lake, and the riverside.
4. Observations and Analysis
In this section, the common behaviors found during the observations will be highlighted and thoroughly explained. Specific examples will be given from all of the observations regarding the common behaviors.
4.1 — Bifurcation Sample
A bifurcation sample narrows down the data and helps in getting a more accurate analysis. Observation day 5 was a bifurcation sample as not a lot of people were observed, and when they were observed, enough data could not be collected. The bifurcation sample will not be used in the analysis with the rest of the observations.
4.2 — Facial Movements
Facial movements were one of the most common behaviors found throughout all the observations and were present in almost every one of them. It was observed that when a boy was near a girl, the girl smiled and laughed a lot more than when she was alone or with another girl. As seen in image 4, during the first observation day, the girl with the braided blonde hair, on the left side of the circled group, is laughing when near boys. It was observed that when the boys left, neither the blonde nor the brunette girl talked or smiled as much. Both the girls in image 4 were slouching, which is shown as a possible sign of not being romantically attracted to a person, yet the girls are still laughing and smiling; the reason for this is assumed to be that they still want to seem nice and attractive.
Image 4
On the fourth day of observations, a girl and a boy that were alone were observed. They were sitting very close together and were constantly smiling, laughing, and looking towards each other. The girl always bit her lips or pouted them. Biting or pouting lips is a sign of courtship behavior, usually done by girls. The girl seemed to talk faster than normal, which might indicate nervousness. As seen in image 5, the seventh day of observations also contained very similar facial movements. The girl with the brown hair (black circle) usually showed signs of affection to the boy on her right (red circle) by laughing and smiling at him.
Image 5
In image 6, the blonde boy and the girl with the green bikini showed signs of attraction towards each other by constantly smiling and laughing like the other two people next to them.
Image 6
4.3 — Hand, Feet, and Body Movements
Hand, feet, and body movements and positioning were the most common behaviors found throughout the observations. The main ways that they were portrayed in the observations were by touching hair, fixing clothes, shifting the weight in legs, and leaning in towards the other person.
Two groups were observed during the first day of observations. One group had two girls and four boys, and the other group had only three girls. The first group of people that was observed were 20–25 years old. One of the girls in the first group had her hair in pigtails while she was laying down on the grass. Her body was facing only one of the guys even though she was not talking to him and was on her phone. The reason that she was on her phone but still facing one of the boys might be because she was too nervous to talk to him. On the contrary, the girl with the braids was talking to two of the boys but her body was only facing one of them.
This might be to show attraction towards the guy she was facing, without wanting to be rude by not talking to the other guy. Both girls were consistently fixing their hair and clothing to seem neater.
The three girls in the second group were between the ages of 15–20. They were sitting facing a big group of guys that were older than them. Only one of the girls in the group was directly facing the guys as the girls were sitting in a circle. As seen in image 7, when one of the guys, who was shirtless, stood up, the girl with the long brown hair (red circle) straightened her back and fixed her hair by putting it behind her shoulders. She then leaned back with her arms to make her stomach flatter and to emphasize her chest to seem older and more attractive. The other girls either had their hair up or behind their shoulders to show more skin.
Image 7
During observation days two and three, the girls also either had their hair up or behind their shoulders, and the body of one of the girls during observation day three was also facing only one of the guys and she was mostly only talking to him. When she stood up, she always fixed her shorts and her shirt to seem neater.
One difference seen in the observations between the common courtship behaviors of girls and boys was that boys tended to look at a girl for a long period of time to show attraction, whilst girls tended to play with their hair, and fix their clothing.
A boy and a girl alone were observed on observation day 4. The girl was talking more than the boy was, and she fixed her hair and her clothes often, which was very common throughout all the observations. Both the girl and the boy were constantly smiling and looking towards each other and the girl had her legs crossed and was facing towards the boy. They both leaned forward often, and the boy had his hands open, (his palm was facing up) which is a sign of “openness” and availability. Similar behaviors were found in the sixth observation day. As seen in image 8, a boy and a girl were observed sitting by the lake. They both kept leaning in towards each other and the girl always fixed her hair and put it behind her ears so that she could see the boy more easily and so that she could show more skin.
Image 8
In observation day 7, the first group that was observed was a group of two girls and four boys, and they were around the ages of 15–20. They were observed by the lake. The girls seemed comfortable around the boys while standing but when the taller girl sat down, she looked very uncomfortable. While she was standing, she kept shifting the weight on her legs and did not stop moving. She had a cigarette in her hand, yet never smoked it; this might be because she wanted to look “cool” and attractive with the cigarette, but did not enjoy smoking it. The girl that had the cigarette was approximately the same height as the boys next to her when she was standing. But once she sat down, she put her legs under the bench, was playing with her hands a lot, and biting her nails. She did not seem comfortable and looked very nervous. This might be because she was shorter than the boys around her when she was sitting down and the boys “loomed” over her. As seen in images 10 and 11, the girl looks comfortable standing up, but then becomes very uncomfortable sitting down. It was also observed that her hand was always by her face, as seen in image 11.
Image 10 and 11
The second group that was observed consisted of two girls and two boys around the ages of 25–30. There was a girl with brown hair, who had her hair behind her shoulders and was closer to one of the boys than she was to the other. She leaned towards the boy to whom she seemed attracted to, and sat closer to him. This was seen in earlier observations as well. Both the girls in the group were constantly playing with their hair and fixing their clothes. Similarly, the third group that was observed in the seventh day of observation was also a group of two girls and two boys. They were around the age of 15–20, and one of the girls showed courtship behavior to the boy next to her by first showing something on her water bottle to him, and then moving a bit closer to him. Hand, feet, and body movements were seen in every observation that was made and were the biggest common behaviors that were found.
4.4 — Clothing, Jewelry, and Hair
The clothing, jewelry, and the way the hair was styled by all the girls in the observations were very similar. Most girls wore shorts and tank tops, and only a couple of girls wore jewelry. In all of the observation days, the girls either always had their hair up, or behind their shoulders to show more skin. The temperature the observations were made in were between 25–30°C, therefore, we can infer that the girls either showed skin to cool down or to show more skin to who they were with. In the first observation day, the girl with the blonde braided hair had big hoop earrings which is very uncommon since the girl and her friends were at a park by the lake and the girl later went swimming. Normally, girls do not tend to wear jewelry to go swimming, as it is easy to lose or for the color to fade. Contrary to the mixed-gender groups, the girls that were not near boys did not look like they tried to look extra attractive to boys. They had their hair in buns and had their sunglasses on which covered most of their face. They also had headphones on and did not look like they wanted anyone to bother them.
Similar to observation day one, the girls in observation day three also had their hair tied up and were wearing very short clothing. An interesting finding in observation days two, three, four, and seven was that some of the girls were wearing white clothing. The girls might be wearing white since it reflects light and stands out, thus making it more noticeable. As seen in image 12, there were two girls who were both wearing light clothing. It is also seen that there are two boys near them, and the girl might have worn white because she knew that there would be boys.
Image 12
In observation day six there was a group of three girls, one of whom was wearing a long t-shirt and it looked like she was not wearing any shorts underneath. This might be to seem older by wearing short clothing to attract boys.
5. Conclusion
As seen from all the observations, most of the time girls have different behaviors around boys than they do around girls. Since not all girls are the same, the behaviors that are found around boys differ but still have lots of similarities between them. The purpose of this paper was to find the most common behaviors throughout the total of 13 observations that were made over 7 days and to make a general statement as to what the most common behavior was. The most common behavior that was found was the hand, feet, and body movements and positioning. These included playing with hair and clothes, putting one leg on top another either towards the boy or away, and shift in weight in the legs. This behavior was found in almost every single observation and also showed that the boy did seem more interested in the girl and leaned in closer when the girl showed more skin, touched her hair, or moved closer to the boy. Facial movements, such as excessively smiling and laughing, were also very common in the observations that were made, but they did not show up as much as body movements. There was no connection between the common behaviors and the locations in which the observations were made. The findings of this paper can help both girls and boys in pointing out and easily finding the common courtship behaviors of girls when near boys, both in school and in the work environment.
Citations
1 Knapp, Mark L., et al. Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. 2014.
2 Knapp, Mark L., et al. Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. 2014.
3 TodayShow. “18 Body Language Clues That Say He’s Interested — Definitely.” TODAY.com, 5 Mar. 2018, www.today.com/health/18-body-language-clues-say-he-s-interested-definitely-t72476.
4 Eibl-Eibesfeldt, Irenäus, and Geoffrey Strachan. Love and Hate. Methuen, 1973.
5 Knapp, Mark L., et al. Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. 2014. (image 6 Knapp, Mark L., et al. Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. 2014.
7 “Our Feet Can Talk, Says Study.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 2 Dec. 2009, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/6707704/Our-feet-can-talk-says-study.html.
8 Knapp, Mark L., et al. Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. 2014.
9 “Quasi-.” Quasi Combining Form — Definition, Pictures, Pronunciation and Usage Notes | Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com, www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/quasi?q=quasi.
