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Confessions Of a Freelancer with Impostor Syndrome | “I’m going to get found out today for sure”
“That gig is way out of my league”
“Soon these people will know that I cannot possibly take on this gig”
Ever felt like this?
Well you are not alone.70% of people all the world will feel like impostors at some point in their lives. The feeling that you’re going to get found out, that maybe you’re not as good as you portray yourself, or that somehow you’re inferior to other people in what you do; that’s impostor syndrome and basically all smart, talented and successful people feel like impostors every once in a while.
Impostor syndrome is very real. Most times it’s a thin line between being insecure about who you are and being insecure about your success. You constantly wonder if you can do this job even though you have done similar ones a thousand times. You get mentally crippled at the thought of taking up a similar job just because it’s a higher pay. You pass on good jobs with the excuse that you are not qualified to do them.
Feeling like an impostor does not mean you are crazy, in-fact several researchers argue that only experts feel like impostors; that impostor syndrome arises as a result of becoming more accomplished at what you do.
Being a freelancer comes with its own challenges — loneliness, client rejection, uncertainty and you are not exempted from feeling like a fraud. It sort of comes with the job.
Here are a few things you can do about it:
Focus on positive impact:
First of all realise that the impostor feeling does not promote personal growth in any way.
It is an enemy of growth as there is no efficacy in sulking at your desk all day feeling like a phoney.
Instead, try focusing on the positive actions you took recently or even things you have accomplished in the past. It helps to remind yourself that at some point you did something amazing. Doing this will build your confidence and dispel any sense of feeling like a phoney.
Avoid unfair comparison:
It’s kinda hard to resist comparing yourself with others. You compare yourself with someone who did the job better and who possibly has more experience.
It’s no good matching your output with someone else’s output because your styles may be different.
Even if your styles are the same, there are still other variables that will guarantee different levels of output. Instead, do your own thing, seek out tasks that you enjoy and are good at. Set your own goals and focus on achieving them. Don’t spend time wondering what the goals of other freelancers may be or how good they are; focus on you.
Create a “feel good” checklist:
Having a handy list of the things you have accomplished so far goes a long way in overcoming impostor syndrome. A good way to overcome your impostor mindset is decide on what you need to achieve in order to allow yourself feel accomplished.
Define specific outcomes for those achievements and assign ways of measuring the outcome.
Check off the items as you complete them. With this checklist, you know you can never be an imposter’s because you have an evidence of the amazing things you have done so far.
Social network:
As a freelancer it is easy to isolate yourself from your social network. This shouldn’t be the case. Connect with other freelancers, other professionals and even your peers. Remember that many people have experienced the feeling of impostor syndrome at some point so you are not alone. You stand a chance of getting affirmations from them which can build your confidence or even getting helpful tips on how they dealt with the issue.
Your network can be your support group helping you navigate the waters when you need to overcome self-doubt, develop your skills and discover new strengths.
The feeling of being an impostor should not be ignored or downplayed. Take action. Surround yourself with supportive peers and always focus on the things you are good at.
Do you struggle with impostor syndrome as a freelancer? Share your tips and strategies.
This blog post was originally published on the Week of Saturdays blog. | https://medium.com/@nancy-ewurum/confessions-of-a-freelancer-with-impostor-syndrome-a3aaa20e2046 | ['Nancy Ewurum'] | 2019-09-14 01:06:56.903000+00:00 | ['Freelancing', 'Impostor Syndrome', 'Freelancers'] |
4 Easy Ways To Develop Your Career From Home | Photo by Carl Heyerdahl on Unsplash
As businesses worldwide struggle to cope with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, an increasing number of employees are finding themselves with more free time due to furlough or reduced hours. If you are one of the millions of workers with extra time on your hands, this could be a golden opportunity to invest in new skills and personal growth.
Taking this time to improve upon, or learn, essential skills can ease the transition of returning to work while potentially paving the way for new opportunities. Consider honing these 4 transferable skills while you are at home.
Excel Proficiency
Spreadsheets are commonly used in both professional and personal life. Microsoft Excel is one of the most universally used spreadsheet programs. Many of us have wished for stronger Excel skills at some point in our lives.
Microsoft’s Excel Training Center is a great place to start as it offers free tutorials, videos and guides. YouTube also has a number of free options ranging from beginning tutorials to tips on how to prepare for Excel assessments for job applications. Still not sure where to begin? We found more than 20 options here. Regardless of the industry in which you work, proficiency in Excel is an attractive skill. It may stand out on your resume, get you noticed at work and will most likely make your calculations in life easier.
Basic Programming
You don’t need to be in IT for basic programming skills to be a significant asset to your career. If you are really interested in building out your programming skills, consider learning VBA (Visual Basic). It is one the easiest coding languages to learn without a computer science background.
VBA is used to program macros. Macros are rules created for your computer to follow that streamline everyday tasks. Often, people who create macros are not IT — they’re accountants, analysts, traders or scientists; people who are leveraging automation to increase productivity and reduce wasted time. We uncovered dozens of free tutorials for learning VBA and how to program macros.
Building Your Network
Creating a dynamic LinkedIn profile is another way to catch a potential employer’s eye. With more than 600 million professionals on the social platform LinkedIn is a great place build your network, connect with other professionals in your industry and to stay informed about relevant business topics. If you need help getting started, look at these 10 ways to make your profile stand out.
Additionally, this is a great time to reach out to professional contacts and former colleagues to reconnect. Select a handful of people each week with whom you don’t regularly communicate. Sending a quick e-mail or text to inquire how they are faring is a nice way to reopen the lines of communication.
Soft Skills
Technical skills are incredibly valuable to employers and may help advance your career, but strong soft skills will insure you excel. Increasingly, employers rate soft skills as a critical priority. Soft skills include:
• Interpersonal and communication skills
• Adaptability
• Problem solving
• The ability to manage and control emotions
Soft skills are not necessarily innate. They can be improved upon and learned. Developing soft skills begins with self-reflection. It’s important to understand which skills you already have and which you could improve. There are several on-line options for improving soft skills; Coursera, Udemy, edX and Lynda.com to name a few.
Whether you would like to take your career to the next level or branch out in an entirely new direction, view this unplanned time off as an opportunity to develop skills and relationships that will position you to move in the direction you desire.
Call To Action
Do you think my tips were helpful in re-directing your focus and goals? Please share the article and shout out to me on Twitter!
You can also check out my firm, LexION Capital, for more tips on how to grow your wealth and become financially secure.
Elle Kaplan is the founder and CEO of LexION Capital, a fiduciary wealth management firm in New York City, serving high-net-worth individuals. She is also the chief investment officer and founder of LexION Alpha. | https://medium.com/@ellekaplan/4-easy-ways-to-develop-your-career-from-home-4d5664e4e4b2 | ['Elle Kaplan'] | 2020-04-16 15:01:00.882000+00:00 | ['Soft Skills', 'Covid 19', 'Excel', 'Career Development'] |
The Four Words That Made Her a Billionaire | This is The Story… of a woman who changed a nation… by running an illegal business out of her 258 square foot apartment.
And now… onto The Story
The knock on the door made her jump.
She wasn’t expecting anyone, and her heart began to race.
As she tiptoed over to the peephole, she peered through.
It was the police. Again.
She glanced around at the inside of her tiny apartment. Every available surface was covered with the pictures and files of her customers.
It was all illegal.
She cracked the door and asked if anything was wrong.
They calmly informed her that she would have to come with them to answer some questions.
She sighed, then slid out the door, locked it, and followed the police to the car.
Thirty years earlier, World War II was raging. In Japan, everyone was part of the war effort.
In the early mornings, the sound of wooden practice swords echoed through every town.
The swords were being swung by young children. Children as young as nine were learning to fight and kill.
The older teenagers were all at work in factories. Just like in America, they were told that their patriotic duty was to work long days to make supplies, guns, bullets, and bombs.
Propaganda was all over the papers, the radio, and on every street corner. Everyone had to be ready to fight and sacrifice. That meant everything and everyone would work tirelessly until the war was won.
One young girl couldn’t figure out why there was such an obsession with death and destruction.
When she was six years old, her father died. The loss crushed her, and it wasn’t long until she hated the war effort. What she hated even more was that everyone around her seemed to like preparing for it.
Her father was an admired, well-respected school headmaster, and her family had been dependent on her father’s income. His untimely death instantly threw them into poverty.
Now the little girl’s world was dark.
What would her family do without her father? How would they get the money to eat and survive?
Her mother told her not to worry, but it was hard not to.
After that, it wasn’t long until the war effort fell apart. The girl tried to make money and help her family however she could, but it was almost impossible. The economy was in shambles.
And then Hiroshima and Nagasaki happened.
After that, it was all over.
The little girl survived through the complete societal collapse. They were told that the enemy would arrive and kill them all, but that day never came. She didn’t know how anyone continued to function under that pressure, but her mother did.
Despite the madness during and after the war, her mother continued to work as a midwife. She worked every single day. Each day, the young girl would wonder if her mother would return, or simply disappear like so many of the other adults. But she always returned. Her mother would continue to mourn the loss of her father and would never remarry.
The girl watched her mother’s iron will and became determined. She respected her mother deeply, and like so many children, wanted to please her. When she graduated high school, her mother was beaming with pride. She had single-handedly raised a child in the middle of one of the most catastrophic wars in history. She had managed to keep her alive… and help her graduate from high school.
When a man asked her to marry him, her mother again beamed with pride. The young woman accepted. There were no other options she could see, and worried a “no” might crush her mother.
Her marriage worked for awhile, but soon she grew restless. She didn’t love her husband. To be blunt, she didn’t even like him. The only thing she was allowed to do was a narrow range of housewife tasks… nothing else. She longed for a challenge, but it was forbidden.
Divorce looked like the only way out.
She knew that her mother would never allow it. And neither would the rest of society. In those days in Japan, women didn’t initiate divorces. But a man could get a divorce anytime he wanted with a simple three line letter.
The price for being a divorced woman in Japan was steep. It would be almost impossible to get a job, her family would be shamed, and she wouldn’t be welcome at most social engagements.
Besides, could she really put her mother through anything else?
Despite her fear, she trusted her gut, and pursued the divorce. Her husband was shocked, but accepted. Just like she suspected, her mother was shocked too. After the divorce, the feeling of freedom was real. It was intoxicating and the young woman revealed in it. But soon she found that she wasn’t doing anything except lounging around at home. Her mother had sacrificed to give her a chance at a better life… and now she had freedom! But she was wasting the opportunity.
Finally, she summoned the courage to go out into the world on her own. She was broke, needed a job, and wanted to see if she could make any of her big dreams happen.
But something was still holding her back.
All throughout her years growing up, she was taught that women in Japan worked the “boring jobs.” The boring jobs tended to be the soul-crushing, repetitive work that no one wanted to do.
The young girl wanted to do something exciting. She wanted to be a part of something bigger than herself, a job that let her explore her talents. But when she went out to look, there were no opportunities in Japan. She’d been trained to hate the enemy, but now news was trickling into the country and there were whispers. Not all of their enemies were bad. Some of them were decent people. And besides, there were rumors that the Americans were pouring money into rebuilding Europe.
The call to adventure beckoned, and the young woman planned a trip to Europe. Her mother begged her to reconsider, but the girl had to go out and see the world for herself.
After working the boring jobs long enough, she had scrounged enough money for her Europe trip. Soon the day came and she left.
The stories she heard about these people weren’t true. Yes, they were strange, but Europe was fascinating, and so was England. During her travels, she came into contact with hundreds of new ideas.
As she looked around, she realized she was swimming in opportunity. The standard business practices here were nothing like those in Japan. In Europe, the jobs they considered “boring” were fascinating. And the young girl found that there was a business called a temp agency that would allow her to go from job to job. She couldn’t believe it. She was going to get paid to work and learn at jobs at the cutting edge of all kinds of different industries. What she really couldn’t believe was that all the European’s hated these jobs. In Japan, people were expected to have the same job for life. Why didn’t these Europeans realize how lucky they were?
It wasn’t long before she was the star of the temp staffing agency, and all kinds of temporary job offers came her way.
She accepted all the ones that sounded interesting, and got to try out a variety of different industries.
Once she had some money saved up, she moved from England to Australia. Once again, she experienced a radically different work environment than Japan.
After awhile, something was pulling her back to Japan. She knew exactly what kind of business she was going to start.
Inspired by her time abroad, she was confident that her ideas would resonate with other Japanese people. Back in Tokyo, she rented a 258-square-foot apartment and setup a part-time work agency.
Technically, it was an illegal business. In Japan, it was expected that you worked at a company… for life. The idea of temporary employment terrified the government.
But she didn’t care. She had seen the future abroad, and knew it was only a matter of time until Japan modernized.
But the cultural change was slow, and so was her business. Other Japanese women weren’t enthusiastic about the concept of being a temporary employee. Disappointed but still hopeful, she began teaching nighttime English classes to pay the bills and keep her dream going.
After five long years in that tiny apartment, she was finally able to move her business into its first office space. Before she moved to Europe, Japanese women had been trapped in an ill-fated cycle. Most of them quit their jobs after marrying because they weren’t comfortable continuing their careers past a certain age. This young woman’s company clearly addressed this issue. She provided Japanese women with the opportunity to become temps, rather than fighting for the limited number of specialized career paths that they had to stay on for their whole life.
In those early days, she only hired female workers. It was the 1980s, and she noticed that the company’s sales were slowing down. Many of her employees were uncomfortable going out and seeking new business leads. They were worried they’d be fined or arrested for spreading the idea of temporary work.
Temporary work was still against the law despite her lobbying efforts for change.
The woman was frustrated. Stagnation was unhealthy — she’d learned that after her divorce. But some of the women at her firm simply refused to budge. How could they carefully grow the business? She did not want to get herself or her employees arrested after all.
Determined to continue making progress, the woman decided to begin hiring men. Soon she had a company culture where the women and men were in perfect balance.
Despite her success, lifetime employment continued to be the norm in Japan. The government continued to advertise that under the law, temping by private companies was illegal.
On one particular day, the knock came to her door. When she went to the peephole, it was the police.
She glanced around at the inside of her tiny apartment. Every available surface was covered with the pictures and files of her customers.
It was all illegal.
She cracked the door and asked if anything was wrong.
They calmly informed her that she would have to come with them to answer some questions.
She sighed, then slid out the door, locked it, and followed the police to the car.
She knew this day would come, and as the police walked her to the car, she laughed to herself.
When she went into the police station to plead her case, she somehow managed to talk her way out of it.
After that, she was frequently summoned by the police, questioned, and then let go. Each time she got released, she grew bolder.
She had seen the future. Her entire country might believe that what she was doing was wrong, but she knew she was right. And she knew that one day, there would be a tidal wave of those who woke up and agreed with her.
Sometimes she would lay awake in bed and wonder when she’d be thrown in jail for good, but fortunately that day never came.
Eventually, after years of work, lobbying, and arguing with the government, she won.
The law was changed. Temporary employment became legal in Japan.
Little did the woman know, but she had positioned herself perfectly for a macro-economic tidal wave of opportunity.
It was the 1990’s, when Japan entered what is known as the “Lost Decade.” Businesses went bust, and every single business needed one thing.
Temp workers.
The woman’s business, Temp Holdings was now large enough to give them exactly what they needed.
It wasn’t long before Temp Holdings went public in 2008, and soon expanded around the globe.
The little girl who craved freedom, had sought it out in the world. She found it, saw the future, and brought it back and shared it with her culture.
The woman who paved the path was none other than Yoshiko Shinohara.
Yoshiko became Japan’s first self-made woman billionaire.
She says that there is one personal trait above all others that helped her become the first female billionaire in Japan. In our modern day, when everyone wants a complicated formula, Yoshiko’s four words of how she did it are a reminder that it doesn’t have to be complicated.
Yoshiko says:
“I hate to lose.”
She trusted in her desire for freedom, and it led her on a path directly to it.
Not only did Yoshiko Shinohara blaze a trail for others to follow, but her business has helped millions of women explore what it’s like to be more free and independent. She saw the future, and realized that eventually it would arrive.
She didn’t wait until she had a glamorous office, or until the government gave her the thumbs up.
It’s easy to complain that things aren’t fair.
It’s hard to start trying to fix them from your 258 square foot apartment, and struggle alone for five years. It’s even harder to have to risk jail time to do it!
As Emerson famously said:
“If you are right, you are a majority of one.”
Yoshiko’s story is a reminder that if you know you’re right, place a bet on your idea and yourself. You might be a majority of one.
That’s her story. What’s yours going to be? | https://medium.com/the-mission/the-four-words-that-made-her-a-billionaire-351b539fd5fa | [] | 2018-04-17 18:47:12.752000+00:00 | ['Storytelling', 'Business', 'History', 'Podcast', 'Entrepreneurship'] |
It’s Time to Disarm, Defund, & Democratize the Police as Well as Arm the Working-Class | There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen. — Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
The contradictions run deeper than the concretely material, however. Invariably, the citizenry and police caste will always remain in dialectical contradiction so long as the police operate as a bludgeon for all social maladies (income inequality, racism, etc). This will reinforce the precarity of the social order reflexively, ultimately resulting in more death and incarceration of the impoverished. This self-reflexive system re-amplifies itself unless the job of the police is fundamentally shifted away from the maintenance of private property rights, the servitude towards state-capital infused tyrannies (i.e private prisons, tech-platform surveillance capitalism), and the reinforcing of fabricated racial hierarchies in the face of a visibly crumbling empire. Inevitably, if left unchecked these contradictions will mount until they reach an inflection point, and arguably, we are witnessing the early-stage realization of this dialectical synthesis in realtime, though time will tell. Recall that under the dialectic process, quantitative changes accrue until they lead to a qualitative change. For example, when placing liquid water on a hot stove the temperature of the liquid rises (the quantitative changes) until it reaches its boiling point (the inflection point) and qualitatively becomes something different — steam. The piling up of unjust killings is the quantitative change in our case, the qualitative change is the restructuring of policing entirely to something radically more just. Nationwide, these uprisings are the manifestation of the old order diminishing as we approach the zone of chaos and make way for the new order to establish itself. But as always, paradigms don’t die in their sleep.
Example Diagram of the Dialectics Between Systems
What’s important for us today is that we are now existing at a juncture of extreme historical fluidity and as such will guide the course of history with the actions we take today. Indeed, we now find ourselves at that transient splinter in time Lenin described wherein decades of historical progression are materialized over the course of weeks; an infrequent anomaly where temporality itself seems suspended by the weight of the fleeting. So, the practical question then becomes, how do we alter the role of the historically racist police-state such that we can ameliorate the contradictions at work, and with luck, avoid a mass conflict in the process?
We can and should push for higher levels of transparency, which means body cameras that cannot be “turned off” or coincidentally “lost” by the wearer. We likewise ought to institute universally higher standards for becoming a police officer with regards to the training necessary, as well as upping the stringency of psychological and mental evaluations one must undergo. Additionally, properly training officers in the practice of de-escalation as is commonly done in European police contexts is also crucial. Currently, the standards for becoming an officer vary wildly from county to county, and sometimes even at the precinct level. Ideally, prospective officers would have to score very high on respect for human beings and human concerns, with a willingness to enter into dialogue with any individual.
However, none of these measures go far enough. They may quantifiably reduce the sheer amount of death and suffering wrought by police but they don’t fundamentally address the systemwide issue. So long as police are always highly militarized (meaning grossly over-funded), the force will always remain a depot for racists, fascists, and cowards alike to assemble and exert their power. By demilitarizing, defunding, and disarming the police, as well as arming the working-class, we can radically reorder the power-asymmetry that exists between the police and citizenry at the structural level. In the same vein, all use of weapons, whether beating a person, using any kind of gun, pepper spray or tear gas or electronic forms of torture — such as tasers, to enforce obedience of arbitrary police commands should be prohibited. The left must work to methodically arm the working-class, peoples of color, as well as those who are non-binary. It’s becoming increasingly apparent the dangers involved with allowing fascists, be them state-sanctioned, private, or otherwise to hold a monopoly on power and violence. The Black Panthers understood this intersectional power dynamic better than anyone else last century and were systemically destroyed for it. It’s time to build off of their work in the more materially precarious present-day, this time with a more durable cross-racial class-united base. Gun control policies in America are historically highly racialized and fostering cross-racial class-united armed community presences would mitigate sensitivities to any government attempt to repeat what Ronald Reagan and the NRA enacted in California with the Mulford Act.
One such organization doing vital work on the matter is the Socialist Rifle Association. The following is taken from their website.
The Socialist Rifle Association is an educational organization dedicated to providing the working class with the information they need to be effectively armed for self and community defense. This includes all manner of community defense, from the right of the working class to possess firearms to the ability to be well versed in the fields of medicine, disaster relief, logistics, agriculture, and survival skills. Our goal is to provide an alternate to the mainstream, toxic, right-wing, and non-inclusive gun culture that has dominated the firearms community for decades. We seek to provide a safe, inclusive, and left-leaning platform for talking about gun rights and self defense, free from racist and reactionary prejudices, while providing a platform for the working class to obtain the skills necessary for all aspects of community defense. If you are any of the following: working class, progressive, anarchist, socialist, communist, eco-warrior, animal liberator, anti-fascist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, PoC, LGBTQ+, or anyone else who is interested in learning about firearms and modern self defense — YOU are invited to join the Socialist Rifle Association today!
Indeed, it’s hard to find a more prescient warning for why these efforts must be pursued than the President himself quoting racist Miami police chief, Walter Headley, stating that: “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” — in reference to the Minneapolis unrest. When the highest perch of office in the world is loudly calling for entire crowds of people to be fired upon, you know something is seriously f*&ked up. If the events in Minneapolis were taking place in a nation of the Global South, Western media would report it like this:
In recent years, the international community has sounded the alarm on the deteriorating political and human rights situation in the United States under the regime of Donald Trump. Now, as the country marks 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, the former British colony finds itself in a downward spiral of ethnic violence. The fatigue and paralysis of the international community are evident in its silence, America experts say.
In tandem with the disarmament of the police and armament of the working-class, the police apparatus must also be democratized. This can only be achieved by intertwining local police with the communities they serve at the department level. Training procedures and internal rules of the department should all be made public and discussed, with possible modifications proposed and ratified by neighborhood assemblies. All aspects of policing should ultimately be discussed, modified collectively, and ratified by all the communities in the city. Time for an officer to be promoted? Let the community as a whole or a community representative board review their record and decide as a democratic body if they are deserving of it. If the police are public servants, then they must be known fully to the public. All that they do and are should be open to public scrutiny, and available for criticism, judgment, and correction by the community and or its appointed representatives. This also means dismantling the corrosive police union which vehemently shields and obstructs justice from coming to their members even in the face of clear wrongdoing. In the event of misconduct and termination, decertified officers must be thoroughly databased so that they cannot simply move one county over and become a cop again.
By instituting basic transparency and training reforms, democratizing the police apparatus, and disarming/defunding police, we can break the self-reflexive cycle that is hurtling society towards a destructive conflict of contradictions desperately trying to synthesize itself. With luck, the withering of the old order and establishment of the new can occur relatively peacefully. Had something akin to this model existed in Minneapolis, George Floyd might still be alive today. Unfortunately, Floyd wasn’t officer Derek Chauvin’s first victim. His first reported “incident” can be traced back to the mid-2000s. Thanks to inaction on the part of the then Hennepin County Attorney in Minneapolis and now former potential vice presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar, Chauvin was allowed to keep prowling the streets in uniform, ultimately taking more lives along the way. Chauvin’s career would have been short-lived under a collective and inclusive community-governance model.
Instead, the same Minneapolis police force is currently touting the autopsy report of George Floyd, claiming that “potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.” NOT the knee of Chauvin digging into the back of his neck for several minutes after he passed out and ceased gasping for any air.
Under the current system, it’s clear who, or rather what the police “serve and protect” in this nation. The recent viral confrontation with Amy Cooper and Christian Cooper in Central Park is a perfect distillation of who the policing apparatus belongs to in America, chiefly affluent whites. Amy cooper brandishes her own knowledge of this reality by hysterically exclaiming the race of Christian Cooper to the 911 dispatcher before the dispatcher even inquires about it. That demonstrates a level of practicedness that only someone who does that regularly would possess. Make no mistake, the weaponization of white tears that’s presented in that video may not be as graphically violent as the video of George Floyd’s murder, but the act itself was one of extreme violence in much the same way, as Amy Cooper ultimately aimed to sic the police on Christian Cooper in much the same fashion. | https://ali-alsous.medium.com/its-time-to-disarm-defund-democratize-the-police-as-well-as-arm-the-working-class-f91955ee5ae7 | ['Ali Alsous'] | 2020-06-01 02:38:45.763000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Dialectics', 'George Floyd', 'Police Brutality', 'BlackLivesMatter'] |
Create and deploy an Ethereum Blockchain Explorer to GitHub Pages | Building the Blockchain Explorer
First, we need to create our Blazor WebAssembly application. In order to do that, run the following cli command:
dotnet new blazorwasm -o Your-Project-Name
Now, we add the library that will allow us to get data from Ethereum, the Nethereum. It is an open source .NET integration library for blockchain. To add the library to your project:
dotnet add package Nethereum.Web3 --version 3.8.0
We will create a service class to encapsulate all the logic of interacting with Ethereum. This class will be called EthereumService and will receive as construction injection the IWeb3 interface:
EthereumService.cs
In order to obtain the implementation of the IWeb3 interface in runtime, we will need to add it to the Dependency Injection container. We will also add the EthereumService class to the DI container so the pages we will create can get data from the Blockchain using this class.
In the Program.cs class:
Program.cs
Note that when we instantiate the Web3 class, we need the URL from the Infura mainnet with your API Key. If you don’t have one, you can go to Infura website and create an account.
Creating our First page
Now we will create our first page, the index.razor . We will inject two services to this page, the IEthereumService in order to get data from Ethereum and NavigationManager in order to navigate to others pages.
Index.razor
On this page we will want to display the following information:
The latest block number
The latest blocks
The latest transactions
To get the latest block number when we the page renders, we will override the method OnInitializedAsync() :
Index.razor
When we finish to get the latest block number, we can now display it in the page:
Index.razor
The method in EthereumService class that gets the latest block number:
Get Latest Blocks and Transactions
Blazor applications are built using components. Components include a self-contained piece of the user interface and the logic necessary to get the data or respond to UI events.
We will create a razor component ( LatestBlocksAndTransactions.razor ) to encapsulate the User Interface that is responsible of getting the latest 5 Ethereum blocks and the 5 latest approved transactions.
This component will receive as parameter the latest block number. The Index.razor will render this component and pass this parameter by declaring them using the HTML element syntax:
Index.razor
This created LatestBlocksAndTransactions component will now get the data from the last 5 blocks:
LatestBlocksAndTransactions.razor
and then render it on the page:
LatestBlocksAndTransactions.razor
Block Page
This page will contain information about a block. We will receive as a parameter for this page the BlockNumber . With this information, we can search for the desired block and its transactions by overriding the OnInitializedAsync() method and calling the GetBlockInfo method from IEthereumService :
Block.razor
The field _hasLoaded was created because when the page renders there is still no information about the block and the transactions that it contains. We will only display the block’s information when we get the data from Ethereum. So after we successfully get the data, we set the _hasLoaded to true and we can display this information as seen below:
Block.razor
Address Page
On this page we will display two information for the Address:
The Balance in Ether
The transactions From/To this Address on the last 10 blocks
In order to get the balance for an address, we call the GetBalance method from the Web3 class:
To get the transactions From/To the Address, we will iterate over each block and verify the transactions. To keep things simple, we will iterate over the last 10 blocks and verify among the transactions if the Address was the source or the destination:
GetTransactionsByAccount
Deploy to GitHub Pages with GitHub Actions
Since the publish output of a Blazor WebAssembly project are static files, we can deploy the application to static site hosts such as Azure Static Web Apps and GitHub Pages. We will automate the deployment of our Blockchain Explorer to GitHub Pages with GitHub Actions.
In order to create a GitHub Actions, go to your repository, navigate to your Actions tab then click on the link “set up a workflow yourself”. GitHub will display a template of a YAML file with instructions on how to build and deploy the application.
For our Blazor WebAssembly application, the created workflow YAML file to deploy our Blockchain Explorer can be found below:
main.yml
There is a great article by Niels Swimberghe about how to deploy ASP.NET Blazor WebAssembly to GitHub Pages. It has a video and a step by step guide on how to deploy a Blazor WebAssembly application to GitHub Pages and how to solve the problems when doing so. The link can be found on the references section below.
Conclusion
In this article we have created an Ethereum Blockchain Explorer using the new Blazor WebAssembly framework. We also have published this application to GitHub Pages using GitHub Actions.
The source code for this application and the URL for the deployed app can be found below:
strykerin/Ethereum-Blockchain-Explorer (github.com)
EthereumBlockchainExplorer (strykerin.github.io)
References
strykerin/Ethereum-Blockchain-Explorer (github.com)
EthereumBlockchainExplorer (strykerin.github.io)
Blockchain Explorer Tutorial — What Is A Blockchain Explorer? (softwaretestinghelp.com)
What is Blazor WebAssembly? — Learn | Microsoft Docs
What Is Infura? | The Beginner’s Guide — Decrypt
Ethereum API | IPFS API Gateway | ETH Nodes as a Service | Infura
Create and use ASP.NET Core Razor components | Microsoft Docs
How to deploy ASP.NET Blazor WebAssembly to GitHub Pages (swimburger.net)
Also, Read | https://medium.com/coinmonks/create-and-deploy-an-ethereum-blockchain-explorer-to-github-pages-30800f5b167b | [] | 2020-12-28 13:00:48.245000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Dotnet', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Crypto', 'Ethereum'] |
Humanities Grace | Humanities Grace
The Balance of Life
Photo by Apostolos Vamvouras from Pexels
Words Excite
Tickle the Mind
Intent from Heart
Emboldens the Divine
Open Minds
Creativity Released
Humanity Enriched
Diversity Desired
Love conquers Hate
Kindness usurps Fear
Niceness breeds Comfort
Hugs nullify Jeers
Male Strength
Female Power
Blended together
Sparks fun for many hours
Twinkles in the Eye
Kisses which bring Tears
Hugs that bestow Warmth
Smiles which never Fear
Stay away from the darkness
Embrace the light
Realize we need both
To find humanities grace
To fix the wrong with the right. | https://medium.com/ipoetry/humanities-grace-7a7393ce6c | ['Alan Tegel'] | 2020-11-18 04:45:16.521000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Humanity', 'Spirituality', 'Alan Tegel', 'Life'] |
4 Ways to Know It’s Time to Try Something Different | Do you ever encounter that phase of life where you feel stuck? No worries, I’ve been there too. My life has been a series of ups and downs, from one startup to other, and never-ending personal struggles. Throughout these, I survived and learned the art of determining the sense of direction through good-bad experiences. I‘ll be sharing whatever I learned in this post. How do you determine when it’s time to take a different direction? Here’s the answer.
1. Passion as a ‘Key’
Realize what ‘ignites’ you. Yes, you heard it right. You must find the things which light you up from the inside and keep you up. If you’re constantly avoiding work on a certain project or you lose your passion and patience for a topic, it’s best to employ your talent and time elsewhere.
Initially, you might feel afraid of many things, but if you just believe in yourself, it will work out. Delegate your old work if you can, and re-evaluate the status every 30 days until you have enough data to make a significant decision.
2. Your Eye Out on a Focused Goal
Many people think if their passion changes, their life purpose is gone. Let me share a secret, changing direction doesn’t mean that you’re changing the goal. If you feel burn out from your current passion, it means that your current strategy isn't working as efficiently as it should.
The biggest hurdle some of us have to get over is the belief that there is only one way of solving a problem.
Do realize that by taking a different strategy or approach to get to your goal might make it easier to achieve. I personally find this way much easier to shift.
3. Gain Clarity on What’s Working
Get clear on what’s working and what’s not. Is it the wrong strategy or just poor execution which is holding you back? Most of the time it's the latter. It’s not a matter of changing course — it’s about finding out what’s stopping you from executing on your vision.
Here’s a tip: write your current process of working on paper, think of the ways you could make it more efficient, then shorten the number of steps required to achieve success. Repeat this in the course of every 3 months and you shall easily achieve your results at a faster pace.
4. Data Doesn’t Lie
There are times when it is hard to believe in something. It is majorly because of your previous track record of success which at times makes your mind think with a “fixed mindset”.
If your gut is telling you that you should be considering moving in a different direction, take a hard look at your bottom line results and data. What does it say? Are you getting better? Or, despite the effort, the result is stagnant? Your final answer lies here.
Conclusion: Take Action
Opting for new direction might sound scary, but it's almost every time, worth it. You might need an initial push, but let me tell you, nobody will come after you to make you realize this. You must observe and account for yourself on this. You must decide and serve what “ignites” you, as it's here where the true meaning of life can be discovered. Lastly, remember, | https://medium.com/brandlitic/4-ways-to-know-its-time-to-try-something-different-74e460ab5120 | ['Amarpreet Singh'] | 2019-11-27 11:01:05.793000+00:00 | ['Self Acceptance', 'Self Improvement', 'Entrepreneur', 'Self-awareness', 'Startup'] |
The Cops in Our Heads | Fascism is the order of the day. One might confuse it with populism, or that the two are somehow vying for supremacy.
But populism wouldn’t be an issue if it weren’t for the prospect that fascism might be on the cusp of making one of the unlikelier comebacks in the history of world politics, given its relatively recent associations with Hitler’s body count.
For the left, the question is, as it has been since the mid-1920s, how to stem the resistless tide of fascism.
After 1945, the question seemed to be moot. The crimes of Nazism seemed to have created an indelible connection between fascism and barbarism, even in the face of the even more lethal regimes run by Stalin and Mao.
If nothing else, human history has demonstrated that no idea is so bankrupt, so bereft of content, or so sullied with the blood of innocents that it cannot be made to serve the interests of capital.
And so, fascism is getting another bite at the apple.
Absent any other considerations, this would have lent intrinsic interest to the recent collection of essays published by Natasha Lennard under the title, Being Numerous: Essays on Non-Fascist Life.
Lennard, a former Occupy activist, is probably best known (at least to those outside the New York anarchist scene) as a thorough and insightful journalist publishing mostly in The Intercept.
Both as activist and journalist, Lennard has been in a position to see the rise of fascistic tendencies up close and thus has as valid a claim to know what to do about it as anyone writing on the left these days.
In a book, the stated goal of which is “non-fascist life”, the question as to what fascism actually is must be central.
This is, of course, a fraught topic. There is a certain very basic sense in which people feel that they know it when they see it, even if they cannot provide a precise definition of what it is.
The power of the everyday belief that one knows what fascism is can be seen in the recent debates over the use of the term “concentration camps” (by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others) to describe what is currently going on at the southern border of the United States.
To the average American, fascism and Nazism are synonymous (to the extent that fascism is even recognised as a thing). Nazism is jackboots and uniforms, and swastika armbands and Hitler barking incomprehensively.
Most importantly, Nazism is the train tracks leading to the selection ramp at Birkenau picture under bleak, overcast skies.
There is an important sense in which Nazism is the Holocaust is what might, with a bit of exaggeration, be called American historical consciousness. This is structured by a conceptual chain the takes the form fascism-Nazism-Holocaust-gas chambers, which in practice gets factored down to its two outer terms.
And thus we get the common view, expressed implicitly by Bill Maher recently, that if Treblinka isn’t being rebuilt outside of El Paso then fascism isn’t really on the horizon.
But even for those who take the question of fascism and its origins seriously, and Lennard certainly does, it remains a difficult concept to come to terms with. This is due in no small part to the lack of consensus among professional historians.
Some, like Roger Griffin, approach it with the tools of social science, looking for a feature or set of features common to (and thus definitive of) all instances of fascism.
In Griffin’s case, this common feature is what he calls “palingenetic ultranationalism” with the former term indicating the goal of creating a new order that sweeps away the decadent, poisonous order that went before.
Griffin makes a powerful case for this approach, but there are certainly others. Zeev Sternhell characterised fascism as a reaction against modernity, one which tries to both sweep away the modern and to retain the benefits of progress and modernism (a duality that led Geoffrey Herf to characterise it as “reactionary modernism’).
By contrast, Marxists have tended to see fascism in more economic and institutional terms. On this account, fascism is a form or mode of capitalism resulting from the inability of the system to police itself internally using the institutions of liberal democracy.
Lennard employs yet another approach, basing her account unapologetically on the work of Wilhelm Reich. In his 1933 text The Mass Psychology of Fascism, Reich linked the attractions of fascism to the frustrated mentality of the “little man.”
This takes the definition into the territory of modern theorists of populism (such as Cas Mudde) as well as those analysts of fascism such as John Lukacs (and more loosely Umberto Eco) who view populism as an element of fascism.
Lennard is more interested in another tack. She quotes Reich’s claim that “there is today not a single individual who does not have the elements of fascist feeling and thinking in his structure”.
On this view, fascism is a dialectic between the repressive institutions of society and the cop inside one’s head inspiring a “perverted desire for fascism” even in those whose outlook is explicitly anti-fascist.
There is much to be said for this view, and Lennard adduces the analyses of micro-fascism found in the work of Deleuze and Guattari quite appositely in its support.
The question then seems to be, and is explicitly suggested in Lennart’s title, how is it that we go about living a life not controlled by this perverted and, to a great extent, subconscious desire?
But another question also presents itself. Why is it that we are calling this fascism at all?
Lennart’s answer to the former is complex and only addressed obliquely. But she provides an extensive and well-grounded defence of Nazi-punching, and of the sorts of political processes that involve elements of violence and property damage.
The argument most often made by liberals against punching the likes of white nationalists such as Richard Spencer is that one ought not to use violence to suppress ideas. This, as Lennard points out, systematically ignores the violence implicit in the words and actions of the far right.
Similarly, when those employing black bloc tactics smash a few windows, they are pilloried by liberals on the premise that they are crossing some sort of line, rather than simply recognising the violence implicit and explicit in liberal capitalism.
Several of Lennard’s other essays examine the ways that the carceral state compels compliance with racial, class, and gender norms.
Lennard has extensively covered anti-capitalist protests and the Black Lives Matter movement and she brings these experiences to bear effectively in illustrating the asymmetric warfare undertaken by the state in defence of decidedly white privilege.
Still, it is not easy to see how this adds up to non-fascist, as opposed to anti-fascist life. This is not exactly a criticism since anti-fascism is such a priority. But it does leave one wondering about what is to be done about the little fascist inside us.
One of the places which this question is a bit more directly addressed is in an essay in which Lennard critically analyses questions of sex.
In an effective use of her personal history, Lennard illustrates the propensity of those fighting against the confines of middle-class sex and gender roles to fetishise their opposite.
This is, in an odd way, like the black and death metal scenes whose embrace of Satanism amounts to, “We’re against whatever the Christians are for.”
For Lennard, the crucial point is to recognise how one’s desires are conditioned and constructed. Desire is never obligatory, no matter how transgressive it might be.
While this essay provides much food for thought, it is still unclear how we’re supposed to rejig the structures in our heads, especially given that social norms, including those that police race and gender, are geared to reproducing precisely this sort of feeling.
In any case, this leaves the matter of the second question. Why should we call what Reich described fascism?
Viewed conceptually, this account seems to have a great deal in common with Cas Mudde’s idea of populism, as well as with Ernesto Laclau’s competing view. Both see populism in terms of the revolt of the “people” against the “elites, even though they differ significantly on the nature of this struggle.
Lennard quotes Foucault from his introduction to Anti-Oedipus, where he writes, “The strategic adversary is fascism… the fascism in us all, in our heads and in our everyday behaviour, the fascism that causes us to love power, to desire the very thing that dominates and exploits us.”
This, once again, seems to point to the idea that fascism is a variety of populism. Would it not be better to refer to it as such?
Though one might wish to adopt a deflationary approach to the use of this term, in this particular case it seems reasonable to employ fascism.
For good or ill, it simply has more conceptual bite than populism, conveying the urgency of our current situation in a way that no other term could.
Also, it is worth noting that there is every likelihood that this is the direction in which things are going. It may simply be the case that Lennard has jumped the gun, and perhaps not by that much.
Lennard’s essays are compact, passionate, and tightly argued.
If one does not find that her answers to the question implicit in her title are entirely satisfying, they nonetheless provide a compelling basis for thinking about the ways that society polices us and the ways that we police ourselves.
Photograph courtesy of Joel Schalit. All rights reserved. | https://medium.com/thebattleground/the-cops-in-our-heads-f6550d4d49b6 | ['The Battleground'] | 2019-08-07 13:31:35.118000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Books', 'Fascism', 'Populism', 'Sounds Like Now'] |
Can Sports Be Spiritual? | Can Sports Be Spiritual?
It is very hard not to be aware of what is going on in the world of sports.
The media makes it very difficult to avoid the topic and not to ear or see something about sports. We either see it on the news, the Internet or just by picking up a newspaper or magazine with sport figures splashed across the front cover.
That is because we are in a culture where sports reign supreme. Every New Year starts off with the Super Bowl for football. Which leads the way to the basketball Playoffs. Then the new baseball season is ushered in to end with the World Series. And every two years we have the Olympic Games, which is the biggest sporting event for that year. But this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic these sports had to shorten their season or suspend it and then restart. And this pandemic caused the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Those that participate as spectators find it amusing, entertaining, and display their love for competitive sports, their favorite teams and athletes. They go as far as buying, wearing and displaying their sports memorabilia proudly as though they are part of the team.
Although the athletes are considered heroes by their fans, no one sees them behind the scene to see exactly what it takes to be an athlete.
The athletes however live a lifestyle of discipline, vigorous training and daily physical exercises. They make many sacrifices such as; they may have to give up sleep so that they can be awake in the wee hours of the morning, be placed on a strict diet, and go through a grueling routine of exercise for hours and hours and hours. While eliminating anything that interferes distracts or becomes a hindrance to completing their goals.
Athletes make sure that they are equipped to play their game with the right attire and equipment that is appropriate for their particular sport. And they ensure that they are competing in the sport that they are skilled and talented in. All of this comes together as preparation so that they can be the best at their game and win their competitions.
Can we learn something about sports that can help us in our spiritual lives? What can athletes teach us about faith and finishing well?
As far as history shows, for centuries mankind has taken part in competitive sports, which the Bible makes mention of. And so for the Apostle Paul to witness these ancient games was not unusual to see. But what was fascinating was that God gave him revelations, as he would watch these games. These powerful revelations are revealed in the New Testament as metaphors, comparing the Christian life to these ancient games or Olympic Games.
In other words, Christians are athletes too, spiritual athletes in a spiritual athletic competition. The Christian life is mentioned many times in the scriptures as a race, the Christian race. The race is a marathon race, the longest and the most endured of all foot races (…and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,) Heb 12:1 (KJV).
Which means that God has revealed to us an illumination on Christian living that will give us a new understanding and exhilaration when we live and see ourselves as spiritual athletes.
A spiritual athlete also trains, but with spiritual training, practices discipline, but with spiritual discipline. Spiritual athletes … lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us…. Heb 12:1 (KJV).
Spiritual athletes get equipped and wear the right attire according to their competitions. They know what their spiritual gifts are. And they are content with their own God-given super natural abilities using them in the capacity according to their calling. All of this is preparation for the spiritual athlete to run well, finish the race and receive the ultimate prize, a gold crown.
You may wonder, “Why would God compare the Christian life to an athlete, an athletic competition, an Olympic Game or to marathon runners?
Because it is the perfect metaphor for the endurance, longevity, and persistence needed to finish the race of faith. When this new understanding and exhilaration for the Christian life is pursued with the vigor of a spiritual athlete, it will give us spiritual revelation to what is happening in our lives and on things that we do not understand and wonder about. This spiritual revelation helps to explain the difficulties that are happening in our lives that we or no one else can explain
And finally when we see ourselves as a spiritual athlete it helps us to endure our problems, suffering, and trials. For example if you look at trials through the eyes of a spiritual athlete, then trials are beneficial to our spiritual growth as a workout is to the athlete (James 1:2–4). When athletes work out they build their muscles. Therefore for us, the spiritual athletes, trials or test are nothing more than a spiritual workout to gain spiritual muscles. God wants use to walk, talk, and think like spiritual athletes so that we can run well, finish the race, be rewarded and have victory over whatever the world throws at us. Seeing yourself as an Olympian, a spiritual athlete and a marathon runner will help you in your daily Christian life as nothing has ever done before.
S.E. Gregg is the author of the bestselling book: The Christian Olympics: Going for the Gold Crowns. http://www.Christianolympics.org | https://medium.com/illumination/can-sports-be-spiritual-b9d7dab49c | ['S.E. Gregg'] | 2020-09-25 00:55:52.378000+00:00 | ['Suffering', 'Bible', 'Athletes', 'Endurance', 'Training'] |
WAS I RAPED? | I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. Confusion washed over me. I wasn’t in my purple and orange painted room, wasn’t in my bed, my laptop wasn’t in its usual place — beside me, as I always watched a movie before sleeping. I was in a different room, someone held me from behind me, and that wasn’t all, I was naked.
Just then, the memories start to return. The kissing, the alcohol, the tears, the being held down, the utterances of no and stop and ‘I wasn’t ready’, the penetration and the pain that came after. Everything returned. My body ached. But not as much as my lower region did. I sat up from my lying position, and looked at the perpetrator. I knew him. We went out just last night. I liked him but wasn’t sure of agreeing to a relationship yet, not to speak of sex.
There he was, sleeping peacefully, like nothing had happened. Like he hadn’t just abused me some hours ago for what my brain remembered as a long time.
Abuse. Abuse? Was this abuse? Was I raped? Did I give him consent to do what he did? Was going into a hotel room with him my consent? What really happened last night?
While my mind asked questions, he woke up. “Come back to bed” he said.
Come back? Come back? What does he mean by that? I couldn’t wrap my head around his statement. Is this how rapists act in the morning? Did they hug, cuddle, smother and hold their victims? Or did they hit, embarrass or abuse their victims even more? Did they even murder their victims to hide their heinous crime?
I ignore his request and go to the bathroom where I take some time to stare at myself in the mirror before attempting to wash off the evidence of last night’s events from my body. I try to wash off the dirt I feel, but it’s not on my skin, it’s in my soul.
I finally give up and step out of the shower. I forgot to take my clothes with me. I return to the room to pick them up when I see a condom wrapper. And then It comes back to me, I remember telling him to use a condom. But then why was I saying no and asking him to stop If I told him to use a condom.
Had my brain accepted the fact that this man would not let me go and so had asked for a lesser evil, using a condom? Or had I given consent first and then withdrawn it? And then again there was the question of my crying? Why was I crying? If I gave my consent, this guy would have been the second man I would have sex with ever, so was I crying for the loss of my innocence, for my Ex or because I just wanted this man to stop!?
Days have gone by and I am still haunted by the events of that night. I know I have PTSD from that night. I can’t stand being touched by a man peacefully. I really wish I knew what had happened that day but I don’t. I don’t know how to feel. I don’t know If I should hate him or me or…… I don’t know if I should go for a rape discovery programme or if my asking him to use a condom is consent and so I have no business with that. I only wish I knew why me? Do I look like an easy target? Am I too loose? If I report this, wont I be asked, why were you there with a man at such an ungodly hour of the night.
I wish I had the answers to all my questions. But I don’t.
But this I know. I will get past this. I will heal. And I will guard the remaining part of my life with fierceness. | https://medium.com/@gloriaodu/was-i-raped-173b35ba4f7a | ['Ade Odunuyi'] | 2020-12-27 15:08:55.070000+00:00 | ['Consent', 'Sex', 'Healing', 'Abuse', 'Rape'] |
Americans: Finally Safe To Go Back To Wawa | SATIRE
Americans: Finally Safe To Go Back To Wawa
7–Eleven panders to Trump supporters in response.
Photo by Christian Lambert on Unsplash
PHILADELPHIA, PA — In the city of brotherly love, chaos was felt throughout the streets.
“We were very worried that something bad was going to happen, like a violent riot or what not,” said Local Man #54,321. “But now that the election is over, I can finally go to Wawa in peace.”
The Pennsylvania-based convenience store is a pastime for residents of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, DC, and Florida — the latter being New Jersey, but worse.
“Our stores in all four regions experienced less sales than normal on Reese’s peanut butter cups during election week,” stated Chris Gheysens, Wawa’s CEO. “Sales of Reese’s are our key performance indicator. If Reese’s aren’t selling, is anyone actually going to Wawa?”
In a response to direct competition, 7–Eleven’s across the East Coast have placed a sign that says “Nostalgic Trump Supporters Welcome.”
Image created by the author.
“At 7–Eleven, it’s our mission to be a safe space for anyone of any color to come and buy our products, only if they’re white and male of course,” mentioned 7–Eleven’s spokesman when reached for comment.
“Wawa can take all the liberals they can get. We don’t care, we don’t want progressive customers anyway. Progressives don’t drink big gulps and eat cheeseburger big bites.” | https://medium.com/muddyum/americans-finally-safe-to-go-back-to-wawa-a67438553bca | ['Noah Levy'] | 2020-11-09 02:19:01.217000+00:00 | ['Politics', 'Satire', 'Fiction', 'Humor', 'Map'] |
The Real Tastemakers Behind Artificial Flavors | During the early and mid-20th century, when refrigeration was commercially developed and rolled out into modern homes, convenience became an important selling point for processed, ready-to-eat, and frozen foods. However, the methods used to preserve foods against microbial decay for long-term refrigeration and freezing resulted in the deterioration of flavor. The result? Many of these processed foods ended up tasting bland.
The rise of organic chemistry during the mid-1800s also led to new organic compounds that could be readily and cheaply produced. Many of these compounds made processed foods taste similar to how they’d taste in their original form (prior to heat processing). Over time, it became clear that mixtures of compounds, each at varying concentrations, could be used to both mimic and impart new flavors to foods, preserving their taste. Chemical instruments and methods for analyzing the composition of food flavors became increasingly sophisticated, allowing food technologists to reconstruct the flavor profile of foods with greater precision and accuracy.
A human intermediary is always needed to bridge the gap between chemical analysis and subjective taste.
However, despite advancements in analytical methodology, the human element remains invaluable in flavor design. For example, while only a small handful of signature compounds can be said to “taste” like strawberry, a real strawberry may contain hundreds of compounds that, together, create a unique depth of flavor. These smaller components may only be present at parts per million or billion. They may barely make a blip on a chromatograph, but their impact on our senses is disproportionately large.
While the most sophisticated gas chromatograph has limits of detection of 10 parts per billion, human noses have been reported to smell some aromas at around 0.000000001 parts per billion. For this reason, a human intermediary is always needed to bridge the gap between chemical analysis and subjective taste.
That is where a flavorist comes in. | https://medium.com/s/story/on-flavors-and-flavorists-30affa646d6c | ['Bryan Quoc Le'] | 2018-11-29 07:26:50.938000+00:00 | ['Food', 'Science', 'Work', 'Careers', 'Technology'] |
Examining the Code That Built a Web Scraping Startup | Examining the Code That Built a Web Scraping Startup
Startups have taken the world by storm over the past few decades. We’ve seen companies expand to colossal valuations overnight just by solving basic everyday problems. AirBnb, Uber, Robinhood, and many more started just by solving simple problems with even simpler solutions. Here in this article, I’m going to discuss not only what my simple solution was, but also how I built a startup with the exact code I used to do it.
As a savvy teenager, I often found myself hustling for money anywhere I could. From fixing broken Xboxes on eBay to reselling vintage games from GameStop, I constantly found myself following the old adage of buying low and selling high.
The Problem
Now insert the world of limited edition sneakers and clothing, where resell profits are anywhere from 2 to 10 times those at retail. This is because online stores often release very popular products with a limited quantity. Then, immediately after, those same items are resold on third party platforms for much higher markups for those who couldn’t purchase in time.
Example of the reselling market with sellout times
It was no question a savvy kid like myself would find themself involved in this classic form of arbitrage. But there remained one looming problem, items released often sell out and restock unexpectedly, and especially before we get a chance to checkout. The age old solution was to mindlessly refresh the page, but what if there was a better, more time efficient solution?
The Solution
Enter my company, crepkitchen, which solved this problem by using very basic web scraping and automation. In fact web scraping has recently become an invaluable resource most companies use to gather data on competition, product improvement, and in our case notifying users about ecommerce store inventory.
Promotional image of all our customers’ successful order confirmations in the background
The solution is rather simple. Every action a user does to look at or even purchase a product on an online store can easily be automated. Here in this article, I will provide the very simple code I used to do both of the things that helped establish my company.
To just add some context and scale of this potential solution, crepkitchen generated over $90,000 in annual profit by solving this specific issue. To learn more about this business model, I gave a short business pitch at a competition at the University of Maryland and other similar links can be found here. Eventually, I ended up selling some of the bigger technology and resources, so the company is no more, but it was a valuable experience nonetheless.
Me giving a pitch at my university
The Web Scraping Code
To start off, I’ll be using Python because of the vast frameworks and libraries that are extremely simple to implement. First, we want to simulate a user actually going to the website to view a specific product and saving the HTML, for example, this sample product.
import requests
request = requests.get('https://mathewsteininger.com/sample-product')
html = request.content
Then we can use BeautifulSoup to get the specific HTML tag of the item we want. Here this will be the exact area of the site that lets the user know whether an item is in stock or not (price could also be something to monitor).
soup = BeautifulSoup(html, 'html.parser')
# Monitor this tag to check stock changes
stock = soup.find("button", {"id": "availability"})
# Monitor this tag to check price changes
price = soup.find("div", {"id": "price"})
That’s most of the work! Now we can just package that up into a while true statement, add some time delays and a notification API, and we’re done.
Basic web scraping monitor
Preventing Rate Limiting
If you ran the code continuously by now, you might run into a significant issue called rate-limiting. See companies don’t like that most of their web traffic and resources are used up by bots, so they start limiting access to IPs that access the site too often (they also check your request headers so make sure to set those). The most basic way around this is to change your IP through a series of rotating proxies (also randomly increasing your time between requests). Here, we’ll use a cool library called ProxyManager which makes our ability to switch IPs even easier.
More complex web scraping with proxies and headers
Achieving Order Automation
Now this is a bit trickier and involves using a cool tool called Selenium that allows us to simulate the actions of a user. Selenium is essentially the same as automating opening a web browser and filling out some predefined forms. Therefore, once we have determined an item is back in stock, we trigger a checkout method. Keep in mind this may be against the store’s Terms of Service, so proceed at your own risk. In our example I will just simulate navigating a simple website.
Using selenium to automate form submissions
What To Do Now?
And there you go, you’ve successfully built a series of web scrapers and automated checkout scripts that are so valuable when dealing with limited edition products that sell out very quickly. After adding many sites in your network of scrapers, you’ll soon have a viable service that users are willing to pay for. Keep in mind though that our network of web scrapers were a lot more complex and robust, but generally this is how they worked.
A Final Note
All of these tools may run into certain website specific problems because that’s the main issue with web scraping today, adapting your scripts for many sites. | https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/examining-the-code-that-built-a-web-scraping-startup-1c7c8f40de13 | ['Mat Steininger'] | 2020-12-11 14:09:46.183000+00:00 | ['Startup Lessons', 'Python', 'Web Scraping', 'Startup', 'Data Science'] |
How To Earn Double Reward With Your Hard Drive | Can One Use One’s Hard Drive to Mine on Blockchain and Earn Rewards?
Genaro Sharer says: Yes！
Hard disk mining refers to getting rewards by sharing your hard disk space.
However, using Genaro Sharer to earn GNX can’t be called mining in the strictest sense. When we say ‘hard disk mining’ we refer to the sharing of resources (including computing resources, storage, bandwidth, and other computer resources) as ‘mining’.
Mining within Genaro Sharer is different from the mining of Bitcoin or Ethereum. This latter type of mining requires extremely high computational performance. It also constantly calculates the hash, which is almost impossible for ordinary users to achieve with their home computers. In contrast, Genaro Sharer has a low sharing threshold and is more user-friendly. It can also yield ‘double rewards’! Let’s see how people can experience the advantages of blockchain technology with ordinary domestic machines.
There are two steps：
Step 1：Stake (bet)
Step 2：Share hard disk to get rewards
Detailed instructions are as follows：
There are two ways to mine. First, you need to get a public IP address from your network operator：
Genaro Sharer Client (Mac/Windows)
Download the Genaro Sharer client, and make sure there is enough ETH in the wallet to generate the smart contract and enough stake in GNX
Share hard disk space and start earning rewards
Go to the ‘My Drive’ and click ‘Share Drive’ in the upper right corner.
Select the hard disk location and capacity to share. After setting is complete, click ‘OK’.
After the sharing is successful, you can view it in the ‘My Drive’ management list. If the drive sharing is successful, a green status is displayed, while failures are displayed in red.
Set Collection Wallet
Click the button to set the collection wallet. Now click the ‘Stake’ button. Each drive can be customized to select wallets that have been added in Genaro Sharer as reward collection wallets for sharing hard drives.
You can enter a GNX amount (minimum limit: 5000 GNX) and Lock Time in the wallet setting box. Enter the wallet password and confirm the settings. Drive sharing rewards are updated every 24 hours, and you can view daily revenue records through a third-party wallet management platform.
Check Sharing History
Click to open the history. Now you can see the log containing the sharing status.
Check the Stake Wallet and GNX Reward Information
Click on this menu to display the stake wallet and the GNX earned.
Withdraw GNX
You can see your reward after the previous step. You can now click ‘Withdraw’ to transfer the reward to the wallet. As shown in the picture, you will receive a hash when transferring, and check the transfer progress via etherscan.io. It may take a longer or shorter time depending on network congestion.
The following is the status of successful transfer
Genaro Sharer (Linux version)
need a certain technical background
Enter the command (Window-Start Menu-Enter cmd; Mac-Find Utility-Terminal) Install genaroshare-daemon
Installation Instructions：https://www.npmjs.com/package/genaroshare-daemon
Install dependency.mov
Install node.mov
Install genaroshare.mov
New Configuration Setting
After executing this command, a JSON file will be generated or opened directly. Users who understand the configuration can change it. These configurations are advanced settings. Please confirm that you clearly understand what you have changed.
If you are not familiar with advanced settings, you can choose to enter directly:
genaroshare-create — — name < The name of the account (wallet) you need to add > — — noedit
The following diagram will be displayed：
This step will generate a new wallet. Remember the mnemonic, name, and password in the red box, as well as the private key, which you will need to retrieve the GNX revenue. This wallet is used for mining revenue, as well as stake; we suggest that one computer be used for building one profile.
The next step is to stake the generated wallet. The JSON file shown in the picture above can find specific settings. The corresponding 070932e1a01a4820836e4d32754821088ff8352d corresponds to the generated storage network ID.
Use of mnemonics: This mnemonic can be imported into other wallet software (such as Parity) for management (transferring in and out)
Modify the default configuration
The previous step will generate a configuration file in which the shared attributes are set. There are several items that require customized modifications:
- The value after rpcAddress is changed from 127.0.0.1 to the public IP of the machine
- The value of doNotTraverseNat is changed to true (if there is a public network IP)
- Change the value of storagePath to shared path
- The value of storageAllocation is changed to the size of the space needs to be shared. The default is 20G.
The user needs to guarantee the number of GNX in the wallet to perform subsequent operations
For the wallet address, see the value of Payment Address in the generated JSON file.
You need to ensure that there are enough GNX (greater than 5000) and ETH (0.0069395 ETH (20Gwei) — 0.01734875 (50Gwei)) in this wallet
Make sure that GNX and 0.0069395 ETH (20Gwei) — 0.01734875 (50Gwei) are used for gas because GNX now dispatches the mine through the simulator on ETH. The gas of the used block on the current version of the emulator on Ethereum is provided by ETH, and the version that goes online on both the test chain and the main chain will be implemented in full GNX.
Stake
You only need to enter the following command:
genaroshare stake — nodeID 070932e1a01a4820836e4d32754821088ff8352d — quantity 5000 — option 0
The node ID is the previously generated storage network ID. In this case, 070932e1a01a4820836e4d32754821088ff8352d, quantity is the amount of GNX to share. For details, refer to the mining rules. The option is the time, where 0 represents 30 days, 2 represents 60 days, and 3 represents 90 days, 12 represents 360 days
Start Sharing
You can use the original consecutive commands：
genaroshare-daemon
2. genaroshare-start — config /Users/weilongwu/.config/genaroshare/configs/<your Json file>.Json
You can open the Genaro node and use the genaroshare status command to view the status, as shown in the following picture：
Only when the corresponding values of running, delta, port, and bridges are green is the connection considered successful.
Check gained GNX，check stake (bet) wallet
genaroshare-checkreward command
Used to view the stake wallet and the number of GNX obtained, for example：
genaroshare-checkreward -i 70fbcba5bf304c0d5d3b37d97cc74498f7553a9d
Transfer the gained GNX to the wallet for stake
genaroshare-getreward command, for example :
This command will print the transaction hash of the transfer and users can go to the etherscan.io website to check the progress.
For example, you can check via the transfer in the above picture：https://ropsten.etherscan.io/tx/0x11292d55051afe986749b98078c5a016b5e47ec138a77f3a969bbb2a097e00e2
(The link is Ethereum’s ropsten test chain, the main chain is the URL without ropsten.）
Transfer the money out from the stake wallet
genaroshare-withdraw command, for example, ：
‘lishi’ is the name of the generated wallet in the step ‘genaroshare-create’. It can also be imported into other wallet software for wallet management via mnemonics generated during genaroshare-create.
This command also prints the transaction hash and can go to the etherscan.io website to check the progress.
For example, you can see from the transfer in the above picture：https://ropsten.etherscan.io/tx/0xdebb8228d1a436fe977a89b8e440b58610231d599892691332d36106bc9821c4
(The link is the Ethereum ropsten test chain, the main chain is without ropsten in the URL.）
How to Update Genaro Sharer
The Genaroshare-daemon program will continue to improve, and you need first to check if there is a new version when you need to upgrade:
Check the local version number with the following command ：
npm list -g genaroshare-daemon
Check the latest version number with the following command ：
npm show genaroshare-daemon version
For example：
Enter the following command to install the latest genaroshare-daemon
npm install -g genaroshare-daemon
You can download the Genaro Sharer to have a try. After the installation is successful, you can make configuration files, set up wallet, stake and bet a certain number of tokens, and share your spare drive. We have prepared instruction documents and videos for your reference.
For more info, please check :
Genaro Sharer instructions: https://genaro.network/en/genaro-sharer/user-tutorial
FAQ
Q1 What are Genaro Sharer double rewards and how to allocate？
Genaro Sharer double rewards are storage reward and PoS reward：
‘PoS rewards’ refers to the node as PoS and using GNX as bets to get reward. Before the main chain is launched, Genaro Sharer uses the Ethereum smart contract for bonus distribution, which is approximately 2% per year. The GNX bet is conducted monthly. The GNX is released linearly and settled on a daily basis. As long as you are online, you can get rewards. After the main chain goes online, the rewards of the betting node will mainly come from system rewards and transaction fees. The specific rules, etc., will be announced when the Genaro Network Testnet is released.
The storage reward is currently a bonus for contributing space. The calculation method is: 1 GB per year 0.1 GNX, 1 TB per year 102.4 GNX, and 1 PB per year 104857.6 GNX, depending on the actual user’s usage. For example, if you share 1 PB, but the actual user uses an average of 1 TB a year, the reward is 102.4 GNX. Later, Genaro sharer considers adding bandwidth-sharing rewards in the store rewards section. The tentative plans are: 1 GB/0.2 GNX, 1 TB/204.8 GNX, 1 PB/209715.2 GNX. The specific award depends on the actual user downloads, the current version. Bandwidth incentives are not yet supported and need to wait until later versions.
It should be noted that the node must perform PoS bets before sharing the storage space, i.e., it cannot gain storage rewards only.
Q2：Does Genaro charge？
Genaro does not charge any fees. Genaro Eden and Genaro Sharer are a complete sharing economy community. Users’ storage space, bandwidth, and the gas fee are all paid to the corresponding sharer node.
Q3：If there is no data assigned to my storage node, can I still be rewarded？
Before the main chain goes online, you can still get PoS rewards. Anybody who does PoS can get a 2% bonus. After the main chain goes online, whether the node is to be selected for the committee needs to be determined, and so on. If the shared storage space is not used by the user, the storage reward cannot be obtained. However, the system will perform online rewards, distributed according to the status of the nodes, and there’s a chance to receive rewards.
Q4：How long does the PoS bet need to be in place? Can I withdraw?
A node can choose to bet for 1–12 months. Before the main chain goes online, once the bets are placed, it is impossible to withdraw and the linear release is required. After the main chain goes online, it can be withdrawn, but there will be a corresponding slash mechanism. The main chain is expected to go online in the fourth quarter of 2018. If the bet time of the node is later than the main chain, Genaro network maps the node for special mapping and performs accurate settlement of the equal time bets so as to ensure the liquidity and fairness of the warrant.
Q5：What are the details of online rewards in <GNX allocation statement>？
A total of 5% of GNX, or 33.75 million GNX will be distributed to sharers over the next five years, corresponding to the use of free space and bandwidth by subsidized users and the sending benefits of sharing PoS until this amount is used up.
Q6: Is there any requirement on bandwidth or hard disk of mining?
The stability of the network is a main requirement. The minimum requirement for the contribution space at this stage is 4TB, and the number of GNXs required for the PoS is 5000. There is no bandwidth requirement, but the higher the bandwidth, the easier it is to become a node, and the bandwidth depends on the capacity of the hard disk. The recommended bandwidth is at least 10m, the port is 4000, and it can be mapped.
With the increasing number of network nodes, we will launch the Mining Pool to continuously reduce the mining threshold and allow more users to participate.
Q7： How to become a stable node? Is there any requirement on stake?
If you stay online it means your node is a stable one. The larger the bet, the bigger space can be shared.
Q8：If Genaro Sharer is accidentally stopped (manually or blackout), will I get punished？
Before the main chain goes online, PoS rewards can be obtained regardless of whether to share or pause/stop. The bet on the GNX is also safe. However, the storage award cannot be obtained.
After the main chain goes online, the system analyzes and judges the performance of the node (including the performance before the main chain goes online). If the node goes offline for a long time or the response is slow, it will be considered as a malicious node and the slash will be performed. On the contrary, if the node performs well, it will be elected to the committee and further may be selected to make a block node to obtain more PoS rewards. Rules will be announced after the Genaro Network testnet is released.
Q9：Will the hard disk mining rewards and PoS rewards be separated later？
In the current solution, there must be PoS bets in order to perform storage and sharing. After the main chain is released, there will be solutions to reward separation.
Q10：Does it support storing other ERC-20 Tokens now? What if I transfer in another ERC-20 Token? How to get it back?
Genaro Eden and Genaro sharer wallets can only store GNX and ETH. If you inadvertently transfer other ERC-20 tokens, you need to export the wallet and put it into the current mainstream ETH wallet (MEW, parity).
Q11: Can Stake be performed for GNX who has participated in the PoS pilot program?
Very sorry, no. If GNX is still in lock period, it will not be able to perform a new round of PoS to get rewards. However, the actual rewards for the system obtained by users who have participated in the PoS trial program for up to 8 months are higher than the current incentive for mining, which is to show our gratefulness to the long-term supporters.
Q12：Can the team recommend a good node configuration? Which one has higher efficiency as a node, NAS or RAID( redundant array of independent disks)?
Now mainstream computers are fine, because Genaro is not demanding on mining methods for GPUs or memory. NAS will be more efficient, mainly depending on the size of individual bandwidth.
Genaro’s latest versions, Genaro Eden and Genaro Eden Sharer, will allow you to store your files in a more secure way and share your unused storage to earn GNX. To download Genaro Eden and begin storing and sharing, follow this link: https://genaro.network/en/genaro_eden/
Get your Genaro Eden/Sharer for Linux, Windows and MAC OS right now from the official website:
Git source repository is on GitHub>>
Important:
Warm reminder to our community members, please download Genaro Eden ONLY from our official website/GitHub and DO NOT trust any referral links and reposts from anyone, otherwise, we won’t be able to guarantee privacy and security of your data and protect you from scammers.
Genaro Eden — The first decentralized application on the Genaro Network, providing everyone with a trustworthy Internet and a sharing community:
Related Publications:
Genaro’s Core Product Concept
Genaro Eden: Five Core Features
How Does Genaro’s Technology Stand Out?
Genaro Eden Application Scenarios and User Experience
The Genaro Ecosystem | https://medium.com/genaro-network/how-to-earn-double-reward-with-your-hard-drive-760addefff46 | ['Genaro Network', 'Gnx'] | 2018-05-31 10:05:35.766000+00:00 | ['Genaroeden', 'Mining', 'Farming', 'Genarosharer', 'Ethereum'] |
Advice I Should Have Given Myself Today, Instead of Trying to Fix Someone Else (Who Didn’t Really Need Fixing) | I tried to fix a friend’s problem today and it backfired.
My advice was good. But that wasn’t the point.
No one asked for it. That’s the point. And offering my advice caused hurt feelings. That’s really the point.
One of these days, I’ll learn to wait until someone asks for my help before I jump in with my superhero cape flying.
Offering advice that isn’t asked for is pretty much always a bad idea.
It assumes that the person you’re offering it to needs help that they might not think they need. It assumes that you know better than they do what they need. And it creates a weird power dynamic that pretty much always leads to awkwardness.
Because it’s really hard to turn down a friend who offers to help you, even if you don’t want their help. And there’s no cool way to say — hey, thanks, but you’re offering to fix something that I didn’t think was broken in the first place.
It’s kind of the psychic version of asking a woman when her baby’s due. Never (ever) do that unless you’re absolutely, no-questions-asked positive that she’s actually pregnant. And never offer to solve another person’s problem unless you’re sure they think what you’re trying to solve is a problem.
Even asking if you can offer advice can become problematic, because — again — it assumes a problem where there might not be one and your friend may not feel comfortable turning you down.
Just because whatever it would be a problem for you doesn’t mean it is to them.
People are all different. That’s what makes humanity, humanity, you know? It’s what makes the world spin.
And even if you’re like pretty damned sure that you can improve your friend’s life if they’d just take your advice, if they don’t think their life needs to be improved then your words will, at best, fall on deaf ears.
And at worst, you’re going to hurt someone you care about. (Probably, this is what’s going to happen, even if they don’t say so.)
On top of that, even if they do see that what’s going on with them is a problem, they still might not want your help. Because maybe what works for you and the way your brain operates won’t work for them. Maybe they just don’t want you poking around in their issues. Or maybe they’ve got some other fix lined up.
I get it. You want to help.
The reason I get it is because I’ve been there.
I always want to help. I find myself wanting to pull my hair out pretty often because someone I care about has something going on in their life and I know how to fix it and they just won’t listen to me!
Ugh, that’s frustrating.
But it’s not helpful if your (and by your, I mean MY) efforts to help cause hurt feelings, disconnect, andmaybe even the person you want to help to dig in deeper on whatever it is that isn’t exactly working in their life in the first place.
This post is mostly a reminder for myself — because I hurt someone’s feelings today with unsolicited advice that I shouldn’t have offered — but maybe for you, too, if you find yourself in the same situation.
Don’t offer advice unless it’s asked for. Period.
It’s okay to make someone aware that you have experience or expertise in some area — but wait for them to ask for your help.
Remember that your solution isn’t the only one, Genius. Bring yourself down a notch there. Other people have their own ideas and they are just as valid as yours.
Just because you don’t understand something or something is going on in someone’s life that wouldn’t work for you, that doesn’t mean that it’s a problem for them. And they are who matters in their own life.
Again: don’t offer advice that isn’t asked for. Don’t even ask if you can offer advice unless you’re 100 percent positive the person is struggling with something and they’ve some how let you know that they’re in the market for solutions.
In other words, don’t assume a problem is there just because it would be a problem for you. And even then, don’t assume that just because someone is telling you their problem they want anything more than an empathetic ear.
And when you do screw up and offer unsolicited advice that no one asked for, then wind up hurting someone’s feelings? Apologize. Do better in the future. Stay in your own lane going forward. You’ve probably got enough of your own problems to fix, after all. | https://medium.com/the-write-brain/advice-i-should-have-given-myself-today-instead-of-trying-to-fix-someone-else-who-didnt-really-ef5302f7fa3e | ['Shaunta Grimes'] | 2020-01-16 21:14:47.872000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Life', 'Advice', 'Self', 'Mental Health'] |
The Social Psychology of Dehumanizing Attitudes and Behaviors: Theoretical evidence to explain gang stalking and electronic targeted assaults | The Social Psychology of Dehumanizing Attitudes and Behaviors: Theoretical evidence to explain gang stalking and electronic targeted assaults Karen Barna Apr 25·5 min read
The maze, thus, seems to symbolize our human limited perspective, our entanglement in the world of the senses and desires, our getting lost, taking the “wrong” path, occasionally feeling lost and desperate. The labyrinth would stand for the spiritual path of circling the Centre. Neither, it seems, can exist without the other. Spiritual heights will not be reached without the entanglements of the flesh.
“From within, the view is extremely restricted and confusing, while from above one discovers a supreme artistry and order.”
This paper explains through a psycho-social lens how individuals can be used as third-party proxies in the phenomenon known as gang stalking and electronic targeted assault. By analyzing the social-cognitive process known as “mechanistic dehumanization” in addition to a possessed form of sadism known as “everyday sadism” as part of a new personality profile known as the “Dark Tetrad.”
The social psychology of dehumanizing attitudes and behaviors towards others is rooted in culturally determined and learned beliefs surrounding another’s individual identity. Some dehumanizing behavior is displayed as disrespect, condescension, and neglect toward others (Christoff, 2014). There are several negative consequences associated with dehumanization and this paper address theoretical social-psychological aspects in research-based evidence of what has been termed everyday sadism and everyday dehumanizations which are contributing to the phenomenon of gang stalking and electronic targeted assaults.
Dehumanization was primarily believed to be part of extreme ethnic or racial intergroup conflict. New research evidence has brought to light this is no longer necessary for dehumanization to occur. Similar to everyday sadism, dehumanization can occur as part of everyday practice based on one’s personality profile (Buckels, Jones, & Paulhus, 2013). That is to say, dehumanization appears to be an everyday social phenomenon rooted in everyday social-cognitive processes of some human beings (Haslam, 2006). Since there are two ways dehumanization can occur, first the denied human characteristics thereby in essence grouping certain individuals with animals, also called “animalistic dehumanization.” The second social-cognitive process is termed “mechanistic dehumanization” in which humans are likened to objects or automata and denied human qualities like warmth, human emotion, and individuality (Haslam, 2006). My personal experiences in dealing with others have found a large portion of evidence in my social environment when opinions deviate from the majority rule and the majority rule is incapable of navigating the difference perceived. As a result, this blocked or diked human relatedness causes a second social-cognitive phenomenon known as “mechanistic dehumanization” and is extensively discussed as being part of the technology of advancing medicine and sexual objectification in which people are perceived as inert and instrumental tools, as a means to an end in advancing one’s goals and interests of their own.
Often perceived as “mild dehumanization” it is often considered an innocent and inconsequential part of behavioral patterns. However, the evidence does not support this ideology of it being an innocent by-product of human interaction. Mild dehumanization that appears subtle, innocent, and inconsequential can range from subtle forms of disrespect, condescension, neglect, social ostracism, and other relational slights. Gangstalking and electronic targeted assaults may be perceived by its perpetrators as a form of innocent, inconsequential, “mild dehumanization” but it goes beyond mild and crosses over to high conflict physical assaults.
Overwhelming evidence tells us dehumanization of others can lead to long-term psychological sequelae (Sheridan, James, & Roth, 2020). Research also tells us dehumanization of others can lead to increased aggressive social behavior such as bullying as well as increased forms of anti-sociality such as hostile avoidance and social rejection. These behaviors are then accompanied by attitudes of reduced human worth by those who are being targeted. They are therefore judged less worthy of protection from harm.
Everyday interpersonal maltreatments can leave its victims feeling degraded, invalidated, or demoralized. There has been extensive research into dehumanization’s negative consequences. When people are mechanistically dehumanized, as when people are gang stalked and electronically targeted with assaults or sexually assaulted and beaten, they are being used as objects or automata, containers for violent aggression and advancing human progress. They can enter into “cognitively deconstructed” states that become emotionally numbing, accompanied by reduced clarity of thought, and cognitive inflexibility, with an absence of meaningful exchange. Experiencing this form of dehumanization leads to pervasive feelings of sadness and anger challenging one’s coping skills. Since one of the goals of dehumanization is “status-reducing” interpersonal maltreatments such as being treated as incompetent, fat, ugly, lower-class, embarrassing, unintelligent, unsophisticated in the goal of degrading another’s image. This in turn can lead to feelings of shame and guilt by those being targeted.
As such, dehumanizing maltreatments eventually lead to one’s detrimental well-being. Psychological well-being requires basic psycho-social needs to be met. These include autonomy, competence, and human relatedness as well as a standard for the continuation of self-care. Dehumanizing maltreatments lead to impaired ability to satisfy individual needs and directly contribute to depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders such as alcohol use disorder. As such, dehumanization maltreatments are not considered “innocent” or “inconsequential” by-products of social interaction as a “social phenomenon” common to human communication. Dehumanization maltreatment poses a real hazard to other’s well-being as well as their cognitive psycho-social development. Dehumanization maltreatment leads to depression. Depression can lead to suicide. It can also lead to anxiety and anxiety can lead to anxiety-related disorders.
Since an aspect to dehumanizing maltreatment is the character trait known as sadism, a research study investigating the phenomenon of what has been termed “everyday sadism” to reveal a new personality configuration termed the “Dark Tetrad” of personality. Originally termed the “Dark Triad” which refers to the personality configuration composed of three character traits found within a specific personality type; Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. The new Dark Tetrad includes four traits instead of three; Machiavellianism, sadism, narcissism, and psychopathy. The researchers conducted a study investigating individual’s willingness to take part in a bug-killing paradigm. Sadists volunteered at greater rates than did non-sadists. In the second study, researchers investigated the willingness of individuals to harm an innocent victim. When aggression was easy, sadism and Dark Triad measures predicted unprovoked aggression. However, only sadists were willing to work for the opportunity to hurt an innocent person. In both studies, sadism emerged as an independent predictor of behavior reflecting an appetite for cruelty. Together, these findings support the construct validity of everyday sadism and its incorporation into a new personality paradigm (Buckels, Jones, & Paulhus, 2013).
“The task thus becomes to track the patterned ways that violence seeks to name as violent that which resists it, and how the violent character of a legal regime is exposed as it forcibly quells dissent, punishes workers who refuse the exploitative terms of contracts, sequesters minorities, imprisons its critics, and expels its potential rivals.” ~Judith Butler, The Force of Nonviolence: An ethico-political bind
Source:
Buckels, E., Jones, D., & Paulhus, D. (2013). Behavioral Confirmation of Everyday Sadism. Psychological Science, 24(11), 2201–2209.
Butler, Judith. (2020). The Force of Nonviolence: An ethico-political bind. New York. Verso Publishing.
Christoff, K. (2014). Dehumanization in organizational settings: some scientific and ethical considerations. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8,
Halsam, N. (2006). Dehumanization: an integrative review. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Rev. 10, 252–264. doi: 10.1207/s15327957pspr1003_4
Johnson, L., Plouffe, R., & Saklofske, D. (2019). Subclinical Sadism and the Dark Triad. Journal of Individual Differences, 40(3), 127–133.
Krick, A., Tresp, S., Vatter, M., Ludwig, A., Wihlenda, M., & Rettenberger, M. (2016). The Relationships Between the Dark Triad, the Moral Judgment Level, and the Students’ Disciplinary Choice. Journal of Individual Differences, 37(1), 24–30.
Lyons, M., & Jonason, P. (2015). Dark Triad, Tramps, and Thieves. Journal of Individual Differences, 36(4), 215–220.
Sheridan, L., James, D., & Roth, J. (2020). The Phenomenology of Group Stalking (‘Gang-Stalking’): A Content Analysis of Subjective Experiences. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(7), | https://medium.com/@proclivitysprinciplewisdom/the-social-psychology-of-dehumanizing-attitudes-and-behaviors-theoretical-evidence-to-explain-457b72f72177 | ['Karen Barna'] | 2021-04-26 12:19:25.939000+00:00 | ['Sadism', 'Personality', 'Social Psychology', 'Targeted Individuals', 'Dark Tetrad'] |
Support macOS Catalyst in Your iOS App: Use Pods That Are Not Compiled For macOS | Introduction
Are you trying to use Catalyst and port your App to macOS but having trouble compiling CocoaPods dependencies? Are you wondering if it’s worth changing your project configuration by adding new targets and duplicating schemes? If so, keep reading because this is meant for you.
In this article, I’ll tell you how you can easily fix this issue by adding a script to your Podfile that will configure your Pods project so that it can be used with Catalyst.
We’ll start by understanding the problem, I’ll let you know how you can manually fix it and, finally, I’ll share the script as well as some other approaches you can take.
Note that you’ll still need to use:
#if !targetEnvironment(macCatalyst)
// code to be excluded at compilation time from your macOS app
#endif
In those files where you import the pod. | https://medium.com/better-programming/macos-catalyst-debugging-problems-using-catalyst-and-cocoapods-579679150fa9 | ['Fernando Moya De Rivas'] | 2020-06-09 20:20:17.270000+00:00 | ['Programming', 'Cocoapods', 'iOS', 'Macos', 'Catalyst'] |
Case study: Using eye-tracking in usability analytics | Task
Find a doctor based on insurance, symptoms, and location (check information on how to schedule a virtual video visit)
You have seasonal allergies and you want to schedule a video visit with a doctor in your neighborhood who accepts your insurance.
Participants Overview
Target Audience:
Graduate students with health insurance plans.
Participants:
3 students from Pratt Manhattan campus.
According to the pre-test questionnaire, we found that:
2 out of 3 participants think virtual doctor visits are helpful especially after COVID-19.
Pre-test questionnaire for participants
Analytics Metrics
Qualitative:
Recordings Observation User quotes
Quantitative:
Task accuracy Ease of use Average time for task completion
Data Visualization:
Gaze plot: analyze each participant individually of their eye movements Heat map: aggregated data of all participants, focusing on the home page and search results page
After we analyzed all gathered data, we created a problem list and rated the frequency and severity. Then we defined the main issues and trivial issues (and we put forward recommendations for main problems).
Main problems list | https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/using-eye-tracking-in-usability-analytics-a-case-study-of-nyu-langone-health-bf372580feee | ['Yolanda Tian'] | 2021-01-02 20:41:18.621000+00:00 | ['Case Study', 'Usability Testing', 'UX', 'Eye Tracking', 'Usability'] |
Unit Testing | What is Unit Testing?
Unit Testing is a type of software testing where individual units or components of the software are tested. The purpose is to validate that each unit of the software code performs as expected. Unit Testing is done during the development (coding phase) of an application by the developers. Unit Tests isolate a section of code and verify its correctness. A unit may be an individual function, method, procedure, module, or object.
In SDLC, STLC, V Model, Unit testing is the first level of testing done before integration testing. Unit testing is a WhiteBox testing technique that is usually performed by the developer. Though, in a practical world due to the time crunch or reluctance of developers to tests, QA engineers also do unit testing.
Why Unit Testing?
Unit Testing is important because software developers sometimes try saving time doing minimal unit testing and this is a myth because inappropriate unit testing leads to high-cost. Defect fixing during System Testing, Integration Testing and even Beta Testing after application is built. If proper unit testing is done in early development, then it saves time and money in the end.
Here, are the key reasons to perform unit testing :
Unit tests help to fix bugs early in the development cycle and save costs. It helps the developers to understand the code base and enables them to make changes quickly Good unit tests serve as project documentation Unit tests help with code re-use. Migrate both your code and your tests to your new project. Tweak the code until the tests run again.
How to do Unit Testing
In order to do Unit Testing, developers write a section of code to test a specific function in the software application. Developers can also isolate this function to test more rigorously which reveals unnecessary dependencies between the function being tested and other units so the dependencies can be eliminated. Developers generally use the UnitTest framework to develop automated test cases for unit testing.
Unit Testing is of two types
Manual
Automated
Unit testing is commonly automated but may still be performed manually. Software Engineering does not favor one over the other but automation is preferred. A manual approach to unit testing may employ a step-by-step instructional document.
Under the automated approach-
A developer writes a section of code in the application just to test the function. They would later comment out and finally remove the test code when the application is deployed.
A developer could also isolate the function to test it more rigorously. This is a more thorough unit testing practice that involves copy and paste of code to its own testing environment than its natural environment. Isolating the code helps in revealing unnecessary dependencies between the code being tested and other units or data spaces in the product. These dependencies can then be eliminated.
A coder generally uses a UnitTest Framework to develop automated test cases. Using an automation framework, the developer codes criteria into the test to verify the correctness of the code. During the execution of the test cases, the framework logs failing test cases. Many frameworks will also automatically flag and report, in summary, these failed test cases. Depending on the severity of a failure, the framework may halt subsequent testing.
The workflow of Unit Testing is 1) Create Test Cases 2) Review/Rework 3) Baseline 4) Execute Test Cases.
How to write Unit tests
Map your program into units. The key aspect of a good unit test is that it checks just one portion of a program. Whether you are looking to test an existing program or planning tests for a program that isn’t written yet, you’ll need to break it down into discrete parts (“units”). You’ll then write a unit test for each one.
The definition of a “unit” varies widely depending on the type of program you are developing. A unit could be a class, but also a single function or procedure.
2. Determine if you need state-based or interaction-based testing. A unit test can be used to check two kinds of scenarios. State-based testing is used to see if a program unit produces proper or expected results. Interaction-based testing, on the other hand, is used to see if a unit sets anticipated methods into action. To write a good test, you’ll need to identify what you are trying to test for, so keep one of these approaches in mind as a model.
3. Plan simple and readable tests. Keep in mind that you’ll need to write lots and lots of unit tests. You’ll want to run a unit test for every portion of your program. Keeping your tests simple will have several benefits:
Simple tests will help ensure that you really are testing only one unit at a time.
The tests’ code will be reliable. If you have complex test code, it will be more prone to problems, making it just that harder to see bugs in the code of the program you are testing.
The tests will be faster, decreasing the overall amount of time it takes to do the testing.
A simple test will be readable, meaning you may see some potential problems just by looking at the code itself.
4. Differentiate unit tests from integration tests. Seasoned developers know that there are different ways to test a program. Unit tests are narrow, specific, and look at only one portion of a program. Integration tests, on the other hand, look at the whole program in a real environment. In other words, unit testing ensures that the individual parts of a program work, while integration testing verifies that the parts work together.
Integration tests also usually require external elements, such as web servers or a database. To keep unit tests controlled, write them so that they don’t require external elements.
Unit Testing Tools
There are several automated tools available to assist with unit testing. We will provide a few examples below:
Junit: Junit is a free to use testing tool used for Java programming language. It provides assertions to identify test methods. This tool test data first and then inserted in the piece of code. NUnit: NUnit is a widely used unit-testing framework use for all .net languages. It is an open-source tool that allows writing scripts manually. It supports data-driven tests that can run in parallel. JMockit: JMockit is an open-source Unit testing tool. It is a code coverage tool with line and path metrics. It allows mocking API with recording and verification syntax. This tool offers Line coverage, Path Coverage, and Data Coverage. EMMA: EMMA is an open-source toolkit for analyzing and reporting code written in Java language. Emma support coverage types like method, line, basic block. It is Java-based so it is without external library dependencies and can access the source code. PHPUnit: PHPUnit is a unit testing tool for PHP programmers. It takes small portions of code which is called units and test each of them separately. The tool also allows developers to use pre-define assertion methods to assert that a system behaves in a certain manner.
Those are just a few of the available unit testing tools. There are lots more, especially for C languages and Java, but you are sure to find a unit testing tool for your programming needs regardless of the language you use.
Test-Driven Development (TDD) & Unit Testing
Unit testing in TDD involves extensive use of testing frameworks. A unit test framework is used in order to create automated unit tests. Unit testing frameworks are not unique to TDD, but they are essential to it. Below we look at some of what TDD brings to the world of unit testing:
Tests are written before the code
Rely heavily on testing frameworks
All classes in the applications are tested
Quick and easy integration is made possible
Advantages
Developers looking to learn what functionality is provided by a unit and how to use it can look at the unit tests to gain a basic understanding of the unit API.
Unit testing allows the programmer to refactor code at a later date, and make sure the module still works correctly (i.e. Regression testing). The procedure is to write test cases for all functions and methods so that whenever a change causes a fault, it can be quickly identified and fixed.
Due to the modular nature of the unit testing, we can test parts of the project without waiting for others to be completed.
Disadvantages
Unit testing can’t be expected to catch every error in a program. It is not possible to evaluate all execution paths even in the most trivial programs
Unit testing by its very nature focuses on a unit of code. Hence it can’t catch integration errors or broad system-level errors.
It’s recommended unit testing be used in conjunction with other testing activities.
Best Practices
Unit Test cases should be independent. In case of any enhancements or change in requirements, unit test cases should not be affected.
Test only one code at a time.
Follow clear and consistent naming conventions for your unit tests
In case of a change in code in any module, ensure there is a corresponding unit Test Case for the module, and the module passes the tests before changing the implementation
Bugs identified during unit testing must be fixed before proceeding to the next phase in SDLC
Adopt a “test as your code” approach. The more code you write without testing, the more paths you have to check for errors.
Benefits
Unit testing provides numerous benefits including finding software bugs early, facilitating change, simplifying integration, providing a source of documentation, and many others, which we will look right now with more detail.
1. Makes the Process Agile
One of the main benefits of unit testing is that it makes the coding process more Agile. When you add more and more features to the software, you sometimes need to change old design and code. However, changing the already-tested code is both risky and costly. If we have unit tests in place, then we can proceed for refactoring confidently.
Unit testing really goes hand-in-hand with agile programming of all flavors because it builds in tests that allow you to make changes more easily. In other words, unit tests facilitate safe refactoring.
2. Quality of Code
Unit testing improves the quality of the code. It identifies every defect that may have come up before code is sent further for integration testing. Writing tests before actual coding makes you think harder about the problem. It exposes the edge cases and makes you write better code.
3. Finds Software Bugs Early
Issues are found at an early stage. Since unit testing is carried out by developers who test individual code before integration, issues can be found very early and can be resolved then and there without impacting the other pieces of the code. This includes both bugs in the programmer’s implementation and flaws or missing parts of the specification for the unit.
4. Facilitates Changes and Simplifies Integration
Unit testing allows the programmer to refactor code or upgrade system libraries at a later date and make sure the module still works correctly. Unit tests detect changes that may break a design contract. They help with maintaining and changing the code.
Unit testing reduces defects in the newly developed features or reduces bugs when changing the existing functionality.
Unit testing verifies the accuracy of each unit. Afterward, the units are integrated into an application by testing parts of the application via unit testing. Later testing of the application during the integration process is easier due to the verification of the individual units.
5. Provides Documentation
Unit testing provides documentation of the system. Developers looking to learn what functionality is provided by a unit and how to use it can look at the unit tests to gain a basic understanding of the unit’s interface (API).
6. Debugging Process
Unit testing helps simplify the debugging process. If a test fails, then only the latest changes made in the code need to be debugged.
7. Design
Writing the test first forces you to think through your design and what it must accomplish before you write the code. This not only keeps you focused; it makes you create better designs. Testing a piece of code forces you to define what that code is responsible for. If you can do this easily, that means the code’s responsibility is well-defined and therefore that it has high cohesion.
8. Reduce Costs
Since the bugs are found early, unit testing helps reduce the cost of bug fixes. Just imagine the cost of a bug found during the later stages of development, like during system testing or during acceptance testing. Of course, bugs detected earlier are easier to fix because bugs detected later are usually the result of many changes, and you don’t really know which one caused the bug.
Closing Quote | https://medium.com/dev-genius/unit-testing-11d96f9420a8 | [] | 2020-09-23 07:18:31.488000+00:00 | ['Unit Testing', 'Testing', 'QA', 'Unit Testing Tools', 'Unittest'] |
Create Your JS Runtime With Deno | Deno is not only bring us a new js/ts runtime, it also bring us a new V8 binding with rusty_v8 lib. I create this series to keep track the steps I did to create my own JS runtime with rusty_v8.
Setup
macOS Catalina
Z Shell
cargo 1.43.0 (2cbe9048e 2020–05–03). to install cargo, I did this
curl https://sh.rustup.rs -sSf | sh
after that, add $HOME/.cargo/bin to ~/.zshrc .
to have the new effect immediately, run it with
source ~/.zshrc
Before create let’s copy…
I find that studying existing code and make small increment changes from there is a great way to learn. Let’s clone deno and see how it did v8 binding.
cd {YOUR/PATH/TO/DENO}
git submodule init
git submodule update
cargo build git clone https://github.com/denoland/deno.git {YOUR/PATH/TO/DENO}cd {YOUR/PATH/TO/DENO}git submodule initgit submodule updatecargo build
If successful you should see
Finished dev [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1m 44s
I found a good place to start is at core/examples/http_bench.rs . unfortunately this folder is not build by default. to build it:
add " core/examples", into ./Cargo.toml add a new Cargo.toml file into core/examples folder and copy and paste following text into the file
[package] name = "deno_core_http_bench" version = "0.45.0" edition = "2018" [dependencies] deno_core = { path = ".." } derive_deref = "1.1.0" tokio = { version = "0.2.20", features = ["rt-core", "tcp"] } log = "0.4.8" futures = { version = "0.3.4", features = ["thread-pool", "compat"] } [[bin]] name = "http_bench" path = "http_bench.rs"
build again with cargo build you should see http_bench executable file in target/debug/http_bench
execute the binary and it will run a server and listen to localhost:4544. on your browser type http://localhost:4544 you should see Hello World
Congratulations! you have created a js runtime although it only run http_bench.js for now. in the following series, we make the runtime more useful and execute any js file that pass in as command line argument. | https://medium.com/@ldarren/create-your-js-runtime-with-deno-22f2b201e225 | ['Darren Liew'] | 2020-05-17 19:00:35.293000+00:00 | ['Js Runtime', 'Rusty V8', 'Rust', 'Nodejs', 'Deno'] |
Number theory for Cryptography and Privacy Preserving Machine Learning | Privacy preserving machine learning (PPML) is a relatively new field of study that aims to protect data privacy as well as intellectual property in the field of machine learning. It tries to solve problems like avoiding your model to retain particular information, train a model on data you cannot see or even expose a model to be used for inference whilst keeping both the original data and the prediction private.
PPML has gained interest from different academic fields like information theory and cryptography. In this post I will focus on the most basic ingredients for the latter, basic number theory. My intention is to publish a series of posts so that we can eventually understand key concepts for cryptography in machine learning and secure multiparty computation.
Divisibility and greatest common divisor
In this section I write about division of integer numbers. This will be used through all this post in one way or another. Given two natural numbers a and b (the latter nonzero) we say that b divides a if there is another integer c such that a=b*c. If, conversely we can’t find such c then if b<a we can find a relation a=b*q+r where q is called quotient and r remainder. This, in other words is what we learn at primary school, just a bit more formalised.
If there’s a number d that divides both, a and b, we also say that d is a common divisor of a and b. For instance, 2 is a common divisor of 60 and 80 since you can write 60=30*2 and 80=40*2. One way to calculate the greatest common divisor (gcd) of two integers is through the extended euclidean algorithm: given two positive integers a and b, the following equation holds
The python code to solve this equation can be found here. For instance, the solution for the pair (a, b)=(30,27) is g, u, v = (3, 1, -1) where g is the gcd. And a last definition, a and b are said to be coprime iff gcd(a, b)=1, that is the largest number that divides both is 1.
Modular arithmetic
Modular arithmetic is a system of arithmetic for integers, where numbers “wrap around” when reaching a certain value. First we need to fix a value m and then compute the modulo over an integer a, the result is the remainder of the division. For instance, if m=7
Applying mod m to several i values
you can see that the value of the operation remains the same for i<m, when it reaches m it “wraps around” and begins with 0 again.
Now you may wonder… why does this have to do with cryptography? Well, there are two reasons, the first and most important is that modular arithmetic allows the construction of simple algebras like groups or fields, these are the building blocks of cryptography. The second reason is that this defines a finite set of elements (not infinite like natural numbers and real numbers) and therefore is more tractable on a computer.
The modulo operation defines an algebraic group over the sum, so if we take the previous example of m=7, the elements of the group are (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) and the operation is the sum modulo m. See the “multiplication” table for operation sum modulo:
sum modulo table for group defined by m=7
A group has the following properties
Element closure : for any two elements a and b of the group, their operation returns c which is also in the group. E.g. (5+3)(mod 7)=1
: for any two elements and of the group, their operation returns which is also in the group. E.g. (5+3)(mod 7)=1 Associativity : for any three elements a , b , c it holds ( a + b )+ c = a +( b + c ). This obviously happens in the sum operation.