10 Knapp, Mark L., et al. Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. 2014.
11 Knapp, Mark L., et al. Nonverbal Communication in Human Interaction. 2014. | https://medium.com/@defne.tangulu/how-the-nonverbal-communication-of-girls-change-when-near-a-boy-4f382e991d4 | ['Defne Tangulu'] | 2021-08-27 16:27:16.053000+00:00 | ['Nonverbal Communication', 'Courtship', 'Nonverbal Behavior', 'Anthropology', 'Sociology'] |
TD in Reinforcement Learning, the Easy Way | Suppose you are driving your car equipped with a GPS. At the start of your journey the GPS gives you an estimate of the arrival time (based on statistical data), as you drive and you hit traffic jams (or not), it refines its estimate and gives you other arrival times.
You notice that at each portion of the trip you are provided with some estimate about the arrival time.
Now suppose that your GPS does not give you any estimate but stores the data until you arrive then gives you a detailed report on how much time each part of the road took. Would this be useful for you ?
The answer will be: it depends on what you want to do.
But for sure you will appreciate having early on feedback even if it was not very accurate.
This is the difference between Monte Carlo and Temporal Difference.
The latter method of the example is Monte Carlo based, because it waits until the arrival to destination then compute the estimate of each portion of the trip. While the former is Temporal Difference.
As a matter of fact, if you merge Monte Carlo (MC) and Dynamic Programming (DP) methods you obtain Temporal Difference (TD) method.
Note: TD will be noted as TD(0) which means it will look ahead one step. TD(0) is particular case of TD(n).
Recall that in MC we play a whole episode until the end then we compute the discounted reward for each state that appeared in the episode. We do large number of episodes then we average the different values that we obtain for each state.
In DP we randomly initialize all the states, and then we iteratively compute the value of each state based on the (previously computed) values of the surrounding states. We keep doing this until we notice that there is no considerable improvement in any state value.
Policy Prediction
We have seen that in MC we play the episode until the end, then we move backward to assign each state the discounted return G of the episode. But this means we have to wait until the end to know the value of G.
However in TD(0), we update the current state based on the estimate of the next state. Remember the example with the GPS, at one point the GPS might notice that your speed dropped to 10Km/h so it updates its estimate of arrival time by +30min for example, but this might be a very brief slowdown and in few minutes you are accelerating again, and the GPS updates its estimate by -20min.
Same with TD(0), V(s) is updated according the following formula:
where α is the step size ∈ ]0,1], 𝛄 is the discount factor
This is an incremental average computation. Check “Incremental Average Computation” at the end of the article for details.
Clearly the estimate of V(s) won’t be accurate based on one episode only.
Same as your car trip that day! You won’t have a good estimate of the total time nor the time of each portion by doing it only once. Probably that day you were lucky, there was no traffic jam, or on the opposite you were unlucky and you got stuck in an out of the ordinary jam due to a car accident.
But if you do the trip everyday (playing more episodes) you will be able to refine your estimates by each passing day.
The algorithm (in pseudo code) for policy evaluation in TD(0) is as follows:
Evaluate_Policy(policy):
randomly_initialize_non_terminal_states_values() Loop number_of_episodes:
let s = start_state() # Play episode until the end
Loop until game_over(): let a = get_action(policy, s, 0.1)
# get action to perform on state s according
# to the given policy 90% of the time, and a
# random action 10% of the time. let (s', r) = make_move(s, a) #make move from s using a and get
#the new state s' and the reward r
# incrementally compute the average at V(s). Notice that V(s)
# depends on an estimate of V(s') and not on the return
# G as in MC
let V(s) = V(s) + alpha * [r + gamma * V(s') - V(s)] let s = s' End Loop
End Loop
Policy Control
Policy control in TD(0) has two implementations: SARSA and Q-Learning.
SARSA is an On-Policy method, which means it computes the Q-value according to a certain policy and then the agent follows that policy.
Q-Learning is an Off-Policy method. It consists of computing the Q-value according to a greedy policy, but the agent does not necessarily follow the greedy policy.
SARSA
As usual when it comes to performing actions you need to compute Action-State function (Q-value) because it maps state and action to estimate.
In Monte Carlo article we explained why V(s) alone is not helpful to determine the optimal policy (the plan, or the action to take at each state).
So suppose we are at state s and we want to compute the Q-value based on state s and action a, as we have seen earlier that TD(0) uses incremental average to compute the value of any state. This average computation, is expressed in terms of value of next state.
Since we are computing Q-value, then we have to get the Q-value of the next state s’. However Q needs two parameters which are the state and the action.
The way SARSA resolves this, in order get that Q-value, is to choose an action a’ (based on epsilon-greedy method) at state s’ and then when the agent arrives at s’ it we will perform action a’.
The figure below gives an example SARSA.
Four actions per state: North, South, West, East
In the left grid the agent is at state s, it computes the value of action going North (blue arrow), to be able to do the computation it needs the Q-value at s’ going East (grey arrow).
The right grid shows when the agent moved to state s’, it follows the action previously decided by the policy and computes the Q-value of the action going East (blue arrow)…
The following is the pseudo code of SARSA:
SARRA():
#initialization
for each state s in AllNonTerminalStates:
for each action a in Actions(s):
Q(s,a) = random()
for each s in TerminalStates:
Q(s,_) = 0 #Q(s) = 0 for all actions in s Loop number_of_episodes:
let s = start_state() # get action to perform on state s according
# to the given policy 90% of the time, and a
# random action 10% of the time.
let a = get_epsilon_greedy_action(s, 0.1) # Play episode until the end
Loop until game_over(): # make move from s using a and get the new state s'
# and the reward r
let (s', r) = make_move(s, a) # choose action to perform on state s'
# a' will be used executed in the next iteration
# but for the moment it will be used to get Q(s', a')
let a' = get_epsilon_greedy_action(s', 0.1) # incrementally compute the average at Q(s,a)
let Q(s, a) = Q(s, a) + alpha*[r + gamma * Q(s', a') - Q(s, a)] let s = s' # move to the next state
let a = a' # use the same action a' as determined above End Loop
End Loop
Q-Learning
Q-learning is similar to SARSA except that when computing Q(s,a) it uses the greedy policy in determining the Q(s’,a’) from the next state s’.
Remember that the greedy policy selects the action that gives the highest
Q-value.
However, and this is important, it does not necessarily follow that greedy policy.
The image blow illustrates the mechanism of Q-Learning:
The left grid shows the agent at state s computing the value of Q when going North (blue arrow). For this purpose it uses in the computation the Q-value determined by the greedy policy at state s’ (orange arrow).
The right grid shows the agent moving to the state s’, but does not necessarily follow the action determined by the greedy policy (orange arrow), instead it chooses a random action (blue arrow).
The algorithm of Q-learning is like the following:
QLearning():
#initialization
for each state s in AllNonTerminalStates:
for each action a in Actions(s):
Q(s,a) = random()
for each s in TerminalStates:
Q(s,_) = 0 #Q(s) = 0 for all actions in s Loop number_of_episodes:
let s = start_state() # Play episode until the end
Loop until game_over(): # get action to perform on state s according
# to the given policy 90% of the time, and a
# random action 10% of the time.
let a = get_epsilon_greedy_action(s, 0.1) # make move from s using a and get the new state s'
# and the reward r
let (s', r) = make_move(s, a) # choose the max Q-value (qmax) on state s'
let qmax = get_max_qvalue_on_state(s') # incrementally compute the average at Q(s,a)
let Q(s, a) = Q(s, a) + alpha*[r + gamma * qmax - Q(s, a)] let s = s' # move to the next state End Loop
End Loop
Incremental Average Computation
This paragraph shows how the incremental average computation is derived.
The terms of the average are arranged in a way to have both A(n+1) and A(n).
Incremental Average Computation
Notice that 1/(n+1) represents the term alpha in the State-Value and Action-Value functions.
Conclusion
Temporal Difference is better than Dynamic Programming method because it does not require a model of the environment, nor the rewards and probability distributions. TD has also advantage over Monte Carlo methods since no need to wait until the end of the episode to know the return, only one time step is required.
Related articles | https://towardsdatascience.com/td-in-reinforcement-learning-the-easy-way-f92ecfa9f3ce | ['Ziad Salloum'] | 2020-01-11 20:55:04.209000+00:00 | ['Sarsa', 'Machine Learning', 'Reinforcement Learning', 'Q Learning', 'Temporal Difference'] |
Safety & Security is paramount. | Safety & Security is paramount.
Highlights from the recent maintenance activity
On 5th May 2019, Koinex went under maintenance and our engineers worked diligently to get the platform up and running. We made modifications to our infrastructure for better process optimisations and better overall performance of the platform. All services except crypto deposits/ withdrawals went live on 8th May 2019. However, after the recent shocking incident of the world’s largest crypto exchange - Binance getting hacked, we decided to revisit our security infrastructure and make a deeper inspection of our exchange. In spite of the Binance hack setback to the crypto community, we believed that this will be another opportunity for us to add more security layers, implement robust health checks and add advanced reporting protocols.