: for any three elements , , it holds ( + )+ = +( + ). This obviously happens in the sum operation. Existence of identity : There exist an element e in the set such that for any a in the set a + e = a . In this example the neutral element is 0. E.g. (5+0)(mod 7)=5.
: There exist an element in the set such that for any in the set + = . In this example the neutral element is 0. E.g. (5+0)(mod 7)=5. Inverse element: For any element in the group a there must be another element b such that a+b=e. E.g. the inverse of 5 is 2 in our example because (5+2)(mod 7)=0
If the group is commutative (i.e. a+b=b+a), then the group is also called commutative group or abelian.
Modulo operations on product
The sum modulo operation works well to construct a group, just choose an m (any m of the natural numbers will work) and you will be in the realm of the numbers (0, 1, 2, …, m-1) and the modulo operation with addition. But what if instead of the sum we choose the product to define a group?. In this case the neutral element is 1 and we’ll find out that sometimes we cannot form a group for arbitrary m, for instance take m=10, are you able to find the multiplicative inverse of 2, i.e. find x such that
multiplication table for 2 in mod 10.
From the multiplication table you can see that there’s no number that multiplied by 2 gives the neutral multiplication number (1) in the field mod 10. We can say that these elements do not form a group because we are missing inverse elements on some (if you check it, those without inverse are 2, 4, 5, 6, 8). But good news we can pick those elements that have inverse and form a group!. Let me write a multiplication table for such group in m=10
Multiplication table for the group with elements (1, 3, 7, 9) and operation product modulo 10.
Here you can check by eye that all elements have another element to which if multiplied give the multiplicative identity.
Now, is there a way to know if an element has inverse modulo m? Yes!. Let a and m be integers such that a<m, then a*b (mod m)=1 for some integer b if and only if gcd(a, m)=1. Actually we can use the extended euclidean algorithm to calculate the inverse:
If a has inverse modulo m, then from the stated above:
Extended Euclidean equation for gcd(a, m)=1
by applying mod m to both sides of the equation we will have that
and therefore u is the inverse of a mod m. There is a special case when m is a prime number, we will denote it from now on with p. In this case, gcd(a, p)=1 since p is only divisible by himself and 1, therefore all the elements (1, 2, 3, …, p-1) will have inverse and will form a group with the product modulo p. An easy way to calculate the multiplicative inverse in a prime modulo group is to use the Fermat’s little theorem: Let p be a prime number and let a be any integer then
Fermat’s little theorem for a not divisible by p
if a is not divisible by p, otherwise the above equation equals zero. Then to calculate the inverse of a, we just need to multiply by a^(-1) both sides of the equation.
Multiplicative inverse of a for a mod p field
so we can now calculate the inverse modulo p of a. This may seem heavy computationally but we use the fast powering algorithm an implementation of which can be found here.
Rings and Fields
So far we’ve seen how to to define mathematical groups with sum and multiplication modulo an integer m. We can construct other algebraic structures using both operations. A ring is an algebraic structure consisting of a set of elements S and two operations (+, ·) that fulfil the following properties
The set with the first operation form an abelian group. i.e. (S, +) is abelian
There’s associativity on the second operation. I.e. if a , b , c are elements of S then ( a · b )· c = a ·( b · c ).
, , are elements of S then ( · )· = ·( · ). Existence of identity on the second operation. I.e. there exist an element e such that for any a in the set a · e = a .
such that for any in the set · = . The second operation is distributive with respect to the first one. This is a·(b+c)=a·b+a·c and (b+c)·a=b·a+c·a
The set S={0, 1, 2, 3} with the modular operations of additions (+ mod 4) and multiplications (· mod 4) is a ring. Another example of ring is the set of matrices of dimension 3x3 and real coefficients. You can check that all properties above are accomplished (takehome exercise)
A field is a ring such that the second operation also satisfies all the abelian group properties (after throwing out the identity element of the first operation). The field has multiplicative inverses, multiplicative identity and is commutative.
A typical example of field is the set S={0, 1, 2, 3, …, p} where p is a prime number and operations are addition and multiplication modulo p. See that since p is a prime all the elements of the set have a multiplicative inverse and therefore constitute an abelian group with the multiplication operation. This field is commonly denoted as Fp. The set of matrices with dimension 3x3 and real coefficients is not a field since some matrices do not have a multiplicative inverse.
Conclusions
We understood what is modulo arithmetic and how with such operation we can define groups, rings and fields over finite sets of elements. These structures appear constantly in cryptography, for instance when working with elliptic curves or in simple protocols like Diffie-Hellman key exchange.
In the next posts we are going to work with the defined algebraic structures to understand key concepts on cryptography and multiparty computation to the final end of understanding a bit more of privacy preserving machine learning.
Thank you for reading!. If you like the article, please star my github repo and give me some claps in the article. | https://sebastiaagramunt.medium.com/number-theory-for-cryptography-and-privacy-preserving-machine-learning-866b1f171c51 | ['Sebastia Agramunt-Puig'] | 2020-10-10 10:11:03.525000+00:00 | ['Privacy', 'Algebra', 'Machine Learning', 'Mathematics', 'Cryptography'] |
How to Go Zero-Waste on a Film Set, During Covid | Introduction
The film industry is a big contributor to climate change, adding millions of CO2 to our atmosphere every year. Good news is that there are things a production can do to lower its carbon footprint. There are many areas to tackle when making a sustainable production — waste diversion is one that could be implemented and tracked relatively easily. Recently, I was in charge for the craft services for a pilot shoot of a web series. Inspired by an article about ways to go zero waste on a film set, I took the opportunity to create an as low-waste as possible production.
Statistics
With 25 people on set, in 2 days, we
produced approximately 4 pounds of landfill, 8 pounds of compost and 2 pounds of recycling
diverted 71% of our waste from landfill
created 98% less landfill than average American, who produces 3.3 pounds of garbage daily
Areas of Focus
In the sets that I have been to, most wastes come from food packages and and single-use utensil, as well as disposable water bottles. Therefore, food and beverage are the 2 main areas that I decided to tackle.
Food
Food can be further categorized into crafties and lunch.
For crafties:
I avoided packaged food as much as possible. I was excited to find out that Sprouts was still offering bulk-buy snacks during Covid. Extra care was needed to avoid contamination, so I transferred the bulk-buy chocolate into a bottle that can dispense the food without being touched.
But let’s face it, it is not always that easy to find all the snacks you want without packages, such as chips. So now I hunted for party size. In this way, there will not be small disposable package. For safety reason, I also got a dispenser for the chips so no one needed to touch the food directly.
What else is more exciting than seeing fruits on set? Bananas and tangerines are some economical choices. One thing to do is to take off the stickers before offering them so that they can be composted.
Any left over snacks are offered to cast and crew.
For lunch:
Instead of individually wrapped meals, we ordered party trays that came in aluminum pans on day 1 and pizzas on day 2. Party trays were washed and recycled, greasy pizza boxes were cut into small pieces for composting, and the clean parts were recycled.
We also set up a Covid protocol where I was the only person that can directly handle and distribute the food. For bigger sets, multiple people can be designated to handle this task.
We encouraged the cast and crew to bring their own containers and utensils, and we also provided reusable bowls, plates, and silverwares. The filming location was at an office with a kitchen, so we had access to the utensils there. If you need some in the LA region, instead of using disposable ones, you can rent some from SustainLA.
I also set up a return box so everyone knew where to leave the utensils at.
For cleaning, if you rent the utensils, you don’t need to worry about it. We had access to a dishwasher on set so we were able to wash the utensils at the end of the production on day 1 and use them for day 2. If there were no dishwasher on set, I would just bring them home and use my dishwasher.
Any left over lunch are offered to cast and crew.
crafties without packages
return box for utensils next to the sink
2. Beverages
We also had access to a water machine so that made things easier. But before we found out that there was a water machine, we were considering to buy 2 Brita water tanks. They would be good investments that can be reused in future productions as well.
Another option is to buy or rent a water dispenser (also available at SustainLA). If you want the water to be filtered, you can place charcoal filters inside. Those are available in sustainable/zero-waste stores, such as Eco Now.
For other beverages, I bought party size as well. Most of the beverage in the market now should have recyclable containers, so I also made sure the person finishing the drinks also knows to put the container in the recycling bin.
For coffee, we had a coffee machine and we got a giant can of grounded coffee. Coffee grounds and filters can be composted. If you do not have one, you can easily find a cheap and working second-hand coffee machine on platforms like OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace.
For cups, we asked all cast and crew to bring their own water bottles. We also provided reusable cups, such as the ones from CupRite.
coffee machine, grounded coffee in bulk, reusable mugs
Key
Communicate from the very beginning.
I talked with the team at a relatively late stage when the Covid protocol had already been sent to the cast and crew so we needed to revise and send it out again. Next time, I would mention about all things sustainable at the very first time discussing about production.
Anticipate objection. Luckily I did not face any, but there will certainly be at some time, so be prepared and explain the problem you are helping to solve, why it would be amazing that the team does this, and how easy you would make it for the cast and crew to be part of the effort.
I also went over the sustainability initiatives with all cast one week before shooting, and created a sustainability guideline in a flyer form to share with them.
Separate waste into landfill, compost, and recycling AND make people know where to throw to which bin.
I initially placed the bins at a location where people can throw in stuff without looking at the signs. So I moved them to another location where the signs are more visible.
I also wrote too much things on the signs. Just need to make sure to draw something — napkins and fruit scraps were two major things that most people threw to the landfill bin while they can be composted. When people see the items in drawing form, they started throwing them into the right bin.
Research about recycling and compost at the shooting location before shooting day.
I found out that there was no recycling dumpster at the shooting location, so I made plan to recycle the materials at my own apartment complex.
There was also no compost available at the shooting location, so I used Make Soil and found a nearby compost site that was just 5 minutes away. Another compost marketplace is Share Waste.
Believe in yourself and what you do :)
In the grand scheme of things, the quantity of trash we have diverted from landfill probably does not mean much. Not to mention how intimidating it would be if there are doubts from others and someone shows that recycling or composting does not matter.
However, protecting the environment is not about perfection, it is about what is possible and what we can do within our power. It is about spreading the message and influencing others.
Zero waste and zero carbon footprint are almost impossible considering the world we live in today, but if this can inspire the cast and crew to pay more attention to sustainability, remind them to bring their own water bottles to set next time, or remember that they have been on a production that takes environmental protection into consideration and share it with their friends, this is a progress.
waste are separated into landfill, compost, and recycling bins
poster made with templates on Canva
Future
Certainly, there are also many other aspects within sustainability to consider in addition to waste management. We had a relatively small production and only focused on diverting waste from landfill, but I recently discovered these Green Production Guide Toolkits that can be used for all sizes of productions with details for other aspects including products and suppliers, energy, transportation and travel.
Last But Not Least
Kudos to the cast and crew for being part of the effort! | https://medium.com/@gloriadeng/how-to-go-zero-waste-on-a-film-set-during-covid-eb55f37a9045 | ['Gloria Deng'] | 2020-12-24 18:10:12.388000+00:00 | ['Film Production', 'Filmmaking', 'Zero Waste', 'Craftservices', 'Sustainability'] |
Headphone audio cable makers | connect audio by Ilmicrofono Oggiono (Creative Common)
If you are looking for the purest, the ultimate, and the top of the line cable, this post is not for you. I don’t deny cable induce a different sound, they do. If you worry about it, you just probably don’t need to read further :-)
On the other hand, if you are on the market to replace your stock/broken/existing headphone cable, I hope this will help you.
Why custom cables?
Before jumping into the index, I would like to assure swapping cable is not for crazy people. Few reasons I came across this exercise:
You need different termination (headphone or amp side). Hell yeah, Good old jack 6.35mm and mini-jack 3.5mm are surrounded by 2.5mm and 4.4mm TRRRS and headphone/earphone manufacturers uses all sorts of more or less exotic connectors.
(headphone or amp side). Hell yeah, Good old jack 6.35mm and mini-jack 3.5mm are surrounded by 2.5mm and 4.4mm TRRRS and headphone/earphone manufacturers uses all sorts of more or less exotic connectors. You need a more comfortable cable , one that doesn’t tangle when you’re taking it out of your pocket, bag/purse or pouch.
, one that doesn’t tangle when you’re taking it out of your pocket, bag/purse or pouch. You’re interested in quality , some stock cable are fragile and will break over time. Aftermarket cables can be made with high quality component and great soldering work.
, some stock cable are fragile and will break over time. Aftermarket cables can be made with high quality component and great soldering work. You need some style! Custom cables come with all sort of color and texture. Just like any wearable.
Aftermarket cables: the list
My researches focused on headphones and earphones only, there are probably a tons of other brands I never heard of, I will be happy to add them here if they have a respectable website.
For those concerned by import tax/fees, I tried to document the country where they usually ship from.
By alphabetical order:
Happy shopping!
Headphone talks
Head (pun) to head-fi.com or join the excellent The Headphone Experience.
Missing cable maker?
Please drop a comment below. | https://medium.com/@bitonio/headphone-audio-cable-makers-4904430644fc | ['Biton I O'] | 2020-06-12 19:14:27.753000+00:00 | ['Cable', 'Headphones', 'Iem', 'Audiophile', 'Aftermarket'] |
What is the Baby Shampoo And Conditioner Market size? | The global baby shampoo and conditioner market size is expected to reach USD 6.8 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., expanding at a CAGR of 5.1% over the forecast period. The market growth is attributed to rising birth rate, growing expenditure on baby care products, increasing purchasing power, and rapid urbanization. Moreover, the need to remove flakes, prevent scalp infection, and combat tangle and knots in baby’s hair is a key factor driving the market.
Increasing literacy rate and growing working women ratio are increasing the awareness among the consumers to differentiate the usage of products for baby grooming. Moreover, due to rising concerns among parents over baby’s health and hygiene, manufactures are focusing on fulfilling the need and demand of the consumers.
Working women are the prime customers for the purchase of shampoos and conditioners. Softness, suitability, anti-bacterial properties, and pleasing fragrance are the factors on which manufacturers are focusing to add more value and credibility to the product. This, in turn, influences the purchasing and spending decision of the consumers.
For instance, Johnson’s Head-to-Toe baby wash and shampoo is the most popular among consumers and is currently at no.1 position in hospitals in U.S. Moreover, the brand claims that it is paraben-free, phthalate-free, no more tears formula, and is as gentle as water on the baby’s eyes.
However, presence of harmful chemicals such as phthalates and formaldehyde in shampoos is acting as a restraint to the growth of the market. Innovation, regulation standards, and marketing are the challenging issues for manufacturers while launching products in the market. Affordability, easy availability, and low awareness about presence of harmful chemicals for the baby’s skin among consumers in rural areas are boosting the growth of non-organic segment.
Consumers prefer to use an organic shampoo for their kids, making sure that babies are not exposed to any kind of dangerous chemicals. This factor is positively influencing the growth of organic shampoo and conditioners. However, manufacturers are highlighting factors such as ‘gentle bath’.
Most product endorsements focus on the softness of baby skin and its incompatibility with the products used on grownups. Thus, mild shampoos have become one of the sought after products and brands including Himalaya, Natural, and Mee Mee have used it to propose some of their products. These promise to keep the baby’s hair moisturized for better and healthy growth. The inclusion of specific herbs has also been appreciated by the brands. Chamomile is one such herb that is included in baby shampoo, Cetaphil. The product is expected to bring soothing effects of Cetaphil.
Asia Pacific held the largest share of above 50.0% in 2018. It is anticipated to emerge as the fastest-growing market over the forecast period. This substantial growth and enormous share can be attributed to the birth rate in countries including China and India. According to a report by China’s National Statistical Bureau, in 2016, 17.86 million infants were born, followed by 17.23 births in the year 2017. Similarly, according to the UN report released in July 2019, India’s current population is 1.37 billion and by 2050, it is expected to grow by 273 million. The data showcases a consequential birth rate.
To request a sample copy or view summary of this report, click the link below:
www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/baby-shampoo-conditioner-market
Further key findings from the report suggest: | https://medium.com/cmfe-market-research-reports/what-is-the-baby-shampoo-and-conditioner-market-size-e18bb850a37e | ['Rajesh Varma'] | 2020-04-20 12:54:40.779000+00:00 | ['Baby', 'Shampoo', 'Consumer', 'Baby Shampoo'] |
Alto Bio launches new “link in bio” profile link pages like Stories’ look and feel | Alto Bio could be a powerful “link in bio” for social media stars, digital entrepreneurs, creators or anyone trying to promote themselves through Instagram
TOKYO, JAPAN, December 25, 2020 — We have to use “link in bio” there is only one link on Instagram, “link in bio” allows you to create a customized landing page full of all the sites you want to share.
With “link in bio” tool, we can make profile link pages with no change of the Instagram profile URL, but these tools are too simple for profile. Alto Bio offers a new “link in bio” that allows you to link to each image with a “Stories”-like look and feel. Alto Bio could be a powerful tool for profile pages, social media stars, digital entrepreneurs, or anyone trying to promote themselves through Instagram.
Alto Bio can create the next generation of About me profile pages. Alto Bio follows on Instagram’s brilliant experiences, but many “link in bio” tools remaining flat experiences. Many “link in bio” specialize in collecting and displaying links on one single page. That’s because Instagram’s profile page has only one link, so it’s a good complement.
This means that Instagram focuses on sharing sensations through new UXs to promote beauty and enjoyment.
The trend of “Link in bio” started by selecting the place where people want to send from the Instagram profile page by gathering a lot of followers by posting on Instagram and promoting it by the promoter, but many “link in bio” remains a flat user experience.
“Alto Bio will contribute to the quality of the interactive experience Instagrammers expect from their followers” said Katsuhiro Takata, the CEO of Chia Inc., the developer of Alto Bio. “But some Instagrammer, with the single purpose of extending Instagram profile links, prefers the flat experience that traditional “link in bio” provides, so you’ll choose that. Both are needed. “Whether Alto Bio or the traditional “link in bio”, either can bridge the gap between social platforms and self-introduction pages.”
Alto Bio can be set as an Instagram profile link to create a variety of links to display on your minisite. It has a Stories-like look and feel, allowing followers to provide links to other social media presences such as Twitter and YouTube with a more visual full-screen profile. Our Stories like look and feel is made on “Web Stories” Technology developed by Google, we can expect your minisites to be easier to show on search engines by effective SEOs and AMP.
Alto Bio is “free”. In the future, there will be paid plans that will allow you to analyze. Alto Bio is developed by engineers who love social platforms such as Instagram. We will add many functions from now on. So please use Alto Bio to tell us what you need for your newborn Alto Bio and help. If you would like to become a partner or have any concerns, please leave a message. We look forward to hearing from you at any time.
About Alto Bio
URL: https://alto.bio/
About Chia Inc.
Chia is a marketing support development team based in Tokyo. Our clients are major telecommunications operators and giant advertising agencies, and we support the development of advertising technology for our clients. All our engineers have computer science expertise and contributed to the spread of programmatic advertising in Asia in the 2010s. From now on, we will focus on supporting social platforms.
URL: https://chi.as/
All product names, logos, brands, trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used in this release are for identification purposes only. | https://medium.com/chiainc/alto-bio-launches-new-link-in-bio-profile-link-pages-like-stories-look-and-feel-994a573be9d8 | ['Katsuhiro Karubi Takata'] | 2020-12-25 11:49:36.008000+00:00 | ['Instagram', 'Linkinbio', 'Stories', 'Linktree'] |
Why We Still Need Mainstream Media | Why We Still Need Mainstream Media
Still think having it become more about who’s reporting a story, rather than what publication is important and is happening and will happen even more. Even if that reporting ends up being independently crowd-sourced, or Substacked, or entirely Tweeted, or here on Medium or wherever. By and large, that’s already how I consume most of my news.
It’s also, I think, how local news, now that scores of local newspapers are gone, will survive and revive.
But often enough, I’m still reminded why old school, ad driven, big budget news organizations do have leverage that results in a quality or at least type of reporting that couldn’t be equally replicated elsewhere. Yes, anyone these days can work up a piece on, for instance, a Trump rally that he’s blasting all over the place, so we don’t really need them for that. Yet, some of their other enterprise reporting still often results in work of incalculable value.
For some reason, late last week I was thinking about my first big break in the news business: an investigation into penny stock brokers. This was at a major news organization that remains major to this day. My boss gave me free reign to pursue the story: no daily deadlines, no worrying about where my next paycheck was going to come from, or whether my expenses would break me way before I even knew if I had anything. This was a thrilling and liberating experience. And it led to the Securities and Exchange Commission cracking down on these corrupt operations. In the course of reporting the story, I got my first death threats as a journalist. If you’ve ever watched the Sopranos, you’ll already know the penny stock business was pretty mobbed up during this period in time. Still, I was young and indestructible, so I was thrilled when that happened. My boss called the FBI.
My guess is, even at a big, well-financed news operation those chances are now fewer and farther between. But they’re still there.
Something of which I was starkly reminded this weekend when I came across the story in the Washington Post: “Just 27 congressional Republicans acknowledge Biden’s win”.
There are 249 Republicans in the House of Representatives. The Post said it built a team of 25 people to report the story. That means they threw enough resources at it to make at very least hundreds and hundreds of phone calls in just a day or two. And probably a lot more, because of follow-ups and things like that.
This isn’t a hard story to report. It may not even be particularly revelatory. But it is a crystal clear quantification, even if we already knew. And it is an important moment of holding people to account at an important moment in history. A roll call of complicity, if not sedition.
But the scale required is just something I could not do as an independent journalist and blogger. I can call dozens of people in a day. But I just do not have the time or the bandwidth as one person to do the unbelievably important work the Post did in this story. I can develop sources. But I also do not have the institutional clout to provide a reason for people I don’t already know to contact me back, and make the point of my reporting even starker when they don’t.
I’ve talked an awful lot in the past couple of weeks about the shameful silence of most of the most powerful Republicans on the fact Joe Biden won, even as Trump tries to pull a malignant, un-Democratic scam, seemingly intolerable to any normal person. But I’ve never been able to present my case in as compelling a fashion as the 25 people at the Post just did.
Being my own publication does make me at times more nimble and flexible, and there’s a lot of value in that. And as much as I still think the kind of thing I and a lot of other people are doing will continue to replace more traditional forms of journalism, there are always going to be stories that are going to need not just one, but teams of smart people working in tandem, and with great speed, and with at least somewhat generous budgets.
Because passion alone sometimes isn’t enough. Sometimes you still do need magnitude and money. | https://medium.com/@ericjscholl/why-we-still-need-mainstream-media-f878d06f0076 | ['Eric J Scholl'] | 2020-12-06 15:56:50.226000+00:00 | ['Journalism', 'News', 'Social Media', 'Media Criticism', 'Politics'] |
Digital isn’t a choice | The time to choose digital is over, it has been chosen for you
LinkedIn Article: click here
Photo by Zan on Unsplash
Co-authored with Tarun Dhot
There’s a difference between Digitization, Digitalization and actual Digital Transformation.
Digital transformation is not something that enterprises can implement as projects. It is a CUSTOMER-driven strategic business transformation that requires cross-cutting organizational change and isn’t simply a project with a defined scope and timelines. (Forbes).
But far too often introducing digital technologies (i.e. projects) became a substitute for digital transformation and the pace of change was slow. That is, until our lives changed forever with the unexpected start to 2020.
How we work, how we live, how we consume…it all changed. Cooped up in our homes for months on end, and with the world’s leading digital journeys at our fingertips (Amazon Prime, Netflix) we, the customers, who experience these best in class digital journeys multiple times a day, drove the need for the change about to happen.
Hence unsurprisingly, the most obvious effect of the pandemic on the industrial world was a brutal acceleration in the process of adopting digital capabilities and laying the foundation for true digital transformation. This truly is a come to Jesus moment for many businesses globally.
Digital transformation is no longer a long-term goal or a notional abstract, it is happening right now, and in a very Darwinian model. The companies that adapt quickly will thrive, those that don’t will become cautionary tales.
The pandemic has also made clear that that there is no one size fits alldigital
transformation strategy for every company, rather a tailored digital journey based on the market conditions they are navigating in.
While the immediate impact of the pandemic saw companies focus on enabling remote work for their workforce, the remainder of the year saw companies re-adjusting plans and budgets. Some trends are now appearing as companies globally fast track their digital transformation journeys.
What is apparent is that the time for experimentation is over.
Digital transformation put on the fast track: Initial economic downturn forced companies to make difficult budget cuts. Simultaneously, companies fast tracked their digital efforts due to accelerated customer demand, limited in-person interactions, and remote employee needs.
Initial economic downturn forced companies to make difficult budget cuts. Simultaneously, companies fast tracked their digital efforts due to accelerated customer demand, limited in-person interactions, and remote employee needs. Accelerated Digitalization of Customer Interactions : A McKinsey survey found that 58% of customer interactions were digital as of July 2020, compared to 36% in Dec 2019 and 20% in May 2018 [1]. It indicates a greater acceptance of customers to interact with companies digitally and is only expected to go up.
: A McKinsey survey found that 58% of customer interactions were digital as of July 2020, compared to 36% in Dec 2019 and 20% in May 2018 [1]. It indicates a greater acceptance of customers to interact with companies digitally and is only expected to go up. Additional IT spend: Global IT leaders reported a median additional spend of 5 percent of IT budget to deal with the COVID-19 crisis [2].
Global IT leaders reported a median additional spend of 5 percent of IT budget to deal with the COVID-19 crisis [2]. Going all in: A KPMG CIO study found almost half (47 percent) say the pandemic has permanently accelerated digital transformation and the adoption of emergent technologies [2].
A KPMG CIO study found almost half (47 percent) say the pandemic has permanently accelerated digital transformation and the adoption of emergent technologies [2]. The largest changes are most likely to stick in the long term: On similar lines as the KPMG study, the McKinsey study also suggested that companies are making the pandemic-related investments with the long term in mind [1]. For most, the need to work and interact with customers remotely required investments in data security and an accelerated migration to the cloud. Now that the investments have been made, these companies have permanently removed some of the pre-crisis bottlenecks to virtual interactions.
Our reflections:
This is the opportunity to fully commit to digital transformation, accepting the “good costs” that enable future capabilities
For many companies, this is the opportunity to fully commit to digital transformation , accepting the “good costs” that enable future capabilities, things like cloud, low code, ML/AI and modern data architectures. This is the moment for leaders to challenge status quo.
, accepting the “good costs” that enable future capabilities, things like cloud, low code, ML/AI and modern data architectures. This is the moment for leaders to challenge status quo. Cyber to the forefront: Not the most obvious, but the sheer reliance of current and future digital solutions underscores the importance of cyber security. While cyber-attacks are at an all-time high, they are nothing new, but the insider threat i.e. the lack of awareness about what attacks look like, is the biggest cause of cyber security issues right now. We anticipate a lot of investment in awareness programs, an increased emphasis on zero-trust architectures and a new generation of AI-powered tools to monitor and proactively manage the threat landscape.
Not the most obvious, but the sheer reliance of current and future digital solutions underscores the importance of cyber security. While cyber-attacks are at an all-time high, they are nothing new, but the insider threat i.e. the lack of awareness about what attacks look like, is the biggest cause of cyber security issues right now. We anticipate a lot of investment in awareness programs, an increased emphasis on zero-trust architectures and a new generation of AI-powered tools to monitor and proactively manage the threat landscape. To move out of reaction mode and enable the new reality, the need to be world-class at ruthless prioritization is the need of the hour. Regardless of the chaos in the moment, companies need to invest immediately in the foundational things that matter to the business in the future.
and enable the new reality, the need to is the need of the hour. Regardless of the chaos in the moment, companies need to invest immediately in the foundational things that matter to the business in the future. Digital technology initiatives will be at the top of Board of Directors’ priority investments for the near future.
for the near future. Policies to prepare for the future of work: While many companies are well and truly on course to digitally transform, it is important to recognize that many, especially in developing economies, remain digitally disconnected. They may not have access to workers with the right skills and face challenging business environments. Workers, on the other hand, have little protection and do not have the skills or flexibility in labor markets to adapt. To face these challenges, governments will need to step up to ensure the budding potential of these businesses are realized. This is their opportunity to think bold and accept the “good costs” of infrastructure investments needed for digital economies.
The Human Element: While digital transformation is nothing new to the industrial world, it is the digital transformation of our personal lives that the pandemic has played catalyst for.
Companies that can make this as seamless for the average unassuming customer will have future authors deciphering business models and secret sauces for the coming ages.
Sources:
2. Harvey Nash / KPMG CIO Survey 2020
********
Disclaimer: Views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the authors in their personal capacity, and do not represent the author’s current or past employers or any other groups or individuals.
Follow me on LinkedIn: Vikram Sandhu | https://medium.com/@vikramsandhu/digital-isnt-a-choice-54b40776d621 | ['Vikram Sandhu'] | 2020-12-24 10:21:30.644000+00:00 | ['2020trend', 'Digital Transformation', 'Leadership', 'Digital'] |
What is a Knowledge Entrepreneur? | A new professional category is emerging that I refer to as Knowledge Entrepreneurs. The shortest definition of a knowledge entrepreneur I came up with is this:
A knowledge entrepreneur is an expert who creates for an audience earning an income.
When I started to apply this definition to content creators around me it felt like a perfect fit. More and more bloggers, YouTubers, podcasters, and course authors start to earn an income from their work. Their mediums may differ but they all are experts who create for an audience earning an income. The title fits equally well to some traditional professions such as coaches, consultants, journalists, and book authors. The internet provides them too with new possibilities and demands for self-promotion and self-distribution.
But how do chefs fit in here? Traditionally they create meals for guests of a restaurant. But some chefs start to share their expertise and creations in other forms. This could be a cookbook, an event, a TV show but more timely an Instagram account, website, or online course. That’s when they cross the border to becoming knowledge entrepreneurs. They go from delivering a physical experience to delivering knowledge on the Internet.
I find the knowledge entrepreneur definition to be a great map or formula. It can guide you on how to build up a sustainable part- or full-time income online. All you need for a start is the knowledge you already have or knowledge want to build up in the process. Each of the four words marked in bold in the definition is a crucial building block. I’ll go into each one of them here.
Experts — are knowledgable in something (anything is possible)
The word expert can be intimidating, especially if you are asked to assign it to yourself. But two key questions you should have in mind are expert for what and expert for whom?
Look around the internet and you’ll find how diverse and colorful expertise has become. You’ll see college study experts, cold shower experts, nerd fitness experts, home tidy experts, succulent experts, LEGO bricks experts, goats raising experts, and slow-motion video experts. Look at their subscriber and follower counts to see how thousands or even millions of people seek out their particular expertise.
The skill level to qualify as an expert also depends on the context. Sure, to perform in a world championship your need talent and deliberate practice for thousands of hours. But to show up as the expert in a community or a company is a completely different ball game. It does require far less extreme dedication. To illustrate that point, take the extreme case of parents who are a credible expert in almost anything for their kids. They qualify as experts because of their availability and their personal experience, not because they rank among the world elite. Similar experts in companies, circle of friends and communities can have vastly different skill levels depending on the audience they serve.
What if you already have what it takes to stand up as an expert for thousands or even millions of people? What if the biggest obstacle is not to develop that expertise but to embrace what you already know? I am convinced that everyone is an expert in something (not everything!). The internet allows you to publish your work, connect with others looking for that expertise, and earn an income in the process.
Create — something to deliver experiences
Experts create work in their area of expertise. But to become valuable a creation has to deliver an experience for someone else. It has to get out of your brain and into a medium that transports your knowledge. This can be audio when you talk to someone. It can be text if you send a message or publish something. It can even be an interactive experience, like a game. All these well-known creator mediums — words, audio, video, etc. — transport knowledge. This fundamental point is easy to miss.
It is remarkable how powerful and accessible tools for creation have become. Look at the huge catalog of apps and websites that work with the computer devices you already have. A regular computer or smartphone is enough to start creating. Write an article or a book. Record audio in the form of music or a podcast. Or create all sorts of visuals like a photo, illustrations, or video. You can even create interactive experiences without particular programming skills.
I bet you currently create most of your expert knowledge for yourself in the form of thoughts or private notes. At least that’s why I observe for me. Next up are private conversations with a few people either at work or in your communities. When you provide a friend or a colleague with knowledge, you create value for that person. But if you write an article or record a small video and put it online, it could help thousands or even millions of people.
When demands for essential physical goods are met, knowledge becomes key. This is especially true in a rapidly changing world where learning and insights for how to adapt become so relevant.
So don’t keep your creations and expertise to yourself or your inner circle but start to create in an open and accessible form. This allows your knowledge to be shared with others and spread, multiplying its value. It can guide you to a place, where you can use your knowledge to earn an income.
For an audience — that values what they offer
There is no business without customers and there is no knowledge entrepreneur without an audience. For your creations to provide value there needs to be an audience to receive that value. The larger your audience, the higher the potential value of your creations. But no matter what you create, it can’t be valuable for everyone. That’s why knowledge entrepreneurs slowly but surely grow an audience of people that get the value of their creations.
This takes time. Like planting and maintaining a garden it requires many different steps. And like a garden, the result depends to a large extent on the skill and actions of the gardener. But the process is no mystery as more and more people are sharing their experiences for how to grow an audience online.
It was never easier to reach and stay connected with such large amounts of people. Regular people can grow audiences larger than those of celebrities a few decades ago. Mark Rober is a mechanical engineer sharing his creative hobby projects on YouTube. The last time I checked, he had 15 million subscribers. Jenna Kutcher is a wedding photographer turned marketing coach with roughly 1 million subscribers on Instagram. Leo Babauta is a mindfulness expert who created an email newsletter with 2 million weekly readers. You most likely never heard of any of them in the news.
And the demand keeps on rising. More and more people get accustomed to the internet and the available tools. They actively seek out to stay in touch with the experts they want in their life. And they recommend their experts to their contacts all the time, so audiences organically grow over time. And once your audience is cultivated, it is a huge opportunity to deliver value and capture part of this value in return.
Earning an income — by asking for part of the value they create in return
If you are creating value as an expert, you must not neglect the part where you ask for a part of this value in return. It is the crucial detail that will enable you to keep on doing what you are doing. Depending on the size and support of your audience it will even allow you to do it full time.
Knowledge is equal or sometimes even more valuable than physical objects. Audiences are more than willing to pay for the value they receive. This is something many people accept towards their experts but struggle to realize for themselves.
Many creators skip the part I like to call “to create an economic engine”. They simply don’t create opportunities for their audience to support them. This is tragic because there are so many different forms of revenue channels to choose from:
general support in the form of patronage
subscriptions for paid content in newsletters, websites
paid access to inner circle communities or courses
booking time for consulting, coaching, or speaking gigs
These are only a few. There are plenty of degrees of freedom and you can choose what works for you most. But you must not ignore this building block. It makes a huge difference in the sustainability of your role as a creator in your area of expertise. It is also a strong motivator and symbolizes appreciation for value for your audience.
More and more knowledge entrepreneur pioneers proving how well this can work. They share not only their work but also their financials openly. Productivity expert Tiago Forte writes in detail how his course Building a Second Brain grew over two years to 250k USD in net revenue. His most recent cohort made over 900k USD in revenue alone.
Now is the best time to start — we can do it together
After doing extensive research on this topic, I believe that most people have what it takes to start as a knowledge entrepreneur. I’ll do it myself and build a community for knowledge entrepreneurs (how meta 😉, I know). It will allow me to connect with peers and share lessons learned. And you should do it, too in your area of expertise.
Though you are likely going to earn an additional income out of that, I would encourage you not to put this on the top of your head. You will deepen your knowledge in something you care about. You will create and engage with an audience of people that get value from what you are doing. And by working in public you will show more credibility than with a degree or certificate. These are all very rewarding experiences in themselves.
PS: If you like, then sign up to my newsletter or follow me on Twitter where I frequently post updates for knowledge entrepreneurs and my journey as such. | https://medium.com/@achimrothe/what-is-a-knowledge-entrepreneur-3a440633d3c0 | ['Achim Rothe'] | 2020-12-12 08:46:00.484000+00:00 | ['Creators', 'Knowledge', 'Entrepreneurship'] |
We All Wanna Be a Rock Star | We All Wanna Be a Rock Star
Close but no cigar for me!
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
Who doesn’t want to be a rock star? Fame? Fortune? Lines of willing groupies at your beck and call? Yes, all musicians love music. Which is why they choose to play it for a living. But there are some other motivating factors. And I think I just mentioned them!
Of course, there are degrees of success a professional musician can reach. Some guys make a living performing at weddings. Some go on the road with no-name — or even — name bands. Some hear songs they’ve written or records they’ve played on or produced on the radio. And some even get a record on the Billboard charts!
I’ve actually done all of that. But don’t get jealous just yet. I didn’t make a lot of money in the pursuit of those goals. And I didn’t get laid all that much. For every day of glory, there were 100 of drudgery. Such was the nature of my beast.
In my publication “Our Musical Journey (My Life On the Road),” I chronicle various anecdotes and episodes from my 15 years of struggling to finally make it big in music.
I’d like to think that reading through my stories, you’ll get a vivid picture of what it’s like to be a musician on a mission — as well as exactly how glamorous (or unglamorous) going on the road really is.
Here’s a few examples. I hope you enjoy: | https://medium.com/illumination/we-all-wanna-be-a-rock-star-b9cc88abfcf4 | ['William', 'Dollar Bill'] | 2020-12-31 14:56:34.493000+00:00 | ['Memoir', 'Heart', 'Music Business', 'Music', 'Rolling Stones'] |
Wristwatches Are Handcuffs | 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/blueinsight/wristwatches-and-handcuffs-3f3b22b26832 | ['Padma Bern'] | 2020-12-23 14:45:23.743000+00:00 | ['Time', 'Blue Insights', 'Prison', 'Dictators', 'Poetry'] |
UN PRI gets new leadership! CEO Fiona Reynolds steps down | This is our weekly newsletter we deliver to educate our readers on ESG. We aim to curate content on responsible investment to educate and surface relevant news articles, academic papers, best practice reporting guides and latest industry developments. We have a strong ESG community and if you have feedback to share reply to this email to let us know what’s on your mind!
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Issue #82: A weekly update on responsible investment.
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UN PRI, one of the most influential organisations in ESG and Responsible Investment announced this week that its CEO, Fiona Reynolds will be stepping down. Reading her statement on the matter, it is remarkable learning just how much that key organisation has grown. She shares:
“When I first joined the PRI at the beginning of 2013, we were only 37 staff and had just over 1,000 signatories to the Principles. Fast-forward nearly nine years and the PRI is now supported by over 170 staff and we are getting ready to celebrate reaching 4,000 global signatories, collectively representing more than half the world’s institutional assets.”
Did you hear that… More than HALF the world’s institutional assets!
Why is she leaving? As she so eloquently puts it, we have all seen that those of us who have chosen global lives, the trade-offs with lack of travel have become more and more. She shares:
“With the ongoing closure of borders… The trade-offs of not being able to spend time with my family (In Australia), or even being able to reach them if I needed, have simply become too high for me.”
Who will be the next to lead this fantastic and influential organisation? They are currently recruiting for Fiona’s replacement.
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Kathy Matsui: Kathy Matsui is the former Vice-Chair of Goldman Sachs Japan & founding General Partner at MPower Partners. Kathy recently launched MPower Partners Fund LP, Japan’s first ESG-focused Global Venture Capital Fund.
Kathy Matsui is the former Vice-Chair of Goldman Sachs Japan & founding General Partner at MPower Partners. Kathy recently launched MPower Partners Fund LP, Japan’s first ESG-focused Global Venture Capital Fund. Shaheen Contractor: Shaheen Contractor is an ESG Research Analyst at Bloomberg LP. Shaheen’s role includes analysing #ESGrisks and opportunities. Shaheen recently delivered a presentation on ESG integration & trends in a webinar on ‘The Future of Sustainable Investing.’
Shaheen Contractor is an ESG Research Analyst at Bloomberg LP. Shaheen’s role includes analysing #ESGrisks and opportunities. Shaheen recently delivered a presentation on ESG integration & trends in a webinar on ‘The Future of Sustainable Investing.’ May J: May J. is Managing Director and European Head of Sustainable & Impact Banking at Barclays Investment Bank. May has been at Barclays for just under 19 years and took over as Head of Sustainable & Impact Investing in 2019.
May J. is Managing Director and European Head of Sustainable & Impact Banking at Barclays Investment Bank. May has been at Barclays for just under 19 years and took over as Head of Sustainable & Impact Investing in 2019. Lareina Yee: Lareina Yee (she, her) is a Senior Partner and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at McKinsey & Company. She leads McKinsey’s research initiative on Women in the Workplace and their series Race in the Workplace.
Lareina Yee (she, her) is a Senior Partner and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at McKinsey & Company. She leads McKinsey’s research initiative on Women in the Workplace and their series Race in the Workplace. Lisa Jackson: Lisa Jackson is the Vice President of Environment, Policy, Social Initiatives at Apple. Formerly the Environmental Protection Agency administrator under the Obama Administration, Lisa is now helping to make Apple’s supply chain and products #carbonneutral by 2030.
\\ Top Stories \\
Sustainable Investing Boom and Net Zero Pledges Drive ESG Talent War
The push for businesses to be run more sustainably is driving a surge in demand for professionals with environmental, social and governance expertise, according to consultants and recruiters. Demand for ESG experts is booming across professional services, including at management consultancies, boutique advisory firms and property companies. But, companies face rising competition in attracting and retaining ESG-focused staff as more companies and fund managers commit to cutting their carbon footprint and place a greater emphasis on non-financial performance.
Financial Times.
Britain’s steel industry faces up to climate challenge
In the UK, steel is the biggest industrial emitter of carbon dioxide. The Climate Change Committee, the government’s independent advisory group, has suggested steel production needs to be “near-zero” emissions by 2035 — a hugely ambitious target. However, domestic steel producers have struggled to stay competitive compared to cheaper alternatives as viewed above. Now they face the additional burden of cleaning up their emissions. The potential costs are eye-watering and cannot be met by industry alone. Chris McDonald at the Materials Processing Institute, a steel research group, estimated that to make green steel a reality would require £6bn-£7bn of investment on sites themselves, on top of supporting infrastructure.
Financial Times.
Ex-Goldman’s Kathy Matsui Starts ESG Venture Capital Fund
Kathy Matsui, former vice chair of Goldman Sachs Japan, launched a venture capital fund to help startups enhance environmental, social and governance values. MPower Partners Fund will focus on investing in growth- to late-stage Japanese startups, with the rest going into earlier-stage firms overseas in areas like healthcare, fintech and sustainability. Matsui retired at the end of last year from Goldman Sachs, where she was known for her so-called womenomics research that influenced government policy on female labor participation.
Bloomberg.
G7 Supports Moves Towards Mandatory Climate Reporting
Discussing the need to mobilize trillions of dollars of private sector finance, and to “green” the financial system on the road to meeting the nations’ net zero commitments, the G7 communique said: “We support moving towards mandatory climate-related financial disclosures that provide consistent and decision-useful information for market participants and that are based on the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, in line with domestic regulatory frameworks. Investors need high quality, comparable and reliable information on climate risks.”
ESG Today.
Don’t divest dirty businesses, Deutsche Bank and BlackRock CEOs say
Public companies shouldn’t go green by divesting their dirty businesses because in the end this doesn’t have an impact on the overall carbon footprint. Instead, companies should clean up their operations to be more friendly to the environment. Larry Fink, chief of asset manager BlackRock, challenged the view that it is good when companies sell their dirtiest assets, particularly given those assets might then be less available to public scrutiny. Divestment doesn’t change the world, Fink noted. “It just goes from a transparent organization to an opaque organization that is not going to get us to where we want to go as a society.
Reuters.
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\\ Research Feature \\
Americans Support ESG Objectives but Unfamiliar with Term
Gallup Poll.
84% consider how a company treats its employees when becoming a customer
81% say a business’ impact on its local community matters
Despite valuing its goals, 64% are unfamiliar with the term “ESG”
Three-quarters of U.S. adults care about a company’s impact on the environment when making purchase decisions, and 68% say the same of efforts to promote diversity and inclusion in a company’s workforce and customer base.
While most Americans support the broad objectives associated with ESG initiatives, they remain largely unfamiliar with the term itself, first coined by business leaders, institutions and academics and now discussed in boardrooms across the globe.
Read about the results.
Other interesting reading:
The double-materiality concept. Application and issues.
GRI
This paper considers the appropriateness of the EU’s double-materiality concept and how it can be used with the GRI approach to materiality. It draws on academic research that investigates how double-materiality and materiality in sustainability reporting are implemented and the benefits and challenges of doing so.
“Robust identification of material impacts of an organisation on sustainable development must be the starting point to determining sustainable development risks and impacts on the financial statements. Research findings are clear — organisations tend towards prioritising financial materiality.”
Read the paper.
Swiss Sustainable Investment Market Study.
This paper breaks down exactly what is happening in the sustainable investment market in Switzerland as the market moves completely mainstream.
How much has the market grown in Switzerland?
Read the report.
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Factory Design Pattern in Java | Photo by Science in HD on Unsplash
Have you ever look at a factory and wonder how things are created so quickly, in such an automated fashion?
When we are buying something that came up out of a factory, we are never concern how the factory produced what we are looking for. We are only concerned about getting what we requested, which is the item we are buying ourself.
That’s how the factory pattern works in java.
With factory pattern, objects are created without exposing the creation logic to the client and refer to newly created object using a common interface.
What? What does that even mean?
Photo by Will Esayenko on Unsplash
For example, let’s say we have a factory class that gets us some shapes. We can choose between a circle and a rectangle, let’s say. We specify the factory to give us a circle or rectangle without having to instantiate the circle or rectangle ourselves. In fact, we do not even care about how the circle or rectangle was created/implemented because the factory handles it for us.
Let’s take a look at how the factory is setup:
Over here, we have a shape interface. We created a shape factory that returns a specific type of shape. We throw in a parameter that will give us the corresponding shape we wanted.
Here is a real world analogy: it’s like going to McDonalds and choosing which burger to order. The fast food restaurant works just like a factory; the customer does not need to be concerned about how the burgers are created. All they cared about was what burger they ordered and the restaurant will give them exactly what they need.
Let’s take a look at how client code will handle:
Over here, we instantiate a shape factory. From there, we can choose what kind of shape to get, without instantiating the specific shapes like Rectangle and Circle ourselves.
One might ask: why should we use the factory design pattern instead of just instantiating the different objects ourselves(Circle, Square, Rectangle)?
First of all, it allows developers to support more objects with their factory class as times passes by, without affecting client code.
Take the example above: let’s say we need to support additional shape classes, such as triangles and pentagons. All we have to do is add a triangle and pentagon class that implements the shape interface and add a new logic in shapefactory.java to generate triangles and pentagons upon request.
How about the client code? Does it affect the client code when you add in additional code to support triangle and pentagon class?
Not at all since all the changes are happening at the factory level. Client code doesn’t have to change at all in this case. It’s like going into a fast food restaurant the next day and you realize there are new burgers you can order. It doesn’t block you for ordering the burger you always order though. That’s exactly how factory pattern works.
Let’s summarize pros and cons of factory design pattern in the following sentences:
Pros:
allow us to hide implementation of how the shapes and the factory is implemented. All user need to be concerned is how to get the instance it needs via the right call.
allows loose coupling between client code and factory logic. It allows factory logic to be extended and scale for additional code in the long run.
Cons
Troubleshooting can be challenging as the factory logic is all hidden due to abstraction.
That’s all to it for factory design pattern in java! | https://medium.com/dev-genius/factory-design-pattern-in-java-66e5afd61bfc | ['Michael Tong'] | 2020-10-26 08:29:49.379000+00:00 | ['Java8', 'Java', 'Design Patterns'] |
Optimizing the AI Market for HR. The current relationship between HR and… | The current relationship between HR and AI is riddled with complexities. On the one hand, AI has already considerably revolutionized the HR ecosystem by streamlining work processes. On the other, it still needs a lot of improvement in order to fully support the unique needs of the HR area.
What do we exactly mean by that? Let’s have a look.
AI and HR: A Picture of Complexity
Artificial intelligence helps HR to shift focus on processes that enhance and boost productivity. The existence of chatbots is an incredible example of the convenience AI introduces to HR activity. Chatbots function to take off the workload from an HR department by handling employee queries and questions.
It might seem like a trivial task, but it heavily contributes to seamless operations. More importantly, chatbots are only one part of what is a long list of the benefits AI brings to HR ecosystems.
AI solutions enhance almost every aspect of HR. For example, recruitment. AI helps automate the screening process, appointment scheduling, and out-boarding procedures for increased efficiency.
Additionally, AI also takes care of the talent management for HR departments. Everything from candidate acquisition, career counseling, and professional training can be made easier for HR by the AI. Even strategic decision-making aspects such as skills mapping, expert search, and reorganization can be tackled conveniently.
“Over the past two years, we’ve found that workers have become more optimistic as they’ve adopted AI in the workplace, and HR is leading the way. The 2019 study shows that AI is redefining not only the relationship between worker and manager but also the role of a manager in an AI-driven workplace.” — Dan Schawbel, Future Workplace.
All in all, artificial intelligence is an invaluable resource for HR. More and more companies and workers are moving towards AI dependency. As stated in an Oracle report, HR practitioners wholeheartedly welcome AI integration into their HR processes. Here are some other interesting statistics that will help you grasp how crucial AI has now become in the HR industry:
64% of HR practitioners reported in 2019 said that they would trust a robot over their manager for advice.
50% of workers are currently using some form of AI at work.
65% of workers are optimistic, excited, and grateful about having robot co-workers
Workers in India (60%) and China (56%) are the most excited about AI, followed by the UAE (44%), Singapore (41%), Brazil (32%), Australia/New Zealand (26%), Japan (25%), US (22%), UK (20%) and France (8%).
So, what’s the problem?
Well, for starters, AI for HR needs higher maintenance than normal AI. In general, the more data that you have, the better your AI product performs. This is the case for HR optimized AI. However, with the human-centered nature of HR, this dependence on data availability is a hindrance.
For AI products to adequately suit HR tasks, they must incorporate a balance between data centricity and humane methodology. This makes them highly advanced and virtually impossible to create without specific training and experience in the field of data as well as cutting-edge technology that requires big bucks.
All of this comes down to one simple fact: companies cannot create their own AI. It’s simply not possible. The amount of data that is needed to execute AI programs cannot be conceived by the average organization. The only solution that comes to light in this regard, therefore, is for HR departments to rely on third-party developers to come up with the AI they need.
Big software vendors seem to have this area covered pretty well — the future of AI concerning HR appears to be bright at the outset. But the reality is quite different.
How to Make the AI Market Fit for Human Resources?
1. Harnessing Data
Harnessing data is the first step towards creating an AI product. When it comes to AI for HR, this task becomes a huge hurdle. Why?
Here’s the thing: AI is better at handling quantitative data. Numbers, stats, and figures are AI’s domain. However, to optimize it for HR situations, you need to harness career data. Career data is different than the usual information
AI depends on it because it is entirely quantitative in nature. It was written by humans, to further deal with humans — which is why it comprises subjectivity, and subjectivity is something that AI is still in the process of getting a hold of.
The Issue of Complexity
Essentially, the AI used for HR processes needs to be special and unique. It should be optimized for more complex understanding that goes beyond facts and figures.
For example, an HR scenario might require the AI to interpret a term like “Dr.” correctly. Now, this word can be associated with multiple designations; it can be used for a physician as well as a Ph.D. holder. The current condition of AI does not allow it to be able to sort this out. However, for it to be efficient for HR purposes, it must be able to tackle such complex issues.
Different Levels of Consistency
The consistency that you require for HR based AI is a lot different than the consistency that you require for other AI. For example, someone lists “sales” as a skill. It does not always mean the same thing — it may be stretched across either B2B or B2C areas, may vary in time, the scope of activities, and space. The ideal AI would have a considerable grasp over all these issues.
2. Formulation of Models
Once the data collection and availability are overcome, the AI market will have to improvise and enhance its formulation methods to fit HR processes better. This will involve ensuring that the algorithms being employed are not biased, discriminatory or problematic in any manner.
They should be entirely exclusive of women, ethnic minorities, and other marginalized groups in society. As humans, we are conscious of these issues and strive to eradicate them.
However, for AI to be fair, it will have to be formulated in special ways, using complex yet unique algorithms and methodology. Moreover, it will also need to be regularly assessed and analyzed for such aspects to be executed seamlessly.
3. Adequate Adaptation
The last but certainly not the least important issue that needs to be addressed is that of refinement. Once AI has been optimized for the HR landscape, it will need constant adaptation and tuning.
It is true that all AI needs regular updates in order to keep it relevant and functional, but for HR based AI, this is of even more significance! The reason behind this is that the HR industry is far from static; on the contrary, it is a fluid space that evolves every day in accordance with the needs of humans.
4. AI Technology as the Backbone
AI software vendors, as of now, are quite strong. They have promising products in place and utilize the latest technology in providing an optimum experience for any AI user.
However, there is one problem: these developers see AI as merely a feature of the product, not its backbone. Powering AI through career data to help both HR and collaborators is not easy. It is a labor-intensive and long-term effort that must be made to reshape the industry.
You must be able to feed into a pipeline relevant and informative data combined with state-of-the-art models and technology. Empowering HR with AI is not just a nice-to-have feature, and prominent software vendors understand this. This is problematic because the entire AI market has to be optimized in favor of HR.
Key Takeaway: Hard Work That is Worth the Effort
So, what’s the key takeaway? AI tools have a role in easing the HR professional’s workload — it will perform all the heavy lifting, leaving time for workers to focus on individual growth and competence. Investing in AI for a better, fast-paced, and well-rounded HR world is the way to go!
However, it will be no magic — you’ll have to put in a lot of hard work that involves strong dedication, the diversity of experiments, a blend between qualitative and quantitative data, various customer pilots, and a vastly specific skill set. In essence, AI, in the HR ecosystem, is a fruit that is hard to ripe but is worthwhile. | https://medium.com/own-your-knowledge/how-can-you-optimize-the-ai-market-for-hr-6196fb558674 | [] | 2021-02-12 07:51:29.980000+00:00 | ['Artificial Intelligence', 'HR', 'AI', 'Strategy', 'Human Resources'] |
10 Smooth Python Tricks For Python Gods | №1: Reverse A String
Though it might seem rather basic, reversing a string with char looping can be rather tedious and annoying. Fortunately, Python includes an easy built-in operation to perform exactly this task. To do this, we simply access the indice ::-1 on our string.
a = "!dlrow olleH"
backward = a[::-1]
№2: Dims as variables
In most languages, in order to get an array into a set of variables we would need to either loop through the values iteratively or access the dims by position like so:
firstdim = array[1]
In Python, however, there is a way cooler and quicker way to do so. In order to change a list of values into variables we can simply set variable names equal to the array with the same length of the array:
array = [5, 10, 15, 20]
five, ten, fift, twent = array
№3: Itertools
If you’re going to spend any time whatsoever in Python, you will definitely want to get familiar with itertools. Itertools is a module within the standard library that will allow you to get around iteration constantly. Not only does it make it far easier to code complex loops, it also makes your code both faster and more concise. Here is just one example of a use for Itertools, but there are hundreds:
c = [[1, 2], [3, 4], [5, 6]]
# Let's convert this matrix to a 1 dimensional list.
import itertools as it
newlist = list(it.chain.from_iterable(c))
№4: Intelligent Unpacking
Unpacking values iteratively can be rather intensive and time consuming. Fortunately, Python has several cool ways in which we can unpack lists! One example of this is the *, which will fill in unassigned values and add them to a new list under our variable name.
a, *b, c = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
№5: Enumerate
If you’re not aware of enumerate, you probably should get familiar with it. Enumerate will allow you to get indexes of certain values in a list. This is especially useful in data science when working with arrays rather than data-frames.
for i,w in enumerate(array):
print(i,w)
№6: Name Slices
Slicing apart lists in Python is incredibly easy! There are all sorts of great tools that can be used for this, but one that certainly is valuable is the ability to name slices of your list. This is especially useful for linear algebra in Python.
a = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
LASTTHREE = slice(-3, None)
slice(-3, None, None)
print(a[LASTTHREE])
№7: Group Adjacent Lists
Grouping adjacent loops could certainly be done rather easily in a for loop, especially by using zip(), but this is certainly not the best way of doing things. To make things a bit easier and faster, we can write a lambda expression with zip that will group our adjacent lists like so:
a = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
group_adjacent = lambda a, k: zip(*([iter(a)] * k))
group_adjacent(a, 3) [(1, 2, 3), (4, 5, 6)]
group_adjacent(a, 2) [(1, 2), (3, 4), (5, 6)]
group_adjacent(a, 1)
№8: next() iteration for generators
In most normal scenarios in programming, we can access an indice and get our position number by using a counter, which will just be a value that is added to:
array1 = [5, 10, 15, 20]
array2 = (x ** 2 for x in range(10))
counter = 0 for i in array1: # This code wouldn't work because 'i' is not in array2.
# i = array2[i]
i = array2[counter]
# ^^^ This code would because we are accessing the position of i
Instead of this, however, we can use next(). Next takes an iterator that will store our current position in memory and will iterate across our list in the background.
g = (x ** 2 for x in range(10))
print(next(g))
print(next(g))
№9: Counter
Another great module from the standard library is collections, and what I would like to introduce to you today is Counter from collections. Using Counter, we can easily get counts of a list. This is useful for getting the total number of values in our data, getting a null count of our data, and seeing the unique values of our data. I know what you’re thinking,
“ Why not just use Pandas?”
And this is certainly a valid point. However, using Pandas for this is certainly going to be a lot harder to automate, and is just another dependency you are going to need to add to your virtual environment whenever you deploy your algorithm. Additionally, a counter type in Python has a lot of features that Pandas Series don’t have, which can make it far more useful for certain situations.
A = collections.Counter([1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7])
A Counter({3: 4, 1: 2, 2: 2, 4: 1, 5: 1, 6: 1, 7: 1})
A.most_common(1) [(3, 4)]
A.most_common(3) [(3, 4), (1, 2), (2, 2)]
№10: Dequeue
Another great thing coming out of the collections module is dequeue. Check out all the neat things we can do with this type! | https://towardsdatascience.com/10-smooth-python-tricks-for-python-gods-2e4f6180e5e3 | ['Emmett Boudreau'] | 2020-06-02 07:44:28.954000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Data Science', 'Algorithms', 'Computer Science', 'Programming'] |
William Henry Johnson A.K.A. Zip the Pinhead | Welcome to my latest blog post on disability as entertainment, specifically the freak show of the 19th century. So far, I have discussed P.T. Barnum, General Tom Thumb, as well as Chang and Eng Bunker, the original Siamese twins. This week it is the turn of Zip the Pinhead. As with everything I cover, it is far more complicated than I initially anticipated.
What is a Pinhead?
Pinheads were a common feature in 19th and early 20th century freak shows. Pinhead was the term used to refer to a person born with the condition microcephaly. This is a neurological disorder which means that the head fails to grow at the same rate as the face. This results in the top of the head being much narrower than the face. As the person grows older, the size difference becomes more apparent. In a majority of instances, the size of the person’s body is also smaller than average. Furthermore, the mental capacity can be reduced too, delaying motor functions and speech. As you may have guessed, the term Pinhead is not an acceptable one anymore.
I ran (well not literally) into several problems when researching ‘Zip the Pinhead’. You see, there was more than one of them. The man I was looking for, and the one I will be discussing later, was William Henry Johnson. However, he was not the only one, but perhaps he was the most famous. To further complicate things, he was also known as ‘What is It?’. The idea was that he was so strange looking, it was impossible to tell whether he was human or an animal. This name arose when Charles Dickens attended one of Barnum’s exhibits. Perplexed at what he saw, he leaned over and asked Barnum “What is it?”
There had been other iterations of ‘What is it?’ before William Johnson arrived on the scene. The most famous of these was a legless man in London by the name of Harvey Leech. Unfortunately for Barnum, Leech was an actor, who had appeared in plays, and the people of London easily identified him. Johnson was a more successful attempt at duping the public.
The life of William Henry Johnson
William Henry Johnson was a black man born in the 1840s in Liberty Corners, near Bound Brook, New Jersey. He was the son of former slaves, William and Mahalia Johnson. He was believed to be between four and five feet tall and his head was an unusual shape. The top of his head was narrower than the bottom. This attracted some attention, and the nearby Van Emburgh’s Circus came calling to add Johnson to their sideshow.
In 1860, P.T. Barnum came across Johnson and decided to take him on. As can be expected, Barnum had an elaborate backstory for his new performer. He shaved Johnson’s head, leaving only a small tuft of hair at the top. He also changed his name to Zip the Pinhead. It is only when I started to do my research that I discovered this topic has more to do with race than disability. The origin of the name Zip is most likely from “Zip Coon”, an early minstrel show character, who for white people came to personify the stereotypically dumb but dapper black person. Thinking along these lines, Barnum dressed Johnson in a fur suit and stated that he had been found along the Gambia River in West Africa. He was thought to be part of a tribe that was the missing link between monkey and man. As well as being called Zip the Pinhead and “What is it?”, he was given the names “The Monkey-Man” and “The Missing Link”. Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was published in 1859, so evolution was the hot topic of the day.
For several years, Johnson was presented on stage in a cage (hey, that rhymes). His job was to act like a monkey to entertain people. So I guess you could say that he was in a rage, in a cage, on a stage! Barnum paid him $1 a day not to speak, which Johnson happily agreed to, becoming rich in the process. Instead of speaking, he would grunt every time he was addressed. I know it sounds pretty bad, but Johnson seems to have enjoyed performing. He did so until he was in his 80s. In fact, when he got bronchitis and influenza in 1926, he ignored the advice of doctors, his manager, and his sister to rest. He insisted on finishing the run of the play he was in. He died a few weeks later, on 9 April 1926 in Bellevue Hospital, New York. His funeral was attended by several of his fellow performers and he was the longest serving freak show attraction.
How Intelligent was Zip?
There has been some debate as to how intelligent William Henry Johnson was. Robert Bogdan, in his 1988 book, Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit thinks that he had reduced intelligence due to a diagnosis of microcephaly. However, since then opinions have changed. I for one feel that Johnson was not mentally deficient. Here’s why.
While his head was an unusual shape, it was not as pronounced as others with microcephaly. In fact, by shaving his head, Barnum made it look much worse than it actually was. Johnson also showed several signs of intelligence. For instance, he held up the act of not speaking for over 60 years, even though his sister reported that he was capable of holding conversations. If he was not able to speak, Barnum would not have had to pay him $1 a day. I think he had to be intelligent not to break character for such a long period. Furthermore, he acquired a fiddle on his travels which he played for several years. Apparently, he was so bad at playing it that observers and even fellow performers would pay him to stop. He made $14,000 by doing this. If he was not intelligent, he may have either stopped playing entirely or kept playing and not taken the money.
Near the end of his life Johnson performed at the Coney Island freak show. One Sunday afternoon in 1925, while out walking on his break, Johnson heard a girl screaming. It was a seven-year-old who had fallen into the water. Johnson (in his 80s) quickly jumped in and rescued the girl, immediately running away as a crowd gathered around her. Finally, his last words to his sister on his deathbed were reported to be “Well, we fooled ’em for a long time”. This suggests that he may have been an (incredibly wealthy) actor playing a role for most of his life.
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Next week I will be examining the life of ‘The Elephant Man’, Joseph Merrick.
The Wheelchair Historian
Further Reading
Bogdan, Robert, Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit, (University of Chicago Press, 2014).
CandyGuy, ‘ZIP THE PINHEAD — What is it?’ https://www.thehumanmarvels.com/zip-the-pinhead-what-is-it/ Accessed: 27th November 2020.
Fact Index, ‘Zip the Pinhead’ http://www.fact-index.com/z/zi/zip_the_pinhead.html Accessed: 27th November 2020.
Gerber, David A., ‘Volition and Valorization in the Analysis of the ‘Careers’ of People Exhibited in Freak Shows’, Disability, Handicap & Society, Vol.7, №1, 1992.
Newspapers.com, ‘Zip the Pinhead (“Barnum’s What-Is-It”) saves a life’. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17123705/zip-the-pinhead-barnums-what-is-it/ Accessed: 27th November 2020.
WeirdNJ.com, ‘Zip The “What Is It?”’ https://weirdnj.com/stories/local-heroes-and-villains/zip-the-what-is-it/ Accessed: 27th November 2020. | https://medium.com/@wheelchairhistory/william-henry-johnson-a-k-a-zip-the-pinhead-53daf5999f1b | ['The Wheelchair Historian'] | 2020-12-12 12:42:07.301000+00:00 | ['Freak Show', 'History', 'Entertainment', 'Disability', 'American History'] |
Pulling back the curtain: Inside a ‘Nightingale’ Court! | “This is a bit strange, isn’t it?” said one barrister walking by on their way into the theatre, on what sounded like it could have been their first day in a new type of courtroom.
And it probably is for those attending court in a theatre. Courtroom dramas seem like quite an easy match for the stage but this might look like it’s being taken literally!
Still, despite the necessity of getting the court system up and running again after several months of being closed down, the strange, and perhaps uncomfortable, realities of hosting a court in an alternative building during a pandemic cannot be ignored.
The Lowry Theatre in Salford has become one of the latest venues to be used as a stand-in courtroom to assist with the spread out socially distanced court hearings in Britain’s regular courthouses. Dubbed ‘Nightingale’ courts after the much-publicised temporary backup hospitals erected in places like the Manchester Central Convention Complex earlier this year.
The Justice Secretary Robert Buckland was pushing for them to be called ‘Blackstone’ courts, after William Blackstone, the 18th century judge and legal commentator, though the idea didn’t seem to take off.
But what is it like to attend a ‘Nightingale’ court?
Well for such a large theatre it seemed almost lifeless when entering the building during the day.
Observers are admitted in to the proceedings, but limited in number to obviously allow for social distancing. One cannot forget the ever-looming threat, especially after Manchester Crown Court was forced to temporarily close again in August following the confirmation of several cases among staff.
Three of the four courts erected in the theatre are to hear crown court cases, with the fourth, a conference room, for tribunals.
The ‘Nightingale’ court will only be used to try less serious offences. When the theatre itself is used the defendant will be sat at the back from the far end of the stage, but without a screen to sit behind as you’d expect from a court, and sentencing will only be carried out back at the real Crown Court at a later date, since the theatre isn’t equipped to detain anyone.
The move to turn the theatre in to a makeshift courthouse comes amidst a difficult period for the theatre. Despite only 6% of its revenue coming from public funds, it was able to furlough most of its 250 member staff and receive £1.2 million from the Arts Council, yet didn’t qualify for many of the government’s Covid business grants, making the Ministry of Justice deal a “crucial lifeline” for the Lowry, according to its chief executive, Julia Fawcett OBE.
The value of the deal is unknown, though Fawcett said without it the venue would be at a loss of £20 million by the end of the year, while admitting it wouldn’t be enough to cover all the business’ losses for the year.
The security process when entering the theatre is just like it is when entering a normal courthouse. One still has to go through the metal detectors and be waved down by the security wands as you’d expect.
When I attended on the new courts opening day it was fairly quiet with only a civil court case underway but I was curious nonetheless to see how the ‘Nightingale’ court would work in practice.
But with a limited number of seats available in the made-up public gallery due to social distancing an available seat is very much dependent on how many people are required to attend which meant I had to wait for the security staff to let me know if they could accommodate me.
Fortunately, in this instance they could. The case was for an employment tribunal and held in the conference room which was a suitable enough size. Nine seats were placed at one end of the room for observers and all spaced apart.
A coat of arms had been placed behind the tribunal panel to officially make it a courtroom.
The proceedings were begun by the employment judge who had to explain some of the basic details of the new kind of housekeeping for everyone to abide to.
First, it was optional for anyone in attendance to either remove their face masks or keep them on. At least half the people observing kept theirs on, while the panel, claimants and solicitors all removed theirs.
Second, water wouldn’t be provided as it used to be and everyone was advised to bring their own bottle, which most people had already done.
Finally, a binder containing all relevant documents for the case normally sits on the witness table for any witnesses called to refer to instead of using their own copies. However, under the circumstances the panel had no issue with witnesses bringing their own instead, lest they be reluctant to touch anything handled by other people.
Overall it seemed like the room had been prepared quite adequately. The only small things one of the judges admitted might be an issue was that they still didn’t yet know where the photocopier was, or how to connect the laptop to the projector as it was the Lowry’s and they weren’t that familiar with their system yet, but these seemed like minor teething issues and there was no cause to use either yet while I was there.
However, the case was adjourned not long after beginning in order to allow the panel sufficient time to read all the relevant statements and documents pertaining to the case. Ordinarily in a civil courtroom they would retire to another room elsewhere but since one wasn’t available for them at that time everyone else was required to leave so they could have the courtroom to themselves.
The security guard I spoke to told me the next day would be busier and the court usher told me there could be three crown court trials happening at once.
I returned later in the week to see what a Crown Court trial would be like and this time it looked like I would be able to see one up close.
When I was shown to the waiting area it was about as busy as you’d expect from a normal courtroom waiting area first thing in the morning, though for such a colourful building it seemed slightly odd at first glance to see barristers and ushers walking up and down in their robes.
But once you got past that it was easy to imagine this becoming a regular sight. The barristers were either hanging around waiting to be called into court or conferring with their clients, while the usher was walking up and down presumably making the normal arrangements, albeit in a new building they might have only just become acquainted with.
Due to it being the very first hearing in the theatre the court staff seemed to be learning the process as they were going along, which was perhaps understandable. I had to wait a few minutes before the usher allowed me to enter, after checking I wouldn’t be one person too many in the observation gallery, and by then the judge was seated and the process was underway.
As soon as I first walked in to the new stand-in crown court it was dark and, for a moment, I was trying to make out where I should be going as I was upstairs on the balcony row of theatre seats where the lights are typically dimmed during a performance.
But as there were only a handful of people observing from the balcony seats now doubling for the public gallery I had the rest of the balcony to choose from.
The theatre floor itself almost looked like a makeshift classroom, with four rows of desks going down one side, made up of two side by side where the barristers would sit with their laptops and paperwork, and what looked like a small exam table next to them where the clerks or court staff would sit.
In front of them all was a desk for the court clerk with a large flashing clock to make sure everyone could see the time, and behind him, where the stage looked like it had been removed, sat the judge at his desk.
Just like in the conference room a coat of arms was hung behind him to make it look official, with a small podium and accompanying chair to the judge’s left doubling as the witness box, and a large TV monitor erected close by.
The defendant was seated in a chair at the opposite end and the judge spoke through a microphone when addressing him, which was necessary given the size of the room as it might be asking a lot of the judges sitting there to shout all the time.
The case was a theft charge having taken place in 2018 and the defendant pleaded guilty. The hearing only lasted five minutes as the judge ordered a pre-sentencing report be made to be presented before the crown court at a later date in November. As the theatre wasn’t equipped to detain the defendant there and then, which the judge acknowledged, the defendant was remanded on bail until then and told he would be required to attend the usual crown court at Minshull Street on the date specified.
So after all that the first crown court case I saw in the Lowry was over by 11am and another wasn’t scheduled for the rest of the morning, meaning the theatre would sit there until the next hearing either later in the day or the day after. Basically, like a normal courtroom then.
But that’s probably to be expected as it’s impossible to determine how long any hearing inside a courtroom will last and it probably wouldn’t do to have a queue of clients (not just because of social distancing considerations) waiting outside on the off chance they might get in.
When I visited for the third time that week there was a trial taking place for a case of robbery and assault that had taken place in 2018 (I was sensing a pattern here!). As before the defendant wasn’t being detained and was free to leave the court at lunchtime and at the end of the day.
It was the first day of the trial but the jury officer was running late so the jury couldn’t be sworn in until they arrived which meant a short adjournment until the trial officially began. Perhaps they hadn’t been there before and they were having to travel farther than usual but that’s only a guess.
The courtroom was laid out a bit differently this time. The four rows of desks were still there on one side of the floor, while this time there were half a dozen chairs and exam style tables with identical folders on each of them set out down the other side, with another half a dozen comfier seats with matching folders reserved in the audience gallery behind them. This was where the jury would sit.
When the jury were eventually sworn in the judge explained to them that each seat was positioned two metres apart in keeping with social distancing guidelines. He also explained that the court, as he said it officially was now and must always be viewed as such, and its appropriate facilities such as the adjournment room for the jury to retire to, had been approved by HM Courts & Tribunal Services (HMCTS) inspectors beforehand.
Again, the jurors were permitted to either keep their masks on or remove them during proceedings. They were also told to raise their concerns if they felt they were struggling to concentrate and the judge would be happy to adjourn for a break.
Once the trial began it proceeded just like any other trial that we might have seen or imagined.
The first witness was called to the small podium in the corner now serving as the witness box, and he was still able to hear the questions put to him while his answers were clearly audible for everyone in the room, though in my opinion it probably could have been pulled forward a bit as it was right next to the black curtain which the witness looked in danger of disappearing behind.
I said before it was slightly dark when I walked on to the balcony and there were a few instances after the trial started where I half expected the lights to dim while watching the performance.
What I saw could certainly be described as one, and at the very least made use of the stage area, and what I saw of the ‘Nightingale’ court overall was it seemed to be running like a normal courthouse and many in the legal profession might be hoping this becomes the new norm so they can share the load with regular courthouses while the pandemic remains ongoing and might go some way towards alleviating the backlog of cases accrued over the last several years.
But so far only 17 have been unveiled across the country and only five are prosecuting jury trials. With a backlog of crown court cases that have risen from 37,500 cases at the end of 2019 to nearly 50,000 during lockdown, and nearly half a million in magistrate cases which could take years to clear, we could be witnessing a slow start in relieving that load. | https://medium.com/@danmardle84/pulling-back-the-curtain-inside-a-nightingale-court-2571af3e0238 | ['Daniel Mardle'] | 2020-11-13 17:49:50.332000+00:00 | ['Criminal Justice', 'Nightingale Courts', 'Law'] |
Build your E-Commerce Website by Hiring a Development Agency | In the present day, new IT technology has drastically changed the approach people shop in 21st century. With the help of your Smartphone and internet connection, you can buy products / services from any corner of the globe. Hence, a terrific number of e-commerce websites have come up globally and they continue to contend with each other.
To win in this cut-throat competition, you need to make sure that you hire services of e-commerce development agency. They are the ones who provide excellent client experience. However, there is no magical formula to have a successful e-commerce business. It’s just that you look for a known ecommerce development agency.
How E-commerce Development Agency Help to boost your Online Business?
Selecting an ideal e-commerce development firm is not that simple. You need not rush to make this decision. No matter, how excited you are to enhance your online business, but still there are few questions that might need the answer before selecting a development agency.
Are you set with the plan properly?
When you wish to take assistance of an agency, then make sure that you do proper pre-planning. You have to know what specifications you need on your site, the payment modes, the objectives you wish to achieve, and the amount of traffic you wish to have. All the factors will help the agency to guide you in a much better way.
What kind of development process they use?
Just check what the size of the agency is before finalizing the deal with them. At times, outsourcing can be a much better idea and can help you out to focus on other business activities. There can be something that can help your customers whenever your website goes live.
Do they offer Content Management System (CMS) services?
In today’s time, CMS website development is a must to boost your online presence. It helps you to manage the content of your website in a way you want. Choose the best company and enhance the profitability of your business, revolutionize client service and decrease overhead costs. Make sure that the company offers perfect range of CMS website development services such as theme development, custom module development, and check-out page designing.
No matter, how good your e-commerce website looks like, it is imperative to optimize your website to actually reach the target audience. Once, you get the audience that you wish for, and then there is no looking back. This way your business can achieve the desired goal that you have always dreamt of.
Likewise, if you have a game development website, you need to look for game development services. Hire the services of an SEO expert and ensure that you get the best from him or her. The trend of online gaming is on the rise and so is the rise in the game development services.
Syndication URL From Build your E-Commerce Website by Hiring a Development Agency | https://medium.com/@blazontek/build-your-e-commerce-website-by-hiring-a-development-agency-b4bc5ab5068a | [] | 2021-12-30 11:00:55.873000+00:00 | ['Ecommerce Agency', 'Game Development Services', 'USA', 'Dubai', 'Cms Website Development'] |
Cabernet sauvignon | The king of red grape variety cabernet sauvignon is easy for cultivation in any climate and the ideal soil for cab sauv is gravel.
In the word cabernet sauvignon (sauvignon is believed to be driven from France word “Sauvage” meaning “Earthy or wild”). This grape is also known as petite vidure in France. Over the period of time this name got forgotten and now its more popularly known as cabernet sauvignon and this gives some lavish aromas like “black cherry, black current, cedar, baking spices, graphite and some black olives.
Why we called cabernet sauvignon as a cabernet sauvignon?
In 17th century in southwestern France. the product of a chance crossing between cabernet franc and sauvignon Blanc in this cross cabernet sauvignon comes as a resulted grape variety which is now internationally famous.
“This one of the theory and this theory may a chances of accurate”.
Famous region of cabernet sauvignon and the origin?
The origin of this grape is in France,Bordeaux (Médoc) region.
And the most famous region is Chile, south Africa, Italy, spain and Australia.
What are the most famous wine in cabernet sauvignon?
There are bunch of famous and expensive wine all over the world under the name of cab sauv but most well known wine is Bordeaux blend.
The grapes is used in Bordeaux blend is-:
Cabernet sauvignon
Merlot,
cabernet franc,
Petit verdot,
And rare Carménère.
Img credit:- https://pin.it/60szgKx Pinterest
The taste and aromas of this wine is “black current, black cherry, graphite, chocolate and dried herbs”.
“ In India Bordeaux style wine is made by blending cab suav and Merlot but we can’t called as a Bordeaux blend “.
The age of Bordeaux blend is 10 to 30years. Before serve decante atleast 60min.
Cab sauv mostly blend with which grape and why?
Cabernet sauvignon mostly blend with Merlot because this makes an excellent structure in terms of acids and tannins. It also give finest dark fruit flavours of black current and bell pepper because Merlot is mostly consider the juicer grape and has less structure but lavish with its palate weight and fruit flavour.
When did cabernet sauvignon come in india?
Cab sauv came in India nearly 21st century and now its is widely selling grape in India the reason is there strong aroma and taste which is suited to indian palate like-: black cherry, dark chocolate, smoky kind of aroma.
Climate conditions
India having a warmer climate so the vine is very late to bud the grapes achieve a higher degree of ripeness in warmer condition, which changes there flavour profile in comparison to those from cooler climate because cool climate gives you smooth wine.
Indian characteristics
Indian cabernet sauvignon characteristics are-
Black fruits become a more intense black cherry and black current flavours. While the herbaceous note of green bell pepper are reduced- there is a risk if the grape over ripe in very hot climate, that the fruit will taste heavy and stewed.
Although Wines are dry and more in alcohol dur to over ripeness and full bodied, generally oak aged. Which adds some vanilla, cedar, coconut and some spicy notes.
Cab sauv in india are elegant stylish and very complex.
Famous indian cabernet sauvignon
Rasa cabernet sauvignon 2013
The daily dose,2016
Grover’s La Reserva,2017
Yorks Arros, 2018
Myra Misfit
Fratelli Sette
Rojo Vivo CS
Luz Maria CS
And blends best with Shiraz giving the finest quality wine for the collection
Some of its best blends are
CABERNET SHIRAZ BY SULA
FOUR SEASON BARRIQUE RESERVA SHIRAZ
LA RESERVA BY GROVER ZAMPA
YORK ARROS
Article by-: Rishab satija | https://medium.com/@wineinsider/cabernet-sauvignon-4caa0bed8653 | ['Wine Insider'] | 2021-04-25 09:47:34.022000+00:00 | ['Wine', 'Wine Tasting', 'Winemaking', 'Winery Tour', 'Cabernet Sauvignon'] |
Let Me Introduce Myself… | Hello, everyone! My name is Bethany Rentfro-Heyde and I am a small town girl who is interested in the wonderful world of writing and media communications! I am a college student who is studying journalism/mass communications, but I also have an interest in advertising/marketing, public relations, and podcasting. I got into this field because I believe communication is really important and understanding the ways in which people gain and absorb information, and how that information spreads across multiple platforms is fascinating to me.
I have a personal blog titled “Bethany’s Thoughts,” where I talk a lot about my passions, hobbies, interests, thoughts, and most importantly, my Christian faith. I’ve been wanting to make my blog more public for a while and even to monetize it, but I am not really sure how to do that, so I found this platform and decided to give it a shot. I hope I am able to import stories from my blog onto this platform so the can be viewed here.
I am newly married, and my life has been anything but easy. I am a caretaker for my father who is wheelchair bound due to an accident he suffered in March of last year. I was also a caretaker for my mother who was a stage four cancer patient. She passed away a couple months ago after battling the terrible disease for three years. My husband, Collin, is a college student as well. He is a heating/air conditioning technician. We started dating our senior year of high school, but we’ve known each other since we were kids. I truly believe God brought us together because Collin came back into my life after I got out of an emotionally abusive relationship. Marriage definitely isn’t easy, but it is such a rewarding experience and a beautiful glorification of God and the church.
I hope you all will enjoy reading the content I put out here and please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, comments, or concerns you might have. I really appreciate any feedback I get. Also, if anybody has any ideas on how to monetize a platform like this, please let me know. I am looking to make some extra money right now. Thanks, and God bless! xxoo | https://medium.com/@bethanyrentfroheyde/let-me-introduce-myself-c4dd5784b182 | ['Bethany Rentfro-Heyde'] | 2020-08-06 19:38:43.733000+00:00 | ['Who Am I', 'Introduction', 'Marriage', 'Christian Living', 'Love'] |
Law Of Attracting Money | Photo from Canva
Really? You can attract money? Yes, really.
Actually, you can also scare money away.
But don’t worry — after reading this blog post, you will know how to effectively attract money.
The Right Mindset
Attracting and pushing away money have a lot to do with your mindset. If you are needy and feel like money is the root of all evil, or look at people with money and feel jealous or angry at them, then money can actually turn against you. The reason for this is that you are thinking of money as something scarce — so that will materialize in your life.
If, on the other hand, you are playful, experimental, adventurous, and feel like everything will be ok with money or not — then money will be naturally attracted to you. It’s like this: money is something man created. But in our human nature and law of all things, money is actually abundance. Abundance is a mindset and therefore an energy of its own, and when you feel abundance when you wish abundance on others, when you are genuinely happy others are abundant — then that’s when it’s coming to you.
Look at nature. Nature is always abundant. It always finds a way! We are nature. We are supposed to be abundant. Nature is not jealous of other trees having prettier leaves. Nature just does what it can with what it has. We are all part of nature and we naturally grow and are abundant in our own way. Because we have reason and thought, some of us tend to think negatively over things and that is what we manifest in our lives.
Know it, Believe it
If you believe in your heart and your mind that the money is there, and you can access it, that exact thought will materialize. Not like magic, in most cases, but you will be presented with opportunities to make money — and you should grab these immediately.
Don’t ignore the thoughts and feelings. You might have had a feeling for years about doing something but you ignored it because of your reason or your limiting beliefs society has placed on you. It is time to break free my friend. Why don’t you just follow your heart when a feeling calls you to do something!
Having the right thoughts and emotions about money will also let you find money in a lot of ways. It is never good to attach yourself to money because it comes and goes. Again look at nature, look at the autumn season when all the leaves fall off the tree and plants go dormant. This is regeneration time. But spring hits and it all comes back. Same when you look at millionaires and billionaires — many have lost everything but got it all back. When from zero to millions in a year or less! How? Mindset. They just followed their methods and knew it would be ok!
It’s only natural to need money in our environment. In the past, we would just trade for things. Trade our work for other people’s work. Trade things for other things. Then money was invented and we are able to trade for money. Trade our time for money. Trade our products for money. Trade our services for money. To make money you need to figure out what you can give in exchange. Sure you can win the lottery. But the chances of that happening are pretty low. You are better off rolling your sleeves up and figuring out ways you can give or something you can make in exchange for money.
So, have the proper perspective on this matter and everything will turn out fine. Give more! and you get more! That is how it works.
Tried and Tested
You can test the law of attracting money right now. When you go for a walk, do you see money on the street and never pick it up? Do you even notice it? A long time ago I read this book — Think and Grow Rich — but I remember the lesson. The author said that he always picks up money on the street, even if it is just 1 penny. He said because when the universe gives him opportunities, he takes them. So once, he was entering a limo and a $0.05 piece rolled out and into the gutter and he got out of the limo to get it. Put his hand right into the dirt and grabbed it. It is symbolism. The universe is giving you something so take it! It starts with a coin but then you train your mind to see opportunities. You train your mind to see money and you don’t say “no it’s too small” “no it's not enough” you just go for it no matter how small!
Most people don’t even notice money on the street because they are not aware of the fact that there is money that is scattered all over the place. Not hundreds and thousands of dollars, but at least coins and maybe some bills. One day, I was on a hike in Maui and I literally saw a crisp $100 bill on the ground! They weren’t even together! They were a few meters apart. I picked it up and noticed there were so many people just walking by. Probably at least 50 people walked right by and never saw it! But I did! It was so obvious to me because I trained my mind to see the money. I pick up pennies off the street and put them in my pocket all the time.
Try it. Go out and believe that money is waiting for you. It is your right to be abundant. Pick up money you find on sidewalks, mall floors, etc. Finders keepers.
Desire vs. Detachment
Don’t let anyone tell you that wanting to attract money is bad. It’s not bad. One thing that changed my mindset is when I heard that you can help a lot more people when you have money than when you don’t. It’s true! When your cup is full, you are more helpful. Sure you can be helpful without money, but imagine what you can do with it!
That’s why it’s important to realize the difference between desire and detachment from money.
Desire and detachment are like 2 opposite words. Usually, when you desire something, you are attached to it. The emotions that are tied with desire include passion, excitement, and sometimes selfishness. You are kind of like in “wanting” mode.
There should be a sense of detachment from it too. Know that it’s there, but don’t feel like you have to hold on to it so tightly either. Let it go. Invest in yourself. Become a better person. Learn new skills. Go on adventures that feed your soul. Have fun with your money and always donate 10%. This is a powerful trick. Don’t expect anything back with the 10% either. Give freely with no expectation. Something magical happens when you do that. You just get more. You don’t have to tell anyone. You don’t have to announce it. Just do it. But don’t do it if you expect something back. Just do it out of the greatness of your heart.
You might be surprised but the more you give, the more you get. You know, I went back to Costa Rica 6 times. I love their culture. Those people are poor compared to North American standards yet they would give you the shirt off their back if you needed it! The most awesome and helpful and kind culture. I made friends with some Thai people and this guy’s family owns a restaurant and they live about 8 people in a tiny house but they are all so happy! They sing and laugh all the time. They go to the beach, they live in paradise. They have everything they need. They are happy with what they have and have always been. One day the father decided to open a restaurant and they will always be abundant. They will always have food. They are telling me this, how they look after all the stray dogs in the neighborhood and feed all the cats also lol.
They are not attached to it because money is just a thing that is happening in the background. The important thing in life is life itself.
Note that being emotionally attached to something can bring up negative emotions such as fear, worry, anxiety, and stress. When you get frustrated because of a lack of money, you are just confirming its scarcity.
Knowing that money is there in abundance and that all you need to do is to be open to it, you will feel excited and even anticipate it as you know it is coming. It really is a “knowing” feeling. Your whole being knows it — your heart, mind, and spirit — and there’s no way that you can be wrong. Just believe 100% and know you are becoming abundant (without wanting and worrying about it).
Power Play
Again, detachment is important when attracting money because you don’t want to give money power over you. If it’s something you deeply desire, it becomes powerful and it can conquer you. No, don’t let that happen, because you are more powerful than money.
Know that money is your slave and it will obey you. You’re a human being after all, and money — it’s just paper (or metal), right?
I have seen people who love money and they make money their master. Once you become a slave to money, it will control you and even eat you alive — so let money work for you instead of you working for money. Remember that.
Practice Makes Perfect
Just so you won’t get overwhelmed, try attracting small amounts of money at first. Maybe you can start picking up coins on the street — yes, that would be a good start — because then you’ll know that what I’m telling you is true.
Once convinced, apply the same principle to your business. If you don’t have a business, then start a business! If you are just starting out on your online business, aim to earn $1. If you can earn $1 then you can earn $10. If you can earn $10, then you can earn $100.
When you get confident at attracting money, you can aim higher. So make your next goal $500, then $1,000, then $10,000, then $100,000, then $1,000,000. Really, don’t limit yourself, because I’m telling you — money is just an abundant energy! If you can make $1 then you can make $1,000,000.
And you know what, when you fully master the law of attracting money, it can come in many different forms. You might get ideas that will allow you to create great products, or you might be able to close business deals. You can even inherit properties. Just don’t limit yourself and you will attract money and financial success like a magnet. A Money Magnet.
The Right Attitude
As you can see, the law of attracting money has a lot to do with your attitude. So don’t be greedy and selfish, because a negative attitude will only repel financial success. Give. The more you give the more you get.
No matter where you are in your life right now, appreciate what you have and be thankful that you have power over money.
Be patient. You don’t have to work hard but you have to work smart to attract money. Be generous.
Soon you’ll get money and become financially successful.
If you want concrete ways to thrive in your career and life while living in abundance with money, then enjoy my free book — Unbreakable Mindset. | https://medium.com/the-kickstarter/law-of-attracting-money-269ddf1d1f9c | ['Edward Gorbis'] | 2020-12-21 04:19:26.168000+00:00 | ['Abundance', 'Money', 'Mindset', 'Money Management', 'Law Of Attraction'] |
Como criar bons questionários de pesquisa | By signing up, you will create a Medium account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices. | https://brasil.uxdesign.cc/como-criar-bons-question%C3%A1rios-de-pesquisa-749a6b40bdb | ['Sheylla Lima'] | 2021-03-11 00:44:20.865000+00:00 | ['UX Research', 'Questionário', 'Pesquisa Quantitativa', 'UX', 'Formulários'] |
[Scala] Option with map, flatten, and flatMap | It has been couple months since I started using Scala, and I would like to record the material I study for both myself and audiences. This short writing is somewhat a summary of the tutorial from this website (https://freecontent.manning.com/), specifically this tutorial https://freecontent.manning.com/using-option-in-scala-part-2-map-and-flatmap/
Option
In Scala, it is not optimal to use null to represent missing values. We need to use the type Option instead. It can represent both the presence and absence of a value. With its companion class Some and None , we no longer have to do a null check with Option .
For example, with the following code, the function sqrt(number: Int) can return either an integer value or null. Therefore, a calling method getSqrt() needs to do a null check when retrieving a result.
def sqrt(number: Int): Double = {
if (number >= 0)
Math.sqrt(number)
else
null
} def getSqrt(number :Int): Double = {
val result = sqrt(number)
if (result == null) return 0
result
}
Using Option, this can turn into the following
def sqrt(number: Int): Option[Double] = {
if (number >= 0) Some(Math.sqrt(number)) else None
} def getSqrt(number: Int): Double = {
sqrt(number) match {
Some(res) => res
None => 0
}
}
Option with map
In Scala, map is a higher order function that takes a function f.
If an optional value is present, it applies the function f and returns a value wrapped with Some
else (i.e. if an optional value is absent), it returns None
// definition of map in Option class
def map[B](f: A => B): Option[B] =
if (isEmpty) None else Some(f(this.get))
Suppose you have the following case classes (this will also be used below in flatten and flatMap examples)
case class Car(model: String, owner: Option[Person], plate: Option[String])
case class Person(name: String, age: Int, license: Option[String])
Examples
get the optional owner name of the car
def ownerName(car: Car): Option[String] = {
car.owner.map(p => p.name)
} val p1 = Person("James", 30, Some("LICENSE_NUM"))
val car1 = Car("HONDA", None, None)
val car2 = Car("BMW", Some(p1), Some("PLATE_NUM")) println(ownerName(car1)) // returns None
println(ownerName(car2)) // returns Some("James")
To see what’s happening in details,
car.owner = returns Option[Person]
= returns Option[Person] car.owner.map(p => p.name) = applies the function p => p.name on Option[Person]. Assuming that Person object is present as p1 , it returns Some(“James”)
Option with Flatten
On Option, flatten works as the following
if applied optional value is present (i.e. Some(x)), it returns the inner instances x
if applied optional value is absent (i.e. None), it returns None
// original definition in Option
def flatten[B](implicit ev: A <:< Option[B]): Option[B] =
if (isEmpty) None else ev(this.get) // perhaps a simpler way to look at flatten
def flatten: Option[A] = {
this match {
case Some(value) => value
case None => None
}
}
Examples
def getOwnerLicense(car: Car): Option[String] = {
car.owner.map(_.license).flatten
}
// to see what's happening in details
car.owner // Option[String]
car.owner.map(_.license) // Option[Option[String]]
car.owner.map(_.license).flatten // Option[String]
Option with flatMap
FlatMap is a higher order function on Option[A] that applies a function f , which returns an optional value
if an optional value is present, it applies the function on it’s inner object and returns an optional value
if an optional value is absent, it simply returns None
def flatMap[B](f: A => Option[B]): Option[B] =
if (isEmpty) None else f(this.get)
// Simpler version
def flatMap[B](f: A => Option[B]): Option[B] = {
this match {
case Some(a) => f(a)
case None => None
}
}
Examples
// function that returns a value of owner's license, which is optional case class Car(model: String, owner: Option[Person], plate: Option[String])
case class Person(name: String, age: Int, license: Option[String]) def ownerLicense(car: Car): Option[String] = {
car.owner.flatMap(p => p.license)
} def ownerLicense2(car: Car): Option[String] = {
// using map + flatten
car.owner.map(p => p.license).flatten
}
That’s it for now! I hope this can be helpful for someone else. There is definitely a room for improvement, but I will adjourn for now :) Happy programming for all! | https://medium.com/@hellomj/scala-option-with-map-flatten-and-flatmap-144ac554263 | ['Mj Park'] | 2021-01-09 23:09:19.858000+00:00 | ['Scala', 'Scalaoption'] |
High Summer Thunderstorm Returns Me | What glory to feel the pressure change,
the air to capture moisture from far above,
to bring it to earth as supplicant gift.
I am desiccated as desert bones in my mid-summer skin;
only the salves of supermarkets — moisturizer and chap-stick —
aid me in this season of sun-blanched skies.
The numbers, the measurement of suffering,
bespeak and belie the nature of this moment and place;
what is one-hundred-twelve degrees to scorched Mercury?
To my body, to this bag of skin filled with water,
today is a visit to a level of Dante’s Inferno;
I wonder: will the sun deny me life as it has countless others?
But in a moment, a series of moments as magic as life itself,
a rumble from far away announces the return of a king
like the drums of the Praetorian Guard once heralded Caesar.
Thunder strikes a spark, a charge,
from high to low like the blow of a sword —
and the parched land of my life is drenched in unseasonal showers.
I take my place under the deluge;
my part in this play is to celebrate, to welcome
this gift as a priest names and sanctifies the portent.
I raise my face, my arms, to the life-giving sky in welcome;
nothing but good can come of this sacred moment,
as my outstretched tongue begs for the blessing of living water.
This high summer thunderstorm returns me
to myself as a boy, who once felt the raindrops in the air
as proof that the world is good, and is my home, and bears no grudge. | https://medium.com/poets-unlimited/high-summer-thunderstorm-returns-me-e2d9ada0cc85 | ['Craig Allen Heath'] | 2017-09-06 19:32:15.950000+00:00 | ['Childhood', 'Wisdom', 'Nature', 'Poetry', 'Poem'] |
Call It Holy | CULT OF JUMBO ROCKS
Jen and I drive into Joshua Tree National Park, our white-and-blue surgical masks dangling from the rearview mirror like air fresheners in a rental car, or some other fitting symbol of temporariness. A year deep into the pandemic, we crave a break from the insidious mundane, the apocalyptic new normal.
The wilderness unfolds around us as we get out of the car and begin to make our way through the park: a rugged expanse of sand and soil, brush and rock. The land meets the sky in an uninterrupted line, brown brushing indigo, and I watch the Joshua trees bent in reverence, back to the earth, as if in prayer.
“I would start a religion around these rocks,” Jen says to me and I can see her smiling, maskless. Around her are ancient, massive boulders piled onto the desert like melted wax, which makes me wonder who put them there. “At the very least, a cult.”
I bask in the intimacy of seeing her bare face, a naked moon. We’re alone in the Mojave, however far away we are from anyone else as we begin our climb, scaling the boulders that reach to the sky. Another prayer.
A couple hundred miles west in Los Angeles, the crematoriums continue to burn our pandemic dead, and their ash fills the sky over the city. But here, the air is so clear it tastes like rain.
MOTH & MYTH
For more than 40 million years, the Joshua tree and the yucca moth have been intrinsically connected through an insect-plant mutualism, a coevolutionary symbiosis. One could not live without the other. The female yucca moth the only pollinator of the Joshua tree. The Joshua tree the only food source for the moth.