Being the largest exchange in the country, it is our responsibility to ensure that all funds and data are safe at all times. A holistic security scrutiny is underway at the time of writing this blog and our engineering team is working hard to leave no stone unturned in establishing full confidence in our users by delivering better security on all our products and services. We apologise for the inconvenience caused to our users due to unavailability of some of our services during this week. But our philosophy is to value the hard earned money that our users invest in this new age asset class by utilising the services we provide. While the inconvenience is regretted, we are confident that our users will understand the huge responsibility that we undertake on their behalf and will excuse us for making the platform more secure for them.
Being firm believers in blockchain technology, we stand by each and every exchange, be it Indian or global. We strive to keep BUIDLing towards a future that is decentralised and appreciate all the love and support that we receive on this journey. | https://medium.com/koinex-crunch/safety-security-is-paramount-4e9472f1e07c | ['Team Koinex'] | 2019-05-09 08:59:05.138000+00:00 | ['Security', 'Blockchain', 'Team', 'Cryptocurrency'] |
Introduction to Spring Core with Annotations. | In this quick article, we will discuss Spring core annotations that are used in Spring DI and Spring IOC. As we know Spring DI and Spring IOC are core concepts of Spring Framework. These Spring core annotations we will explore from org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation and org.springframework.context.annotation packages.
Before starting let’s see exactly what the concept of IoC is,
IoC is also known as dependency injection (DI). It is a process whereby objects define their dependencies (that is, the other objects they work with) only through constructor arguments, arguments to a factory method, or properties that are set on the object instance after it is constructed or returned from a factory method. The container then injects those dependencies when it creates the bean. This process is fundamentally the inverse (hence the name, Inversion of Control) of the bean itself controlling the instantiation or location of its dependencies by using direct construction of classes.
Now, Let’s dive into Spring Core Annotations!
@Autowired
We can use the @Autowired to mark a dependency which Spring is going to resolve and inject. We can use this annotation with a constructor, setter, or field injection.
Constructor Injection:
@RestController
public class CustomerController {
private CustomerService customerService;
@Autowired
public CustomerController(CustomerService customerService) {
this.customerService = customerService;
}
}
Setter Injection:
@RestController
public class CustomerController {
private CustomerService customerService;
@Autowired
public void setCustomerService(CustomerService customerService) {
this.customerService = customerService;
}
}
Field Injection:
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController; @RestController
public class CustomerController {
@Autowired
private CustomerService customerService;
}
@Bean
@Bean is a method-level annotation and a direct analog of the XML element. The annotation supports some of the attributes offered by, such as init-method, destroy-method, autowiring, and name.
You can use the @Bean annotation or in a @Component annotated class.
The following is a simple example of a @Bean method declaration:
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration; import com.companyname.projectname.customer.CustomerService;
import com.companyname.projectname.order.OrderService; @Configuration
public class Application { @Bean
public CustomerService customerService() {
return new CustomerService();
} @Bean
public OrderService orderService() {
return new OrderService();
}
}
The preceding configuration is exactly equivalent to the following Spring XML:
<beans>
<bean id="customerService" class="com.companyname.projectname.CustomerService"/>
<bean id="orderService" class="com.companyname.projectname.OrderService"/>
</beans>
@Qualifier
This annotation helps fine-tune annotation-based autowiring. There may be scenarios when we create more than one bean of the same type and want to wire only one of them with a property. This can be controlled using @Qualifier annotation along with the @Autowired annotation.
Example: Consider EmailService and SMSService classes implement a single MessageService interface.
Create a MessageService interface for multiple message service implementations.
public interface MessageService {
public void sendMsg(String message);
}
Create implementations — EmailService and SmsService.
public class EmailService implements MessageService{ public void sendMsg(String message) {
System.out.println(message);
}
} public class SmsService implements MessageService{ public void sendMsg(String message) {
System.out.println(message);
}
}
It’s time to see the usage of @Qualifier annotation.
public interface MessageProcessor {
public void processMsg(String message);
} public class MessageProcessorImpl implements MessageProcessor { private MessageService messageService; // setter based DI
@Autowired
@Qualifier("emailService")
public void setMessageService(MessageService messageService) {
this.messageService = messageService;
}
// constructor based DI
@Autowired
public MessageProcessorImpl(@Qualifier("emailService") MessageService messageService) {
this.messageService = messageService;
}
public void processMsg(String message) {
messageService.sendMsg(message);
}
}
@Required
The @Required annotation is method-level annotation and applied to the setter method of a bean.
This annotation simply indicates that the setter method must be configured to be dependency-injected with a value at configuration time.
For example, @Required on setter methods to mark dependencies that we want to populate through XML:
@Required
void setColor(String color) {
this.color = color;
} <bean class="com.javaguides.spring.Car">
<property name="color" value="green" />
</bean>
Otherwise, BeanInitializationException will be thrown.
@Value
Spring @Value annotation is used to assign default values to variables and method arguments. We can read spring environment variables as well as system variables using @Value annotation.
Spring @Value annotation also supports SpEL. Let’s look at some of the examples of using @Value annotation.
Examples:
We can assign a default value to a class property using @Value annotation.
@Value("Default DBConfiguration")
private String defaultName;
@Value annotation argument can be a string only, but spring tries to convert it to the specified type. The below code will work fine and assign the boolean and integer values to the variable.
@Value("true")
private boolean defaultBoolean; @Value("10")
private int defaultInt;
Spring @Value — Spring Environment Property
@Value("${APP_NAME_NOT_FOUND}")
private String defaultAppName;
Assign system variables using @Value annotation.
@Value("${java.home}")
private String javaHome;
@Value("${HOME}")
private String homeDir;
Spring @Value — SpEL
@Value("#{systemProperties['java.home']}")
private String javaHome;
@DependsOn
The @DependsOn annotation can force the Spring IoC container to initialize one or more beans before the bean which is annotated by @DependsOn annotation.
The @DependsOn annotation may be used on any class directly or indirectly annotated with @Component or on methods annotated with @Bean .
Example: Let’s create FirstBean and SecondBean classes. In this example, the SecondBean is initialized before the bean FirstBean.
public class FirstBean { @Autowired
private SecondBean secondBean;
} public class SecondBean {
public SecondBean() {
System.out.println("SecondBean Initialized via Constuctor");
}
}
Declare the above beans in java based configuration class.
@Configuration
public class AppConfig { @Bean("firstBean")
@DependsOn(value = {
"secondBean"
})
public FirstBean firstBean() {
return new FirstBean();
} @Bean("secondBean")
public SecondBean secondBean() {
return new SecondBean();
}
}
@Lazy
By default, the Spring IOC container creates and initializes all singleton beans at the time of application startup. We can prevent this pre-initialization of a singleton bean by using the @Lazy annotation.
The @Lazy annotation may be used on any class directly or indirectly annotated with @Component or on methods annotated with @Bean .
Example: Consider we have below two beans — FirstBean and SecondBean. In this example, we will explicitly load FirstBean using @Lazy annotation.
public class FirstBean {
public void test() {
System.out.println("Method of FirstBean Class");
}
} public class SecondBean {
public void test() {
System.out.println("Method of SecondBean Class");
}
}
Declare the above beans in java based configuration class.
@Configuration
public class AppConfig { @Lazy(value = true)
@Bean
public FirstBean firstBean() {
return new FirstBean();
} @Bean
public SecondBean secondBean() {
return new SecondBean();
}
}
As we can see, bean secondBean is initialized by Spring container while bean firstBean is initialized explicitly.
@Lookup
A method annotated with @Lookup tells Spring to return an instance of the method’s return type when we invoke it.
@Primary
We use @Primary to give higher preference to a bean when there are multiple beans of the same type.
@Component
@Primary
class Car implements Vehicle {}
@Component
class Bike implements Vehicle {}
@Component
class Driver {
@Autowired
Vehicle vehicle;
}
@Component
class Biker {
@Autowired
@Qualifier("bike")
Vehicle vehicle;
}
@Scope
We use @Scope to define the scope of a @Component class or a @Bean definition. It can be either singleton, prototype, request, session, globalSession, or some custom scope.
For example:
@Component
@Scope(value = ConfigurableBeanFactory.SCOPE_SINGLETON)
public class TwitterMessageService implements MessageService {
} @Component
@Scope(value = ConfigurableBeanFactory.SCOPE_PROTOTYPE)
public class TwitterMessageService implements MessageService {
}
@Profile
If we want Spring to use a @Component class or a @Bean method only when a specific profile is active, we can mark it with @Profile. We can configure the name of the profile with the value argument of the annotation:
@Component
@Profile("sportDay")
class Bike implements Vehicle {}
@Import
The @Import annotation indicates one or more @Configuration classes to import.
For example: In a Java-based configuration, Spring provides the @Import annotation which allows for loading @Bean definitions from another configuration class.
@Configuration
public class ConfigA { @Bean
public A a() {
return new A();
}
} @Configuration
@Import(ConfigA.class)
public class ConfigB { @Bean
public B b() {
return new B();
}
}
Now, rather than needing to specify both ConfigA class and ConfigB class when instantiating the context, only ConfigB needs to be supplied explicitly.
@ImportResource
Spring provides a @ImportResource annotation is used to load beans from an applicationContext.xml file into an ApplicationContext.