It isn’t as easy as asking What came first, the moth or the tree, but between the moth and the myth, isn’t that a different story? Existentially, between asking and answering a question, one isn’t always easier than the other, though of course the origin of creation myths and rituals the world over have been debated for centuries.
Two rivaling ideologies — the primacy of ritual hypothesis and the animism-based hypothesis — attempt to explain the origins of myth and ritual. First claimed by scholar William Robertson Smith, the primacy of ritual hypothesis supposes that every religion arose from mythmaking, that myth is derived from ritual practice. Another argument, the animism-based hypothesis proposed by anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor, considers that myths were also made to spiritualize the mundane, that myth results from ritual.
Narratives are created to make sense of our universe; rituals are created to engage with narrative. Perhaps we will never know which came before the other. Perhaps it is enough to know that one could not exist without the other.
SONGLINES
What myths arose from the desert?
In the western Australian outback, terrain not dissimilar from the Mojave desert, the First Nations People of Australia walk songlines to remember the myths embedded within the contours of their landscape.
Remembered through dance, song, and navigation, songlines are the convergence of myth and ritual, pathways recorded from the Dreaming, the ancient time of creation for the Aboriginal people. Songlines are a sacred journey through landscape and time.
For the Aboriginal people, oral tradition is passed along in song cycles. For the Serrano of Joshua Tree, creation myths are remembered through song too.
The desert is home to the sacred, a caretaker of its people.
CARETAKERS OF THE DESERT
A common theme in Southern California oral literature is that of catastrophe.
Situated at the confluence of the Mojave and Sonoran deserts, the woodland desert of what is contemporarily known as Joshua Tree, California, was a rich region of cultural and material trade between Indigenous tribes. Before the European colonizers brought catastrophe, the original caretakers of this sacred land were the Serrano, Cahuilla, Chemehuevi, and Mojave.
Serrano elder Dorothy Ramon describes how the Serrano came to the oasis of Mara near Joshua Tree:
Indians apparently used to live somewhere else. They were living on some planet similar to this one. The Serrano Indians came to a new world. Their Lord brought them. There were too many people: they did not fit any more on their home planet. This is why he brought them here, to settle here for good. This was to become the new planet. It was a very beautiful world. The Serrano people lived here. Coming from that other planet they started over at Maara’ (Twentynine Palms). They had been living on their lands for many years. This is in their songs. | https://drdoctordrdoctor.com/call-it-holy-d0025b1c05b4 | ['Eileen Elizabeth'] | 2021-06-24 14:26:53.584000+00:00 | ['California', 'Grief', 'Nature', 'Covid 19', 'Religion'] |
What happens in Vegas? | Follows you to South Carolina.
Photo by Alex Haney on Unsplash
There is a lot of interesting data to look back on from Iowa and New Hampshire.
We will dive deeper soon…
For now, at a high level:
— Monitoring search interest in Iowa and New Hampshire surfaced candidate momentum.
—In some cases, analyzing the positive/negative sentiment split in online discussion tracked with candidate “upward mobility potential” (positive sentiment lean) and also registered attacks as a candidate’s profile increased (negative sentiment jump).
For instance, leading up to Iowa, Buttigieg maintained a high “positive to negative” sentiment split and was very competitive with Bernie in search interest.
Biden showed the exact opposite.
This type of data tracked well ahead of polling, which showed Biden in 2nd all the way up to caucus day, and informed an accurate guess of Election Day results.
Revisiting RCP IA Averages:
LSSS: Internal Pre-IA Analysis and Predictions:
“1st Preference: 1.) Bernie, 2.) Warren, 3.) Buttigieg, 4.) Biden, 5.) Klobuchar, 6.) Yang, 7.) Steyer 2nd Preference: 1.) Bernie, 2.) Buttigieg, 3.) Warren, 4.) Biden Enjoy the night, friends.”
Looking at data from search trends and sentiment helped inform our guess that Biden would fall flat and Buttigieg would over perform. We correctly guessed the raw vote rank.
I say “guess” because look, I get it, this was not based on actual mathematical/statistical analysis. We looked at polling, monitored real-time trends, and mixed it all together with some good old fashioned political/campaign acumen.
In this case at least, our simple recipe resulted in a delicious bowl of “we were right” soup.
From IA to NH
Search trends tracked in-line with what you would expect moving from Iowa to New Hampshire — Buttigieg gained momentum, Biden and Warren faded, and Klobuchar came on strong.
In the end, Klobuchar’s late surge (which also showed up in our analysis) probably kept Buttigieg from besting Bernie.
These posts below wrap up our New Hampshire commentary nicely:
— In the end, we feasted once again on prediction glory:
“New Hampshire: Very close #1 and #2 respectively — Sanders and Buttigieg — if Buttigieg squeaks a win it again points to his strong ground game (which is a strong sign going into Nevada). #3 Klobuchar rises #4 Warren barely tops #5 Biden who has a lot more than 99 problems.”
— And related to Klobuchar, we noted: | https://medium.com/listening-for-secrets-searching-for-sounds/what-happens-in-vegas-2ebba68beb2 | ['Adam Meldrum'] | 2020-02-16 13:21:38.591000+00:00 | ['Democratic Primary', 'Nevada Caucus', 'South Carolina Primary', 'Google Trends', 'Sentiment Analysis'] |
Natural Wine Reaches the Masses in Texas | A selection of natural wines that grocery stores like Central Market and Whole Foods now offer.
“Natural wine” is the French Revolution of the wine world in all but one sense: it’s a success.
Starting in central France in the 1970s, a group of winemakers began practicing a method of producing wine that minimized human intervention as much as possible. This group was the first to create what is now known as vin naturel, or natural wine. In the succeeding decades, their philosophy spread, creating a movement towards natural wine production that is now ubiquitous in France and has taken root across the world.
However, it took some time for the movement to trickle into the United States — and Texas. Only in the last few years have both winemakers and wine sellers, such as wine shops, bars and restaurants, begun to dedicate themselves solely to natural wines. And while the number of these places is growing exponentially, they mainly serve niche markets that cater to other natural oenophiles.
Now the natural wine movement in Texas appears to be turning a corner from the exclusive world of natural wine enthusiasts to the mainstream market. In Austin alone, grocery stores like Central Market and Whole Foods have dedicated sections of their wine departments to natural, organic and biodynamic wines and integrated more of these wines into their overall inventory at price points the average consumer can access.
“About a year and a half ago when we started focusing on some producers that we got excited about, I noticed that that conversation led to an unexpected interest,” Jim Louisell, the assistant department manager at the North Lamer Central Market, says. “Then the ability to continue that conversation opened up a willingness of the customer — the consumer — to seek it.”
Walking through Central Market’s wine section, blue, purple and green tags dot the aisles identifying certain wines as biodynamic, natural and organic respectively.
“We have these signs to let people know: look for these! Natural wine purple. Blue biodynamic. And it’s to help guests because we can’t fit it all over there,” department manager Cristina Lee says, referring to the rack dedicated to natural wine squeezed onto what had to have been the only uncovered wall in the department until then.
The labels certainly help customers who know what they want, but for others, the different labels may seem confusing without staff guidance. After all, what is the difference between a natural and a biodynamic wine? Or between a biodynamic wine and an organic one? Or between a natural wine and a conventionally-produced wine?
“The whole natural wine thing is tricky because the definitions are kind of concentric circles,” Jim explains. “There’s no pure definition for what it is other than farming biodynamically and limited winemaker interference. But you can play around with different things.”
The most significant distinction to make is between “naturally”-produced wine and conventionally-produced wine. Commercial wine production prioritizes yield, appearance and taste in a wine, in that order. It uses pesticides and chemical fertilizers to maximize grape production to make — and sell — more wine. It uses animal proteins to filter their wines to make them clear and chemical additives to add color. It adds foreign yeast and sugars to make the wine sweeter or to balance out the acidity.
Not all conventional producers are commercial however. These producers don’t manipulate wines to the same extent mass producer do, however, their methods still favor human control over organic methods.
Natural winemaking, on the other hand, strips the winemaker of his or her controlling power, and puts the emphasis on their knowledge, experience and dedication.
“Natural wine means minimal manipulation to the wines,” Lee says.
It requires the organic farming of grapes and a winemaking process that neither adds nor removes anything in the cellar. That means no non-indigenous yeasts, no added sulfites, and certainly no chemicals. Additionally, there is no fining or tight filtration, which results in an almost cloudy appearance to many natural wines.
While it may appear as a set of cultist rules, the core of the natural wine philosophy is to produce wine that is as true the essence of the terroirand grape varietal as possible. These winemakers are seeking to extract the purest possible expression of a wine. And they also want it to taste good, which means they have to have extensive knowledge about the factors that affect a wine’s profile, from their vineyard’s elevation to the number of months dedicated to aging.
These production methods also limit the amount of wine they can produce. It’s a quality over quantity dilemma that has been a big factor in keep their wines in small shops and restaurants and out of large retailers like grocery stores.
“By definition, most of these natural wine producers don’t produce a lot. It’s a difficult thing to do. It’s an expensive thing to do. And at our level of sales, we can blow out a distributor’s inventory in a month or two, which gives us this big window to either introduce new things or we have to wait until the next vintage gets released, which can be 10 or 12 months later,” Louisell says. “So, a blessing and curse in that regard.”
Austin restaurants like Bufalina, Lenoir and Texas French Bread that have dedicated their wine lists to natural producers don’t have to worry about blowing out an inventory, and so have an easier time obtaining wine from natural distributors.
Houston restaurant Nancy’s Hustle has an extensive wine list made up entirely of natural wines. Above is a bottle of a skin-contact German white (or “orange”). The wine is slightly cloudy because it hasn’t been fined or tight filtered.
Their wine lists have also certainly exposed natural wine to people who haven’t heard of — or tasted — it, but it can’t engage customers with the wine in the same way a wine shop or grocery store can. Primarily, this is because wine is part of the overall dining experience, so they might leave not knowing that the outstanding Cabernet Franc form the Loire Valley was one of only 300 cases of naturally produced wine from that vintner. But even if they did, people can’t afford to regularly invest in those wines at the price point restaurants offer. Stores like Whole Foods and Central Market provide access to these wines at prices most potential consumers can meet.
“The goal isn’t to entirely eliminate mass production from our set,” Louisell says. “But I think the more that we can offer smaller, more conscious producers and higher quality at that golden value ratio, we can both be selling better wine but also kind of showing people that there’s a better path.” | https://medium.com/lifestyle-journalism/natural-wine-reaches-the-masses-in-texas-5df8026accef | ['Christiana Sullivan'] | 2019-05-07 14:38:53.087000+00:00 | ['Wine'] |
A Phenomenological Theory of Atonement | The French artist Gustave Moreau’s “Christ in the Garden of Olives” (c. 1885–1889) reminds me a good deal of something I like about classical Chinese art: the latter was known for its nature shots, wherein, if humans feature at all, they are off in a corner or otherwise not at the center. One could compare that to a good deal of European art, which placed the person at the very center. The difference is that classical Chinese art — expressing Taoist and Buddhist ideas — saw the human subject not at the center of nature, but as a part of a holistic whole of which everything is a part.
Though obviously not influenced by classical Chinese art, it seems to me that in this piece Moreau is drawing on a similar concept, though in Moreau’s piece Christ is nested not in an idyllic nature. Instead, the air is bleak, the atmosphere suffused with dread. This makes sense, given the scene is Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, presumably just prior to his arrest and execution. In some of the Gospels, Jesus is here depicted as wrestling with the death he knows is coming (eg, Mark 14:34). The Greek term for his suffering (agōnia; Luke 22:44) is one used for athletes before a match. It describes Jesus’ ultimate dread as one of anticipation, a natural death anxiety triggered by his own imminent fate. He’s also depicted as suffering a good deal more, of course, before and especially after this moment, physically, emotionally, psychologically.
Though much of that suffering is, of course, outlandish and unimaginable, none of it is supernatural; which is to say that none of the things Jesus experienced are entirely outside of our own capacities for suffering. Violent deaths are unfortunately not unheard of in our era. And the general sufferings of having our bodies harmed, our preferences thwarted, and our inevitable deaths projected to the fore of our conscious attention are hardly unique to Jesus’ time or situation. Perhaps it’s not so much the degree of Jesus’ suffering that is unique.
In Mormonism, the Book of Mormon repeatedly describes Jesus not only suffering in a general sense, but as experiencing the very suffering of every creature capable of suffering (eg, 2 Nephi 9:21). The descriptions provided are not comparative to, but reflective of our suffering. What interests the Book of Mormon, it seems, is not that Jesus suffered tremendously or even unimaginably, but that he suffered what every human being suffers — what we might call the natural vicissitudes of life as a conscious being. With that in mind, Moreau’s “Christ in the Garden” seems to add a finer point to the idea: that suffering is natural to the world which produced us, in which we live, of which we are inescapably a part, and back into which we will dissolve as we arose.
The earliest Christians seemed to have experienced Jesus’ death and resurrection first as rejection by humanity and subsequent vindication by God (Acts 3:13, 5:30, 10:39–40). The understanding to follow from that, perhaps drawing on the more militaristic messiahs of the era, was one of conquest. They saw Jesus as having overcome something in his death and resurrection (Acts 2:24, Galatians 3:13, 1 Peter 2:24), which they described in varying terms such as “sin and death” (eg, Romans 5:17, 1 Corinthians 15:57). The Book of Mormon, too, uses these terms (eg, Mosiah 21:30; Alma 12:16, 22:14), as well as others, such as “temptations,” “pains,” and “sicknesses” (Alma 7:11).
What’s intriguing is that, while Jesus does ostensibly overcome these experiences, he begins his conquest by first leaning into them. Returning to that scene in the garden: in the midst of his suffering, Jesus prays, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36, English Standard Version). The subjective preferences of a conscious being are what distinguish pain from pleasure. Suffering, by its very nature, is an experience we do not want to have; otherwise it would be pleasure. And yet we all suffer, and we will continue to suffer to some degree.
In the Garden, Jesus experiences the full anticipatory force of his imminent fate. He knows what’s coming. Many of us, in similar circumstances, may be naturally inclined to flee from that: we may try to ignore it, lose ourselves in fantasies, or list all the reasons we shouldn’t have to go through this. Jesus does otherwise. The Letter to the Hebrews says he was tempted like all of us (Hebrews 4:15); what was exceptional about Jesus was not supernatural immunity to the natural desire to be free of suffering, but the extraordinary courage he exhibited in setting aside that desire and facing the inevitable — in a word, reality. As John Cobb demonstrates in Jesus’ Abba, Jesus not only experienced a deep relationship with God, but expressed this through the affectionate Aramaic term abba, a tradition which carried on to later Christians (Galatians 4:6, Romans 8:15); the reality to which Jesus sacrifices his will is not the harsh lord or taskmaster of popular religious imagination, but a father — a papa. Borrowing from Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s translation of the Quran, we may substitute here “the Real” for terms such as “abba, father” and “God” in order to further foreground the content and intention of Jesus’ sacrifice here.
The Book of Mormon describes Jesus’ suffering as granting him empathy and compassion for others (Alma 7:12, 3 Nephi 17:7; cf. Alma 26:37, 34:15–16; “bowels of mercy,” a Hebrew idiom for a heart swelling with the suffering of others); it also describes his experience as “having ascended” and “breaking the bands of death” (Mosiah 15:9), overcoming “that awful monster, death and hell” (2 Nephi 9:26). In this way, I believe Moreau’s piece captures the essence of the Christ event (what Mormons typically call “the Atonement”): not a glorious victor emerging unscathed from an empty tomb or an iridescent redeemer transfigured at the right hand of God; but a person no different from ourselves, huddled under a tree in waiting for his captors and executioners, allowing himself to sit with his own fear, anxiety, and dread. Allowing himself to be present for the very worst experiences his life will give him, the very things we ourselves to some degree or another experience, and from which we may be inclined to flee in apathy, entitlement, or maladaptive daydreaming. In this sense, then, Jesus is indeed victorious; he is even, perhaps, a conqueror, though not of life, but of everything that may tempt us to live our lives only in part (cf. John 16:33). He overcame every natural inclination to divide life into “yes” and “no,” and to cling to the former while fruitlessly attempting to escape the latter; he achieved this victory by ceasing to divide and instead granting the whole of life — in all its givenness — an unequivocal and unilateral “yes.”
However, far from a once-and-for-all moment, the Christ event is not redemptive by its own virtue or nature; further, it is not achieved by metaphysical means per se, but what one may call psychological or phenomenological ones. The New Testament describes the feats of Jesus as not at all beyond humanity (cf. Luke 10:37); indeed, others may even surpass him, he says (John 14:12; cf. D&C 130:10–11). The Book of Mormon articulates this in the Nephites’ ritual complex as taking upon oneself the “name of Christ” (2 Nephi 31:13, 21; Mosiah 5:8–10, 14–15; Alma 46:15, 18, 21; 3 Nephi 27:5). With tongue only somewhat in cheek, one may say that Jesus is not so much extraordinary as he is extra ordinary. The superlative character of Jesus is not that he is unlike anything we could ever be, but that in his full embrace of his own life — especially at the most pivotal moment when any one of us (Jesus included) may be most tempted to reject our experience — Jesus did not “shrink” (cf. D&C 19:16–19). In so doing, he put on full display the very terminus of human potential, intimating greater strength and courage beyond even his own (Romans 3:21–26).
In two weeks, on the first of December, Advent will begin. As Christmas approaches, many Christians will contemplate what came into the world in the birth of Jesus. As the narrative goes, Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus — an odd story to modern ears. Yet whether this story is literally so is rather irrelevant, as its symbolic force persists. The human mother conceives a child with the divine father — a mythic signifier. What could it mean? That through the very womb of the mundane — of all we are used to, all that is ordinary and “makes sense” — will be born something altogether extraordinary. Undercutting the dualism of a heaven “out there” and an earth “down here,” or any temptation to demean our conscious experience by stringently dividing time into “this life” and the “afterlife,” the story of Mary and her extraordinary child invites us to look within ourselves for that messianic capacity. Experiencing the very Spirit which sealed Jesus and Mary to God — that drive which carried Jesus into, rather than away from suffering; and which conceived in Mary that same savior — we too may conceive within ourselves and bring forth into our world something messianic. | https://medium.com/interfaith-now/a-phenomenological-theory-of-atonement-f6e480530d83 | ['Nathan Smith'] | 2019-11-21 05:27:59.116000+00:00 | ['Christianity', 'Philosophy', 'Mormon', 'Spirituality', 'Religion'] |
Fishing|Newbies Guide. | Man Fishing.
On the off chance that you are new to the game of fishing, you need to know a portion of the essential standards of fishing. Like different types of chasing, fishing includes both your current circumstance and everyone around you. Be aware of both. You can dependably appreciate this cherished side interest severally. Fishing is an antiquated practice. It goes back almost 10,000 years.
Various different procedures and conventions have been utilized during the fishing’s movement. Current mechanical improvements have changed the manner in which individuals fish, yet a considerable lot of similar standards, guidelines, and accepted practices including fishing remain. Continuously practice great stewardship of our streams when you are fishing. Recall that these streams were around a large number of years before you and will stay long after we are no more. You can settle on a cognizant choice to leave the zones in which individuals fish in preferable condition over when you discovered it. Deal with our lakes, streams, and different streams so others will appreciate these regions for quite a long time to come.
Rehearsing certain practices will guarantee that you are taking acceptable consideration of the spots where individuals fish. Never litter when you are fishing. Continually bring a garbage sack or other container to use for the assortment of your refuse. You can undoubtedly store it in a close-by rubbish container. Dump your decline inappropriately allocated unloading stations as opposed to throwing it in the water. You don’t have to invest a lot of energy sorting out the numerous manners by which this damages the climate. As you fish, consistently utilize the right kind of trap and fishing gear. Certain regions consider certain snare and stuff. You will likewise experience limits on the number, size, and sort of fish that you can keep. Become acquainted with what these cutoff points are and focus on them. Try not to stand by until you are at your fishing spot to look for what is permitted and what isn’t. Check with your objective before you head out on your fishing outing to perceive what the neighborhood guidelines permit. On the off chance that you plan on utilizing a boat while fishing, explore to perceive what sorts of watercraft are permitted where you will fish.
Each fishing area is unique, so give uncommon consideration to neighborhood methods and alerts. This likewise applies when you choose to clean your boat after you leave the water. You would prefer not to spread non-local species to another waterway. At long last, never fish where it isn’t allowed. There is consistently a motivation behind why it is unlawful. A few reasons incorporate the insurance of certain untamed life, the best possible consideration of vegetation, and the wellbeing of you and other people who need to fish. You ought to likewise follow various preventative practices to guarantee your security.
Likewise, with all types of chasing, wellbeing is first. On the off chance that you will utilize a boat while you fish, consistently wear your life coat. Ensure that your travelers wear their life coats, too. Be cautious when bedeviling and eliminating snares. Ensure that you never fish on unapproved streams. Follow the posted speed cutoff points and wake alerts that go with the utilization of a boat. Carry with you all applicable security things, for example, water, electric lamps, maps, and a mobile phone. Fishing keeps on being a most loved distraction. 2001 saw almost 16% of the U.S. populace beyond 16 years old 16 days fishing. You appreciate the game of fishing, so adhere to the standards that take into consideration the continuation of fishing. Be dependable and gracious of others and your current circumstance. Set aside an effort to find how you can be both a superior and more secure fisherman. | https://medium.com/@juanwriter/fishing-newbies-guide-f523deee7c0b | ['Juan M'] | 2020-12-20 00:15:39.082000+00:00 | ['Fishing And Travel', 'Water', 'Lake', 'Lake District', 'Fishing'] |
Before the snow. | It is a long story. At least I think so.
But I will start now by the end. I am leaving his hometown after 5 weeks at his place. My daughter is at the airport’s glass windows looking at the airplanes and singing a music she has just created which starts with his name. She also created affection for him. My heart is broken in so many peaces, but seeing her sing his name is the ultimate peace. I am even more heartbroken because she is heartbroken.
But why have I decided to go there? I don’t have a logical explanation apart from I wanted to try as it would be better for my lifestyle choices of how I would like to raise my daughter. I sincerely contacted him after all those years so he maybe could give me tips on finding a job. I wanted to find a job which would sponsor me a residency visa. I was probably naive. I am naive. But when I first wrote to him, his first reply was: “I think I can help you because I am also looking for a job and I am single”. And I always wondering what his reply meant and I thought I had the answer when we spent so many days and nights chatting to each other.
So when my work contract ended in Brazil, I had not even a second thought before buying a flight to try my life there. Of course there was a bit of a fairy tale music in the background, but who hasn’t ever fallen for that? He hosted us, he prepared her bed. He had some juice in his small-single-guy fridge. He prepared a nutritious meal, though with too much spicy for a little girl. But he did try. But it was maybe too much to ask him. And maybe he was not sure of what he wanted. Or maybe there was too much of us in his single-room apartment.
I met him on a train from Thessaloniki, Greece to Sofia. I started this trip in a cabin with a American girl who convinced me to head there with her while we were having breakfast in our hostel in Crete, and a bunch of French teenagers who got kicked out in the border because they had no passport on them. They thought all the European continent was part of the European Union. I ended up having a whole-kind-of bed thanks to the poor French kids.
My American companion was a good influencer and when we descended the train she convinced a group from Finland to look for accommodation together. Off we went to find a Lynch-style room with red and purple velvet chairs and a strange wallpaper. I am not sure how we all slept in that room or even if we slept at all. What made my memory up to this day is the daytime we all spent together. It was his birthday and he invited us all to have lunch together. It was my first real meal in a long time. I ordered a fish whose taste I will never forget. He made sure to pay for all of us because of his cultural tradition, although I made my argument against it. We had just met and he was way too generous after we were so on a budget for our accommodation. We also spent the rest of the day/night drinking beer together.
They left on the following day and I was in Sofia for a few more days. By myself. We spent just this day/night together back in 2006 and then another couple of days in 2013 when I made it to Finland for the first time. That is when he hosted me for the first time. He had a girlfriend and I had a boyfriend. We had just spent a nice time together. Until the day I texted him again in 2018 and told him I was single and I had a daughter. He told me he could see Finland’s best amusement park from his window. I told him his window sounded appealing. Off I went. | https://medium.com/@mssnow723/before-the-snow-38bc0eaf81a1 | ['Ms Snow'] | 2019-10-08 12:36:01.537000+00:00 | ['Lovestory', 'Relationships', 'Travel'] |
A Handpicked List Of No-Code Tools To Boost Your Startup | No-code tools are always more common and extremely powerful, you can power up a landing page in a few minutes, connect a spreadsheet as a database, and pull data from it to power your website content.
In this post, I am outsourcing my (growing) list of no-code tools which I particularly enjoy, find cool or simply I want a place to store them for future use/references.
Let’s dig in:
Sheetgo: connect spreadsheets and create automation between Google Sheets, Excel and .csv files.
Source: Sheetgo | https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/a-handpicked-list-of-no-code-tools-to-boost-your-startup-df3f296e0242 | ['Roberto Sannazzaro'] | 2020-11-30 12:47:10.151000+00:00 | ['No Code', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Programming', 'Startup'] |
Which Are the Best Yoga Clothes for Women? | Yoga clothes are essential for practicing the yogic art of love making. You can find a lot of designer yoga clothing in the market. The best yoga clothes for women should be comfortable, breathable, have a good stretch and easy care. If you want to feel relaxed after doing the exercise then you must buy the best yoga clothes for women.Info : abbigliamento yoga donna.
Tired of tight yoga mat? You can now buy a non-toxic cloth yoga mat that is specifically designed for yoga practicing. Made from organic cotton fabric that feels amazing and repels moisture, this yoga mat will keep you cool and dry during your exercise. These best yoga clothes for women have a very soft fit and are quite durable.
The women’s best yoga clothes come in many varieties. From sheer to stretchable material, you have so many choices to choose from. High quality, ultra-soft waistbands made with a high quality ultra stretch material are ideal for your practice. They are moisture-wicking, breathable and extremely soft material with anti-bacterial properties.
A high quality non-toxic Fabric is ideal for Yoga wear. It also has antibacterial properties that make it safe to practice Yoga outdoors. The best yoga mat can easily absorb moisture and thus prevents the Yoga Mat from becoming moldy. They have Cotton fiber inner layer, that is one reason why they are so comfortable to wear. In addition, this yoga clothing has an adjustable buckle in the front which makes it possible to adjust it to the best fit for your body type.
There are some Yoga accessories that you can’t do without. One of them is the yoga strap, which offers great support while practicing Yoga. This accessory is very important because it provides balance and stability to one practitioner while in turn pulling down the other participant’s hips. Therefore, the best yoga mat and straps should be selected by a yoga practitioner or instructor.
The mat should be large enough to allow most people to comfortably participate in Yoga. It is a good idea to check out all the options available. You will find the best yoga mats and straps at online Yoga retailer websites. Some reviewers prefer to try items out before buying them. Most reviewers agree that Yoga clothing should be comfortable and trendy.
Yoga clothes and accessories can be purchased online, from brick and mortar stores, as well as through mail order catalogs. Reviews also indicate the price ranges for these products. Some reviewers note the color options and which brands are popular. The best way to determine which brand or style is best is to visit a store or read reviews of specific brands of yoga clothes and accessories. When you know what styles are currently popular, it becomes easier to choose the ones that will best meet your yoga needs.
Women’s shorts, skirts, tank tops, pants, and leotards are the top performers when it comes to women’s yoga clothes. In addition, it has become customary to add socks, towels, belts, and other accessories to accommodate the different outfits needed during a Yoga class. When looking for the best yoga clothes for women, one should consider these factors: size, fit, quality, and appearance. Additionally, a woman may want to purchase additional undergarments to ensure that her body is as comfortable as possible.
The size of the yoga mat is one consideration that most reviewers say they are most concerned about. If a mat is too big or too small, certain styles may not work for the individual. Likewise, a mat that is too small could result in discomfort for one who is practicing Yoga. Some women find that purchasing two separate mats is more helpful. One can practice on the larger mat while taking a short break to change into the smaller mat for practicing with a partner. This enables one to get used to moving in a particular way on the mat without feeling self-conscious.
Women should consider the type of yoga clothing they will need to buy to get the best fit. For example, if the individual plans to do a lot of walking, she should purchase a pair of hiking sandals or flat sandals to wear with her workout clothes. These sandals provide additional traction on the surface of the grass or earth, and some brands offer support for the ankle, which will help women avoid injuries. Other styles of shoes with heel supports are also recommended for women who will be doing a great deal of standing as well as stretching.
Another item that many women recommend is investing in two to three yoga outfits. These outfits, which include tights and a shirt, should be purchased in different colors so that the women know what is going to go well together. It is also a good idea to purchase a few items of yoga wear that will go with each other for added variety. The more varied the color combination, the better the chances are for women to find the best yoga clothes for women. | https://medium.com/@best100en/which-are-the-best-yoga-clothes-for-women-e48c0bdd30b5 | ['Camilla Perini'] | 2021-04-25 20:25:49.036000+00:00 | ['Clothing'] |
Tax Loss Harvesting | Tax Loss Harvesting
and the Cryptocurrency Loophole
At the time of writing, savvy investors can reap significant tax savings by combining the well-established strategy of tax loss harvesting with a loophole in the tax code to indefinitely defer some of their taxes without changing the allocations of their cryptocurrency portfolios.
Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels
A Primer on Tax Loss Harvesting
We typically discuss tax loss harvesting in the context of a taxable brokerage account holding some mix of stocks and other securities such as options or bonds. In most cases, investors owe capital gains taxes when they make a gain on an investment. As such, taxable brokerage accounts sometimes generate a tax liability for investors as a result of regular or planned transactions, such as regular rebalancing, used to preserve the strategic allocation of the portfolio. This is where tax loss harvesting comes in. Investors with a mix of winning and losing positions, positions that have appreciated in value and positions that have depreciated in value, can offset some or all of their tax liability on the portfolio by choosing to realize a loss on depreciated positions. In other words, investors can choose to take losses in some positions to offset the gains in others and thus reduce or eliminate the tax liability on said gains.
Strictly from a tax perspective, tax loss harvesting is a no-brainer. Why choose to pay taxes on gains that we can easily offset? As always, it’s important to look beyond the tax implications and consider the bigger picture. It may not make sense to sell depreciated positions in a portfolio. Despite the tax benefits we outlined, the investor may wish to hold on to depreciated positions in a portfolio if he/she believes that they will appreciate over the long term. Additionally, an investor may not wish to sell depreciated positions if doing so would impact their long-term strategic allocation. Given the fact that a portfolio’s strategic allocation should be a long-term decision based on the taxpayer’s risk tolerance, financial goals, and day-to-day needs, it is likely not advisable to change said strategic allocation solely for tax purposes.
Many have tried to overcome these concerns by selling depreciated positions at a loss and reaping the tax benefits while then immediately buying the same or similar positions back. The goal is to offset gains without impacting the makeup of the portfolio. Unfortunately, the IRS has caught on and curbed this practice by creating the Wash Sale Rule.
Wash Sale Rule
The Wash Sale Rule prohibits investors from deducting losses from a sale in which the investor acquires the same or similar stock or security within 30 days. Said differently, investors must not re-purchase the same losing position they sold within 30 days if they wish to deduct the losses and thus reap the benefits of tax loss harvesting. While the general rule is simple, there are a few important nuances.
Firstly, an investor could theoretically sell a depreciated position and repurchase the same position on the 31st day after the sale. This method does not reliably overcome the non-tax considerations of implementing this strategy because the stock or security in question may have changed prices over the 31 days. Done repeatedly, the potential missed gains from exiting a position in one-month increments are enough to defeat any type of strategic allocation decisions.
Secondly, the wash sale rule applies only to losses and not gains. If an investor sells a position at a gain and then immediately repurchases it, he or she will still owe tax on that gain. The 30-day window does not apply when there is a gain. Generally it doesn’t make sense to deliberately realize taxable gains. It is generally advisable to defer taxes as long as possible so that the investor can maximize their available cash and invest it to earn an appropriate return. There are cases in which deliberately realizing a gain in this manner does makes sense, for example when a taxpayer is in failing health or terminally ill, however these are rare enough that for most taxpayers the general advice to defer gains as long as possible applies.
Thirdly, the wash sale rules apply to “substantially identical securities.” This means that an investor need not purchase the same security within the 30-day window for it to be considered a wash sale. If an investor purchases a similar enough security, such as a different ETF tracking the same index as the original sale, it is likely the IRS will consider these securities to be substantially identical and disallow the recognition of the loss at the time of sale. Some investors have gotten around this provision by purchasing securities that they believe are not substantially identical but have a similar exposure. For example, the sale of a depreciated technology stock may be replaced with an ETF with broad exposure to the consumer technology industry. While this method generally avoids triggering a wash sale, it isn’t foolproof. Non-sophisticated or hands-off investors will have difficulty performing this strategy effectively as many popular investment products have exposure to several sectors or sub-sectors and thus will require substantial knowledge and research to understand. Moreover, investors may have trouble knowing reliably where the IRS has drawn or will draw the line on what constitutes substantially identical securities. As such, the taxpayer may find themselves subject to an adverse ruling in the future and thus subject to interest and penalties, defeating the purposes of any sort of tax savings.
The Wash Sale Rule Does Not Apply to (Most) Cryptocurrency
So far we’ve discussed why the Wash Sale Rule generally discourages selling depreciated securities strictly for tax reasons by forcing investors to consider the overall non-tax implications on their portfolios. There is, however, a key loophole investors can take advantage of: cryptocurrency is not subject to the Wash Sale Rule.
The Wash Sale Rule applies to “stock or securities” (including option contracts). Cryptocurrencies are generally considered property by the IRS and not securities. Therefore, cryptocurrencies are not in scope of this provision. While this is true of most major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum used primarily as a method of exchange, it is likely that coins used in ICOs may be considered akin to a security or option contract by the IRS and therefore subject to these rules. Thus while not all cryptocurrency is exempt from these rules, the most popular are.
Thanks to this loophole, investors can indefinitely defer capital gains so long as they have commensurate cryptocurrency losses to offset their gains. Investors accomplish this by selling said cryptocurrency at a loss and immediately repurchasing it at the same price. Effectively, this transaction exists only in the eyes of the IRS as the investor has not made an economic transaction or suffered any change to their cryptocurrency portfolio except for any commissions or fees that may have been assessed on the trades.
Important Caveats Regarding the Cryptocurrency Loophole
Remember that this loophole generates a deferral as opposed to an avoidance of taxes. What this means is that even with this loophole an investor will eventually need to pay the full amount of the capital gains taxes at some point in the future. As we touched on earlier, a deferral is nothing to scoff at. Deferring taxes nearly always makes economic sense for the investor thanks to the time value of money.
It is also important to note that losses from cryptocurrency, or any investments for that matter, can primarily be used to offset other capital gains. A cryptocurrency loss can offset gains from the sale of other cryptocurrencies, stocks, securities, or assets such as a home or investment property. A cryptocurrency loss, or more generally a capital loss, cannot offset ordinary income, such as wages earned in a job or by a self employed taxpayer or contractor, beyond $3,000 in a given year. Even if a taxpayer faces significant capital losses, they can only offset a maximum of $3,000 in ordinary income in a given year. Any capital losses exceeding the $3,000 limit can be carried forward and used to first offset capital gains and then ordinary income up to the limit in future years indefinitely.
The limited track record and high volatility of cryptocurrency make it unsuitable for many investors. Cryptocurrency as an investment does not make sense under many strategic allocations, particularly for non-sophisticated investors. It is probably not advisable for investors to invest in cryptocurrency for tax benefits alone.
Congress and the IRS are continuously updating tax laws and the interpretation of tax laws. Investors that take advantage of this loophole should work with a tax professional or otherwise keep themselves informed of changes that limit or eliminate this loophole. While potential tax law changes are rarely a reason not to take advantage of a tax benefit today, it is important for taxpayers to adjust their tax planning strategies to remain compliant.
The Bottom Line
The Cryptocurrency Wash Sale Rule loophole is a powerful tax planning strategy for investors that allocate a portion of their portfolio to cryptocurrency. No single tax planning strategy or tax-consideration should be considered in isolation — taxpayers should consider the myriad of tax strategies and decisions regarding their investments in the context of their broader financial circumstances. It is likely that this loophole will only make sense for many taxpayers after they have exhausted more traditional means of mitigating their tax liability. | https://medium.com/money-clip/tax-loss-harvesting-43e56680f60d | ['Oscar Armas Luy'] | 2020-12-19 01:38:51.521000+00:00 | ['Investing', 'Finance', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Money', 'Taxes'] |
The Death of Another Young Man in Belfast | The Death of Another Young Man in Belfast
September 2017
There was a funeral today for a young man. Seventeen people attended, fourteen were professional support workers. He died from a heroin overdose but the naked truth is that he was close to dying from liver failure too. And he was close to dying by his own hand. And he was close to dying by being murdered by someone else. And he was close to dying from a blood clot caused by his reckless injecting technique.
Even in the womb he was at a disadvantage- he came from a murky gene pool and had a high likelihood of inheriting many serious and life-threatening diseases. His young childhood was empty of parental love and, later on, empty of any parents at all. His teenage years were spent angry at the persistent rejection from everyone around him. He became addicted to alcohol at eight, cannabis, cocaine and other drugs by twelve, heroin by seventeen. There was still no love in his life except for that of nihilism. His life, all life, had no value.
Then he developed bipolar disorder and spent many months deluded, paranoid, utterly secure in the knowledge that not only drug-dealers and the police but everyone else too wanted him dead. Through his twenties he dealt and abused legal and illegal drugs, he spent more time in prison, more time in hospital. His life was one of almost persistent detention.
He never had the chance to develop a personality disorder or a psychopathic carapace to protect himself. He was always open.
He never had a home of his own, never had the security of stability in any form. He lived wildly and was barely tamed by the institutions that surrounded him- he became institutionalised to the streets, trusting no-one, caring about no-one. He wore a sneer, on his face and in his heart.
We all liked him. Everyone liked him. He was uncomfortably honest and upsettingly open about his life and his mind and his character. But he knew he had no chance and so did all the rest of us. We knew where he was from and how he lived. We all guessed correctly where he was going.
Hundreds of professionals had contact with him over the years, me included, and we delude ourselves into believing we made minor differences here and there- I helped get a temporary roof over his head (until he attacked someone and had to leave), I gave him a few hours of my time as a listening ear (until he became abusive and rejected me).
He died off the streets in a bed of his own. He hadn’t taken his medication for weeks and had replaced it with vodka. He was twenty eight.
What chances did he have? In 2017, in Nothern Europe, in a rich, major world city he had hundreds of chances. Some he took voluntarily, some were enforced, most he rejected. But the foundations were never set, his character waned and faltered and he slowly crumbled to death.
We didn’t save him we just cushioned his descent, the death of another young man. | https://medium.com/@bendench/the-death-of-another-young-man-in-belfast-395b418c2904 | ['Ben Dench'] | 2019-02-10 18:56:36.052000+00:00 | ['Drugs', 'Vulnerability', 'Homelessness', 'Health'] |
Brainstorming with Google Translate | Brainstorming with Google Translate
I’ve developed a trick to help when I’m buried in “the writing phase.” So much of my work as our senior UX writer involves collaboration with others, but there comes a time when I have to put on my headphones, get into a flow state, and pump out UX copy for a new or updated feature. I go through countless versions of a single string before anyone sees a final version. Kickstarter supports six other languages, so I not only shape my copy to speak to the broadest possible audience, but to provide our talented translation team with text they can localize with minimal friction.
As a writer, a thesaurus is my best friend. But as a solitary UX writer, I need something beyond a synonymous word search. In a perfect world, I have the science and technology to clone myself and brainstorm with other UX writers to produce clear, concise, and usable copy. In a perfect world, there is also world peace and pizza helps you lose weight.
One day I felt stuck, and I opened up Google Translate to test a string in German. I took that result and translated it back into English. The new English string was almost nonsensical. I stripped the original text down and tried again — everything came back exactly the same, but the main noun returned as a synonym I’d never considered. I updated the string, and I tried again in French…in Spanish…in Japanese. I was starting to see a pattern. Some of the returns were an identical match, while others were too far for comfort.
The example below features a modal in our native app: an original on the left and an updated version on the right.
The original microcopy (grey text) simply repeats the title question, but the updated version explains what happens after affirming, and how to reverse the action. This went through several iterations of Google Translate to find phrasing that was flexible enough for translation. An earlier round went like this:
Step 1: English to German
Step 2: German result back to English
This second English version is too much of a leap from the original messaging and it loses the sentiment that you’re trying to express in the first round, so I broke it into two shorter sentences. “It’s no longer a payment option” is an easy one to localize, but how can I clarify the latter?
Step 1: English to German
Step 2: German result back to English
This new copy is short, clear, and works within the context of the entire modal. It also measured up among Kickstarter’s other languages, making its way into the final copy submission.
It’s important to note that this process doesn’t replace your company’s localization experts by any means — it happens way before you submit your final English copy, and should be considered entirely separate. Automated translations have come a long way, but nothing replaces the human touch, which is exactly what a UX writer brings to the table.
As I grew more comfortable with this method, I shared it with my collaborators to bring them closer to my writing process. They were delighted by the idea, and a few designers started using it when working on placeholder copy. One of them said it felt freeing because the pressure to write didn’t feel like it was being entirely generated from within — it was like having an extra brain to ping-pong ideas off without breaking focus.
I presented this to a bigger audience while speaking at Button — a product design conference launched by Brain Traffic, a content strategy powerhouse in Minneapolis. My 40-minute talk was about making it work as the sole UX writer at your company, and gave me an opportunity to introduce this technique to other professionals in my position. In addition to an overwhelmingly positive response, I got an invite to to talk about what we learned from the Button conference on Writers of Silicon Valley (one of my favorite podcasts). I was so glad to hear that this Google Translate trick resonated with people like me because I’d been sitting on it for a while, wondering if it would provide as much value to others as it has for me.
I hope you’ll find value in this too. It’s handy for writers, but I believe it’s helpful to anyone that feels stuck. You can message me on Twitter if you have questions or feedback on how to improve it — everything is iterative. | https://medium.com/building-kickstarter/brainstorming-with-google-translate-b727f025f459 | ['Vicki Siolos'] | 2020-12-14 16:48:16.611000+00:00 | ['Conference', 'Google Translate', 'Ux Writing', 'Podcast'] |
How Black Woman accelerated the Space Race | A white man may have landed on the moon, but the works of black women paved his way there.
On the 20th of July 1969, it was official; ‘the Eagle had landed’ on the moon and with that, the United States won the twenty-year Space Race against the Soviet Union. It was unprecedented, the reality of man on the moon was absurd, it was ‘the fulfilment of a dream which men have shared since the beginning of recorded history’.
For almost half a century, the astronauts who boosted America’s position in the Space Race were rewarded with showers of praise and esteem. Meanwhile, those who worked day and night, making the necessary calculations of orbital mechanics to get man in space, remained starved of any form of applause. They were mathematicians, physicists and engineers. They were the ‘human computers’ of NASA who remained uncredited and hidden for the bulk of history. They were women, most of whom were black.
The human computers of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics were women with degrees in physics and mathematics, recruited to replace the men who had gone to fight in the war. As the severity of the war intensified, and more and more manpower needed to be replaced, more women from minorities were recruited as a temporary way to boost production.
Even though more women from minorities had been included in NACA’s workforce, African American women were still citizens of Jim Crow’s America and as such, had to be segregated from their white counterparts in the ‘West Area’ while the white mathematicians worked in the ‘East section’.
All the ‘West Computers’ were black women who worked as female engineers for NASA from 1943 to 1958- when ‘the computer wore a skirt’. Contained in a secret office with less-than-ideal working conditions, the black human computers of the West Area Computing unit performed a plethora of mathematical equations and calculations by hand.
And as Black women in Jim Crow’s America, they were confronted with a combination of overt sexism and racism. They were underworked, underpaid, and though they had the same number of qualifications as their white counterparts, were regarded as being ‘subprofessionals’ as a way to justify their mistreatment. It was also a lot more difficult for a black woman to become a human-computer than it was for a white woman, as NACA often made the black applicants prove their competency further with the completion of a supplementary chemistry course at a nearby university.
The West computing area was undoubtedly inferior to the East section; all communal areas such as the bathrooms and dining facilities were segregated between race, and the facilities for the African American women were old, neglected, and subpar. It was only when NACA made the transition to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in 1858 that all the segregated facilities of the East and West Computing Area were abolished.
Katherine Johnson was the most well-known of the West Area Computers- the woman responsible for getting NACA into space. Starting high school at the tender of 13, Katherine was somewhat of a ‘child prodigy’. It was her brilliance with numbers that made her one of three black students to integrate West Virginia’s graduate schools. With her PhD in mathematics, Johnson worked as a mathematician and a human-computer at NACA’s West Computing Area since its establishment, performing complex calculations, calculating and plotting data; the most tedious work on NACA’s workforce.
The 1957 launch of Soviet satellite Sputnik infuriated President John F. Kennedy and US citizens akin, coaxing NACA to accelerate America’s position in the Space Race. In 1958, Johnson was promoted to a position in the Space Force Task where she could plot data and carry out calculations for the math for the 1958 document Notes on Space Technology.
Having completed the operations beautifully, Johnson went on to complete the trajectory analysis for NASA’s 1961 mission Freedom 7 done by Alan Shepherd, America’s first spaceflight. As the only black woman allowed to work on those files, Johnson dealt with overt racism and sexism to which she paid no mind. She told the world “we need to be assertive and aggressive as women in those days and the degree to which we had to be that way depended on where you were. I had to be”.
Such bravery and tenacity boded well for Katherine Johnson. Her commitment fast-tracked her progress at NASA which in turn enabled her to work on the operations for Friendship 7- the first attempt made by NASA to orbit the Earth completed victoriously by John Glenn in February of 1962. Johnson’s ‘mathematical calculations of orbital mechanics’ were integral for its success. John Glenn showed favour for Katherine, asking to get ‘the girl with the numbers’ that ‘if she says the numbers are good, then I’m all ready to go’.
In November of 2015, Johnson was rewarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 for ‘exceptional leadership’ and ‘her calculations of the first flight calculation for John Glenn’s orbit and the 1969 Apollo 11’. She was the rightful recipient of such an honourable award, still, it’s a shame that only after so many years was her work finally recognized.
Mary Jackson was a mathematician and an aerospace engineer who in 1958, became the first African American female engineer to work at NASA. Born and raised in Virginia, and having graduated high school with the highest honours, Jackson earned a degree in maths and physical sciences at what now is Hampton University.
As was the case with most women like herself, Mary worked at NACA’s West Area Computing Unit after having to complete further classes at, what was at the time, a segregated university. To do so, Jackson had to get special permission from a court ruling, which permitted her to become an engineer at its completion.
Mary Jackson went on to ‘lead programs influencing the hiring and promotion of women in NASA’s science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. In her honour, NASA’s headquarters building in Washington, D.C., was named after her and her legacy of determination and overcoming barriers as a black woman in the field of STEM will forever live on.
Both of these women, including Dorothy Vaughan- NASA’s first African American manager- only received the recognition and accolades they deserved in Margot Lee Shetterley’s 2005 book- Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Woman Mathematicians who helped Win the Space Race. They received further praise in the 2016 movie ‘Hidden Figures’ with actors Janelle Monae, Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer, an excellent watch.
The women of the West Area Computing Unit were the heroines of NACA- instrumental for the Space Race but dismissed as the hidden figures of history. Since then, we have had black women in space, but we mustn’t forget the barriers black women had to overcome, the barriers only they had to face.
(This article was originally published on Impact Nottingham by Feyintoluwa Ayanlaja on October 9, 2020) | https://medium.com/@feyintoluwa/how-black-woman-accelerated-the-space-race-5a95766cabc3 | [] | 2021-04-22 23:32:34.055000+00:00 | ['Black Women', 'BlackLivesMatter', 'NASA', 'Space', 'Space Exploration'] |
A Picture | I drew a picture long ago —
A picture of a sullen sea;
A picture that I value now
Because it clears Life’s mystery.
My sea was dark and full of gloom;
I painted rocks of sombre hue.
My sky alone bespoke of light,
And that I painted palest blue.
But e’en across my sky of blue
Stretched troubled clouds of sodden gray,
Through which the sun shone weak and dim,
With only here and there a ray.
Around my rocks the yellow foam
Seemed surging, moaning in despair
As if the waves, their fury spent,
Left naught but desolation there.
Three crafts with fluttering sails I drew,
And one sailed near the rocks of gray,
The other on its westward course,
Went speeding out of danger’s way.
The other still outdistanced them
Where sky and water seemed to met.
I painted that with sails full set,
And then my picture was complete.