Example: Consider we have applicationContext.xml spring bean configuration XML file on the classpath.
@Configuration
@ImportResource({"classpath*:applicationContext.xml"})
public class XmlConfiguration {
}
@PropertySource
The @PropertySource annotation provides a convenient and declarative mechanism for adding a PropertySource to Spring’s Environment. To be used in conjunction with @Configuration classes.
For example: In this example, we are reading database configuration from the file config.properties file and set these property values to DataSourceConfig class using Environment.
import org.springframework.beans.factory.InitializingBean;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.PropertySource;
import org.springframework.core.env.Environment; @Configuration
@PropertySource("classpath:config.properties")
public class ProperySourceDemo implements InitializingBean { @Autowired
Environment env; @Override
public void afterPropertiesSet() throws Exception {
setDatabaseConfig();
} private void setDatabaseConfig() {
DataSourceConfig config = new DataSourceConfig();
config.setDriver(env.getProperty("jdbc.driver"));
config.setUrl(env.getProperty("jdbc.url"));
config.setUsername(env.getProperty("jdbc.username"));
config.setPassword(env.getProperty("jdbc.password"));
System.out.println(config.toString());
}
}
@PropertySources
We can use this annotation to specify multiple @PropertySource configurations: | https://medium.com/@dasari-swaroop-kumar/introduction-to-spring-core-with-annotations-f98a90c0eeb8 | ['Dasari Swaroop Kumar'] | 2020-12-12 18:40:13.205000+00:00 | ['Annotations', 'Spring Framework', 'Spring', 'Java'] |
Why should we colonise Moon, Mars and beyond | Render of a conceptual Chinese lunar base. Credit: CAST
There is an age old debate about whether the money should be used to feed the malnutritioned children or explore the space. This is a strawman argument that does not bring real value to the discussion. The reason this argument is invalid is that the money is not taken from the mouth of the hungry children and used to build rockets. There are organisations and government departments that specialize in feeding the underprivileged children. The essential problem with this argument is that it is too shortsighted, this is equivalent to arguming whether to eat the seedlings when you are hungry and disregard the needs to plant next year.
The budget of space is taking up a minuscule amount of the total GDP and government spending. In terms of budget, the US military budget is exceeding 700 billion dollars, meanwhile NASA’s budget is 22.6 billions dollars. It will bring tremendous advancement in space science even if we put a small portion of the world’s military budget, such as 20% into the exploration of the universe. In an idealistic world, there would be no military conflicts between nations, and the national defense budget will be less bloated. Hungry children will be fed and space exploration will take place at an unprecedented rate. However, due to factors such as nationalism and imperialism, the world is still engulfed in many conflicts and arm races, which waste tremendous amounts of resources and brings little benefit to humanity as a whole.
Some opponents of space exploration might say we should hold off the development of space technology and wait for other technological advancement to dramatically reduce the cost of space exploration. This argument has some truth to it in that space exploration would indeed benefit from the advancement in material science, software and electronics advancement. For example, the iphone you hold in your hand nowadays has more processing power than the Apollo capsule which sent humans to the moon. However, the direction of scientific and technological development is not always linear. If one aspect is underdeveloped, its growth would be foreverly stunt. No amount of development in one area can completely replace the development in another area.
I have read a comedy novel that provides a fresh perspective on things. It told a story about space faring Teddy bears. They were able to develop capacity to travel at light speed, even though their technology is very primitive. They arrived on earth with the muskets and they tried to conquer earth. Of course, with our advanced weaponry, humans defeated them with ease. Humans also discovered that traveling light speed in space is actually very easy and simple. It is so simple that no one ever thought of that before. Technological advancement is dependent on time. If we stop the development of space faring technology, we may never be able to discover how surprisingly simple and elegant space travel is and become the mirror opposite of the space teddy bears, advanced in other technology but primitive in space.
There are many practical reasons to go to the frontier of space as well, exploring the space will be immensely beneficial, especially with the emergence of artificial intelligence (intelligence which can be programmed and scaled). The advanced AI is more robust, less fragile, unlike humans. The machines will require less resources to keep working. It only need the sunlight or nuclear reactor as a source of energy. In contrast, humans need an environment with dedicated temperature, pressure and moisture level, and a whole lot of it. We need gravity, otherwise our bones will shrink and break down, we need a diverse range of food options, otherwise we will get depressed and we need equipment to produce oxygen and drinking water. Advanced robotics would easily be an excellent alternative to humans when exploring Mars and asteroids. The reward of such undertaking is the unimaginable richs. The precious metal in the asteroids can easily dwarf the totality of resources found on the earth. Space construction opens up the frontiers and the boundary of imagination. With building of resources extraction facilities, humans gain access to more resources to build them. It is a chain reaction. Although the argument might have been developed by scientists and engineers who are trying to justify the economical feasibility of space exploration, the view might be skewed in a way that underplays the difficulty and cost associated with such daring feats.
There are also issues with the fair distribution of the resources among the world’s population. In the infant phase of space mining, the gain would barely cover the setup cost of the operation. However, as the technology progresses relentlessly, the profit will eclipse the cost. How would we ensure that the profit will benefit the mass instead of selecting a few ultra rich people or conglomerates? Tax is a good way for the government to redistribute the wealth to the mass. The Nordic government is a good model. The company should be public owned and work to enrich all the citizens and provide a good social welfare system for all.
The other benefit would be that the raw resources will become cheaper, which would result in cheaper products.
In terms of the greatest benefit for the greatest number of people, the consideration should expand to evaluate the benefit to all future human generation as well current generation. If space colonies are successful, the universal capacity to support the lives of humans will be greatly expanded. We will have more capacity to provide more humans with higher quality and more decent lives.
If however, the world is able to organise itself to become more peaceful and cooperative, the human focus would be shifted from waging war to the development and betterment of the whole society. A good model of this world view is the European Union, where they formed a united front based on their recognised identity as Europeans instead of the identity of each individual country. As a result, many benefits are realised for the EU members, and the quality of life is dramatically increased as a result of it. The world needs to follow the EU’s steps. We need to recognise that we are all from the same species, have similar dreams and desires for a better life, and have similar views on what a good world should look like. With more understanding and tolerance, we will achieve much more than what is possible under the current world order.
The US is still unquestionably the most advanced space faring nation. Its technology and engineering capacity is unparalleled and possibly several decades ahead of other competing countries. However, there is so much unpredictability in the future, given how the powershift currently taking place in the world right now. Countries need closer collaboration ties with each other. Collaborations between countries can make the most use of the science budget. Mutual exchange of technology will save on the individual development costs of novel technology. An agreement can be reached between countries such that when two country will agree to develop one piece of technology each. The technology will involve similar development costs. When the development is finished, the two countries will exchange the technology developed with each other. As a result, the two countries will acquire 2 pieces of technology for the price of 1. The agreement can even be extended such that there are certain reward points associated with each technology, multiple country can develop for the reward points so that each will gain access to the technology developed. These agreements will also help the limited budget of space exploration to go a long way.
From the perspective of human endeavours, the wealth inequality has its charm. Bill Gates, for example, used his fortune to fight malaria in Africa. Elon Musk leverages his technological genius and wealth to lay the groundwork to colonize Mars. Without the billions of dollars and the influence at their disposal, they will not achieve those results to such an extent. Because of the pursuit of these individuals, we are seeing dramatically progress in the front of technology and society progress. However, these specific individuals are not a good representation of the wealthy people, many of them sabotage the society for their own gains (lobbyists, capitalists). For example, the coal and fossil fuel industry lobby the government to lax pollution regulation. The mass should be more self aware, and not depending on the good will of the wealthy people to expand the frontier of our exploration.
Current issue with space exploration still revolves around race, culture and nation. We are trying to compete with each other for military supremacy. However, the people involved failed to see that space exploration is the final destination of the human race as a whole. | https://medium.com/@peterdicky/why-should-we-colonise-moon-mars-and-beyond-a280b66ed66e | ['Peter Dicky'] | 2020-12-08 09:10:34.052000+00:00 | ['Moon', 'Mars', 'Space', 'Technology'] |
An Idea (by Ingenious Piece) | Photo by Samrat Khadka on Unsplash
The jab was a pounding gut punch, hurting with lust
Freshly painted face, luscious lips of platinum
Blossoming abound, swelling into the bountiful bust
Circumference covered, launching fierce assassin
Furious consternation, loving the masturbation
Skating her way, sashaying never fall
Devoted disorientation, dumbfounded elimination
Pile-driving madness, mushroom man standing tall
Man-crushing hips, mouth watering wantonness
Sex thesaurus won’t suffice, delirium tremors fuck desire
Postal Service service, her shaved regions mountainous
On this desert fucking island of no water, I’ll sit and retire
Gliding objectification, mesmerizing trepidation | https://medium.com/an-idea/sashay-18811bb3eadb | ['Shaler Houser'] | 2020-12-13 03:02:08.720000+00:00 | ['Sex', 'Poetry', 'Gluttony', 'Lust', 'More'] |
Mom’s Guitar | Alan is an MFA grad of the Experimental Animation Program at Calarts. His films have screened at Animation Festivals worldwide. See more at alanjennings.net
Follow | https://medium.com/spiralbound/moms-guitar-6fc26c1979a8 | ['Alan Jennings'] | 2018-12-19 14:01:01.807000+00:00 | ['Family', 'Alan Jennings', 'Comics', 'Guitar', 'Memories'] |
Dr. Carmen Köhler: “We need more females in space” | Dr. Carmen Köhler is a true role model for men and women alike. As an “analogue astronaut” she explores Mars-like environments on earth and she is also a founder of the primary school competition Code4Space.
In this episode of REWRITE TECH, we talk to Dr. Carmen Köhler about Mars simulation missions, women in space, and how her passion has led to a very unique career.
How to become an analogue astronaut
The first thing people stumble upon when getting to know Dr. Köhler is her unusual career path. Born in Berlin, Dr. Köhler always loved maths, but she didn’t think she was capable of studying it. In consequence, she followed her second passion and made an apprenticeship to become a hairdresser. But then serendipity came into her life in the form of a client.
The client was a professor and they started to talk about books. When Carmen mentioned that she was currently reading Fermat’s Last Theorem, which is a book about mathematical proof, the professor was astonished. From that day on, he started to bring her mathematical programs and encouraged her to finally study the subject.
“I gave myself half a year after the hairdressing to become a make-up artist and then I studied maths. The first time I sat in the university and the professor started writing equations over equations, I was totally in love,” Dr. Köhler recalls.
The next turning point was the Austrian Space Forum, which was looking for an analogue astronaut. Carmen took the chance and eventually got the job. She explains: “Analogue astronauts are actually people who do science on Mars-like environments on earth.”
Dr. Carmen Köhler, why should we explore Mars?
The goal of these missions is to find out how the human body reacts to certain circumstances, both physically and mentally. Analogue astronauts are commissioned by universities or private sponsors to find answers to their questions. “As an astronaut, you’re the eyes and hands of the scientists,” describes Dr. Köhler.
“I think as humans, we are explorers. We are curious and we want to know things”
But the learning generated on Mars is not only relevant if we want to populate other planets, as Dr. Köhler clarifies: “What we learn in space, we can use for the earth and I think that is really important.” For example, spaceflights induce bone loss, which makes those flights an accelerated model for drug testing. Thanks to research on the International Space Station, a new therapy for osteoporosis could be found.
Is space made for women?
Since men and women produce different hormones, they also react differently to the environment of space. That’s why it’s so important to diversify the team and collect data. “We need data to know how our body and psychology react and what it has to do with our chemistry. For example, women in space have fewer problems with their eyes and ears than men.”
As the first female analogue astronaut, Dr. Köhler experienced some of these problems first-hand. The spacesuit and the shoes are made for men and are therefore quite heavy and large.
“We need more women, but we also need to make things better for women,” concludes Dr. Köhler. In her view, it’s important to have pioneers to guide the way and make space more inclusive for women. With her work, Dr. Köhler is one of these necessary forerunners.
Listen to REWRITE TECH with Dr. Carmen Köhler
Listen to the full conversation with Dr. Carmen Köhler on our REWRITE TECH Podcast, which is available on all common audio streaming platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Don’t miss out on our other episodes including Janina Mütze from Civey or André Christ from LeanIX.
______________________________________________________________
Learn more about REWRITE TECH. | https://medium.com/rewrite-tech/dr-carmen-k%C3%B6hler-we-need-more-females-in-space-e8a52496caa1 | ['Sarah Schulze Darup'] | 2020-11-24 11:05:45.774000+00:00 | ['Aviation', 'Podcast', 'Women In Tech', 'Space', 'Science'] |
This Is What Loneliness Feels Like (And What It Does To Us) | ‘Eventually most of us come to see that our feelings of unbelonging are unexceptional, and that the truly heroic act is to carry on trying to connect with others, even if it can be dispiriting to keep doing something you are not very good at.’ — Joe Moran, Shrinking Violets
For a long time, I avoided writing about loneliness despite its pervasive influence on my life.
The reasons for that are manifold. Firstly, it took me a long time to even notice I was experiencing it. I am introverted by nature and I both like and need solitude. I’d lived alone with virtually no social contact for nearly six months before I recognised it. And it would take another six months for me to realise it was impacting me.
Second, it felt like a dirty secret, like I would taint myself by writing about it. They say that everything we do online is part of our resumes and admitting that I spend more time talking to my cat than to humans is not the kind of qualification I want to display. It is the fear of judgement that makes so many of us hide our loneliness. Yet I do not believe there has ever been anything wrong with me. I simply chose to focus on work and learning and that led me away from people, at a time when my old social circles collapses.
At the same time, I think this is one of the topics that those of us who can and want to share our experiences with, have a responsibility to do so. Ironically, it does help others to feel less alone.
I’ve spent 3/4 of my working life as a remote freelancer, working alone. I lived alone for a year in an area where I barely knew anyone. I once spent a month alone in a barn in the countryside. I’ve travelled alone for months. I go out to eat alone or to concerts, to museums and galleries. I’ve spent New Years alone, Christmas alone, birthdays alone, any holiday you can name alone. It is my default state.
Earlier this year, I met up with someone I know from college. In passing, I mentioned how alone I’d felt for months before moving to the city. She said that wasn’t true, that she’d felt lonely but was always surrounded by people. I described how, on several occasions, I’d taken the SIM out of my phone for two, three weeks and put it in a cupboard, and the only person to contact me during that time was my mother. She looked uncomfortable, surprised, got the point, and I realised how abnormal the way I lived at that time was. That the loneliness I felt was not the kind experienced by those with housemates and social circles and partners. The difference between perceiving yourself to be isolated and actually being isolated is that, in the latter case, you sense the lack of a safety net. You know there’s no one to stop you falling.
She wrote it off as my own fault. I didn’t bother to argue. | https://medium.com/swlh/this-is-what-loneliness-feels-like-1796e1a7ea8d | ['Rosie L'] | 2018-11-26 18:24:33.379000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Life Lessons', 'Writing', 'Loneliness', 'Mental Health'] |
Hey White Allies: Kwanzaa Can Help You Reflect on Your Work Too | Hey White Allies: Kwanzaa Can Help You Reflect on Your Work Too
photo by Lucas Thors
The holiday Kwanzaa, a multi-day event lasting from Christmas to New Years — was created to encourage to foster celebration, reflection and recommitment to the causes of equity and spiritual renewal among people from the African diaspora. The core principles of Kwanzaa, commonly expressed in Swahili and usually talked about with respect to black people, have actually been designed to have universal application to any person or group concerned with making the world a better place.
At the end of a tumultuous year in race relations, anti-racism allies could benefit from some additional reflection on how their work might be strengthened going forward. The Kwanzaa principles, one of which is highlighted every day of the celebration, can apply to the four questions that allies should consider central to effective and sustainable anti-racism allyship. Each of these four questions begins with the phrase: How are my thoughts and actions helping me…
1. sustain my own anti-racism effectiveness?
2. provide support for people from racially oppressed communities?
3. move effectively moved racism skeptics to a better understanding of racism against people of color?
4. support and grow the community of effective anti-racism allies?
As we will see over the next several days, each principle of Kwanzaa has implications for one or more of these important questions that anti-racism allies should always be keeping mind.
Kwanzaa Day 1, December 26, Umoja- (unity): “To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.” Umoja urges a moral sensitivity and caring kinship with each other, other human beings, all living beings, and with the world itself.
One of the most common mistakes that anti-racism allies make is to bring a spirit of judgement and condescension to their interactions with the racism skeptics in their lives. In doing so, they are choosing to indulge a false sense of superiority instead of tapping into the humility that is more effective in persuading people. When doing persuasive work, it is important that allies come from the stance that they are not fundamentally different than people who have racially problematic attitudes; a more useful stance is that the anti-racism ally and the racism skeptic are only different in degree.
On this day that highlights Umoja (unity), anti-racism allies would be well served by spending a few moments thinking about their sense of connection to racism skeptics in their circle. Make a mental or written list of the racism skeptics in your world. By making this list, you are inherently focusing on what is different between you and them. After you make the list, think about what you have in common with each of them, and let the compassion created by this sense of oneness with them fill your heart as much as possible.
This is one of the many ironies of the work of the anti-racism ally: to create the racially unified world we want, it is important to adopt a stance of deep connection to those we “oppose” because we think they are helping maintain racial divisions. If we see them as separate from ourselves and look down on them for being “racist” in ways we are not, we make it harder to persuade them. Only through seeing ourselves as united with them — including having been influenced by racist teachings — can we effectively invite them to see the fulsome sense of racial unity that we know is possible.