My life was like the sullen sea,
Misfortunes, woes, my rocks of gray,
The crafts portrayed Life’s changing scenes,
The clouded sky Life’s troubled Day.
I longed to paint that picture o’er
Without the rocks of sombre hue;
Without the troubled clouds of gray,
I’ll paint the sky of brightest blue.
My sea shall lay in calm repose,
No hint of surging, moaning sigh.
My crafts, unhindered by the rocks,
Shall speed in joyous swiftness by.
But this shall be when brightest hours
Of hope and cheer are given me.
I’ll paint this picture when Life’s sun
Shines clear upon Prosperity
Photo by Filipp Rabachev | https://medium.com/@atred/a-picture-2b2fbf801b82 | [] | 2020-12-11 15:25:24.636000+00:00 | ['Drawing', 'Picture', 'Olivia Ward'] |
5 Myths About Running That You Shouldn’t Believe and 5 Absolutely True Facts | 5 Myths About Running That You Shouldn’t Believe and 5 Absolutely True Facts
Let’s separate the fact from the fiction.
Image by skeeze from Pixabay
It’s no surprise that a sport that’s been around for centuries would have developed a lot of myths about it. In 776 B.C., the first event at the first Olympics Games was the footrace. Then came the running boom of the 1970s, when jogging for fitness exploded onto the scene. Fast forward to the 90s, the decade when I began running, and the running world was full of advice. Lots of it included carbo-loading and stretching. That and bad knees, I spent two decades listening to nonrunners tell me how my knees were going to fall apart if I kept running. Well, I kept on running. And now, more than 20 years later, my knees are still going strong.
So what are the real facts about running, and what ideas should we leave behind?
The myths
Myth #1: Running will ruin your knees. Runners hear this a lot. Hopefully, this piece of advice will fade away, as it is completely false. For one thing, running helps keep weight off, and not carrying around extra weight is beneficial to your joints. And researchers have conducted studies that have shown that running is beneficial to the cartilage in your knee joints.
Myth #2: You should always stretch before running. Static stretching before a run will not do you any good. I wrote all about it here. A short warm-up and some dynamic stretches are better before you head out for your run.
Myth #3: You need to eat pasta for dinner before a big race. Sadly, this one is not true. The carbo-loading craze of the ’90s is over. You don’t need to eat a giant bowl of pasta the night before a big race. Eating that big bowl of spaghetti can have the effect of making you feel bloated the next day. Instead, increase your carbs slightly in the days leading up to your race. And think healthy and complex carbohydrates, like whole grains, black beans, lentils.
Myth #4: Real runners don’t walk. Don’t let anyone tell you this. It’s simply not true. Popular running coach, Jeff Galloway, has a program where he incorporates running with walking.
Myth #5: Runners can eat anything they want without gaining weight. Like myth #3, I wish this one were true. Unfortunately, running is not a license to eat anything you want. If at the end of the day your calorie expenditure is less than what you’re taking in, you’re going to end up gaining weight. This is true even if you ran 20 miles that day. Runners still need to be conscious of their diet. Although a lot of running does mean you’ll need to eat more calories to keep up your energy levels than someone less active.
The facts
Fact #1: Running can boost your mood. Exercise reduces stress and increases your ability to deal with anxiety. It does this by increasing concentrations of norepinephrine, which is a chemical in the brain that helps people to deal with stress. Many studies have shown that people who exercise are less likely to be depressed and show higher levels of emotional well-being.
Fact #2: Running helps build strong bones. Running is a weight-bearing exercise. Weight-bearing exercises reduce the loss of bone strength. Some studies have shown that more than just slowing down bone loss, running can build bones.
Fact #3: Running helps you live longer. Researchers looked at 14 previous studies which included 232,149 adults. They found that compared to people who didn’t run at all, runners were 27% less likely to die during the study. The researchers concluded that running improves overall health and longevity.
Fact #4: Running can improve your sleep quality. Exercising regularly can help you get deep sleep. Deep sleep, or slow-wave sleep, is how your body and mind rejuvenate during the night. Miss out on deep sleep, and even though you are rested, you may feel fatigued the next day. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Center for Sleep found that people who exercise for more than 30 minutes per day will have better sleep quality. You may want to experiment with what time of day works best for you. Going for a run right before bedtime may make it harder to get to sleep.
Fact #5: You need new shoes every 300 to 500 miles. Running is a simple sport and doesn’t require much equipment. However, your shoes are critical, and once they begin to wear down, you may experience injuries. Keep track of how many miles you run in your shoes. Many apps can help you do this. You can also watch for the following signs: pain when running, worn-out treads, and loss of shock absorption. | https://medium.com/runners-life/5-myths-about-running-that-you-shouldnt-believe-and-5-absolutely-true-facts-487f5edc3565 | ['Jennifer Geer'] | 2020-06-14 12:01:03.248000+00:00 | ['Fitness', 'Health', 'Exercise', 'Running', 'Wellness'] |
Automate Data Imports with Python | Getting Started
Before we start, let’s import the requisite libraries using the following commands. In due course, I will explain why we need these modules.
import pandas as pd
import os
from os import listdir
from os.path import isfile,join
import csv
The below image shows the data folder that contains several data file types. Keep in mind that file names. We will use them to create variable names.
Routinely, I‘d’ rather assign my working directory as a file path. This provides me to combine file path and folder names swiftly.
#assign working directory to variable
file_path=os.getcwd() #setting path for data folder
data_path=file_path+'\\'+'data'
Extracting File Names
This step is crucial because we’re going to generate variable names from the file names. There are two different codes to extract file names. The first one is with extensions and the other one without extensions. We use “listdir” and “isfile” methods to get the file names. The “listdir” method is to get the list of all files in the specified directory. In our code, the directory is “data_path” that we assigned our working directory shortly before. So, the “isfile” method to check whether the file is existing in that folder.
# extracting file names without extensions
file_names=[".".join(f.split(".")[:-1]) for f in listdir(data_path) if isfile (join(data_path,f))] # extracting file names with extensions
full_file_names=[f for f in listdir(data_path) if isfile (join(data_path,f))] #checking file names and extensions
print(file_names)
print(full_file_names)
Getting Delimiters
So far, everything is working fine. Now it is time to detect which delimiter is used in the files as the separator. To do that, we need the “sniff” method provided by the “Sniffer” class. This class is used to deduce the format of a csv file.
#creating a dictionary with file names and their extensions
dict_del={}
delimit=[]
for i in range(len(file_names)):
delimit.append(i)
t=0
for s in full_file_names:
with open(data_path+'\\'+s, newline='', encoding="utf8") as csvfile:
dialect = csv.Sniffer().sniff(csvfile.read(1024))
csvfile.seek(0)
reader = csv.reader(csvfile, dialect)
delimit[t]=dialect.delimiter
dict_del[s]=delimit[t]
t+=1
As you notice, we built a dictionary and a list. The list that is named “delimit” is used to store the delimiters. We use a for loop syntax to easily replace the random values with extracted delimiters via indexing. And the dictionary contains file names (as keys) and the delimiters (as values). Let’s check what we have;
#checking dictionary and delimiters
print(dict_del)
print(delimit)
A Risky Method: globals()
It is time to use the “globals()” method to create variables. Some sources (link) say it is dangerous due to it is global. This method can cause confusion, so please read carefully!
#creating global variables depend on file names
z=0
files_ready=[]
for f,r in zip(file_names,full_file_names):
globals()[f]=pd.read_csv(data_path+'\\'+r,sep=dict_del[r])
files_ready.append(f)
z+=1
If you notice, variables are created separately for each file name. We are done! Let’s make sure it works.
#checking data files
print(files_ready)
bank.head()
deacit.head()
netflix_titles.head()
Voila! We loaded all files and assigned them a variable.
Lastly, let’s perform a double-check with a new data file. I just saved a .txt file. (PSA)
And I wonder if it works or not.
#checking the new file
print(files_ready)
PSA.head()
Everything seems to be working alright. | https://towardsdatascience.com/automated-data-import-with-python-832e8f912845 | ['Eser Saygın'] | 2020-05-27 15:35:14.185000+00:00 | ['Jupyter Notebook', 'Pandas', 'Data Import And Export', 'Data Science', 'Python'] |
Intimate Imperialism: How to respond if a friend or comrade is experiencing domestic violence during COVID-19 | by Mykie Ozoa-Aglugub and Khara Jabola-Carolus
Domestic violence is an intimate form of imperialism. One party dominates over another through the use of hard and soft power in order to exploit *her labor and territory (body). Similar to a colonizer, the abuser does not always utilize physical violence to maintain control. Often, the abuser relies on internal colonization. The abuser makes their “partner” feel so inferior or economically dependent that the partner struggles to leave the relationship even if she engages in hundreds of acts of daily resistance. Attempting to achieve total independence from the abuser takes careful planning and is full of danger. The majority of victims are killed in the process of seeking independence (77.7% — Hawaiʻi).
To dismantle global imperialism, we must take serious domestic violence — its most basic manifestation and building block. The explosion of domestic violence during COVID-19 should make obvious that the idea of dominant-subordinate relationships in our people’s heads is dangerously pervasive and threatens our goal of an egalitarian community, nation and world order. Intimate imperialism can only be addressed if our movement truly holds women and LGBTQ+ people in care and hears our cry for freedom.
*Domestic violence/intimate imperialism is not a one-gender issue, that is, it is not limited to “violence against women” because also impacts men and LGBTQ+ people. Culturally competent resources for men and gender variant people are critically needed. However, domestic violence is also not gender-neutral: 86.7 % of domestic violence fatalities in Hawai’i are women, and 86.7 % of domestic violence killers are men (DV Fatality Review Board). Trans women are also more likely to suffer more severe violence and serious injuries from domestic violence compared to other LGBTQ survivors (Goldscheid, J., 2015).
The first step is to see the problem. People experiencing domestic violence may hide it extremely well, like how your strongest friend may be the one who is most depressed. Still waters run deep.
Domestic violence is as much, if not more, about debilitating psychological abuse and financial control as physical harm. The warning signs are not always easily recognized, especially combined with the general increase in isolation and personal stress that define this pandemic. Here are some possible warning signs of domestic violence during COVID-19:
Broken laptop or phone, especially more than once in a relatively short period. Last minute, sudden inability to attend an important virtual meeting. Having to suddenly leave a meeting or phone call. Children not showing up to daycare. Inability to speak or text openly on the phone. Responding to text messages at odd times. Constant excuses for being MIA. Hinting that their partner is criticizing, blaming or taking the stress of the pandemic out on them. Personality changes. For example, someone soaringly confident and carefree now insecure. Constantly checking in with their partner.
If you’ve noticed these warning signs and expect that someone you know is being abused, don’t wait for them to approach you. Look for a private moment or get creative to come up with an excuse to create a moment where you can express concern and let your friend know you’re there to support them.
Express concern: Tell your friend that you’ve been concerned for them or that you’re worried about them. This is a non-judgmental approach that might make them feel comfortable in opening up. If they deny that anything is wrong, don’t push, but communicate that you’ll be there if they ever do want to talk. Believe them: If they admit to experiencing abuse, understand that they have taken a risk by telling you. Their partner could hurt them or you could reject them. Support them by giving them your trust even if you know their partner and s/he/they “could never” commit domestic violence. Abusers can be extremely affable, charming people. Assure them that the violence is not their fault: This can be such an important thing for a victim of violence to hear. Some useful things to say might be, “No one deserves to be treated this way,” “You are not to blame,” or simply, “What’s happening is not your fault.” Support, but don’t give advice: This can be hard to do, especially if the victim is close to you. But remember that you cannot make someone leave an abusive relationship with a person or an industry who isn’t ready. Let them lead the conversation if they are willing to talk. Give them options and offer to help and support them along the way, but pressuring a victim to leave a relationship who does not want to may only isolate them further by making them feel like they can’t confide in you. Remember that abusive behavior is a pattern of getting power and control over someone else. Validating a victim’s choices and encouraging them to make their own decisions about their life can help to break this cycle of power and control. Avoid judgment: One of the worst things we can do is to criticize the relationship or bad-mouth the abusive partner. This can be hard to do, as we may be emotional or angry at our loved one’s partner. Even if your friend begins criticizing or insulting their partner, allow them to vent and continue to uplift your friend and their own choices. If you criticize their partner or the relationship, they may internalize it as your disapproval of your friend’s choices, and make them feel more isolated or unable to confide in you moving forward. Give resources: The National Domestic Violence Hotline operates an anonymous, confidential, 24-hour toll-free hotline for victims of domestic violence at 1–800–799–7233 (SAFE) or TTY: 1–800–787–3224. The advocates who operate this line can provide your friend with a well-informed listening ear, can assist with safety planning, and can provide shelter and service referrals. You can also direct your friend to confidential resources on campus like the UH Mānoa Office of Gender Equity or PAU Violence, or confidential resources in the community like the Domestic Violence Action Center. Let them know about legal protections like domestic or sexual violence “victim’s leave” from work. Hawaiʻi law grants 30 days of unpaid victim leave from work each calendar year to deal with the impacts of domestic violence if your employer has at least 50 employees.
Keep it confidential*: Assure the victim that anything they’ve said will stay between the two of you. Breaking a victim’s trust after they’ve opened up to you may only isolate them further, and could even put them in danger.
What about intervening when your friend is the abuser?
Intervention can be especially difficult when we suspect a friend or loved one is exhibiting the abusive behavior. Your friend may be hurt by your suggestion, become defensive, deny it, or make excuses. Regardless, it is important that we say something, because our silence implies our approval of our friend’s behavior and implicitly encourages them to continue the abuse.
Consider the following steps for confronting a friend who is abusing their partner:
Acknowledge the Evidence & Believe the Survivor
Perhaps the hardest thing to do is admitting that someone we care for and trust is capable of hurting someone else. There’s the temptation to ignore the signs of intimate violence, or even deny outright someone’s assertion that our friend, or mentor, or elder, has been abusing them.
We struggle, naturally, to resist the possibility that the image we’ve constructed of someone we like or admire might be shattered. But people don’t often lie about abuse. We must learn to believe survivors and that anyone is capable of violence.
2. Consult the Survivor
The most important aspect of any anti-abuse work, whether public or private, is to create space for survivors of abuse to empower themselves and make their own decisions. Trust survivors as experts of their own lives; only they best understand the complexities and barriers of their relationships.
If you’re considering confronting a friend who is abusing their partner, make sure that you contact the partner in question and get their consent first. They’ll be able to inform you about what’s appropriate, what would be helpful, and what might be dangerous for them.
Remember that it’s not your job to “rescue” anyone, but to help create options for them to choose from. Validating a victim’s choices and encouraging them to make their own decisions about their life can help to break this cycle of power and control. Moving forward without the survivor’s consent or overstepping the boundaries they lay out for you could put the survivor in grave danger.
There is the possibility that your friend’s partner won’t want to talk to you and that is their right. Even if the question upsets them, it may be worth risking the monetary discomfort in order to let someone know that you see what is going on and are willing to support them.
3. Consider safety
No matter the situation, it’s always best practice to take a moment to think about safety: yours, your friend’s, and particularly your friend’s partner. If you or the survivor of abuse believe that there is a risk of physical danger, then it might be important to postpone the confrontation with your friend or to make a safety plan first. Safety plans vary, but usually include making sure that the person at risk has a place to stay, emergency money, and access to basic resources and human support.
Advocates at the Domestic Violence Action Center and at the University of Hawaiʻi are trained in safety planning and should be consulted for confidential help.
4. Prepare Your Friend
Surprise confrontations and reality-TV style “interventions” that involve a lot of people are very unlikely to go well. Do not surprise or overwhelm (i.e., gang up on) your friend. Instead, it may be a good idea to bring one other person who is close to both of you to accompany you through the conversation. There are resources for healing and change locally. The Family Peace Center takes self-referrals for abusers seeking to help. | https://medium.com/@kharajabolacarolus/intimate-imperialism-how-to-respond-if-a-friend-coworker-or-comrade-is-experiencing-domestic-c2d4633a5673 | ['Khara Jabola-Carolus'] | 2020-11-19 02:09:02.454000+00:00 | ['Domestic Violence', 'Feminism', 'Hawaii', 'Imperialism', 'Covid 19'] |
Sin, Grace, and a Hard-Headed Kid | Tuesday marked day nine in the three-week run of “Mom’s Already In Virginia So Dad Is Trying To Maintain Control.” It didn’t go well.
It started fine, with Maverick at summer camp and Goose with me. When we picked Maverick up, things went downhill fast. No nap, too much TV and a late dinner/bedtime surely didn’t help. There were plenty of tears; and the boys were plenty upset too. You see, Maverick is a redhead, through and through. Hard-headed, determined, and passionate.
And Tuesday was a banner day.
I’ll admit here that I thought, said, and texted to Elizabeth things I regret. I was a bad daddy. And a bad person.
“Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.”
― O. Henry, The Gift of the Magi
It is easy in those situations, at least for me, to discount the good and focus solely on the bad. To see only the sin, and the sinner. We do that in life, as well. We see those struggling, downtrodden or different, and immediately focus on the negatives.
This past weekend my Dad and I passed a panhandler on the corner and had a good discussion about charity and first impressions. I relayed a story that played out several times over the past few years.
The trip from the boys’ previous school to St. Dunstan’s took us by a corner popular with panhandlers. And most nights I made this trip I had just picked up dinner for me and the boys. As we neared the intersection, I (usually) silently hoped the light would stay green so I wouldn’t have to confront the man on the street. Usually that didn’t happen.
If I was alone, I often averted my eyes and waited for him to pass. But on those nights when the boys were with me, I couldn’t. I’d hear the typical refrain of, “He is hungry and we have food. Let’s help him.” And if I acted like I didn’t hear the backseat pleas, that hard (red) head would start to come out.
Sure thing, Maverick. Let’s help him.
Yesterday morning was still a bit rough. However, from the moment we picked him up from camp, Maverick was:
Calm.
Compliant.
Compassionate.
He was a new kid. Rather, he was the same great kid he’s always been.
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
― 2 Corinthians 5:17
I was just a new dad, and could finally see what was in there the whole time. | https://medium.com/alanbentrup/sin-grace-and-a-hard-headed-kid-6c2fa025cfdd | ['Alan Bentrup'] | 2018-02-11 23:07:09.718000+00:00 | ['Family'] |
Five Imperatives for the Second Wave of the Fourth Industrial Revolution | Five Imperatives for the Second Wave of the Fourth Industrial Revolution
With such myriad forces at work, it is a challenge for any business to pinpoint those transformative elements that will exact the most impact over the coming years. We have chosen what we believe to be the top five imperatives that progressive companies simply cannot afford to ignore.
IMPERATIVE 1
Companies must adopt transient advantage strategies in order to survive.
Today’s digital platforms have no regard for industry boundaries. Ecosystems that were unthinkable twenty years ago are creating value propositions that far surpass the traditional “best practices” of vertical markets. Global competitive pressure and commoditization mean that increasingly platform-based or portfolio enterprises must focus on rapidly learning, assimilating, and adapting to market changes by employing transient advantage strategies, which support the premise that competitive advantage is not sustainable in today’s marketplace. This means adopting product life cycles of enormous scale, speed to market, cost supremacy, and product differentiation.
One survival mechanism is to create new products for markets that have established regulatory and other roadblocks to competitive intrusion. A second strategic approach is to become exceptional through both scale and costs by establishing and maintaining market share no matter what, provided that the growth rate exceeds the anticipated rate of return. Another strategy dictates being first to market with a high-quality, low-cost product. As growth potential is inextricably tied to digital technology during this second wave, the most successful companies may seek to adopt several of these transient advantage strategies simultaneously.
IMPERATIVE 2
Durable skills for the workforce are essential.
With the expansion of digital capabilities and mass automation, human resourcing will face unprecedented turmoil as repetitive and routine jobs vanish from the workplace and skills like adaptability, connectedness, open-mindedness, entrepreneurial outlook, and time management rise to prominence. Embracing this as an opportunity to nurture durable skills rather than as a conundrum that threatens the status quo is key to the survival of educational establishments and businesses alike. Along with essential technological know-how, businesses will embrace the need for human workers to display ever greater creativity and emotional intelligence, regardless of whether a worker is a gig economist or formally employed.
The customary degree-based approach to plotting a particular career path will become subordinated by a need for those who display the fluid intelligence that is needed in the 4IR. Employers will fill increasingly cerebral job roles as the digital economy expands. Tying the development of intellectual flexibility to the worker-experience will enable individuals to flourish in the digital, social enterprise that is becoming a cornerstone of the second wave.
IMPERATIVE 3
The worker and customer experience must become indiscernible.
As vertical markets evolve into ecosystems and digitization transforms traditional ways of working, the traditional distinction between workers and customers is becoming increasingly blurred. In a burgeoning gig economy — an individual engaged by the company as a contractor through the partner of a supplier — is both a worker and a customer. Digital marketing, predictive analytics, omnichannel interactions, and other traditional customer-oriented initiatives are becoming an innate part of a business ecosystem that embraces both — and embraces them as one and the same.
Second-wave platforms (customer experience, worker experience, employee experience, etc.) will activate new complex business ecosystems and leverage technology to create frictionless interactions among workers, partners, suppliers, and customers. Forward-thinking organizations that equate the worker experience to that of the customer will drive collaboration across the entire business platform. As a result, governance structures will eradicate functional silos and support unified engagements that do not draw an intractable line between those who are paid to provide a product or service and those who are willing to pay.
IMPERATIVE 4
Businesses must adopt agile and innovative organizational structures.
Successful second-wave companies will have fundamentally different organizational structures than those with traditional business units and practices. The exponential and disruptive technological progress of the 4IR, along with reactive, ever more demanding markets, the rise of ecosystems, massive integration opportunities, increased data management risks, and competition for appropriate talent all demand a much more agile, connected, and innovative organizational structure.
In order to survive, businesses must move towards a flatter organizational structure. Contemporary organizational designs must embrace shared standardized processes across all business functions, regardless of whether these are operational, customer-facing, or back-office. These processes will no longer be siloed into functional hierarchies but instead will be managed by technologically adept networks of teams whose mission is to work agnostically with sales, marketing, service, and operational assets, while also utilizing AI and ML in order to mine and leverage massive amounts of data.
Second-wave organizational structures must facilitate massive economies of scale from a technological viewpoint and also address any scarcity of talent, as every second-wave worker will need a broader, more entrepreneurial skillset that facilitates the successful integration of digital technologies into the business. Continuous learning will become a lynchpin of corporate success, while an overarching 4IR business strategy will encompass design thinking and the application of agile methodologies that promote product ownership and provide a direct line of sight from senior leadership to the front lines.
IMPERATIVE 5
We must refocus on technology governance.
We live in an age of heightened sensitivity to matters of personal privacy and corporate integrity. This concern will only grow as the second wave gains momentum through advances in areas like robotics, IoT, big data analytics, quantum computing, AI, machine learning, and virtual and augmented reality. Companies must make themselves immune to criticism and intense public scrutiny by adopting a thoughtful technology governance strategy that encourages trust and places the “common good” in the front and center of all business practices. Regardless of whether a business engages in human genome research or consumer product marketing, it is imperative that the company adopts rules, procedures, and requirements that protect data privacy, human health, and the wellbeing of its employees and customers.
By examining the mistakes of comparable businesses and adopting governance measures to avoid those errors, companies can move forward with the implementation of emerging 4IR technologies without becoming immersed in the mistrust that others may have endured. Despite a company’s best efforts to exhibit transparency, they should aim for participation, communication, and contingency for every governance initiative.
CONCLUSION
We are at a crossroads: businesses have a unique opportunity to direct organizational transformation with a clear line of sight from people, to systems, to technology, to value. The second wave of digital will require profound investment in organizational capabilities to innovate, learn, and lead. At the same time, the experiences and mindsets of individuals will be more important than ever. Ultimately, the second digital wave will see a focus on people and the systems that enable them as the driving forces behind digital progress and unlocking new value. | https://medium.com/logical-design-solutions/five-imperatives-for-the-second-wave-of-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-51367a64c532 | ['Logical Design Solutions'] | 2020-12-15 21:54:09.494000+00:00 | ['Employee Experience', 'Future Of Work', 'Transformation Strategy', 'Customer Experience', 'Digital Transformation'] |
Nasi Kangkang: Fact or fiction? | Superstition has always been a part of the human race. We tend to believe that if we do something, anything, even if it’s remotely possible, it will have some effect on our lives. This has led to the birth of many myths and legends, many of which remain prevalent until this day.
One of the most common superstitions in Malaysia is the act of nasi kangkang (literally: crotch rice), in which a woman squats over a bowl of rice while it is cooking in order to serve it to the husband. The belief is that it would make the husband subservient to the wife.
This has always been a debatable topic among Malaysians. Some say that this was something done in the old days by Malay women, while others consider it to be a mere urban legend, just another story told around the dinner table to scare children.
Like most urban legends, there is some truth to it. But how much? That is what we are aiming to find out.
The first question is whether or not nasi kangkang is even a real thing. And if it is, whether or not anyone still practises it.
The answer to the former question is an obvious yes. The latter, however, is a bit more complicated.
Who knows? Nasi kangkang may very well be a thing of the past that is only heard of in classic folktales, or it could still be practised in the remotest parts of Malaysia. Who knows? What is known, though, is that nasi kangkang was indeed a thing done by our ancestors.
Despite the Malay community’s Islamic background, there are still remnants of the superstitions of the old days. Even up until modern times, some of these practices survived. One such practise that has remained is the act of nasi kangkang.
The ritual isn’t unique to the Malay community though, it is also found in other parts of the world. Nasi kangkang is just the Malay term for it. In the Caribbean, this is known as sweat rice. It is still unknown whether the tradition came from Malaysia or it was brought over to the Caribbean islands by early Malay settlers to the islands.
But how is this done exactly? The method is quite simple. All you really need is a bowl of uncooked rice, a chair, and, of course… well, you get the idea.
As mentioned before, the ritual is supposed to make your husband subservient to the practitioner. The act itself requires the practitioner to just… well you know.
The liquid that is released is then poured onto the bowl of rice. It seems that the more you do it, the more subservient your husband becomes.
After doing…that thing…a few times, all you have to do is serve your husband the rice. It is said that he will become so subservient that you can do whatever you want, and he won’t even dare complain.
Whether this is just a bunch of bull or not, it is a fact that this practise was done in the past by some Malaysians. It is unknown how widespread this practise is, though. It could be just some isolated cases in rural areas, or it could be something more. Who knows?
But I believe the term “nasi kangkang” is utilised as a joke to explain why some husbands tend to be a bit “submissive” in their marriage. Of course, the practise of nasi kangkang is not exclusive to married couples. Notoriously, it was also used by single women in an effort to tame down guys that they found “unruly”. Thus, the joke has become a term to explain a guy that is a bit on the “submissive” side.
But is the joke a fact? That is to say, is there any truth behind the acts of nasi kangkang? I can’t exactly say for sure since I can’t personally attest to such acts. I’m not a married man, nor am I familiar with any stories of nasi kangkang in real life.
Of course, there is always the possibility that this practise doesn’t really exist anymore, and it is nothing more than an ancient practise that lingers on in our psyche. A relic of old wives’ tales that mothers once warned their daughters about wayward husbands.
So, to conclude this, I must say that nasi kangkang is either a bunch of bull or an ancient relic of our not so distant past. But who knows? Maybe in a few years, someone will come forward and tell us that they saw their neighbor’s wife doing something weird over a bowl of rice.
Or maybe, just maybe our mothers knew what they were talking about all along. But till then, it is safe to say, nasi kangkang is nothing more than a bunch of bull.
Stay skeptical, folks. | https://medium.com/@fayjaafar/nasi-kangkang-fact-or-fiction-62ab448174b2 | ['Fayyadh Jaafar'] | 2021-09-16 04:55:04.312000+00:00 | ['Superstition', 'Myths', 'Mythology', 'Malaysian Culture', 'Folklore'] |
CIRCLECI PIPELINE TO DEPLOY ANGULAR APP TO FIREBASE | In this section we can see the first part of the build. Here we are running inside the docker image circleci/node:12.11.1-browsers all the steps that allow us to checkout the code, restore the installed packages from the cache (in the first build of course will be empty), making an npm install and then save the node_modules folder in the cache. As we can see, we use the package.json checksum to generate the key for our cache (the key changes only if an update is made in the package.json).
version: 2.1
jobs:
build:
working_directory: /tmp/workspace
docker:
- image: circleci/node:12.11.1-browsers
steps:
- checkout
- restore_cache:
key: dependencies-{{ checksum "package.json" }}
- run:
name: Install dependencies
command: npm install
- save_cache:
key: dependencies-{{ checksum "package.json" }}
paths:
- ./node_modules
In the second part we install and use the angular cli to build and run the tests. Thanks to the persist_to_workspace we can save the output of the build that will be used in the next job, the deploy.
- run:
name: Install Angular cli
command: sudo npm install -g @angular/cli > /dev/null
- run:
name: Build uat application
command: ng build --configuration=prod
- run:
name: Test application
command: ng test -- --watch=false
- persist_to_workspace:
root: /tmp/workspace
paths:
- dist
So here the deploy job. The first step after the checkout will be the attach_workspace to have access to the dist folder containing our build. In order to deploy to firebase we have to install the firebase-tools (if not already listed in our dev dependencies) and use the firebase deploy command with the token already created.
deploy:
working_directory: /tmp/workspace
docker:
- image: circleci/node:12.11.1-browsers
steps:
- checkout
- attach_workspace:
at: /tmp/workspace
- run:
name: Install Firebase
command: npm install -D firebase-tools
- run:
name: Deploy to firebase prod
command: ./node_modules/.bin/firebase deploy --token=$FIREBASE_TOKEN --only hosting:prod
Last but not least the workflow section. We declare how we need to run the steps described until now. In particular we run the pipeline only for the master branch, and the deploy after a successful build. | https://medium.com/@emanuelefricano93/circleci-pipeline-to-deploy-angular-app-to-firebase-48a6ab7579e1 | [] | 2020-12-25 16:14:57.609000+00:00 | ['Continuous Integration', 'Angular', 'Firebase', 'DevOps', 'Circleci'] |
GTB Day 2019 | 4th of July. Not only U.S. Independence Day, but coincidentally also “GTB Day” in London. For one day a year we celebrate a different kind of independence in our London office: the chance to try something new, away from the everyday.
GTB Day has been a tradition in the London office for the last six years. Starting in 2013, GTB Day gives team members an opportunity to try new brainstorming and ideation techniques, challenge linear thinking, and create new inter-team bonds. Each year we work with a different brand, approaching them for a brief and dedicating the whole agency to the experience. This gives everyone a chance to work with new people, try out different types of roles, and mix it up.
“It’s very important that you meet and get to know people you haven’t met before, take the chance to do something you don’t normally do.” -Paul Confrey, President GTB EMEA
This year our partner brand was Enervit, one of the world’s oldest sports nutrition companies. The agency split into 21 teams, across three briefs, with each team being led by our best young talent.
We kicked off the day with Smirk Experience founder Sam Carrington, a comic who showed us techniques on how to communicate like a stand-up; with open palmed body language, raised eyebrows, and never ending with a question. We then broke up into our teams and dived into the briefs.
The teams were given half a day to answer three mega briefs. Short on time, the team leaders were trained to use a GTB variation of a User Experience ideation exercise known as the Crazy 8 method of rapid ideation.
After only a few hours, it was time to present. Each group chose a team member who is not usually ‘front of house’ to present and were given eight minutes to deliver their idea in front of a judging panel. The winning idea for each of the three briefs went through to the final round and was presented to the entire agency. This year the winning team won by a landslide, receiving 48% of the popular vote.
After a competitive day of creativity and collaboration we feel more prepared to work within tight deadlines and have created valuable new bonds and friendships in the agency. The confidence created by these bonds are the driving force behind us creating better work for our clients, and most importantly for ourselves.
Check us out on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more GTB happenings. | https://medium.com/gtb-tweets/gtb-day-2019-efb9515dbaee | [] | 2019-08-07 13:03:17.146000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Gtb London', 'Gtb Day', 'Wpp', 'Design'] |
Ambrosus Ecosystem joins forces with an Asian business accelerator: providing proof of origins, traceability, and bringing Ukrainian FMCG businesses to Singapore | Ambrosus Ecosystem joins forces with an Asian business accelerator: providing proof of origins, traceability, and bringing Ukrainian FMCG businesses to Singapore Ambrosus Follow Jun 17 · 2 min read
We are excited about our newly sealed partnership with Business Engineers Asia (BEA), a leading Singaporean business incubator. BEA is relaunching its Best of Ukraine campaign this year, with an initiative Ukraine 30@SG to help 30 Ukrainian brands enter the Singapore retail market. Ambrosus Ecosystem will be providing proof of origins and supply chain traceability for bringing Ukrainian FMCG businesses to Singapore.
Developing global supply chains
Supporting Ukrainian businesses will benefit global blockchain-based supply chains, as the country is well-known for its high-quality agricultural products, which have strong potential for international trade. With the backing of Ambrosus Ecosystem security and traceability, Ukraine’s exported products will be tracked and delivered safely, benefiting all interested stakeholders and end consumers. Ukrainian companies are now able to utilize the Ambrosus blockchain to prove their competitiveness in the ASEAN market. As a result, Ambrosus blockchain adds a higher level of value proposition to the promising Ukrainian firms.
Ambrosus Ecosystem takes the lead
Our team is thrilled to unlock access to new markets for companies from developing countries that are looking for proof of origins and traceability solutions. The BEA initiative in Ukraine is a fantastic opportunity to diversify use cases of Ambrosus and benefit the crypto community. The supporters of our ecosystem will, too, benefit from new bundles, nodes, and, generally, from being a part of an international program.
Sergii, the head of business development at Ambrosus Ecosystem, reinforces that our blockchain solutions are essential and will act as the bridge of automated quality control between the Ukrainian and Singaporean markets. Sergii also highlights that
It has become apparent that the global recession called for a need to trade in a faster and more precise manner. And within the context of that, the digitization trend we see happening across the globe happens to smoothen out the borders between countries step by step. However, there may still be a lack of trust between parties. Ambrosus provides developing countries with its blockchain ecosystem and dedicated solutions for parties to prove and verify the origin of their products, bringing transparency and creating an environment of trust.
About the Initiative
The BEA entity in Ukraine oversees companies in the FMCG and retail industry in their market entry strategy into the Singaporean market. This year celebrates the 30th anniversary of Ukrainian independence, so BEA is relaunching its Best of Ukraine campaign, introducing promising Ukrainian businesses to the ASEAN region this year.
The Ambrosus Ecosystem team is honored to bring blockchain-powered change and innovation to Ukrainian companies in the prospective region together with our new partners. | https://blog.ambrosus.io/ambrosus-ecosystem-joins-forces-with-an-asian-business-accelerator-providing-proof-of-origins-fd0fa3c6927f | [] | 2021-06-22 08:47:37.205000+00:00 | ['Supply Chain', 'Asia', 'Fmcg', 'Blockchain', 'Blockchain Technology'] |
The Dick Picks of the Business World | The Dick Picks of the Business World
As I’ve said plenty of times in other places, I like to read Sean Kernan. Yesterday I read a piece which inspired this one. Stay with me, I’m going somewhere with this.
Here’s Sean’s piece:
Sean’s a great deal younger than I am, so he doesn’t yet have the advantage of all those decades of doing stuff that others wanna do. He’s a good writer, he’s made his bones, and as he points out, lotsa lotsa lotsa folks want dem summa dat but they:
don’t want to pony up to pay for professional advice, and think they shouldn’t hafta.
Mail room’s hiring, guys.
Before Dear Reader assumes I am only addressing Millennials or Gen Zers, please. Not at all. This is any of us, at any age, who wants free professional advice. Age
and generation are not determinants here.
I love his analogy of Dick Picks. As someone who could very easily fill the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Mapplethorpe-style dick picks from thousands of dickless wonders off dating sites, I can relate. Lotta folks out there who function this way. I show you my dick, you give me what I want.
I don’t wanna hafta earn it. Gimme. Gimme. Gimme.
I‘ll show you the door to the mail room, Skeezix. Just like I did with all those online dating dickless wonders.
People who have enjoyed some measure of success in some area of life rarely had it land, smelling like roses, in their lap, without effort. While it is very safe to say, and accurate, that men, and most particularly white males, have often (but not always) had the advantage of mentors, that’s changed over time. When you and I are apprentices, which is the way of the world from about the time we leave school until right around thirty, the order of the day is fuck up, fail, accumulate knowledge, fail again, repeat repeat repeat. Until somewhere past the first third of our lives we begin to sort out some kind of direction.
These days, as my social media buddy JC Spears points out, that model in many ways has been turned on its head. But not always.
Some hit good pay dirt early. Many don’t. The Internet is full of stories about late bloomers who have spent decades slogging along until what we do best finally swirls into view. We might even be very good at what we’ve done, but by the time we hit fifty or sixty, we’re “suddenly” successful.
Oh. Yeah. About that “sudden.” All those years of slogging and flogging ourselves and failing have led to that “sudden.”
What Sean’s referring to in his piece is what so many of us have been subjected to our entire professional lives. People want to “pick our brains,” which is code for sucking us dry, kindly, for life hacks so that they can avoid the real work.
Photo by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash
First of all, dontcha think if there were a way to have done that, we might have employed those hacks ourselves?
Righteo, Sparky. That’s the whole point. While we might be able to add some value by pointing to where you need to place said schnozz against said grindstone, there is no avoiding the grindstone. Yet the impression persists, encoded into Instagram and social media, that somewhere there is a shortcut, where I don’t gotta do that hard shit, and I can be like Sean. Be like…well whoever, enjoys all the perks but sans the work.
Sean is the product of his father and his grandfather, a military family, his athletic background, time in place being a dating dick (he admitted it, we’ve all done it) and all the things he has done in order to have the particular POV that makes him a good writer. There is no magic Matrix download to give you that.
There is no magic Matrix download for me to give someone the skills to bring a huge audience to a standing O, to give you MY stories, born of military service, sexual assault, and tens of thousands of hours of writing, two prize-winning books and hundreds and hundreds of hours of professional coaching.
And all the fuckups and failures to which I am most certainly still subject, and which make my very best comedy stories. Learning how to do that is part of what makes me good at what I do. No download to learn that. That’s fucking LIFE.
And about that coaching?
Er, PAID professional coaching, Skeezix. I am not going to hand that knowledge over for free. It has value. So does Sean’s expertise.
A few years back I linked to a superb article that I mined off Outside Online by a young man who “gets” ( I love that word, it implies entitlement) to do what I do. In the article, he describes his career arc: living cheaply, spending his own money to travel, adventure, stay in shit hostels and shit tents and suffer the weather, years upon years of building his skills, getting his stories rejected out of hand. These days, he has enviable gigs. Bylines with big names.
The author sledding in Svalbard Julia Hubbel
Everyone wants to know how he GOT to do that. This is precisely the same arc I had to ride. It takes time and money and humility and resilience and patience and learning how to live cheap, work hard, and take a kick in the teeth to your delicate ago.
Don’t want to do any of that? Fine. Then you won’t get to do what we do: badass adventure travel all over the world. And yes, it pays shit. But the life…and the stories, which we both turn into income.
The years we invested in our education about adventure made us worth hiring. Nobody on earth is going to pay you for that experience, so that they can then pay you to write stories. YOU have to pay for that.
From Sean’s article:
Anyone can type words. And anyone can wield a paintbrush.
That doesn’t make you Picasso. Doesn’t make you Hemingway. Any monkey can do either. Which is why some of my commenters have made disparaging remarks about the quality -or lack thereof- of writing on Medium.
Sean noted:
There’s a lot of money moving around in digital publishing right now. People are excited to get into the game, to escape the corporate grind.
Yes. AND a great many of those folks are not good writers.
I write regularly for a website called Perceptive Travel. The editor, Tim Leffel, is a friend. AND he’s my PAID travel writing coach. AND he doesn’t print your stories unless you’ve published a book AND he doesn’t give away his advice for free. I get paid for my stories because I did the work to build my relationship with Tim, I have a book out, I’m a damned good travel writer. There are no hacks for that.
In fact, here’s a perfect point to back Sean up.
Several people asked me about travel writing. I told them to look Tim up. What they didn’t hear was that I told them to sign up for his course. Tim told me later both of them wasted his time begging for free advice,and didn’t want to pay to learn how to write for the travel industry. They assume, wrongly, that travel writing is about being paid to sit on your ass on a cruise ship in five- star accommodations, being served Mai-Tais while you write 100-word reviews, all on someone else’s generous dime. Not only has that never been the case, that ship sailed a long time ago.
If you have the conceit to be a travel writer, when the planes fly again, that is, please see this:
That’s Tim’s training. Do the work. Don’t ask for free anything. Nothing worth having is free- we make a payment for everything from air to airfare.
DICK PICS.
Assuming that that 1) Sean or Tim or I have some magic EASY button to offer- in exchange for your dick pic; 2) that we are so very rich and well off that SURE we give all our BEST advice to anyone who drops trou, and 3) that such behavior is appropriate in the first place are elements of a Very. Bad. Plan.
To that, some career advice for those handing out pics of their flaccid members who are asking for membership in the Club of Folks Willing to Do the Work.
Yesterday, my BF found out that the postal service worker who was delivering to his building got sick. There’s been no mail for four days.
Photo by Mathyas Kurmann on Unsplash
The mail room is hiring, Sparky.
Kindly stop asking for, and worse, expecting free professional advice. We have worked hard for our expertise. DO NOT expect us to hand over keys to the kingdom when you are not willing to earn the right to step into it. That’s why it’s a kingdom, folks, you don’t get to stand on higher ground if you refuse to build your own mountain.
With thanks as always to Sean Kernan, and please go clean that kitty box. Your turn today?
Tagging Roz Warren, who knows something about online dicks, and about coaching writers. | https://medium.datadriveninvestor.com/the-dick-picks-of-the-business-world-3b78a328f865 | ['Julia E Hubbel'] | 2020-12-25 02:59:48.726000+00:00 | ['Success', 'Writing Tips', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Writing', 'Professional Development'] |
In Solidarity | Dear readers,
We live in stunningly grim times compared to when the last Yappie briefing was published in February. Disease has claimed the lives of more than 100,000 of our fellow Americans. Millions more are out of work. Unrest is spreading. Cities have been set ablaze. And there is no clear end in sight.
But amid the rage and anguish, we must not lose sight of why this is happening. The coronavirus pandemic and yet another tragic death at the hands of the police have laid bare the failures of our political leaders to address systemic racial inequities.
At a time when our own community is facing a surge in anti-Asian attacks, we cannot turn away, stay silent, or be complicit in violence inflicted upon others. The multiple tragedies rippling throughout the country are inherently linked, and the consequences of injustice, oppression, and hate impact us all — but particularly black Americans. The trauma being inflicted on their community is not new. In fact, it has always been their ‘normal.’
Our stories and struggles may be different, but we must do our part to confront white supremacy. On the last day of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we’d like to amplify some resources on how Asian Americans can support and stand in solidarity with the black community.
”I can’t breathe” was George Floyd’s last cry. Our hearts have been broken, but there is still so much work left to do.
— The Yappie Team | https://medium.com/yappie/in-solidarity-5009ad415887 | ['The Yappie'] | 2020-06-01 00:05:39.257000+00:00 | ['BlackLivesMatter', 'George Floyd', 'Race', 'Asian American', 'Resources'] |
Cognition : écrire à la main ou au clavier ? | 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/essentiels/cognition-%C3%A9crire-%C3%A0-la-main-ou-au-clavier-52e5cff25bdd | ['Jérémy Coron'] | 2020-12-27 12:59:38.301000+00:00 | ['Neuroscience', 'Mémoire', 'Neuroergonomie', 'Cerveau', 'Productivité'] |
Live Updates on NEX, Highly Anticipated ICO — Decentralized Exchange on NEO Platform | Update 22 Feb’18
Update 19 Feb’18
Next Sunday, 25th February, we will release our Token sale information at http://www.neonexchange.org and https://medium.com/neon-exchange with all the details we have up to date. Read it carefully and get ready!
Update 8 Feb’18
Red Pulse will be one of the first applications to, alongside NEX, bridge the traditional economy users with advanced Blockchain technology allowing professionals on the Red Pulse platform to easily onboard and offboard the RPX token with Fiat in a seamless experience.
Update 2 Feb’18
Just to reinforce: NEX has only 3 official sources of information: https://twitter.com/neonexchange https://medium.com/neon-exchange https://neonexchange.org
This article is just a list of their updates and not an official source of information.
Update 22 Jan’18
Interview of Ethan Fast by CryptoLark
Ethan Fast the co-founder of NEX and City of Zion and the creator od the NEON wallet and discuss the NEX token sale and the importance of DEXs. NEX is a high powered decentralized exchange which is shaping up to be a formidable player in the space
NEX or NeonExchage are doing an ICO soon and details of their token sale are being teased starting today.
Following is the initial sneak peek they’ve given us today i.e. 13th January at 2:00PM EST via twitter.
Most common practices of good ICOs is
Asking users to signup for whitelist Submit KYC/AML documents Process the documents and IDs to verify all compliance checklist Approve the whitelist and set a cap on maximum contribution to avoid whales accumulating.
So we hope the NeonExchange also does the same. I’ll be posting live updates via this article as well as on twitter. So do follow me on medium & twitter for quick updates. | https://medium.com/hackernoon/live-updates-on-nex-highly-anticipated-ico-decentralized-exchange-on-neo-platform-7739998f890 | ['Vamshi Vangapally'] | 2018-02-26 06:31:25.934000+00:00 | ['Exchange', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Bitcoin', 'Neo', 'Blockchain'] |
Super Bees: How Solomon Islanders Are Turning to These Tiny Heroes to Help Save Their Forests | Far up a river, deep in a rainforest, Jacob Manana, 27, of Rarakisi village in the Solomon Islands, tends to his backyard beehives.
Isolated and accessible only by boat, Rarakisi offers few opportunities for people to earn a living. Prior to beekeeping, Manana, like his neighbors, relied entirely on produce from his garden to put food on the table.
“I was always running to my brothers and sisters for help,” says Manana.
Despite these hardships, Rarakisi’s abundance of trees and thick vegetation has made the village a bright spot in a country challenged with rampant deforestation.
Rainforests used to cover most of the Solomon Islands. For decades, though, foreign commercial logging companies have been paying royalties to the tribes to harvest trees from their customary lands. Over time, this has depleted much of the forests. In the past five years, timber has been harvested at a rate seven times what is considered sustainable.
Deforestation now threatens the lives and well-being of people throughout the Solomon Islands because there are fewer trees to protect villages from rainfall and flooding hazards that are only getting stronger due to climate change. Today, one storm can displace families and ruin crops. The tribes of Rarakisi saw this destruction in surrounding villages and resolved to not let this happen to them.
“Turn your backyard into a golden spring,” touts the evocative motto of the Katazo Honey Farmers’ Network, a partner of the Natural Resources Development Foundation. / NRDF
Local Heroes Emerge
The Pacific Islands are on the front lines of global climate change and natural disasters. While civil society organizations have been developing solutions to adapt to these new challenges, many lack the funding and management needed to make lasting impact.
USAID is addressing this challenge through its Pacific-American Climate Fund (PACAM). Launched in 2013, the $24 million fund awards grants to promising civil society organizations in 12 Pacific countries to implement and scale up climate-resilient, communitylevel adaptation measures. PACAM also trains organizations to improve their management and financial practices so projects can last long after USAID’s funding is complete.
ln 2015, USAID’s PACAM project awarded a $168,000 grant to the Natural Resources Development Foundation (NRDF) to scale up its projects that assist villages to sustainably manage their forests and reduce their vulnerability to floods, droughts and other climate-induced events.
The project works with communities to help them manage and conserve their forests themselves rather than selling logging rights to commercial interests. The project also helps the communities to certify their timber, ensuring the forests provide sustainable environmental, social and economic benefits. Though it could take years, these measures are expected to help turn the tide on deforestation in the Solomon Islands.
One component of the project, however, is having an immediate impact on people’s lives. The project offers viable livelihood options for people like Manana, in hopes of steering them away from destructive logging practices. While some villagers are taking up nature tourism projects, others, including Manana, now run honeybee farms in their backyards. | https://medium.com/usaid-frontlines/super-bees-how-solomon-islanders-are-turning-to-these-tiny-heroes-to-help-save-their-forests-25e663083613 | [] | 2016-12-07 13:21:03.217000+00:00 | ['International Development', 'Honey', 'Climate Change', 'Pacific Islands', 'Beekeeping'] |
Your Love of Big Breasts Isn’t Biologically Hardwired | I was thirteen the first time I was catcalled for having breasts. I developed early, much earlier than getting my first period. And from that moment on, despite my youthful face and obvious lack of sexual maturity, men felt obliged to comment on, stare at, and talk about my breasts.