Dr. David Campt is an anti-racism expert and creator of the White Ally Toolkit. | https://medium.com/@davidcampt/hey-white-allies-kwanzaa-can-help-you-reflect-on-your-work-too-5f49cad2e8bc | ['Dr. David Campt'] | 2020-12-27 01:18:15.626000+00:00 | ['Compassion', 'Allyship', 'Kwanzaa', 'Anti Racism', 'Social Change'] |
Take a Ten Minute Walk: A Codewars kata solution | Solve this problem - ‘ Take a Ten Minute Walk ’: A Codewars kata solution By Papan Sarkar
In this article, I’ll explain a kata solution from Codewars. This kata(problem) is authored by JKphobic. And here is the kata link : https://www.codewars.com/kata/54da539698b8a2ad76000228/train/python
Problem:
You live in the city of Cartesia where all roads are laid out in a perfect grid. You arrived ten minutes too early to an appointment, so you decided to take the opportunity to go for a short walk. The city provides its citizens with a Walk Generating App on their phones -- every time you press the button it sends you an array of one-letter strings representing directions to walk (eg. ['n', 's', 'w', 'e']). You always walk only a single block for each letter (direction) and you know it takes you one minute to traverse one city block, so create a function that will return true if the walk the app gives you will take you exactly ten minutes (you don't want to be early or late!) and will, of course, return you to your starting point. Return false otherwise. Note: you will always receive a valid array containing a random assortment of direction letters ('n', 's', 'e', or 'w' only). It will never give you an empty array (that's not a walk, that's standing still!).
First of all, we need to understand the problem. Then we will see what it’s input and of course what kind of output it wants from us.
If you read the problem twice or thrice, you’ll see a few things like what things we need to keep in our minds. Like :
The walk has to be for 10 minutes. You need to return to the starting point Every list item (each letter) or single block represents one minute
Let’s convert these instructions into code and make small segments of the whole solution code:
So,
if len(walk) == 10 //True
else // False
We’ll create two variable and initialize to 0 to track our walk, ns (North-South) and ew (East-West) -
ns = 0
ew = 0
For every single block we walk, respectively we’ll increment and decrement with 1
if we move in n direction then ns += 1
if we move in s direction (coming back) then ns -= 1 if we move in e direction then ew += 1
if we move in w direction (coming back) then ew -= 1
And then finally we will check we returned to our same position or not
if ns == 0 and ew == 0 //True
else //False
Let’s combine all this:
//Python Solution
def is_valid_walk(walk):
ns, ew = 0, 0
if len(walk) == 10:
for i in walk:
if i == 'n': ns+=1
if i == 's': ns-=1
if i == 'w': ew+=1
if i == 'e': ew-=1
else:
return False
return ns == 0 and ew == 0 //Javascript solution
function isValidWalk(walk) {
let ns = 0, ew = 0;
if(walk.length === 10){
for (let i of walk) {
if (i == 'n') ns += 1;
if (i == 's') ns -= 1;
if (i == 'e') ew += 1;
if (i == 'w') ew -= 1;
}
}
else
return false
return ns === 0 && ew === 0;
}
Now it’s time to some other best and clever solutions:
Most upvoted: def isValidWalk(walk):
return len(walk) == 10 and walk.count('n') == walk.count('s') and walk.count('e') == walk.count('w') Second one: def isValidWalk(walk):
if (walk.count('n') == walk.count('s') and
walk.count('e') == walk.count('w') and
len(walk) == 10):
return True
return False
I hope it was helpful and useful. Please let me know your thoughts. Thank You for reading. | https://medium.com/@papansarkar101/take-a-ten-minute-walk-a-codewars-kata-solution-1fe71c7dbe67 | ['Papan Sarkar'] | 2020-10-07 08:31:50.801000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Solutions', 'Codewars', 'JavaScript', 'Programming'] |
Go vs .NET Core in terms of HTTP performance | Hello Friends!
Lately I’ve heard a lot of discussion around the new .NET Core and its performance especially on web servers.
I didn’t want to start comparing two different things, so I did patience for quite long for a more stable version.
This Monday, Microsoft announced the .NET Core version 2.0, so I feel ready to do it! Do you?
As we already mentioned, we will compare two identical things here, in terms of application, the expected response and the stability of their run times, so we will not try to put more things in the game like JSON or XML encoders and decoders, just a simple text message. To achieve a fair comparison we will use the MVC architecture pattern on both sides, Go and .NET Core.
Prerequisites
Go (or Golang): is a rapidly growing open source programming language designed for building simple, fast, and reliable software.
There are not lot of web frameworks for Go with MVC support but, luckily for us Iris does the job.
Iris: A fast, simple and efficient micro web framework for Go. It provides a beautifully expressive and easy to use foundation for your next website, API, or distributed app.
C#: is a general-purpose, object-oriented programming language. Its development team is led by Anders Hejlsberg.
.NET Core: Develop high performance applications in less time, on any platform.
Download Go from https://golang.org/dl and .NET Core from https://www.microsoft.com/net/core.
After you’ve download and install these, you will need Iris from Go’s side. Installation is very easy, just open your terminal and execute:
go get -u github.com/kataras/iris
Benchmarking
Hardware
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7–4710HQ CPU @ 2.50GHz 2.50GHz
RAM: 8.00 GB
Software
OS: Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.15063], power plan is “High performance”
HTTP Benchmark Tool: https://github.com/codesenberg/bombardier, latest version 1.1
.NET Core: https://www.microsoft.com/net/core, latest version 2.0
Iris: https://github.com/kataras/iris, latest version 8.3 built with go1.8.3
Both of the applications will just return the text “value” on request path “api/values/{id}”.
.NET Core MVC
Logo designed by Pablo Iglesias.
Created using dotnet new webapi . That webapi template will generate the code for you, including the return “value” on GET method requests.
Source Code
Start the .NET Core web server
$ dotnet run -c Release
Hosting environment: Production
Content root path: C:\mygopath\src\github.com\kataras\iris\_benchmarks
etcore-mvc
Now listening on:
Application started. Press Ctrl+C to shut down. $ cd netcore-mvc$ dotnet run -c ReleaseHosting environment: ProductionContent root path: C:\mygopath\src\github.com\kataras\iris\_benchmarks
etcore-mvcNow listening on: http://localhost:5000 Application started. Press Ctrl+C to shut down.
Target and run the HTTP benchmark tool
Bombarding
5000000 / 5000000 [=====================================================] 100.00% 2m3s
Done!
Statistics Avg Stdev Max
Reqs/sec 40226.03 8724.30 161919
Latency 3.09ms 1.40ms 169.12ms
HTTP codes:
1xx - 0, 2xx - 5000000, 3xx - 0, 4xx - 0, 5xx - 0
others - 0
Throughput: 8.91MB/s $ bombardier -c 125 -n 5000000 http://localhost:5000/api/values/5 Bombarding http://localhost:5000/api/values/5 with 5000000 requests using 125 connections5000000 / 5000000 [=====================================================] 100.00% 2m3sDone!Statistics Avg Stdev MaxReqs/sec 40226.03 8724.30 161919Latency 3.09ms 1.40ms 169.12msHTTP codes:1xx - 0, 2xx - 5000000, 3xx - 0, 4xx - 0, 5xx - 0others - 0Throughput: 8.91MB/s
Iris MVC
Logo designed by Santosh Anand.
Source Code
Start the Go web server
$ go run main.go
Now listening on:
Application started. Press CTRL+C to shut down. $ cd iris-mvc$ go run main.goNow listening on: http://localhost:5000 Application started. Press CTRL+C to shut down.
Target and run the HTTP benchmark tool
Bombarding
5000000 / 5000000 [======================================================] 100.00% 47s
Done!
Statistics Avg Stdev Max
Reqs/sec 105643.81 7687.79 122564
Latency 1.18ms 366.55us 22.01ms
HTTP codes:
1xx - 0, 2xx - 5000000, 3xx - 0, 4xx - 0, 5xx - 0
others - 0
Throughput: 19.65MB/s $ bombardier -c 125 -n 5000000 http://localhost:5000/api/values/5 Bombarding http://localhost:5000/api/values/5 with 5000000 requests using 125 connections5000000 / 5000000 [======================================================] 100.00% 47sDone!Statistics Avg Stdev MaxReqs/sec 105643.81 7687.79 122564Latency 1.18ms 366.55us 22.01msHTTP codes:1xx - 0, 2xx - 5000000, 3xx - 0, 4xx - 0, 5xx - 0others - 0Throughput: 19.65MB/s
For those who understand better by images, I did print my screen too!
Click here to see these screenshots.
Summary
Time to complete the 5000000 requests - smaller is better.
- smaller is better. Reqs/sec — bigger is better.
Latency — smaller is better
Throughput — bigger is better.
Memory usage — smaller is better.
LOC (Lines Of Code) — smaller is better.
.NET Core MVC Application, written using 86 lines of code, ran for 2 minutes and 8 seconds serving 39311.56 requests per second within 3.19ms latency in average and 229.73ms max, the memory usage of all these was ~126MB (without the dotnet host).
Iris MVC Application, written using 27 lines of code, ran for 47 seconds serving 105643.71 requests per second within 1.18ms latency in average and 22.01ms max, the memory usage of all these was ~12MB.
There is also another benchmark with templates, scroll to the bottom.
Update 20 August 2017
As Josh Clark and Scott Hanselman pointed out on this re-tweet , on .NET Core Startup.cs file the line with services.AddMvc(); can be replaced with services.AddMvcCore(); . I followed their helpful instructions and re-run the benchmarks. The article now contains the latest benchmark output for the .NET Core application with the change both Josh and Scott noted.
It had a small difference but not as huge (8.91MB/s from 8.61MB/s) | https://medium.com/hackernoon/go-vs-net-core-in-terms-of-http-performance-7535a61b67b8 | ['Gerasimos Maropoulos'] | 2017-10-07 04:46:03.439000+00:00 | ['Golang', 'Aspnet', 'Iris Web Framework', 'Benchmark', 'Web Development'] |
Cranberry Orange Nut Bread | Cranberry Orange Nut Bread
Cranberries tend to only get a starring role at Thanksgiving, as a saucy accompaniment to turkey. This recipe makes a case for highlighting fresh cranberries throughout the fall and winter months. This dessert-like quick bread is a perfect vehicle for fresh cranberries: the fruit's tartness is a delicious counterpoint to the sweetness of the dough and the acidity of the orange. Since it is only possible to get fresh cranberries in the holiday season, I buy several bags in December and freeze them. Then, if the desire for cranberry orange nut bread strikes me in April, I use the cranberries straight from frozen, follow this recipe, and an hour later, fulfill my craving. The instructions are also almost ludicrously easy: combine the dry in one bowl and the wet in another. Cut in the butter, then mix everything together; it’s that simple. This recipe offers minimal cleanup and prep time, with maximum flavor and results!
Recipe
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 c unsalted butter
Zest of one orange
3/4 c orange juice
1 well-beaten egg
1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chopped nuts ( I use walnuts or pecans)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Stir together dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, cinnamon) in a large bowl.
3. Cut in the butter using a fork, pastry cutter, or food processor. The mixture should resemble coarse sand.
4. Combine peel, juice, and egg in a small bowl.
5. Add wet ingredients to dry, mixing just to moisten. Do not over mix.
6. Fold in berries and nuts until everything is just combined.
7. Bake for 50–60 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly. | https://medium.com/the-cookbook-for-all/cranberry-orange-nut-bread-b6e1b525dc6e | ['Mary Andino'] | 2020-12-23 00:51:35.576000+00:00 | ['Baking', 'Dessert', 'Cooking', 'Recipe', 'American'] |
This is Why Christmas is celebrated! | Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, whom Christians believe to be God’s Son.
The name ‘Christmas’ is derived from the Christ’s Mass. (or Jesus). A Mass service (also known as Communion or Eucharist) is a moment for Christians to remember that Jesus died for us and then rose again. The only ceremony that could take place after sunset (and before sunrise the next day) was the ‘Christ-Mass,’ therefore people had it at Midnight! As a result, we have the name Christ-Mass, which has been reduced to Christmas.
People all around the world, whether Christians or not, today celebrate Christmas. It’s a time when family and friends get together to celebrate their blessings. People, especially youngsters, enjoy Christmas because it is a time when they may give and receive gifts!
No one knows Jesus’ actual birthday! Why do we celebrate it on December 25th since the Bible doesn’t specify a date? There were a lot of debates among the early Christians over when it should be commemorated! Also, Jesus’ birth was most likely not in the year 1, but somewhere between 2 BCE/BC and 7 BCE/BC, possibly in 4 BCE/BC (there is no 0 — the years go from 1 BC/BCE to 1!).
Christmas was first observed on December 25th in the year 336, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine (he was the first Christian Roman Emperor). However, it was not a Roman state event at the time.
There are a variety of traditions and ideas as to why Christmas is observed on December 25th.
The day Mary was told she would have a very unique baby, Jesus (called the Annunciation) was on March 25th, according to early Christian tradition, and it is still honoured on that day today. The 25th of December is nine months after the 25th of March!
Some early Christians believed that the world was created on March 25th, as well as the day when Jesus died as an adult (Nisan 14 in the Jewish calendar), and that Jesus was conceived and died on the same day of the year.
The Winter Solstice is the day when the period between the sun rising and setting is the shortest. In the Northern Hemisphere, it occurs on December 21st or 22nd. (The Summer Solstice occurs at this time in the Southern Hemisphere, whereas the Winter Solstice occurs in late June.)
To pagans, this indicated that the days would begin to get lighter and longer, while the nights would become shorter, signalling the start of a new season. People held a mid-winter party to commemorate the sun’s victory over winter’s darkness. Animals kept for food were typically killed at this time to avoid having to feed them throughout winter, and some liquids that had been brewing since the autumn/harvest would also be ready to consume.
As a result, it was a nice opportunity to host a party with food and drink before the remainder of the winter arrived. (We’re still having New Year’s Eve parties about this time!)
Yule is the name given to the period surrounding the Winter Solstice in Scandinavia and some other parts of northern Europe (although the word Yule only seems to date to about the year 300). Koleda is the name of the mid-winter festival in Eastern Europe.
Because Christians believe that Jesus is the light of the world, the early Christians believed that today was the appropriate time to commemorate Jesus’ birth. They also adopted several Winter Solstice customs, such as Holly, Mistletoe, and even Christmas Carols, and given them Christian meanings.
It is unknown what year Jesus was born. A monk named Dionysius Exiguus devised the current calendar system in the sixth century. He was actually attempting to devise a better method for determining when Easter should be observed, based on a new calendar that placed Jesus’ birth in the year 1. However, he made an arithmetic error and thereby miscalculated the likely year of Jesus’ birth!
The majority of experts today believe Jesus was born sometime between 2 and 7 BCE/BC, likely in 4 BCE/BC. Years were traditionally dated from the reigns of Roman Emperors before Dionysius’ revised calendars. From the 8th century, when the ‘Venerable Bede of Northumbria’ utilised it in his ‘new’ history book, the new calendar became more generally used!
So, everytime you celebrate Christmas, keep in mind that you’re commemorating a true event that occurred approximately 2000 years ago: God sent his Son into the world as a Christmas gift for everyone!
Around addition to Christmas and the Solstice, there are a number of additional events in late December. Jews celebrate Hanukkah, while some Africans and African Americans celebrate Kwanzaa, which takes place from December 26th to January 1st.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! | https://medium.com/@indranicosmetics/this-is-why-christmas-is-celebrated-d20928b89e99 | ['Indrani Cosmetics'] | 2021-12-25 14:42:23.204000+00:00 | ['Christmas', 'Christian Living', 'Festivals', 'Christianity'] |
One Nation, One Charger | Technology is amazing but different chargers for different devices irritate the hell out of me. Despite multiple efforts of drilling tables and fixing wires at a particular spot, My gadgets are usually out of battery whenever they are needed the most.
There is chaos in my mind almost all the time. The train of thought traverses from a wide range of how to reform board exams to why do I keep throwing full tosses when I bowl leg-spin. This attention deficit disorder is further fueled by the presence of electronics on and around my table. The ease with which I swiped right while writing this and scrolled Spotify, only to come back to scan Twitter is fascinating. Most of the gadgets have a designated spot and time to be used, like kindle before bed, Laptop for work, earplugs, and Garmin for running/biking, and iPad for reading articles or watching New Girl while eating meals. The other gadgets have to also compete for attention against a formidable opponent, The smartphone ( It’s winning these days).
While I went overboard with the context, This piece is not about attention disorder or how gadgets shape our lives. This is about an extremely inconsequential problem on the mess of different chargers in my life.
Technology is amazing but different chargers for different devices irritate the hell out of me. Despite multiple efforts of drilling tables and fixing wires at a particular spot, My gadgets are usually out of battery whenever they are needed the most. An almost certain visual is of a half-trimmed beard face of mine when unfailingly the power runs out of trimmer. As I struggle to find the right charger for my bike’s front headlight, I scan my entire house only to discover that we have 23 USB Cables. Add to that a charger for Garmin watch, Bike Light, Kindle and speaker use the same USB, Macbook and earphones use Type C USB cable, iPad and iPhones use the lightning cable and a regular headphone attached to the desk. Double them from previous generation products or lost but later found. This totals to a staggering fifteen cables, out of which 7–8 are a regular feature on the desk. Juicing each product separately is operationally difficult and invariably leads to a great deal of electronic waste.
So what must be done? An exasperated person like me which Kelkar and Shah mention in their authoritative book, In service of the Republic might demand, “Can’t we have a government that standardizes this?.” At first blush, This may seem like a very tempting idea. A single charger for all gadgets will fix all the trouble and most importantly the second argument of looking up to a muscular and under-resourced government for frivolous tasks like these is a regular moment of societal euphoria.
For any populist government that likes to ban and centralize, the proposition of coming up with a law that requires all electronics to be sold in India to conform to one single charging port is not entirely unthinkable.
But Government intervention, while being the most reflexive option, when given considerable thought comes with its own set of challenges.
Assuming the Government decides to select a certain type of charger as a national charger, Let us look at the probable questions that arise.
Who will be the deciding authority? What are the odds that the decision will not be influenced by intense lobbying from Multinational Corporations? In the case of one nation one charger, Will the Government ban devices and chargers of the nonstandard kind? If they ban, then who will enforce the ban? Will the cops come to our house search in order to catch the culprit ( Leaving essential Policing tasks, not uncommon plus at least this will not require additional training as they have similar experience in imposing alcohol and vaping pen and other such bans)
Or will there be a challan that can be surpassed by using the same device to call the MLA henchmen and be let go?