“Straight men are just hardwired to find bigger breasts more attractive.”
This was a comment I got when I complained about men staring at my breasts with no sense of shame. It was aimed to excuse the men in question, to allow their behavior. And it wasn’t the only comment I got.
Over the years, there have been lots: dirty, smug, scathing comments about how men simply can’t resist looking at big honking bazonkers, and not only can they not resist, but biology is on their side for it.
There’s nothing I despise more than folks — usually straight cis men — using really bad human evolutionary psychology takes to defend their misogyny. You see it when men claim that women are naturally worse at science, better at nurturing, just hardwired to want kids. There’s just something so patronizing about this line of defense that sets my teeth on edge.
“I’m not sexist,” these men seem to say. “I’m not objectifying you on purpose. It’s just science.”
But the science they’re citing, in this case, is wrong. Let’s get into the various mistaken assumptions about breast size.
Bigger breasts have no reproductive value.
Let’s go basic biology for a minute. Traditionally, people are attracted to features that indicate the future of their potential offspring is strong. We like symmetrical features that signify healthy genes, smooth faces that indicate a lack of disease.
And one of the things these men seem to seize upon is the allegedly universal truth that bigger breasts mean a woman is more likely to be reproductively successful, and that’s why they’re so attracted to them.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
The truth is that there is no evolutionary reason why men would prefer larger breasts. They’re not linked to higher fertility as a single trait, larger breasts don’t produce more milk for offspring, and if anything, larger breasts might signify that a woman is already pregnant which would count as a mark against her suitability as a mate.
Not only that but in terms of signaling reproductive readiness, they’re flawed at best. Many women develop breasts long before they’re fertile. Just as secondary sexual characteristics in men, like beards, aren’t universally attractive and don’t signify sexual virility or otherwise, breasts don’t either.
Breasts are not found universally attractive.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that many of the indications we take for attractiveness now are simply cultural. It’s not “hardwired” into us to find certain traits attractive, it’s drilled into us as a cultural preference.
Look at thinness, which is deemed a universally appealing trait. But the second you start to dig into any research that’s been done, you can see that women with higher BMIs tend to have more children, and children with higher birth weight, which would suggest that a higher BMI should be deemed sexually attractive. But it isn’t.
Look further afield and you’ll find one culture prefers “tubular” shaped women, instead of the traditional hourglass, whereas others prefer rounder figures because those signify a well-structured community that looks after its members.
In a 1951 study of 191 cultures, anthropologist Clellan Ford and ethologist Frank Beach reported that breasts were considered sexually important to men in 13 of those cultures. —Natalie Wolchover, via New Scientist
(I’ll leave aside the very worthy criticisms of BMI as a measurement for now.)
Nobody likes to talk about that, or about any of the other deviations of what people from different cultures find attractive because that contradicts popular perception of what people find attractive in society now. But big breasts are by no means something every culture deems sexually attractive.
Breast obsession is learned, not hardwired.
Here’s a pretty wild example: would you consider bound feet to be sexually desirable? Probably not — nowadays it’s viewed as a pretty controlling method which caused pain for the women it was inflicted upon.
Photo by Andalucía Andaluía on Unsplash
And yet, until fairly recently, footbinding was sexually appealing. This wasn’t due to some strange hardwired preference. Smaller feet didn’t signify a greater reproductive potential. It was simply a cultural preference tied up with a whole lot of weird misogyny about women being helpless.
Additionally, women can learn to fetishize breasts. There’s no reproductive benefit to women preferring to look at breasts, and yet in selected cultures, women do. That’s not a coincidence — it’s a sign that this kind of attraction is nurture, not nature.
In the cultural view, men aren’t so much biologically drawn to breasts as trained from an early age to find them erotic. — Natalie Wolchover via Live Science
The problem with the breast fetish
Well, what’s all the fuss? Why does it matter that men aren’t really hardwired to be obsessed with breasts? It’s because of the cultural significance placed on breasts.
Women are simultaneously told to cover up and display their breasts. We’re revered and shamed for them. They cement our position in society as mothers, caregivers, nurturers, while simultaneously casting us as harlots, provocateurs, shameless whores. Breasts are demonized when out of the control of men and put on the holiest of thresholds when in their possession.
“[Ms. Yalom] found very little in the record to indicate how women have felt about their breasts: whether they took pleasure in them, the extent to which they chose to display their breasts or if they had any say in the debate over wet-nursing.” — Natalie Angier, via the New York Times
In the past thirty years, there has been so much research done on the alleged importance of the female body — breasts included — and what men find attractive. And there’s been an unsurprising dearth of research that runs contrary to popular cultural expectations.
For example, look at the traditional story we’re told of women being the childbearing mothers staying at home collecting berries while the menfolk were all off hunting mammoths.
It begs the question: Why aren’t strong women seen as more attractive, given that the stronger, bigger, and broader women would have been more capable of protecting their children should. Why is it petite, dainty, helpless, big-breasted, small-waisted women who claim public adoration?
Photo by averie woodard on Unsplash
There’s no research done on this for the same reason the breast fetish isn’t questioned, for the same reason that there is next to no scrutiny on the body shapes and sizes that women prefer: because for the history of science, academia has had a vested interest in protecting the dominant worldview that breasts and the women attached to them are there for the consumption and pleasure of men.
I encourage scientists and readers alike to question their deep-held beliefs about universal attraction and the “natural” preferences and skills reported for men and women. Look at how these have changed over time, between and within cultures. Closely examine your prejudice and be brave enough to question it in the books you read, the people you speak with, and the beliefs you hold. | https://zulie.medium.com/your-love-of-big-breasts-isnt-biologically-hardwired-2f903209a13e | ['Zulie Rane'] | 2019-08-30 15:17:12.266000+00:00 | ['Equality', 'Sexuality', 'Psychology', 'Culture', 'Science'] |
Delphy Weekly Progress Updates- January 9th, 2019 | Marketing Updates:
Recently, Delphy has reached strategic alliance with OXBTC. Both parties will work closely on the community promotion and prediction markets initiation. OXBTX sponsored prediction markets, e.g., “That the BTC mining difficulity is getting higher, will be a good indicator of BTC bull market?” What’s your prediction? (OXBTC is a professional cloud mining investment platform.)
Both parties will work closely on the community promotion and prediction markets initiation. OXBTX sponsored prediction markets, e.g., “That the BTC mining difficulity is getting higher, will be a good indicator of BTC bull market?” What’s your prediction? (OXBTC is a professional cloud mining investment platform.) Last week, there are total 51markets initiated for “Winners Get All” module, and total participation reached 707. The average number of participants of each market is 14, and there are 41 attendees for the most popular market. The highest rewarding pool reached 1,292 DPYs.
The nineth round of “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner” module has successfully completed. There are total 5 attendees, and the rewarding pool is as big as 300DPYs. Guess what? A single person predicted all markets correctly and became the biggest winner, who won 300DPYs. Congratulations!
Product Updates:
Delphy helped some users who lost their mobile numbers which were used for the registration with the migration.
Completed the coding of framework with low coupling functionality
Completed the coding about the cache function optimization plan
Plan of the week:
Start the testing of framework with low coupling functionality
Start the testing of cache function optimization plan for prediction markets segment
Thank you for your continuous support and wish you a happy, healthy and wealthy year of 2019!
About Delphy
A Decentralized mobile social platform for prediction markets. Delphy is a decentralized, mobile prediction market platform built on Ethereum. The Delphy App is a light Ethereum node running on mobile devices. Delphy uses market incentives to allow participants in a market to communicate, instantly and transparently, their wisdom regarding the outcome of upcoming events, effectively predicting the future.
These are our official social platforms:
Telegram Ann: https://t.me/DelphyANN
Telegram Chat: https://t.me/DelphyCHAT
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Delphy_org
Medium: https://medium.com/delphy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Delphyfoundation/
Discord: https://discord.gg/gjWaS5M
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delphy_org/
Bitcointalk: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2046622.0
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Delphy/
The Delphy Team | https://medium.com/delphy/delphy-weekly-progress-updates-january-9th-2019-3b02c3dd2fc3 | ['Ada Gao'] | 2019-01-09 15:37:35.324000+00:00 | ['Blockchain', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Ethereum', 'Prediction Markets'] |
Homebase is live on Tezos mainnet! | What is Homebase, anyways?
Simply put, Homebase is a web application that enables users to create and manage/use DAOs on the Tezos blockchain. This application aims to help empower community members and developers to launch and participate in Tezos-based DAO’s.
DAOs in general can be seen as communities without centralized authority, while also providing mechanisms for community members to trustlessly collaborate.
Homebase currently provides two DAO types/templates — registries and treasuries. Treasuries allow for pooling and spending funds through community voting processes.
Registries provide treasury functionality and additionally enable communities to maintain a registry of some sort; where adding, removing or modifying the registry are all handled through voting processes. Use cases go from a curated token registry to a curated NFT marketplace.
Nestor Amesty of dOrg, the partner organization involved with designing Homebase, shared a few words on his background:
dOrg, the organization I work for, has been in charge of the design, front-end implementation, integration to the BaseDAO framework and contracts and has also contributed in product development and architecture design. I am a fullstack web3 engineer with a strong ethereum background and a member of dOrg. I have personally contributed to projects and organizations like TheGraph, DeversiFi, Aragon, Daostack, Boardroom and Polywrap. My role on Homebase has been serving as the front-end and integrations tech lead, while also contributing to the architecture design of Homebase and BaseDAO.
Nestor was also kind enough to share what has changed since Homebase’s initial conception.
The core concepts and functionality have not changed, but the implementation plan and details, along with some parts of the BaseDAO architecture definitely have. For instance, at first, there weren’t DAO templates/types, and all DAOs were envisioned as completely generic and customizable. However, the actual implementation for this was not only very complex, but also difficult to present and be used by Homebase users. So core functionality and most common configurations were abstracted into what BaseDAO and Homebase call “templates”; allowing users to select the configuration that best adapts their use case. It is worth noting that this concept of templating is well used by other proven DAO frameworks on ethereum. The biggest challenges have been, without doubt, providing an easy and understandable interface for users to interact with DAOs and their mechanics. This has led us to go over several design iterations, adding more notifications and pointers for users, creating our own indexer to improve performance, among other things. We expect that with further UX iterations and development of the platform, additional resources for users, and adoption in general, the DAO experience, through Homebase, on Tezos, will become something natural among communities.
In regards to the BaseDAO framework for Homebase, Pasquale Pinto of Serokell provided some extra input. | https://news.tezoscommons.org/homebase-is-live-on-tezos-mainnet-9c11d0294970 | ['William Mckenzie'] | 2021-09-09 21:06:06.009000+00:00 | ['Governance', 'Homebase', 'Dao', 'Blockchain', 'Tezos'] |
Vim Tutorial: Tips to Write Code Faster | With how much code you produce in a day, mastering your text editor is an investment that will pay dividends for the rest of your engineering career.
While programming happens in your head, it often takes a mountain of experimental code (littered with dead ends) before you finally land on the concise, 37-line pull request you originally intended to create.
That’s a lot of typing, and an opportunity to reclaim time on the calendar.
This tutorial is for engineers who have dabbled with vim here and there, but wouldn’t call themselves an expert yet. You’ve learned how to actually close the application, but everything else still feels a little intimidating.
This post highlights simple techniques you can use while modifying just about any code snippet, and skips over advanced functionality that doesn’t see much use throughout the average coding session.
Situational commands have their place, but they shouldn’t take priority over mastering the fundamentals during your first few months with vim.
Your biggest productivity leaps will come from analyzing basic habits with a critical eye, and finding opportunities to shave 3 seconds off of the small movement patterns you find yourself repeating 600 times every month.
Even if it only takes a second to move your hands off the home row to navigate using the arrow keys, that’s ~60 minutes lost to opportunity cost by the end of the quarter. They feel quick and harmless in the moment, but those micro-inefficiencies stack up quickly over the course of a career.
Navigate and Manipulate Lines Efficiently
Normal mode is where you want to spend most of your time within vim.
Insert mode is great when you actually want to type something, but try to err on the side of hitting CTRL+[ / CTRL+C to return to normal mode after (or the ESC key, if moving your pinky down to CTRL feels uncomfortable).
When using normal mode, vim remaps your entire keyboard to place as many programmer-centric features around the home row as possible, and the majority of vim’s advanced text manipulation and navigation lives here.
Check out these useful commands to work with lines more efficiently…
Capitalization matters! For the A command, you’re essentially typing Shift + a
These shortcuts will shave 30 seconds off most code snippets, and I’d recommend doing whatever it takes to commit each one to muscle memory.
Also, while navigating character-by-character, try to get into the habit of using h (left), j (down), k (up), and l (right) instead of the arrow keys.
While awkward at first, most of vim’s advanced text manipulation lives around the home row keys, and you’ll miss out on a lot of the fluidity this editor can offer if you’re always moving your hands around. | https://jacobcomer.medium.com/write-code-faster-in-vim-c564ff9b9f6c | ['Jacob Comer'] | 2020-12-29 03:54:44.775000+00:00 | ['Code', 'Vim', 'Efficiency', 'Programming', 'Software Development'] |
Why I Worry About Venture-Backed Mental Health & Addiction Startups | Why I Worry About Venture-Backed Mental Health & Addiction Startups
And My Ask Of Investors In These Companies
It’s frustrating if you’re a customer of an expense report SaaS startup and the company goes out of business, but it’s potentially devastating if your tele-therapist or addiction counselor suddenly disappears because the platform that employed them ran out of money. This is my most significant concern about the wave of mental wellness startups being funded with venture dollars — what happens to the clients of the ones which fail?
Photo by Matthew Waring on Unsplash
Traditional venture capital models lean into what’s called ‘power laws.’ Basically the idea that you are backing risky new ventures, many of which will stumble along the way, but one or two of the companies you back will be such outsized successes that the investment gains from those will more than offset the others.
Venture capital is a great instrument for high growth companies, or those who are very early in their development but intend to pursue a high growth strategy. If a normal small business must optimize for unit economics and profitability early in its lifecycle, a venture-backed business seeks product-market fit in a big industry and then trades nearterm profit-taking for long-term marketshare, with the idea that profits can be extracted later. I’ll pause for a moment now to emphasize that I don’t believe there’s anything fundamentally wrong with this tradeoff, which shouldn’t surprise you since I am a venture capitalist. If you’re reading this post because you think capitalism is a fundamentally broken system or that venture itself is evil, I’m sorry to share that I don’t agree. But I will absolutely acknowledge that companies which take any outside capital implicitly and explicitly incorporate the needs and expectations of that capital into their business planning. And for venture-backed startups this tends to be “get them customers.”
Which leads us to the fundamental difference between, say, a small self-funded online therapy practice and one that has taken millions of dollars in seed capital: the latter can acquire a larger number of patients much faster using investment dollars for both customer acquisition and to subsidize the economics of serving those clients. That’s what always gives me a little bit of pause in this particular area — the scale ahead of the sustainability
This post is an open question, not a conclusion, because there are plenty of startups which are trying to grow this market using technology and new approaches. Their success will mean that many more people can access mental wellness and addiction services than were potentially able to do so before. And hopefully the efficacy of these programs is even higher when software can be used to support provider matching, behavioral nudges and other extensions to what counselors themselves can do with patients. If we don’t have mission-driven entrepreneurs believing there are opportunities to dramatically improve the service and outcomes in these areas then we tragically don’t move forward. And if 2020 taught us anything it’s how important mental health is to our lives and how many more people who suffer from loneliness, depression, anxiety could benefit from proactively engaging around their health beyond pharmaceuticals.
So when a founder pitches me a business (and please do! [email protected]) in this market I’m simultaneously excited and conflicted. This is personal for me. Since 2011 I’ve been in therapy and seen great benefits in my life. I want others to have similar access ongoing or as needed and know that it’s difficult for many because of economics, time and access limitations. Startups can help fix these problems and we’ve seen a number who are solving infrastructure problems for therapists and clients (aka picks and shovels).
Whether you’re the platform providing the therapy or the software powering the therapist, entrepreneurs in this area should have their own version of the Hippocratic Oath. What I’d ask the investors in these companies is that they share the same values. Push for responsible growth and make sure patients are well-served. Realize that when you look at stats that involve quality of customer interactions, drug prescriptions, etc you’re talking about real people, not just percentages. And perhaps most essential, have a plan for what happens if the company doesn’t succeed. What does client offboarding look like, how long would it take and how much would it cost? The answer might be that in a failure-case you don’t use the remaining capital for one last growth hack but instead have a responsibility to get patients to a new provider. We, as investors, have to be very careful about unknowing exposing vulnerable populations to venture-risk.
Update: Coincidentally The Atlantic had an article out today about troubles at one such startup.
Notes and More
I’ve historically not been a “New Year’s Resolutions” type of guy, but have found a certain mindfulness in at least taking stock of what’s working well for me and what’s less useful. And then deciding whether it’s the recognition of these that matters or there’s work to be done to change my perspectives and outcomes.
📦 Things I’m Enjoying
Miley Cyrus’ new album Plastic Hearts, Haus’ sampler pack of delicious, low ABV spirits, and OMG these ImmuneSchein Ginger Elixirs are so good — you just mix in some hot water and yum.
🏗 Highlighted Homebrew Portfolio Jobs
Arthur.ai is a software startup making it easier for companies to manage and monitor their AI/ML models. This includes not just observability and explainability but fairness. A great, inclusive culture and team plus a brand new $15m Series A round means it could be your next job. They’re hiring lots of folks across engineering, product, design, marketing, sales and such! | https://hunterwalk.medium.com/why-i-worry-about-venture-backed-mental-health-addiction-startups-cb57ec146536 | ['Hunter Walk'] | 2020-12-29 04:20:02.057000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Tech', 'Addiction', 'Therapy', 'Startup'] |
Saturday Cup of Joe from Detroit on Sunday | Quote: “Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul.” — Thomas Merton
Source: @rawdetroit on Instagram
Bonus content is a link to 27 creations that changed DIY forever. Some seem innocuous — the pegboard — while others like the paint roller and water-based paint make a ton of sense. Some are small but effective — the bungee cord — and some are big but made accessible the affordable power drill and chainsaw.
Continued success and continue to answer well in 2021, | https://medium.com/@jeremydpotter/saturday-cup-of-joe-from-detroit-on-sunday-73d4c7b257a9 | [] | 2020-12-27 16:35:15.334000+00:00 | ['Housing', 'Home', 'Fintech', 'Branding', 'Innovation'] |
Introducing Discount Stablecoins | Autonomous Agents (AAs) are now on mainnet and we are starting to roll out applications that AAs make possible. This post is about stablecoins. As the design that we developed is different from all other stablecoins known in crypto so far, we will use “discount stablecoin” as its name to note its difference. We’ll explain below why the term “discount” is applied in this implementation.
Attention to stablecoins has been growing lately and the largest stablecoin, Tether, is currently occupying the 4th position on CoinMarketCap. Among their benefits are their convenience as a stable and familiar unit of account, which makes them often being used in trading pairs on exchanges, as well as the ease and freedom of transferring value from one user to another, including from exchange to exchange. Lately, they have become an important building block in the fast-growing sector of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications.
In the market today, there are three general categories of stablecoins:
Fiat-backed (or more generally, asset-backed) — a 1:1 backing is provided by a company that holds the real-world asset to which they are pegged in a centralized manner. Examples are USDT (Tether), USDC, TUSD, DigixGold.
(or more generally, asset-backed) — a 1:1 backing is provided by a company that holds the real-world asset to which they are pegged in a centralized manner. Examples are USDT (Tether), USDC, TUSD, DigixGold. Crypto-collateralized — value is collateralized by cryptocurrencies that are locked to ensure the value of the stablecoin. A popular example would be DAI.
value is collateralized by cryptocurrencies that are locked to ensure the value of the stablecoin. A popular example would be DAI. Non-collateralized — no collateralization at all but instead they try to achieve stability by regulating issuance and burning of the coin, much like central banks do. An example is the Basis protocol, now defunct.
The stablecoin system we designed is within the crypto-collateralized category. It is similar to DAI in some respects, while different in others.
How it works
Issuance
To issue stablecoins, one needs to send some collateral to the stablecoin AA. Collateral is usually Bytes, usually denominated in GBYTE, as it is the most liquid asset on the Obyte network, but any stablecoin AA can define its own collateral of choice. This collateral will be locked on the stablecoin AA to back the issuance (minting) of stablecoin tokens.
The value of the stablecoin issued is lower than the collateral that is locked to ensure stability in terms of volatility of the collateralized asset, i.e. it is overcollateralized. Though anyone who sets up a stablecoin AA can set their own parameters for how much it will be overcollateralized, in our examples we’ll assume that the overcollateralization ratio is 150% (i.e. to issue $100 worth of stablecoins you need to lock up $150 worth of collateral) in order to keep things consistent so it’s easier to understand.
It’s important to note that a user who requests an issue of $100 worth of the stablecoin tokens however is not buying them for $150. The $150 is a collateral, and the user still owns the claim to the $150 collateral and receives $100 of stablecoins on top of it. In other words, the issuance of a stablecoin is the issuance of a collateralized loan in the form of a stablecoin. And the one who requests an issuance of the stablecoin is a borrower who locks up their collateral to secure the loan. To get the collateral back, they will need to return the same amount of stablecoins they borrowed.
The total supply of stablecoins increases as a new loan is issued, and decreases as a loan is repaid and the repaid stablecoins destroyed. So, the stablecoin is debt, much like modern fiat money is debt of a central bank or a commercial bank.
Minimum collateralization and auctions
The large 150% collateral is needed to protect against the inherent volatility of the token that was used as collateral (usually, Bytes). The value of collateral must always be greater than the value of stablecoins issued against it, otherwise the borrower can just walk away with the borrowed stablecoins and never repay the loan.
To ensure that the collateral is always sufficient, the borrower has an obligation to always keep it above a minimum collateralization ratio, let’s say it is 120% (AA parameters can define a different minimum collateralization ratio). The borrower can do so by sending additional collateral to the loan, or repaying the loan before its collateralization gets too low.
If the borrower fails to refill the collateral on time and the actual collateralization ratio drops below the minimum, the loan is put on auction and sold to the highest bidder. Participants of the auction compete to add more collateral to the undercollateralized loan, and the winner becomes the new owner of the loan, and therefore receives the right to repay the loan and receive all its collateral. Which is greater than the loan value and makes participation in the auction profitable. The original owner of the loan accordingly loses the right to repay the loan and receive the collateral back, which was worth 120% of the loan value when the auction started. So, letting the collateralization ratio drop below 120% is not a good idea — one can lose 20% of the loan value. Note, however, that the original owner can still participate in the auction like everybody else and has an opportunity to win back what they were about to lose. It’s also important to note that the AA that creates the stablecoin can set the auction duration, which has a default of 1 hour.
Since all this happens on a DAG, not a blockchain, all participants have equal opportunities to win an auction when many users rush to seize an undercollateralized loan. There are no miners who could front-run other users by inserting miner’s transactions before others or reorganizing the chain in their favor.
Collateralization levels are determined by using price data reported by an oracle set in the AA parameters. To make it harder to manipulate the market and cause premature auctioning off of multiple loans, the price data should ideally not be based on the instantaneous price but rather a moving average (MA) over some sufficiently long period (but not too long, to avoid excessive delays). Otherwise, it is relatively easy to cause a flash crash which will be reflected in the instantaneous price feed. With this method, it is much harder to keep the price away from equilibrium for a long time in order to significantly affect the MA price.
Value pegging
How do we ensure that a stablecoin is actually stable and its price is linked to the price of its benchmark? Here is where our stablecoin design diverges from DAI. We don’t try to regulate the supply and demand by incentivizing or disincentivizing additional issuance of stablecoins — a mechanism which central banks use. Sometimes it works but sometimes it is as effective as pushing on a string.
Instead, the stablecoin price is “pulled” to the benchmark price. How? At some future date, the stablecoin becomes convertible to the collateral (usually, Bytes) at the price registered on that future date. That is, one can use the AA which previously issued the stablecoins, to convert stablecoins to Bytes and vice-versa. The reverse direction (Bytes to stablecoins) is necessary e.g. for when the borrower needs the relevant stablecoin to pay back the loan but have sold their initial issuance. The exchange rate is fixed and is equal to the benchmark’s (USD, EUR, BTC, gold, etc) exchange rate to the collateral (e.g GBYTE) on that future date, which we call “Expiry Date”. The exchange rate is registered by an oracle set in the AA parameters.
Since all loans are overcollateralized, the AA is guaranteed to have enough GBYTE reserves to buy the entire outstanding amount of stablecoins from the market. Issuance of new stablecoins in exchange for GBYTE is completely reversible since the exchange rate is fixed.
So, each stablecoin has two distinct periods: before the expiry and after the expiry (the “after-life”).
After the expiry, no new loans are issued but old ones can still be repaid. The stablecoin’s exchange rate is fixed to GBYTE (or whatever was used as collateral), its price trajectory is identical to that of GBYTE, and therefore the stablecoin is no longer stable in its after-life.
Before the expiry, everybody knows that a USD-linked stablecoin will be exchangeable for $1 worth of GBYTEs at some future date, and a BTC-linked stablecoin will be exchangeable for 1 BTC worth of GBYTEs at some future date. Essentially, the stablecoin’s present price is pulled to its future value. This is similar to how the current prices of futures contracts are pulled to (but not necessarily equal to) the traders’ expectations about the future price of the traded commodity on the contract’s expiry date.
We expect that this pulling mechanism will keep the price of stablecoin aligned with the benchmark price, but not equal to it. This does not become equal because by buying 1 USD-linked stablecoin today you are buying $1 at some future date, not now. And $1 today is not the same as $1 next year due to the time value of money. So, it will be fair to pay less than $1 for a coin that is only redeemable for $1 in 1 year just like you would pay less for something you only get in the distant future. How much less, depends on active interest rates in the benchmark currency, which are normally positive for fiat currencies (but not now, when major currencies have 0 or even negative interest rates).
This is why such a stablecoin should trade with a discount to its benchmark, and explains the name “Discount Stablecoin”. The discount should be larger when further away from the Expiry Date, and should gradually decrease as the stablecoin approaches its Expiry Date. So, the price trajectory of a discount stablecoin should look like this:
This is exactly the same as the price trajectory of a zero-coupon bond.
Everything that is known about zero-coupon bonds as an investment instrument applies to Discount Stablecoins too. In particular, the prices of long-term Discount Stablecoins are very sensitive to changes in the interest rate and therefore can be used to immunize the interest rate risk of long-term liabilities.
Pros and cons
The ability to make money is the main benefit of a Discount Stablecoin. One cannot make money by holding any of the stablecoins that we’ve seen before — their value is constant (excluding some mild volatility). By holding Discount Stablecoins on the other hand, one has the potential to make money. This is achieved with little volatility, without wild price swings common for crypto, and with steady and slow appreciation, as expected from the above description of the value pegging mechanism.
There are risks however. This is a new unproven technology, there could be bugs, there could be wild market moves that could make it behave in unexpected ways (see the Risks section below). Higher risk justifies a larger discount, which translates to higher income for those who take it.
One downside of this stablecoin design is that it is not as stable as a classic stablecoin is supposed to be. Its market value relative to the benchmark is not 1:1 but changes, for example, from 0.95:1 to 1:1 over its lifetime, which is not convenient for a unit of account. However, the volatility of such a stablecoin is still significantly lower than that of regular cryptocurrencies, and when used as a medium of exchange, a small appreciation accrued during a short period of holding should not be a big issue. This allows us to still keep this design under the “stablecoin” category.
Another downside is that it expires, which makes it inconvenient as a store of value, unless the expiry period is really long, despite it still being good as a medium of exchange.
After expiry, the stablecoin loses stability and starts behaving like the collateral asset it was made from (usually, Bytes). Most holders of such stablecoins will not want to be exposed to volatility and will seek to sell the stablecoin before expiry. The best way to avoid this volatility is to trade it for another stablecoin that expires later.
The target audience
Similar to other crypto-backed stablecoins, the main driver of adoption is speculation.
Those who mint (borrow) stablecoins, do it to exchange the newly minted stablecoin for something else without selling their collateral.
For example, one might mint a USD-linked stablecoin while not having to sell their Bytes, thus essentially getting USD without sacrificing their Bytes. They could then exchange it for a gold-linked stablecoin if they speculate that the price of gold will go up. If the price of gold increases as they predicted, they could sell the gold stablecoin back for the USD stablecoin and subsequently repay the loan.
Or, mint a USD-coin and exchange it for a S&P-coin to take a long position in S&P. Or, vice versa, mint a S&P-coin and sell it for USD-coin in order to short S&P.
One could also mint $100 of a USD stablecoin by locking in $150 worth of collateral in GBYTEs and then use the $100 of USD stablecoin to buy GBYTEs, thus getting an exposure to $150 worth of GBYTEs for a net investment of $50 in GBYTE. That is, a 3x leveraged long position in GBYTEs (actually the leverage is slightly less than 3 because the borrowed stablecoin is discounted and 100 stablecoins can be sold for slightly less than $100 worth of GBYTEs).
These examples above are of positional traders. Note that none of them are trading their own capital. Instead, they are trading borrowed capital that they borrowed against GBYTE as collateral.
On the other hand, there are low-risk-tolerance investors who acquire Discount Stablecoins for the purpose of gaining profit with lower risk, though with lower potential ROI as well, by
acquiring them long before their Expiry Date with a large discount,
holding them for some time,
then selling with a smaller discount, i.e. at a higher price, thus earning some interest.
These two categories of investors have different yet complementary risk preferences. While the first group makes high-risk bets on the movement of prices, the second group earns interest in their favorable currency or asset, such as USD or BTC. For some assets, such as BTC, there are currently no options to earn interest without centralized custody. With Discount Stablecoins linked to these assets, we now get such options.
Note that the interest earned by those in the second category is implicitly paid for by the traders in the first category — when they mint a USD-linked stablecoin, they borrow a discounted coin that is worth, say, $0.95. By the time they close the position (repay the loan) the stablecoin will have already slightly appreciated and then they buy it from the market for, say, $0.96. The difference is small however, compared with the trader’s potential gain if their trade is profitable, but it is the price they have to pay for trading using borrowed money.
Although Discount Stablecoins are targeted at traders and investors, their activity eventually creates a few stable and liquid means of payment — for the rest of us.
The risks
Despite the built-in protections, there are still some things that can go wrong at a systemic level.
For example, though the large 150% initial collateral helps to protect against depreciation of the collateral asset the stablecoin AA holds, it is not a full guarantee.
When a loan’s collateralization ratio drops below a minimum set in the AA parameters (e.g. 120%) the loan is put on auction and, under most circumstances, will be recapitalized to a normal collateralization ratio. The possibility to lose a loan (with a 20% loss) if its collateralization ratio drops below the minimum and it’s put on auction, should make borrowers track their loans and refill the collateral before it gets too low.
However, if the price of the collateral asset drops too much and too fast, which is not often but can still happen, the borrowers might not have enough time to react and refill the collateral or the value of collateral can fall even below the corresponding value of stablecoins issued before the corresponding auction ends.
In such cases, the AA as a whole could become undercapitalized to back all the issued stablecoins, and the stablecoin would lose the peg. If the market price of the stablecoin drops too much below its benchmark, it might become profitable to buy the distressed stablecoins from the market to repay one’s loans and release the collateral which might be worth more. Such repayments would remove some of the stablecoins from circulation. Eventually, the market will find the price equilibrium, which will be below the benchmark, therefore the holders will lose part of their money under such circumstances. This risk factor they have to account for is part of the pricing mechanism for the stablecoin on the market.
No-governance
There are many parameters in the stablecoin AA that affect its behavior, and most importantly, security. However, we don’t know which parameter values are the best at the moment. That said, we do know that some of the most important parameters to take into consideration are: initial collateralization ratio, minimum collateralization ratio, auction period, and the oracle that reports the price.
Rather than trying to devise complex governance mechanisms that would allow the community to adjust these parameters in-flight, we chose, at least at this time, to have these parameters set once when an AA is created and stay immutable for its entire lifetime. Thus, to discover the optimal parameters, everyone will be able to launch a new stablecoin AA with any set of parameters, even with modified rules, and these various stablecoins will compete against each other in the open market. Since these stablecoins have a limited lifespan, the cost of mistakes can be minimized and the community will be able to learn from previous experience and improve the future generations of stablecoin AAs. This is evolution by forking, which has so far proved effective in crypto and in open source.
There are pros and cons to no-governance approach. Among the pros:
it is simple — there are no governance mechanisms that add complexity, increase the attack surface, and might fail;
it is fast to evolve, easy to experiment with, because there are no big stakes necessary;
it guarantees certainty about the rules of the game as no governance decisions can ever change them;
it doesn’t require any rent-seeking token (such as MKR) which often comes at a cost to the entire system;
it allows greater freedom of choice and doesn’t impose a one size that fits all.
The cons:
it is inflexible — there is no within-lifetime adaptability as adaptability is only in choice among the competing offerings and migration from one to another;
it causes fragmentation as there is no single stablecoin that everyone knows, instead there are many that can exist for any given asset or currency, of which some are illiquid.
As we get more experience, we might see some areas (e.g. some subset of parameters) that would benefit from some form of governance, but right now we are only at the start of the journey and don’t have any experience that would guide our decisions.
Another reason why Discount Stablecoins don’t need governance as much as DAI needs is exactly because they are discount-based. DAI loans are interest-bearing: one has to pay interest for using the borrowed money. There is no single interest rate that is right at all times because market conditions change, and thus the rate needs to be adjusted in response. This is why governance interventions are often necessary.
With Discount Stablecoins on the other hand, there is no explicit interest paid for borrowing stablecoins. Instead, the interest is paid implicitly, through discount, and the amount of this discount is wholly determined by the market. As market conditions change, the discount is automatically adjusted by the market (for example, should the Fed increase interest rates, the discount on USD-linked stablecoins will increase too), and it doesn’t need to be mediated by any governance body.
Curtain-up
Ostable.org is a website for creating new stablecoins and for various operations with them: minting, repaying the loans, participating in auctions, and exchanging to/from collateral after expiry.
Anyone can be a creator of a new stablecoin as there is only a simple form to fill out. A new stablecoin can be linked to any fiat currency, cryptocurrency, commodity, or index that is supported by an oracle. Currently, there are oracles that post the prices of fiat currencies, cryptocurrencies, and precious metals, and anyone can set up an oracle that posts any other prices or indexes. There is an example of oracle source code on github to start with.
Since this field is highly experimental and many things are likely to improve as we get experience, we recommend starting with shorter expiry periods, up to 1 year.
Each stablecoin is operated by its own AA, so their funds are segregated, and all AAs are parameterized AAs, i.e. they are all created from the same template (source code) and vary only by parameters.
Once issued, stablecoins can be traded on the ODEX decentralized exchange, and on the Oswap automated market maker when it launches.
For developers who want to try their hand in dapps, and receive some bounties, there are two small helper apps you are invited to build:
a bot that tracks all open loans and participates in auctions if any loan becomes undercollateralized;
a chatbot where users can register their addresses, and the bot will track the collateralization ratio of all loans opened under these addresses and notify users through chat messages (which are already delivered as push notifications to mobile wallets) whenever a loan’s collateralization ratio drops below some threshold. A link to the chatbot will be added on ostable.org.
If you are interested, contact us on Discord. The offers are open for two weeks. After that period, we may decide to develop the apps ourselves. | https://medium.com/obyte/introducing-discount-stablecoins-6e7b5e9a8fd6 | [] | 2020-04-16 12:26:03.442000+00:00 | ['Obyte', 'Stablecoin Cryptocurrency', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Decentralized Finance', 'Stable Coin'] |
Why documentation matters | Why documentation matters
Good documentation = more inclusion
The DNC Tech Team builds the data products and technological infrastructure that powers Democratic campaigns up and down the ballot.
An essential part of this infrastructure is good documentation. When done correctly, it is a tool for inclusion.
The role of good documentation
What do we mean by “documentation”? Documentation is the written material that accompanies a product (whether that is data, a tool, a model, etc.). It provides the information needed to properly use the product.
Comprehensive and accessible documentation achieves three things:
It lowers the barrier of entry to product usage. It decreases the reliance on subject-matter experts, allowing everyone to get up to speed efficiently. It empowers people to use products independently.
Within the political ecosystem, documentation and the democratization it allows is particularly important because turnover rates are high (particularly after each election cycle), and the pool of people with experience using the products that power campaigns can be limited.
Without good documentation, teams run the risk of excluding capable and interested candidates who are new to the political ecosystem, narrowing an already limited pool of talent.
In the last year, we’ve placed a focus on developing comprehensive user-facing documentation for our products. It has been a team effort, and one that is ongoing.
Four tenets of documentation
Identify the primary user
Our user base is broad. Users range in organization (presidential campaigns to state parties to sister committees), function, type of program, and experience level.
Similar to creating a product, when developing documentation, we start with two questions:
What is the problem we are trying to solve?
Who are we solving it for?
Often, a product serves a wide range of use cases and experience levels. In those situations, we aim to create documentation that is accessible to users with the least experience, while highlighting the range of use cases the product can be applied to.
Written for the next election cycle
Turnover is natural within all industries. Documentation creates institutional memory that allows people to navigate products without relying on experienced (former) colleagues.
To ensure that future staffers can easily use our products, we keep both quantity and quality of documentation in mind.
We create documentation for all of the tools, data, and products we develop. This includes metadata (descriptions about a data field) for every new field in Phoenix, our data warehouse.
Meet users where they are
Tips for creating easy-to-understand documentation:
Explain the “why”: Provide contextual information about why the product is valuable. Highlight how it can help the user.
Provide contextual information about why the product is valuable. Highlight how it can help the user. Avoid jargon: Documentation should be written in a way that doesn’t require the user to look up any terminology. A good starting place is to avoid acronyms and abbreviations.
Documentation should be written in a way that doesn’t require the user to look up any terminology. A good starting place is to avoid acronyms and abbreviations. Make it referenceable: Documentation plays dual roles as a manual and a reference point. Highlight the most important points in documentation to make it easy for someone to quickly digest the key information.
We include a TL;DR section at the top of documentation to make it easily referenceable.
Include examples: Examples help show how a product works and/or how it should be used. This has been particularly useful for explaining data science concepts like the National Record Linkage algorithm.
Examples help show how a product works and/or how it should be used. This has been particularly useful for explaining data science concepts like the National Record Linkage algorithm. Use visuals: Visuals illustrate information — in many cases, better than words can.
Example graphic included in DNC Data Science documentation by Sarah James
Make it actionable & engaging
Documentation should make it as easy as possible for a user to go from learning about a product to using it.
To do so, we incorporate example workflows and SQL code into our data and tool documentation. Users are able to see example situations where the product is helpful, then immediately try it out.
Similarly, we’ve recently been testing a new form of documentation: Data Studio and Tableau Dashboards. For data science products, like the 2020 Democratic Party Support Model — which predicts the likelihood that someone will support Democrats, we created a dashboard that allows a user to explore the key inputs to the model in their state, turnout targeting charts, and demographic breakdowns.
Inclusion through information
Creating and maintaining comprehensive, accessible, and engaging documentation takes work. At DNC Tech, it is a cross-team effort. However it is an essential component of, not a supplement to, the products we offer.
A lack of previous experience shouldn’t be a barrier to entry to the political ecosystem. By investing in good documentation, we strive to make it easier for people who are new to the political ecosystem to hit the ground running.
If you’re interested in making a difference in this election cycle and those to come, join our team. | https://medium.com/democratictech/why-documentation-matters-da39af00d43c | ['Emily Dillon'] | 2020-08-18 17:47:46.593000+00:00 | ['Documentation', 'Inclusion', 'Product', 'Product Marketing', 'Politics'] |
Decapitating Consciousness | I believe I am as conscious as anyone. When I am awake and my eyes are open, I see a stable, colorful, and continuous world all around me, and that world doesn’t wobble when my eyes move. This fact alone suggests that I am experiencing consciousness, because what I am perceiving transcends the visual signals my retinas are receiving. Those signals are messy, in part because eyes move almost continuously and in part because the retina includes an area — the scotoma — that doesn’t react to light; it is a blind spot that is somehow getting filled in by my brain.
My other senses also help me perceive a rich and orderly world which is, I am fairly sure, being constructed by my brain — more evidence that I am “conscious.” I am also reasonably good — as good as one can be, anyway, which isn’t very good — at picturing things from my past: people I used to know, places I have visited, the room I slept in when I was four. I can also imagine things I have never seen, even things that could never exist: the Eiffel Tower upside-down, Donald Trump with three heads, a line of people a mile long waiting to take advantage of the free food offer at the Russian Tea Room in New York (now there is a fantasy).
I also talk to myself a great deal. And, yes, I also experience a wide range of feelings — as wide, I believe, as anyone feels. At the moment, I am mainly feeling nervous about all the criticism I will get from various “experts” about the content of the essay I am now writing.
So, do I qualify? Do I seem to you to be conscious, or at least to be a good liar who knows what to say to convince people I am conscious? Let’s assume the former, at least for the moment, so I can get on with things.
My world has always been full of mysteries, such as: What happens to the thousands of tons of rubber that wear off the tires of our cars and trucks every year? Why isn’t it piling up on the sides of our roads, blocking the views of our houses? And: If I hang upside down every day, will I get taller or at least stop shrinking as I get older?
For much of my adult life, I have also wondered about something that is supposed to be mysterious but that has never seemed so to me: Why, for centuries, have people considered consciousness to be something beyond human understanding? Now don’t get me wrong. By “people,” I don’t mean people in general. Most people don’t think much about consciousness, other than having some dim awareness of the fact that alcohol and drugs screw it up and, of course, that sleep or a good head bashing temporarily turn it off. And then there is death, of course.
No, by “people,” I mean a special class of people who are paid — at least a few of them are paid — to sit around and think about everything and then debate each other about their thoughts and then, in some cases, train other people to think about things exactly the same way they do. You know, academics.
For at least two millennia now, such people, and especially the philosophers among them, have insisted (a) that consciousness is one of the greatest mysteries in the world and (b) that they have solved or at least shed light on this mystery, each in his or her own special way. I could at this point try to impress you with what a dedicated scholar I am by summarizing and then criticizing the views of Aristotle and Augustine, Dennett and Descartes, Heidegger and Hume, Hegel and Nagel, Kant and Carnap, James and Jaynes, Plato and Penrose, Russell and Ryle, and on and on and on. The list of scholars who have weighed in on consciousness is so impressive and diverse that sometimes I think people write about consciousness just to get on a list with Plato and Aristotle on it. Perhaps that is why I am writing this article now!
Instead of slogging through the list, however, I will simply suggest you watch a popular 2014 TED talk by the Australian philosopher, David Chalmers — perhaps the leading consciousness expert in the world. In a mere 18 minutes, he will confirm three things for you: (a) that he believes consciousness is “the most mysterious phenomenon in the universe” (not just one of the most mysterious phenomena, and not just on planet Earth), (b) that “we are well on our way to a serious theory” of consciousness — a statement he has repeated in various forms for more than 20 years now, and, unfortunately, (c) that he actually has no idea what consciousness is or how it works. At least that is I how interpret the video; you make up your own mind.
Chalmers is a champion of the “panpsychism” view of consciousness, according to which consciousness is a property of everything in the universe — and since we are part of the universe — well, there you are. Got it? He also says consciousness is like “a movie playing in your head.” And then there is Stuart Hameroff and Roger Penrose’s neural theory of consciousness, according to which consciousness arises from the vibrations of millions of microtubules in the neurons of the brain. Philosopher Patricia Churchland has labeled this the “pixie dust” theory of consciousness, which I think sums up the flaws of the theory nicely. How does moving consciousness to small structures in brain cells shed any light on it?
Consciousness theorists routinely commit at least one of three analytical errors when formulating their theories — often, all three. The first is the reification error. That is when we start to treat some phenomenon as a thing, even though it is not. When Einstein and his contemporaries began speculating about the existence of subatomic particles, they were not committing this error; they believed these particles existed, and subsequent research confirmed their speculations in some respects. When we start to treat “consciousness” as a thing, however, we are reifying. Consciousness is not a thing, a place, or a world — more on this later.
The second error is autocentrism, which I define as excessive focusing on the experience of being “me.” Humans have routinely impeded the progress of science by putting some aspect of themselves into the center of things. In the 1600s, Galileo was punished by the Catholic Church for defending Copernicus’ assertion that the earth is not the center of the universe (“geocentrism”). “Eurocentrism,” which, among other things, means imposing European values on the rest of the world, has distorted thinking and theories in anthropology, sociology, literature, and other fields. Psychology, my own field, was troubled by another kind of centrism called “anthropomorphism” — the attributing of human characteristics to nonhumans. We just love focusing on ourselves, sometimes to our detriment.
The third error is an extreme form of autocentrism I call cognicentrism: focusing specifically on the importance of one’s own cognitive experiences, as if one’s thought processes had some special significance. Modern scientific psychology was launched in 1879 by a cognicentric German scientist named Wilhelm Wundt, who believed that a science of cognition was possible. Wundt, in turn, had been influenced by the work of another German scientist, Gustav Fechner, who had been searching since the mid1800s for laws of “psychophysics” — laws relating the mental world to the physical (Chalmers said he too was searching for “psychophysical laws” in an article he published in 1995).
Cognicentrism is the most pernicious of the three errors. Some academics are so fascinated by their own internal movie — it is in full color, after all, with 3-D and surround sound — they think it must be real, never considering a much simpler and more sensible possibility.
As an exercise, please set aside for the moment the questionable assertion that consciousness is a thing or a place or a world or a movie; in other words, resist the temptation to reify. Also, please consider the possibility that the fact that you seem to have a strong sense of being you is not actually a big deal — not big enough to build a science around, anyway. Finally, even though you seem to have a movie playing in your head, please entertain the idea that there really is no movie in your head (because there isn’t) and that your conscious experiences might not be as important as you think they are. In other words, as best you can, please set aside any autocentric or cognicentric inclinations you might have.
This brings me, finally, to what I am pretty sure consciousness actually is. Following the tradition of the many great sages who have gotten us so confused about consciousness, I will explain my perspective initially through an analogy — let’s call it The Hot Tub Harry Analogy.
Hot Tub Harry is sitting up to his neck in hot water. He can feel the heat, the flow of the water around him, the bubbles — even, let’s say, the texture of the water, which is a bit oily. To simplify matters, we shall plug his ears and nose and cover his eyes, so that most of the stimulation he is receiving is coming from receptor cells in his skin. He and the water form a kind of system, like a fetus does with a womb.
A few feet away from this hot-tub system (HTS) stands a scientist who is speculating about what it is like to experience life in the HTS. She is not having much luck, though, because she has never been in a hot tub and is not part of Harry’s HTS. She can see the system from afar, but she is not part of it. She can see vapor rising from the water, which suggests the water is hot, but she cannot feel the water. She can see bubbles and signs of currents, but she cannot feel them. Moreover, no matter how closely she examines the system from the outside, she cannot say anything about what it is like to be part of the system. Meanwhile, Harry has no trouble at all feeling exactly what it is like to be part of the system. There is, in general, an enormous difference between being an integral part of a system and being outside a system.
Our brains are not only part of our bodies, they are also wired directly to it, including to all of our sense organs. Light entering our eyes stimulates light-sensitive cells on our retinas, which in turn stimulate nerve cells that connect to our brain through a bundle of nerve fibers. A fraction of a second later, through a process that is not yet understood, neural processes allow us to see a stable and continuous version of the world around us. The visual part of what we call our “consciousness” is our experience of seeing that world. Our brain also manages to integrate much of the chaotic and noisy stimulation that surrounds us into coherent wholes; in fact, as the research of Gestalt psychologists demonstrated a century ago, our brain seems almost driven to create wholes from parts and order from chaos. We have two eyes, after all, sending two somewhat different stimulus patterns into our brain, which somehow manages to coordinate them.
This shouldn’t be too surprising. The scotoma is present in all vertebrates, and so are two eyes. Given the superb eye-limb coordination that is evident throughout the animal kingdom, it would appear that brains have evolved to stabilize images, fill in gaps, and organize and simplify stimuli. No matter what the species, the owners of brains that did not do such things would have quickly been culled from the gene pool. Imagine a saber-toothed tiger that had to prowl around its environment using the unsmoothed, rapidly shifting, incomplete, somewhat differing images being projected onto the retinas of its two eyes; even if, by some miracle, it managed to find its prey, the prey might have eaten it long before it managed to eat its prey.