What will the state do about foreigners and NRI bringing different pin chargers and devices with them, there would also be a need for a specialized team at customs to prohibit entry of any restricted items.
An invariable fallout of such a law would be a thriving black market for devices and chargers other than the National kind. This will also lead to an elaborate network of rent-seeking, Black marketing, and scams that will make the curse worse than the disease itself. All this and we still haven’t discussed the environmental and economic cost of devices and chargers that completely lose their relevance.
Not to forget all this mess will be achieved at the cost of an incredible amount from the public exchequer.
This is an illustration of how a small Government intervention can quickly turn into a mess. There is an almost inevitable certainty of unintended consequences that will follow up with any government involvement.
So what should we do?
We as a society should restrain ourselves and maybe think through, that do we really need the iron fist of the government in problems that can be self-adjusted by the markets.
The state with its limited resources should restrict itself to playing the role of an effective regulator, channelizing its energies weighing the cost and benefits to the most essential things. We need a state that does very few things in a very good way instead of a state that does a lot of things in a very poor way.
We need a state that focuses on capacity building, making good roads, strengthening public education and healthcare and other essential public services like defence and policing.
For most other things, like this highly annoying and inconsequential problem of so many cables, the market will come up with solutions. The apple charging pad,magsafe, wireless charging, wire bin, and cable management boxes or whatever you find on amazon shall do the job.
And for the Government, maybe strengthening the e-waste recycling ecosystem sounds like a good option. | https://medium.com/@ritulgr3/one-nation-one-charger-6f1e86682ff7 | ['Ritul Gaur'] | 2021-07-25 16:20:06.677000+00:00 | ['Charger', 'Public Policy', 'India', 'Government', 'Technology'] |
Why You Should Avoid Argument Of Exclusion | Why You Should Avoid Argument Of Exclusion
When You Discuss The Existence of Human Race
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
Racism has always been hot, saucy sensitive topics and debates of the twenty-first century. An issue such as racism is one of ‘human interests’ subjects’. It has been ongoing studies and research in many universities. But lately, the tensions are inevitably the boiling water in many heads.
When a writer discusses racism, dragging readers into opinion isn’t wrong as long as research, studies, investigation support the argument and of course, acknowledge the resources.
When the opinion is merely from ‘what I think’ without any references, then it is a baseless argument. A baseless argument is like building a house with no foundation. The house is crumbling before it even begins to construct the roof.
There is a difference between a writer with an opinion and an opinionated writer. An opinionated writer often uses an argument of exclusion rather than a resourceful argument backed up by facts and referential researches.
Opinionated stories are often sensational because the opinions are often subjected to the writer’s thoughts without any references to research and studies.
Stories of racism often go viral not because of the trend, but it is often written solely from a writer’s opinion. An opinion of racism can be based on individual experience or a collective thought from ideas and memories.
So a story goes viral isn’t always for a good reason, but the controversy surrounding the high-level subjectivity of the article.
What is the sign of the argument of exclusion?
One significant sign is when a writer uses the conditional sentence to navigate or convince or enforce readers with the reality check. This argument of exclusion is nonsense, baseless, and unnecessary.
An argument that discusses the existence of human race, such as racism, when it is written with ‘conditional sentence’ to pinpoint and enforce a writer’s idea to the readers is unrealistic and baseless, therefore should be labelled ‘An Opinion’. A publication should filter many sensitive issues, such as racism and religion under this label. Mainly the ones are written based on an opinion. A sentence such as this one:
Even if Black people didn’t exist, the human race would find a way to practice racism against each other.
Though many readers could find themselves aligning with the writer’s ideas, it doesn’t mean the story is referentially resourceful. Remember that it’s an editor job to filters the story with standardised quality for the publication.
For a publication with advanced readers such as I C, It is an editor job to filter which one is a story based on opinion and which one is written with a statement backed up by studies and research.
The recent dead, Medium curation, for example, favoured stories not only a writer’s personal opinion but the opinion with references of research and studies. Though it’s not necessarily the editors should cross-check with the referential resources, at least there is a specific mechanism for the story to be curated. It makes a story a strong voice based on a resourceful foundation. It separates a responsible writer from an opinionated writer.
A writer’s idea forms the sentence above by utilising a conditional sentence to navigate and enforce the readers into the opinion of racism in the human race — which is again a sensitive topic.
It is not to the extent that the story is dangerous, but this kind of argument, the argument of exclusion proposing ‘If Black didn’t exist’ is from an unrealistic condition of the human race existence, not based on the reality of human race existence itself.
Though the argument isn’t dangerous, this kind of views only creates friction, unnecessary noise, and possibly attract to divide us. We all know we shouldn’t be fed by this nonsense argument when we discuss the existence of the human race.
If an editor decided to publish an opinionated story, I suggest the story itself should be labelled ‘an opinion’ by the publication. It means the opinion doesn’t always represent the voice of publication and opinion is solely based on a writer’s personal view that merely subjects to the writer’s ideas and experiences.
As much as the writer’s conscience to justify the voice to let readers know ‘We Need To Stop Finding Ways To “Divide & Conquer”. Unfortunately, the writer dismissed the critical point of the story that it wants to represent. So the story is a crumbling foundation. But then it stops at
What unifies us is Much powerful than what divides us.
Indeed. When such a story is from an opinionated writer that is more powerful to divide us rather than unite us.
But why such a story published by I C without an ‘Opinion’ label or filtered? | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/why-you-should-avoid-argument-of-exclusion-fea18bcd5bb6 | ['Doody Richards'] | 2020-10-12 03:11:51.065000+00:00 | ['Society', 'Writers On Writing', 'Writing', 'Racism', 'Human Rights'] |
Data visualization as a tool to access Leonardo da Vinci’s greatest work | These initial studies have identified the Codex Atlanticus as the work with the greatest experimental interest; therefore the need of shaping a tool of digital humanities that helped the analysis and the communication of such an articulated content as the one inside these 1,119 pages. From an analytical point of view all papers contain different types of drawings and writings. In order to create an application capable of reporting such heterogenous content our research had to extend into multiple dimensions.
The first dimension concerns the pictures of the pages. Thanks to an archive in concession to Mondadori Portfolio the leaves have been digitized, cropped and cleaned up in order to be used in the application.
The second dimension concerns the writings. The possibility to report the original transcription of the texts has been discarded because the ancient Italian together with dialectal forms and several abbreviations is extremely difficult to understand, even for an Italian today. There was another possibility represented by the so called critical transcription (a specific transcription approach into contemporary Italian language) that unfortunately is protected by rights belonging to third parties and, in any case, too extensive to be translated in English.
At this point a new path has been opened up: finding which topics and subject are treated on every single page in order to represent the Maestro’s thoughts. The philological study of the Codex Atlanticus’ content, made by Augusto Marinoni in the seventies, provided a solution. Augusto Marinoni, professor of Romance studies at the Catholic University of Milan, considered the greatest expert on the philology of Leonardo da Vinci, published his studies in the book Il Codice Atlantico di Leonardo da Vinci : indici per materie e alfabetico (The codex atlanticus by Leonardo da Vinci: alphabetical table of content and by subject) edited by Pietro C. Marani in 2004. In addition to a substantial critical analysis of the work, the philological study contains a list of 140 topics and where they are treated, as well as an estimation of the year of writing for every sheets.
Thanks to this philological study we started to conceive a visualization capable of showing the evolution of Leonardo da Vinci’s thought through the years of his life.
Creating a brand new dataset
The very first step in the process was to understand how to get and build a consistent dataset. The index of Marinoni’s work was, in fact, a classification of all the subjects and topics contained in each page of the Codex. Starting from the digitization of this authoritative source we were able to create our very first textual dataset describing all 1.119 pages.
At the end of this (manual!🖖) transcription phase we had a 45.000+ raws excel file containing the list of topics treated in each page and, for most of them, the year in which they were written. Given the huge amount of topics (140) identified by Marinoni, we decided to group them into 5 subjects that could be easily associated to the content of the pages and could help us to make information accessible.
We decided to make this dataset open source and available on the website codex-atlanticus.it
The dataset has been finally completed adding the high-resolution images of the pages, protected by copyright, that we obtained thanks to the concession of Mondadori Portfolio and the Ambrosiana library.
Understanding and sketching data
The design of the page module was the result of a long process of sketching data. Our goal was to find a flexible visualization of the single page that could be easily scaled down, readable and, at the same time, able to show an intuitive overview of the codex composition.
We created a custom module that visually summarized the subjects contained in a page as well as the numerical and chronological order of the page in the collection. The final result was the consequence of different attempts to combine the data of the page in a single visualization. | https://medium.com/the-visual-agency/data-visualization-as-a-tool-to-access-leonardo-da-vincis-greatest-work-9fa5f4024695 | ['The Visual Agency Editorial'] | 2019-05-10 15:22:31.575000+00:00 | ['Leonardo', 'Leonardo Da Vinci', 'Data Visualization', 'Leonardo500', 'Codex Atlanticus'] |
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