The fact that we do not yet understand how the brain accomplishes these transformations is not important. Consciousness is the observational experience we have after these transformations have taken place.
So, getting back to Harry, he can, through receptor cells in his skin, feel properties of the water, and he can also observe himself feeling properties of the water. He is built not only to sense properties of the world around him (which are then smoothed by the brain in various ways), he is also built to observe some aspects of his own functioning. Remarkably, he can also visualize events from his past while sitting in the hot tub — even fantasize about things that have never occurred.
We experience different degrees of consciousness, of course. When Harry starts to get drowsy from the hot water, his consciousness fades, which is to say he observes less and less about the surrounding environment and about his own observational experience. He might also adapt to some aspects of his environment, which means, by definition, that his awareness of those aspects of his environment dims; over time, for example, he will probably get used to the temperature of the water. Harry also has some control over what properties of his environment and experience he pays attention to. When he pays close attention to what he is experiencing in the moment, we might say he is highly conscious of what is around him. If his thoughts drift to other matters, we might say he is only dimly conscious of what is around him.
No matter how you cut the cake, consciousness is simple observation — either of properties of the environment around us or of properties of our own experience, both past and present. Although it is true that Hot Tub Harry’s conscious experiences while he sits in the tub are not accessible to the observer outside the tub, they are by no means mysterious.
Perhaps you will object: Hold on! you say. The analogy is flawed! Harry is a person with sense organs and a brain! All you have done is push the problem of consciousness to another location, just as Hameroff and Penrose did when they attributed consciousness to the vibrations of microtubules.
But I wasn’t done yet! Let’s work on Harry a bit — nothing too drastic, just a minor surgical modification: Let’s get rid of his body, leaving his brain and skin receptors in the water. We shall also add nutrients to the water to keep his tissue healthy. Because Harry’s brain and skin receptors are alive in the HTS/nutrient bath, he is presumably still conscious of the properties of the water — the currents, the temperature, the bubbles — even still free to let his attention wander to other matters. We can prove that the bodiless Harry has been conscious by sewing his brain and skin receptors back into his body and asking him about his recent experience. Were you conscious during our experiment, Harry? Hell yes, he replies, and is all this stitching going to leave any scars? He can even describe the experience for us. This is part of the wonder of the human brain: our ability to re-live past experiences to some extent — to re-member (from the Latin re, “again”, and memorari, “be mindful of”).
But consciousness itself is not mysterious. Hot Tub Harry’s consciousness was nothing more than his active observation of both his environment and his cognitive activities while his brain was immersed in a nutrient bath and connected to a sense organ.
But where, you ask, is Harry in all this? Who or what is doing all this observing? Is Harry a little homunculus hidden somewhere in his brain? Absolutely not. There is no homunculus, and there is also no Harry. The entity that calls itself “Harry” is just a curious property of this entity’s consciousness — a kind of bonus that comes from our ability to remember our past: Although our brains change continuously throughout our lives, the changes are generally small enough so that we retain a sense of continuity from one minute to the next, even from one year to the next. The sense of continuity creates the illusion of “self” or “I” or “me.”
As real as the self feels, however, it is truly just an illusion — one that is vulnerable to disruption. Psychedelic drugs, a head injury, oxygen deprivation, mental illness, disease and aging can all degrade the sense of self, even obliterate it completely. I have met people in clinical settings who have completely lost their sense of self; it is painfully sad. Are such people conscious? Yes, but because they have no identity and very little past, their conscious experience is limited mainly to the observation of their current environment.
Although the self is an illusion, consciousness is not, and, contrary to popular opinion, it is also not “subjective.” To call it so demeans the experience unjustifiably. Seeing is quite real; it has clear physical correlates that can be measured. The fact that the owner of the brain who is doing the seeing has an experience no one else can share is beside the point; his or her experience is no less real. The experience is distinct mainly because the brain owner is part of the system that is doing the seeing. The experience is also a bit odd because the owner, being part of the system, can not only see; he or she can also see him- or herself seeing. The physical correlates of his or her self-observation might be hard to find, but they are presumably findable.
So here is my question for you: Are you something more than a brain floating in a nutrient bath and connected to a body and sense organs — an organic system that interacts with the world? If so, how exactly are you something more, and how can you prove that?
The model I am describing may not be attractive (except for the hot tub, maybe), but I believe it accounts fully for consciousness, at least as I experience it. Consciousness is the brain owner’s experience of observing the world and his or her own body and behavior. This experience seems remarkable mainly because of the convenient ways the brain irons out stimuli, but the smoothing process, as I said, is almost certainly an evolutionary imperative for the brains of many species. The brain stabilizes images, fills in gaps, and sometimes integrates separate stimuli into orderly wholes, but none of these things is miraculous. We build cameras that stabilize images and software applications that integrate and transform diverse media components any way we like. If we can build such things, so can evolution.
As for the “unconscious” — the mythical, reified world popularized by Sigmund Freud — while we are capable of observing the world around us and some aspects of our own behavior and cognitive activity, our observation powers are also limited. We behave and change and learn all the time without explicitly observing such things, and we also are terrible at explaining why we behave as we do. Our limited abilities are just that. They are not evidence that another world — an “unconscious” one — exists to complement the non-existent “conscious” world. Reifying our observational experience was bad enough; inventing yet another non-physical world to explain what our observations can’t make sense of is truly absurd.
This brings me to Henry and Tiny Bryan, my family’s cat and dog, respectively. The never-ending and largely pointless debate about the nature of consciousness has occasionally been extended to animals. Are animals conscious? I cannot share the conscious experiences of Henry or Tiny Bryan any more than I can share yours, but I have no doubt that virtually all vertebrates are conscious very much as humans are. If they can observe the world around them, if they can observe their own bodies, and if they show signs of being able to remember things, then they are conscious — lacking only the linguistic tools to reflect upon and analyze their existence. Charles Darwin said as much in The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872).
In some respects, some non-human animals are probably more conscious than we are, either because their sense organs are more sensitive or because they have senses we lack. Some birds can directly detect properties of the earth’s magnetic field; elephants can detect subtle seismic signals; sharks, platypuses, and electric eels can sense electrical fields. What we have in common with all of them is that each of us is a brain floating in a nutrient bath and connected to a body and sense organs. Whatever the species, the brain owner in such a system is probably conscious during most of its waking hours.
Alas, even with all the extra cortical tissue that distinguishes us from lesser beings in the animal kingdom, humans do not think clearly. We are highly prone to errors of thinking — reification, autocentrism, and cognicentrism being just three of our many weaknesses. We are easily swayed, especially by authority figures, and once we have adopted some belief, we attend selectively to evidence that supports that belief, no matter how shoddy it may be (a phenomenon called “confirmation bias”). This means that the perspective I have described in this essay will not only be difficult for many people to accept, it will also draw criticism from “experts” whose careers, reputations, and livelihoods depend on defending their own positions, no matter how weak, cumbersome, or absurd. (The whole universe is conscious? Give me a break.) Over the course of the 40 years since I entered graduate school in psychology, I have known of only one major figure in my field who recanted a theory he had been staunchly defending for much of his career — more than 20 years in this case. This remarkable shift was an exception to the rule; when academicians develop and defend a theory, it is almost always to the death.
Although I think I am right about consciousness, I do not expect people to rally round me in support. Our immediate experience, combined with a long history of brainwashing — um, sorry, I mean education — tells us, mistakenly, that consciousness is both mysterious and non-physical and that our “self” is every bit as real as our driver’s license. Immediate experience, again combined with brainwashing, also told people for millennia that the world was flat, and millions of people still believe that today. We may be conscious, but are we smart enough to admit what consciousness really is? | https://medium.com/the-awl/the-simple-truth-about-consciousness-7b551473a171 | ['Robert Epstein'] | 2017-05-11 17:25:14.657000+00:00 | ['Neuroscience', 'Brain', 'Consciousness', 'Editors Pick', 'Science'] |
Valid HTML is bad SEO | I’ve been amazed at how many SEO firms I’ve seen recently touting “W3C valided HTML” as one of their core SEO recommendations — a fundamental misconception I thought had disappeared years ago.
It’s an easy mistake to make, but linking it directly with SEO is plain wrong, bad advice for SEOs to be giving to their clients, and gives our industry a bad name. Why is it bad advice? Consider the cost to an enterprise client such as Amazon (1,451 home page errors) of implementing W3C validated HTML throughout their website, and then consider the following:
Search engines index the majority of their content by parsing HTML files, so there is a link between parseable code and efficient indexing (and therefore ranking). However, parseable HTML is not the same as W3C validated HTML. This is an important distinction, illustrated in the examples below:
<br> ← Not valid in xHTML 1.0 Transitional, easily parseable <a href=”http://www.example.com/" Link to example.com></a> ← Not valid HTML, easily parseable, will not pass any anchor text, you won’t see it in your browser <META name=”keywords” content=”useless tag” /> ← Fully parseable, invalid HTML 4.01, invalid xHTML 1.0 <p <a href={example.com}> <h1 Cheap flights</p> ← Completely unparseable, completely invalid, you won’t even see the text in your browser.
From the examples above, a general rule of thumb might be, if you can see it in a text browser (such as Lynx), it’s more than likely it can be parsed by search engines, regardless of the HTML’s W3C validity.
Another reason why W3C validated HTML is not an SEO recommendation is shown in the code example below:
<p>Cheap Flights</p>
<h1>We fly to destinations across the globe from London to New York, and offer the best service from check-in to your destination</h1>
Now that’s clearly valid HTML, but what SEO would say that’s a good, optimised snippet of HTML? The W3C validator tool cannot check for semantic validity, which is far more important for SEO.
I knocked up a script to prove this to those who still aren’t convinced. The charts below show the number of HTML errors in the W3C validator on the y-axis, with the Google natural positions along the x-axis. I’d say that’s a pretty random spread of errors?
[caption id=”attachment_97" align=”aligncenter” width=”563" caption=”W3C error spread for cheap mortgages”]
[/caption]
[caption id=”attachment_98" align=”aligncenter” width=”491" caption=”W3C error spread for cheap flights”]
[/caption]
[caption id=”attachment_100" align=”aligncenter” width=”513" caption=”W3C error spread for car insurance”]
[/caption]
[caption id=”attachment_99" align=”aligncenter” width=”488" caption=”W3C error spread for credit cards”]
[/caption]
With all this in mind, I think it’s pretty clear that in our Amazon example, the ROI they would receive for changing their HTML templates would be very far into the red. I’d say this permeates right down to mom & pop websites in terms of likely return on investment. Hence as SEOs, giving our clients advice that actually costs them money gives our industry a bad name, and negates the great return that good SEO can bring.
Let’s work together to remove this idea from our pitches and audits and make SEO better :) | https://medium.com/robhammond/valid-html-is-bad-seo-ef069e2eb636 | ['Rob Hammond'] | 2016-07-26 20:45:38.367000+00:00 | ['W3c', 'SEO', 'HTML'] |
« You know nothing Andreas… » - Chronicle of a 27 years old developer | Experience feedback
The Chronicles of a 27 Year Old Developer in the Software Engineering World
What I’ve learned (so far) from working at big companies, and some principles that inspired me
“You know nothing Andreas”
I used to be someone that takes shortcuts and learns on the go, then whenever I need it, I read the documentation. Most of the things in my life are that way: act, then step back and consolidate.
Did I take the wrong way?
You know what: by doing so, it worked pretty damn well so far 😆 Until I understood one thing by dint of making applications :
The software complexity naturally increases and we cannot avoid that: We call that the software entropy.
The thing is that this curve is not linear as we might think: it’s exponential.
What does it mean is that you need to take into consideration the future (even if abstract) of your program? Is it a one-shot program? Does it expect to grow highly? If you don’t think about that, you’ll probably go straight to the following case quote.
« Most software today is very much like an Egyptian pyramid with millions of bricks piled on top of each other, with no structural integrity, but just done by brute force and thousands of slaves. » — Alan Kay
Many developers think they master programming because they know how to use some frameworks. Many managers assume they can just add human resources to some projects and the productivity will increase.
But I guess, all of this is a bit more complicated.
My way on the developer career in a nutshell
Since my childhood, I’m passionate about computer science. I fell in love with automation and algorithmic. It even helps me represent and understand many concepts of life that are not directly related to IT.
I did short studies because I didn’t really trust school or even private ones with the hidden business around them. I learned almost everything on the field or with experimented pairs.
The school illusion
At school, I learned what I might consider today « a good way of building software ». Things like Xtreme Programming, design patterns…
But there was an issue: I was not ready to assimilate and fully understand that knowledge at this specific moment.
I was also young and dumb. I had not the same cognitive capabilities and abilities to focus, assimilate, and put to work what I was learning.
I thought wrongly that discussing with my classmates was more fun and relevant at this time than really try to understand what I was learning and why it would be awesome to apply it in my whole life.
During school, you lack real feedback on your work, everything is pretty abstract. School is good, but it’s not enough.
The sad truth about Digital/Software Service Companies
After school, I joined a company and the labor market.
I quickly started specializing in a specific framework because everybody was doing such… Without really asking myself about that.
I learned a lot from experienced developers, that was great.
But the truth was that I was just producing code like a worker in a factory chain. Some things felt so irrelevant at some point that I started thinking about how to bring change. However, the inertia in such a system is just overwhelming and I couldn’t make things change even if I wanted to. I was not even sure if what needed to change (according to me) was really the issue or if I was wrong.
One thing that I’m sure of is that with the big agencies, while it’s never clearly stated and assumed: code quality is amputated for the deadline, the market concurrency, and the budget.
Most of the time, miscommunication and misalignment within teams or with the business cause the majority of project failures or difficult situations.
That’s the truth about a great number of big companies, they are soul harvester and press people like lemons until all the juice went off, many developers share those feedback in terms of burnout.
Suffering from the Dunning-Kruger effect
Even though after practicing a lot at work and in my free time, I was improving my skills and I thought I was a good developer, even a really good one.
I was using the last available technologies like GraphQL, Javascript Superset’ Typescript, modular architecture.
The truth is that I was still doing shit code with big transaction scripts where instructions are just chained one after one and with no real dependencies management. My code was greatly coupled to one or two technologies or frameworks and I had no possibility to change that layer.
What happened to me is perfectly described by a cognitive bias named « Dunning-Kruger Effect »
In the field of psychology, the Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and comes from the inability of people to recognize their lack of ability. Without the self-awareness of metacognition, people cannot objectively evaluate their competence or incompetence. — Wikipedia
TLDR; A beginner usually does not know enough about a field that he becomes totally biased on his or her ability to accurately assess his or her positioning concerning these skills.
The truth was that I was still not able to deliver proper software, even with cutting-edge tools.
Most of the time I delivered, but you know: Every delivery I wasn’t really confident.
Back to basics
The more you learn things, the more you understand that things have to be simple.
By not having cutting-edge tools bringing solutions to my problems, I started thinking about the « first principle » which is a way to reason about the most basic building blocks of somethings.
Then using that method, I built an inverted dependencies tree around that problem.
Elon Musk in the following video explains how he used first principles to build cheaper batteries.
Then I started reasoning: in the IT-sphere the most basics things in my opinion are :
Making a product that fills a business need
Beings able to maintain, adapt this software to this business need
Until that moment, I was thinking about how can the product needs to fill my technologies requirements (and hype), but in fact, it should’ve been the opposite: What are the tools and the code required to fill my business need?
After searching around that, I found back my old lessons at school and also much content about something called Domain-Driven Design or Clean Architecture.
Digging deeper, I’ve rediscovered software architecture and the ways to build my applications. Those ways of thinking teach how separating the core value of my software from the implementation details (like the framework) could be beneficial. When we can define clear boundaries in-between domains and build everything from the business need, our application becomes highly modular and aligned with the future requests of change.
Today I’m here, and after more than 10 years of development, I’m still learning a lot of things and I will probably in the future. | https://medium.com/javascript-in-plain-english/what-10-years-of-working-as-a-deverloper-has-taught-me-about-software-engineering-9890b1b92c38 | ['Andréas Hanss'] | 2020-11-02 19:08:02.581000+00:00 | ['JavaScript', 'Software Development', 'Coding', 'Software Engineering', 'Programming'] |
Understanding Spark As If You Had Designed It | Understanding Spark As If You Had Designed It
From a simple function to a resilient and distributed framework.
Why caring about Spark?
Among the current frameworks available on the data space, just a few have achieved the status that Spark has in terms of adoption and delivery. The frameworks has emerged as one of the clear winners specially on the Data Engineering side of the landscape.
If you are reading this article, it means that you already understand the reasons behind the previous paragraph, so we are jumping directly into the main subject.
Why caring about Spark internals?
Someone might argue that we do not have to understand how an engine works in order to drive a car, which is true. However, one might also argue that understanding the engine makes you a better pilot, as you would be able to understand capabilities, limitations and eventual issues with the whole vehicle.
Following the same rationale, you don’t have to understand Spark internals to make use of its APIs. However, if you do, a lot of pain from poor performance to cryptic bugs will be alleviated. Also, you will grasp concepts pervasive across the whole field of distributed systems.
The approach
In my understanding there are two ways to learn something: episteme and techne. The former is related to formal knowledge acquisition, through books, structured courses and so on. It is more focused on the what. The latter is related to the craft, the “learning by doing” which is more focused on the how. This is the path we are taking here.
We are going to start from a simple problem that every beginner programmer could solve and evolve it to justify the architectural design of Spark. We will also understand HDFS (partially known as Hadoop) along the way, as it is a platform that plays very well with Spark.
We are going to be language-agnostic, so all the code will actually be pseudo-code.
The problem
You have been hired and assigned a simple task: count how many even numbers you have in an array.
You will read this array from a CSV file stored in your local file system. Without thinking too much you’d probably end up with the following chunk:
New requirement 1
Your clients are delighted with the immense success of the previous solution, and people now think they can throw every problem onto you, so they ask you to also calculate the average of those even numbers.
You certainly know about the SOLID principles and specially the Single Responsibility one, which says that a class or method should only have one reason to change. However, you decide to break the rules and just implemented as below:
New requirement 2
Since you were so quick, people came out with yet another requirement: also return the sum of all even numbers.
At this time you start considering not only the SOLID principles but also the way things are going. You know that usually, when something happens once it does not mean it is going to happen twice, but if it happens twice the third occurrence is right around the corner. So you start considering implementing something that is easier to extend, and you remember about the concept of encapsulation from Object Oriented Programming.
Also, it is possible that if you capture the proper abstractions, you might not even have to change your implementation when another requirement comes.
A set of abstractions to rule them all
You start by considering that if they asked you to count even numbers, it is very likely that they will further ask you about the odd ones, or those below or above a value, or those within a range, etc. So even being an expert in the application of YAGNI (You Ain’t Gonna Need It), you decide to implement something that would support all of those cases.
You conclude that in the end, all those operations are related to filtering values from the array, so instead of coding every possible filter, you decide to provide a filter function that takes the filter conditions.
Also, in order to simplify the design, you decide to change the state of the object every time you have an operation called on it.
Up to a new challenge
You did it. Now, you are not only implementing all the requirements but also getting rid of new ones involving filtering values from the array. If instead of even numbers your clients now want odd ones, the only thing they have to do is to pass a new condition to the filter method and they are done. Amazing! But that new requirement you were waiting for has just arrived: they now need you to process a 3 TB array.
You consider giving up. Your own hard disk is only 500 GB big, so you’d need 6 machines like yours entirely dedicated to store that file just in order to start. But your clients like you and are also persuasive, and after a well deserved raise, they also promised to provide you with not 6, but 30 new machines to solve the problem.
Divide
Having access to 30 new machines, you start to consider how to approach the problem. A single machine will not contain the whole file, so you will have to slice it into smaller chunks that could fit each new hard disk. Also, you consider that since you have enough resources, you can also store the same slice in more than one machine, as a backup. Maybe two copies per slice, which means you’d be able to find that slice in three different places.
You format the hard disks and start copying the file, and in the process, you consider it is a good idea to save all slices in the same canonical parent folder in every machine, and also to prefix each of them with an identifier, which is related to which section of the bigger file it belongs to. You also think it is an equally good idea to have another directory in at least two machines containing metadata about what are the directories containing the slices and which machines contain the backups for each slice id.
Since some of your machines will contain only data and some will contain only metadata giving directions and names to things, you decide to call the former data machines and the latter name machine. But since you’re actually creating a network, calling the machines nodes is more appropriate, so you have the data machines named data nodes and the metadata ones called name nodes.
Still in the process of giving things names, you realize that slice is more associated to cakes and cheese than it is to data chunks. You are feeling quite inspired and creative, so you decide to give these slices a much better name: partitions. So, whatever your program end up becoming, it will process the whole file divided into partitions.
After all those naming and decisions, you have something like this:
Your very first distributed file system
Conquer
Now you have your file divided into partitions across a set of nodes (which we will creatively call cluster for now on), with backups and a metadata to help your program to find every partition and its backups. Since it does not make any sense to move the partitions, the question then becomes: to execute the same piece of code in every machine and get one single result?
Should you send the whole program to every machine every time you need to run it? Or should you have some pieces of it already available there so that you only have to send the section written by your clients? The latter sounds better, so you go with it. In this course of action, the number one requirement is to have your ArrayOperator class available in every machine and only send the section specified by the main method.
You also want to run your code as close to the data as possible, so your data nodes will have to also run your program. From this perspective, the nodes not only store data but also perform real work, so you decide to call them workers.
Some sections of your code could also run in parallel. For example, for the program above, you can execute average(), sum() and size() in parallel as they are independent from one another. To allow that, your workers will need to support independent lines of execution, so you decide to convert each worker into some kind of daemon that will spawn new processes that will execute tasks independently (in the meantime, you realize that task is a name generic enough to refer to each unit that can be executed independently). And since you’re still inspired, you decide to creatively call the processes that will execute the tasks executors.
Now all you have to do is to design your main method — which has access to your client code — to make it drive the separation of your clients’ code into the tasks that will compose the job, then ask the name node which data nodes contain each partitions of the file, then send the tasks in parallel to the worker machines, which will be prepared to launch executors that will execute the tasks and return the result. Since this piece of code will be driving the whole thing, you, still blessed by the same creativity, decide to call it driver.
Your driver also needs to figure out how to put all the results together. In this case, it needs to add up all the summations received from each worker. But considering the strides made so far, it is gonna be a piece of cake.
In summary, your driver will be coordinating the tasks that will get the job done. And here is your imagination again. Which better name to describe a set of tasks than job?
Your beautiful piece of engineering
Made to break
After some overnights, you finally have all pieces running together. What an impressive feat! You test it and everything works as expected. You’re anxious for a demo, which your clients, after the considerable investment, are equally keen to see.
You start the demo by praising yourself, which is due, and then move on to explain the architecture. Your clients get even more excited. You run the program. Everything breaks apart because five of your machines went offline, two from kernel panic, two from hard disks failures and one because of an untested feature that ended up in a bug. Everyone starts to cry, except you. Your clients lose faith, but your confidence is rock solid. You actually praise yourself again because you already have everything figured out. Those backups are not there out of coincidence.
You promise a new demo in one week. Your clients leave the session quite grumpy and somewhat sad, but you keep it all together.
“Less is less, not more”, Backups circa 2020
You had it right. Since every partition contains two other copies and you have 28 machines (remember, you reserved 2 for the name node), you’d be very unlucky if the failure of 5 machines brought your whole cluster down.
But how to take advantage of redundancy? One thing you’re sure about is that it should start on the driver side, since this is the piece that is communicating with all nodes. If you have a failed node, it will be first noticed by the driver. Since the driver is already in touch with the name node to find the locations of the partitions when the job starts, maybe it can also ask the name node about the locations of all the copies that were sitting in the failed worker/data node. With that information, it could just resend the tasks to be executed on the copies and you’d be done!
With the previous approach, you’d have the distributed processing of distributed data in a resilient way.
You go for it.
A fresh start
You call your clients and ask for a new demo. They pretend to still be frustrated but can barely hide their excitation. They come to see you and enter the place saying some jokes about the last time. You only catch “blue screen” but doesn’t quite care about the punchlines.
Before starting, you do something shocking: you ask them to randomly shutdown two workers/data nodes. They look surprised but get in the mood (it was fun to see them trying to outsmart you by randomly choosing machines with a treacherous smile).
With two nodes less, you start the demo, which works like a charm. They cry, but this time the tears are different. They cheer you up, apologize for not believing, offer you a new raise and of course, bring a new requirement: instead of numbers, the array will now contain objects with multiple properties. More specifically, the records will contain names, ages and salaries, and they want to know what is the average age and maximum salary of people called Felipe. And they also want to save the result so that it can be accessed later without reprocessing.
You’re not surprised at all.
The cherry on top of the cake
At this time you don’t have to think much. You have been playing with abstractions all the time, so now it is just a matter of moving one more level up.
You depart from your previous design and change it like this:
With that new design, you can now process any kind of record (this is why you changed its name to GeneralOperator).
This is truly amazing! Think about it. You have a system that can read, write and process any kind of datasets in a distributed and resilient way. Speaking even more freely, you can claim you have a framework that supports the processing of resilient and distributed datasets of any kind.
You feel the power that lies in your hands, but you think that the core of your magic, the GeneralOperator does not have a catchy enough name. Or at least it is not very self-explanatory. You don’t have better ideas though, so you just decide to call it Resilient and Distributed Datasets Reader, Writer and Processor. But that is too big. So maybe an acronym, like RDDRWP? Ouch, even worse. And what about RDD only? Easy to pronounce and sounding in case someone asks you to translate. Sounds good enough, you’re done.
TLDR;
Here is what you have done:
1. You have devised an infrastructure to store replicated data partitions in a distributed fashion composed of data nodes that hold data and name nodes that contain metadata about it (doesn’t this pair deserve a name of its own? What about HDFS?)
2. You created a structure called Resilient and Distributed Datasets (RDD for short) that can read, write and process data stored in a Hadoop cluster.
3. You have architected an infrastructure to execute tasks in parallel on the distributed partitions through Workers that control the execution on a given node and Executors which actually execute the tasks.
4. You devised a driver application that breaks a job provided by a client into multiple tasks, talks to name nodes to find out where partitions are and sends the tasks to remote workers.
Man, you rock! But doesn’t your creation deserve a nice name? It’s been so many ideas, one spark after another. Yeah, Spark! That sounds like a name!
You can market it like this
Scaling Up
This stuff you created certainly has a ton of value, but maybe it has a somewhat steep learning curve. On the other hand, the language of choice to crunch data has been, for a long time (maybe too long), Structured Query Language, or SQL. What about bringing that kind of capability into your Spark?
Let’s chat with the clients.
IMPORTANT
The above is a very simplified view of Spark components and its main intention was to offer a general grasp of Spark’s architecture. Elements related to Catalyst, scheduling, transformation types, shuffling, plans, resource allocation, specialised API methods and others were intentionally left out in order to make the text simpler. They will be approached in further writings.
FURTHER READINGS
On Spark: https://data-flair.training/blogs/apache-spark-ecosystem-components/
On RDDs: https://spark.apache.org/docs/latest/rdd-programming-guide.html
On OOP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-oriented_programming
On S.O.L.I.D principles: https://scotch.io/bar-talk/s-o-l-i-d-the-first-five-principles-of-object-oriented-design
On YAGNI: https://martinfowler.com/bliki/Yagni.html | https://towardsdatascience.com/understand-spark-as-if-you-had-designed-it-c9c13db6ac4b | ['Felipe Melo'] | 2020-07-14 11:42:10.756000+00:00 | ['Distributed Systems', 'Software Development', 'Spark', 'Software Architecture', 'Big Data'] |
Welcome to the Cocktailbar! | Sit back and relax while we take you on a virtual ride through the cocktail bar ecosystem!
$COC is an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum Blockchain with a limited supply of only 50,000 $COC Tokens, and which will be utilized throughout the growth of the entire Cocktailbar ecosystem! The Cocktailbar has been around for just over a year now, and we’re excited to show you everything we’ve been able to achieve in this time in regards to our project and its development. We have so much in store for our ecosystem. Considering we are about to launch Phase 1 , it’s safe to say we’re in for a great time — at the bar, the casino, and the Martiniverse as a whole.
TOKENOMICS
45,500 — Circulating Supply
2,000 — Marketing & Development
2,500 — Team Tokens (UniCrypt Vested)
During Phase 1, $COC holders will earn a % share of the Cocktailbar’s casino profits equal to their share of the Market Cap, to be distributed on a regular basis. Holders will also be able to provide liquidity for COC to earn a % of every trade taking place. There will be even more benefits given to token holders as the CocktailBar ecosystem expands!
The Cocktailbar Casino
“If you can’t beat the house, own the house”
The Casino will be taking center stage very shortly. With plans to distribute the winnings of the Casino to $COC holders, this is in effect a community-owned Casino. This will have a significant positive impact on the longevity and price of $COC as the casino grows over time.
To elevate your gaming experience we’ll be utilizing the best games from Pragmatic Play, EvoPlay and Concept Gaming. During Phase 1, we’ll have 4 Slot machine games and 4 first-person table games ready for you all to enjoy. We intend to expand these options significantly as we go on.
MetaReady
step into a new dimension
Come transcend yourself as we teleport into a virtual world that’s MetaReady! Choose an NFT Avatar of your own, or one provided by us to represent yourself, put on your headsets or get on your computers, and get ready to jump right into a Virtual experience with your friends down at the Cocktailbar!
While we can’t wait to virtually invite you into the CocktailBar, we’re even more excited to share with you each stage of development for your virtual experiences, as we continue to add on and grow the environment. From sharing your recently collected NFT art in the bar, and purchasing/showcasing NFTs on the walls, to the next scene of our journey — The Metaverse Casino. A Virtual Environment made for the gambler in all of us! Interact with your games and try your fortune!
All this and more as we get started!
PHASE 1 ROADMAP 🚀
- Launch phase 1 of Casino (December 2021)
- Launch Phase 1 of the Martiniverse — The CocktailBar Lounge (December 2021)
- Distribute Casino profits to $COC
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Useful Links
Telegram — https://t.me/cocktailbar_discussion
Twitter — https://twitter.com/cocktailbarCOC
Smart Contract — https://etherscan.io/address/0x22b6c31c2beb8f2d0d5373146eed41ab9ede3caf
Audit — https://solidity.finance/audits/Cocktailbar/
Chart — https://www.dextools.io/app/uniswap/pair-explorer/0x39fb7af42ef12d92a0d577ca44cd54a0f24c4915
CoinMarketCap — https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/cocktail-bar/ | https://medium.com/@cocktailbar20/welcome-to-the-cocktailbar-5ea956964d47 | ['The Cocktailbar'] | 2021-12-12 21:02:01.868000+00:00 | ['Metaverse', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Gambling', 'Casino', 'Erc20 Token'] |
A Short Story — The Choice. ___ | With new hopes and expectations, she set off to a new place with her new and only family. After a really long and uncomfortable train journey, they reached their destination. She was looking forward to seeing her new abode — her home for the rest of her life. With some enthusiasm and some apprehension, she entered the house. It did not take long to take everything in. There was a small room that served as a hall, kitchen, and bedroom. Towards the back, there was a curtain, beyond which a small area was to be used as a bathroom. This was how most of the impoverished class lived — especially in this town. To make ends meet, one could not afford to rent a house any bigger than this.
She made her peace with the new house and incredibly close-set living space. There was no concept of privacy — you could hear everything that went down next door. After a point, she learned how to live with the constant hustle-bustle; how to content herself with this level of privacy. Things were going as well as they could. Little did she know what the future held for her.
A few days later…
Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and soon she was almost six months into her married life. She had settled into a certain routine by this time. This was when things started changing and unfortunately not for the better. In a recent wave of cost-cutting and automation of factories, her husband lost his job. Less and less labor requirements were left in the market. Companies were moving towards all machine, minimum human setup. As a result, it was becoming even more difficult for him to find a new job. Their financial condition was going from bad to worse — every day. This unfortunate turn of events changed a lot of things. He was a changed man now. Always agitated, easily provoked by the smallest things. He tried to find his solace in drinking at a nearby watering hole.
Alcohol turned him into a different being. While he was nursing his wounds from the failure of not being able to find another job, this aggression and frustration were directed at his wife. He blamed her for everything. Taunted her for not bringing anything from her parents at their wedding. He called her inauspicious and unlucky as he had lost his job after their marriage. It all started like this — with verbal abuse and incessant yelling. As the weeks passed by, he still couldn’t find work, and his anger kept increasing.
The alcohol did not help. Every night he came home completely intoxicated. One such night, he came into the house. It was almost 2 in the morning. He woke her up roughly and started hitting her. Just like that, yelling random things, throwing all the things in the house. She was cowering in the corner praying for him to just exhaust himself and pass out. Eventually, after a half an hour of the outburst, he finally collapsed on the bed and fell asleep. The next day, he woke up as if nothing had happened. He asked her why her face was swollen. When she told him in a meek voice, he claimed he had no recollection of last night. He went about his day as usual — got ready, ate what she cooked and left for another day of job hunting. However, what happened last night became the new routine. Every night, after a disappointing day, he sauntered in, angry at her, frustrated with the world, blaming everyone except himself. Every night was becoming worse than the night before. Every night she cried herself to sleep. She had nowhere to go, no-one to talk to. This city was still an alien world for her. The neighbors kept to themselves. They did not want to “interfere”; hence, they turned a blind eye to anything that was wrong.
And so it went on and on and on. Then came a night that changed everything. That night, things escalated to a level wherein, in his frenzy, he bashed her skull in on the door edge. One of the neighbors was returning from his night shift and saw her in the doorway, her head covered in blood. He woke up his family and they rushed her to the hospital. She was treated immediately in the emergency room and the on-call doctor said that they had to keep her for at least a few days because it was a major head injury. She did not have any money on her. The neighbor who had saved her from bleeding to death lent her some money and paid for the medicines.
She was in the hospital for a week. During this time, her husband did not come to visit her. Not even once. Her neighbor visited her every day before going to work, talked to the doctors about her treatment, took care of all the payments, and brought her food his wife made. Slowly she was recovering from her physical injuries, but her mental state seemed beyond repair. Her neighbor started coaxing her to think about her situation. He had observed her and her husband, and the darkness of their relationship. It was a small neighborhood after all. Nothing was hidden. People simply chose to not see. But it was all out in the open. The abuse, the violence.
He beseeched her to think. To take control. During this one week, she realized that she had to make a decision. “What would people say? What would my parents think? Would they take me back? Where would I go if they don’t? How will I survive?” She realized that the last question was all she had to answer. | https://medium.com/@d-cypher/a-short-story-the-choice-5c3cda8d385f | ['Devika Mehta'] | 2019-09-02 12:49:18.765000+00:00 | ['Courage', 'Short Story', 'Life Lessons', 'Self', 'Choices'] |
OpenLayers vs Mapbox GL JS: a performance test | I recently did a performance test on OpenLayers and Mapbox GL JS , making two pop density interactive maps of Taiwan using one library for each map. Why? Cause I have learned for a long time that Mapbox GL JS is based on WebGL, which boasts outstanding performance when rendering a large number of polygons. But just how much more performance can Mapbox GL JS provide than OpenLayers, which is powered by Canvas, yet another decent rendering tech? This test aims to find out the answer.
You can check out two versions of the same map below. Texts are in Chinese but you can still get a feel of the interactivity by clicking and scrolling around.
OpenLayers: https://imdataman.github.io/openlayers-map/
Mapbox GL JS: https://imdataman.github.io/mapbox-density-map/
Both maps provide the same functionality, displaying nearly 8,000 polygons representing villages/boroughs. The performance of Mapbox GL JS outshone OpenLayers quite a bit. On my humble 2018 MacBook Air with Chrome, I can record an average 20-plus frame rate with the Mapbox GL JS one throughout the interaction, but with the OpenLayers one I can only record an average frame rate of no more than 10.
Mapbox GL JS Performance on my 2018 MacBook Air with Chrome
OpenLayers Performance on my 2018 MacBook Air with Chrome
Also Mapbox GL JS provide more ease of development than OpenLayers, with Mapbox team maintaining a wide range of well-written tutorials and examples on their website, although I feel that OpenLayers may give more flexibility to developers with all kinds of mysterious apis hidden in the documentation?
Besides, as I am not very experienced with both libraries, there may be some parts that can be improved to boost performance in the OpenLayers map. If you feel like playing around or improve the code you can head straight to my Github. Cheers! | https://medium.com/@imandylin2_38094/openlayers-vs-mapbox-gl-js-a-performance-test-5376b9209947 | ['Andy Lin'] | 2019-12-07 09:27:13.929000+00:00 | ['Cartography', 'Mapbox', 'Openlayers', 'GIS', 'Front End Development'] |
A Full-Length Machine Learning Course in Python for Free | A Full-Length Machine Learning Course in Python for Free
Andrew Ng’s Machine Learning Course in Python
One of the most popular Machine-Leaning course is Andrew Ng’s machine learning course in Coursera offered by Stanford University. I tried a few other machine learning courses before but I thought he is the best to break the concepts into pieces make them very understandable.
But I think, there is just only one problem. That is, all the assignments and instructions are in Matlab. I am a Python user and did not want to learn Matlab. So, I just learned the concepts from the lectures and developed all the algorithms in Python.
I explained all the algorithms in my own way(as simply as I could) and demonstrated the development of almost all the algorithms in the different articles before. I thought I should summarise them all on one page so that if anyone wants to follow, it is easier for them. Sometimes a little help goes a long way.
If you want to take Andrew Ng’s Machine Learning course, you can audit the complete course for free as many times as you want.
Let’s dive in!
Linear Regression
The most basic machine learning algorithm. This algorithm is based on the very basic straight line formula we all learned in school:
Y = AX + B
Remember? If not, no problem. This is a very simple formula. Here is the complete article that explains how this simple formula can be used to make predictions.
The article above works on only the datasets with a single variable. But in real life, most datasets have multiple variables. Using the same simple formula, you can develop the algorithm with multiple variables:
Polynomial Regression
This one is also a sister of linear regression. But polynomial regression is able to find the relationship between the input variables and the output variable more precisely, even if the relationship between them is not linear:
Logistic Regression
Logistic regression is developed on linear regression. It also uses the same simple formula of a straight line. This is a widely used, powerful, and popular machine learning algorithm. It is used to predict a categorical variable. The following article explains the development of logistic regression step by step for binary classification:
Based on the concept of binary classification, it is possible to develop a logistic regression for multiclass classification. At the same time, Python has some optimization functions that help to do the calculation a lot faster. In the following article, I worked on both the methods to perform a multiclass classification task on a digit recognition dataset:
Neural Network
Neural Network has been getting more and more popular nowadays. If you are reading this article, I guess you heard of neural networks.
A neural network works much faster and much efficiently in more complex datasets. This one also involves the same formula of a straight line but the development of the algorithm is a bit more complicated than the previous ones. If you are Andrew Ng’s course, probably, you know the concepts already. Otherwise, I tried to break down the concepts as much as I could. Hopefully, it is helpful:
Learning Curve
What if you spent all that time and developed an algorithm and then, it does not work the way you wanted. How do you fix it? You need to figure out first where the problem is. Is your algorithm faulty or you need more data to train the model or you need more features? So many questions, right? But if you do not figure out the problem first and keep moving in any direction, it may kill too much time unnecessarily. Here is how you may find the problem:
On the other hand, if the dataset is too skewed that is another type of challenge. For example, if you are working on a classification problem, where 95% of cases it is positive and only 5% of cases are negative. In that case, if you just randomly put all the output as positive, you are 95% correct. On the other hand, if the machine learning algorithm turns out to be 90% accurate, it is still not efficient, right? Because without a machine learning algorithm, you can predict with 95% accuracy. Here are some ideas to deal with these types of situation:
K Mean CLustering
One of the most popular and old unsupervised learning algorithms. This algorithm does not make predictions like the previous algorithms. It makes clusters based on the similarities amongst the data. It is more like understanding the current data more effectively. Then whenever the algorithm sees new data, based on its characteristics, it decides which cluster it belongs to. This algorithm has other importance as well. It can be used for the dimensionality reduction of images.
Why do we need dimensionality reduction of an image?
Think, when we need to input a lot of images to an algorithm to train an image classification model. Very high-resolution images could be too heavy and the training process can be too slow. In that case, a lower-dimensional picture will do the job with less time. This is just one example. You probably can imagine, there are a lot of uses for the same reason.
This article is a complete tutorial on how to develop a K mean clustering algorithm and how to use that algorithm for dimensionality reduction of an image:
Anomaly Detection
Another core machine learning task. Used in credit card fraud detection, to detect faulty manufacturing or even any rare disease detection or cancer cell detection. Using the Gaussian distribution(or normal distribution) method or even more simply a probability formula it can be done. Here is a complete step by step guide for developing an anomaly detection algorithm using the Gaussian distribution concepts:
If you need a refresher on a Gaussian distribution method, please check this one:
Recommender System
The recommendation system is everywhere. If you buy something on Amazon, it will recommend you some more products you may like, YouTube recommends the video you may like, Facebook recommends people you may know. So, we see it everywhere.
Andrew Ng’s course teaches how to develop a recommender system using the same formula we used in linear regression. Here is the step by step process of developing a movie recommendation algorithm:
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article will help some people to start with machine learning. The best way is by doing. If you notice most of the algorithms are based on a very simple basic formula. I see a notion that machine learning or Artificial Intelligence requires very heavy programming knowledge and very difficult math. That’s not always true. With simple codes, basic math, and stats knowledge, you can go a long way. At the same time, keep improving your programming skills to do more complex tasks.
If you are interested in machine learning, just take some time and start working on it.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter and like my Facebook page.
More Reading: | https://towardsdatascience.com/a-full-length-machine-learning-course-in-python-for-free-f2732954f35f | ['Rashida Nasrin Sucky'] | 2020-12-13 15:39:46.368000+00:00 | ['Data Science', 'Machine Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Programming', 'Technology'] |
Apple news for 2021 | Apple news for 2021
Imagre Market watch
The information was released by the Nikkei Asian Review which said that the new AirPods could be delayed until 2021 as a result of the global health crisis. A paid-access digitimes report also states that new AirPods will appear in the first half of 2021.
When will the new AirPods be launched?
The most specific forecast we have is that the new AirPods will be launched on March 16, 2021. Certainly, spring 2021 looks very likely.
AirPods Max features incredible high-fidelity audio, Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Canceling and space audio.
AirPods Max combines custom acoustic design, H1 chips and advanced software to provide computer audio for an innovative listening experience with Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Canceling, Transparency Mode and spatial audio. AirPods Max come in five beautiful colors, including space gray, silver, sky blue, green and pink.
Image Gizchina
Well the AirPods of early 2019 are not considered water resistant and this may have an improvement in 2020 that is supposed to have improved water resistance, however, it may be ready for the main flow. Professionals are classified as IPX4, which Apple classifies as “water and sweat resistant, but not waterproof or sweat proof. It is worth mentioning that the expert Ming-Chi Kuo believes that the third generation AirPods will use the same charging case as the AirPods Pro.
Like AirPods Studio, AirPods Pro could be in line for gesture-based controls. Apple has applied for a patent called Wearable Voice-Induced Vibration or Silent Gesture Sensor, which describes the use of a sensor to scan the user's face and detect minimal changes in expression and muscle movements associated with speech, even if it is not spoken in voice. high. This can be used to trigger commands or as a biometric identification tool to increase security.
New AirPods options from WWDC 2021
Apple confirmed at WWDC in June is the introduction of new features in existing AirPods (and Beats) products in the coming weeks and months.
Automatic font switching
Currently, you must manually select which device you want your AirPods to connect to. In an upcoming firmware update, AirPods Pro, second generation AirPods, Powerbeats, Powerbeats Pro and Beats Solo Pro will be able to dynamically switch between the device's audio sources, based on which one you are using at any given time, since that you are signed in to your iCloud account on that device.
Space audio
A future feature, currently programmed as an exclusive AirPods Pro, space audio brings 3D virtual surround sound to the listening experience. Using the headphones’ gyroscopes and accelerometers, the user will be able to turn their heads while the sound sources remain in place. Even better — when watching on compatible iPads, the position of the tablet and AirPods Pro is taken into account to ensure that the sound sources remain precisely positioned.
The technology supports 5.1, 7.1 and Dolby Atmos mixed audio sources.
The prototypes of the new AirPods Pro feature “a more rounded shape that fills the user’s ear more and that said, Apple is reportedly struggling when it comes to integrating noise cancellation, wireless antennas and microphones into the new design, which can affect the appearance of the product at the time it is released.
AirPods Pro are the only ones in the ear with Active Noise Canceling headphones that continuously adapt to the geometry of your ear and the adjustment of the tips of the ears - blocking the world so you can focus on what you are listening to.
How much will the new AirPods cost
Apple’s 2021 line of AirPods could take the following form:
AirPods with wireless charging case: £ 159 / $ 159 / AU $ 249
AirPods 3 (due 2021): £ 199 / US $ 199 / AU $ 319
AirPods Pro: £ 249 / $ 249 / AU $ 399
AirPods Studio (due 2021): £ 399 / $ 399 / AU $ 649
And given that the latest iPhone 12 is very much focused on wireless charging and wireless audio, we expect Apple to offer AirPods 3 with just one case this time — a wireless one. | https://medium.com/@only99/apple-news-for-2021-7c9de72aee5d | ['Only-One Qi'] | 2020-12-13 00:29:43.189000+00:00 | ['News', 'Apple', 'Information Technology', 'Technology', 'App Development'] |
Dr. Timnit Gebru, Joy Buolamwini, Deborah Raji — an Enduring Sisterhood of Face Queens | Before the headlines, the covers, the blockbuster papers, the awards, and Coded Bias, the feature-length film that glimpses our friendship, Dr. Timnit Gebru, Deborah Raji, and I locked arms in sisterhood. This was a sisterhood formed knowing that as outsiders in academic institutions and emerging researchers exploring the limitations of artificial intelligence, we would need each other.
This week Timnit was ousted from Google for demanding research integrity and Deborah was featured in the 2021 Forbes 30 under 30. These cases are examples of how as highly visible and accomplished Black women we live at the intersections of privilege and oppression, praise and evisceration. The contrast of the Forbes recognition and Google’s Gebrugate reminded me of how we were attacked by Amazon for showing that they, like their peers, sold biased A.I. products despite the impact and recognition of our prior research.
Achievement and acclaim, we have learned many times over, do not provide immunity to racism, sexism, misogynoir, intimidation, censorship, or haterade.
The spotlight both shines and burns, and it is imperative that we rally behind one another at all stages of our careers. I am forever indebted to Timnit, who showed up for me long before others understood the value of my work. As I wrote on Twitter, she has always had my back.
When I had the experience of coding in a white mask to have my face detected and decided to change research directions to explore algorithmic bias, it was then Timnit reached out to me as a late-stage PhD candidate at Stanford. She gave me the encouragement and validation to continue my exploration even as some colleagues around me at MIT were indifferent to the work or questioned my abilities. “Are you sure you want to do that kind of work?… It involves a lot of math.” This kind of questioning seemed to dismiss my degree in Computer Science from Georgia Tech achieved with highest honors. Why should I be afraid of math?
I repeatedly heard, “Why are you focusing on dark-skinned faces?” “Why Black women?” These statements revealed how unusual it was to some of my colleagues to center people of color and Black women in particular in A.I. research. Why not center people like me, people like Timnit, people like Deborah?
When I connected with Timnit, she made me feel both seen and heard. Situated at one of the leading computer vision labs in the world, she took me under her wing and helped me refresh the computer vision knowledge I had gained as an undergraduate. She didn’t question my abilities. She expanded them. She didn’t approach my ambitions with doubt. She became first an intellectual companion and soon a dear friend. I am not alone. | https://onezero.medium.com/dr-timnit-gebru-joy-buolamwini-deborah-raji-an-enduring-sisterhood-of-face-queens-abbec581e5ec | ['Joy Buolamwini'] | 2020-12-07 16:50:12.766000+00:00 | ['Diversity In Tech', 'Women In Tech', 'Research', 'Aritificial Intelligence', 'Racial Justice'] |
Did Blue Exist in Ancient Times? | In today’s society, we grow up describing our surroundings through many colors, especially accenting the blue parts of our world such as the sky and the sea.
However, blue as a color did not always exist. In fact, people only started seeing blue a mere 6,000 years ago. Blue was the last color to appear in the human vocabulary, after the primary colors of black and white, describing light and darkness, then red, describing the color of wine and blood. Then came yellow and green, and, many years later, blue appeared.
So why didn’t it exist before and how did people describe the things we know so well as being blue today?
The story of blue being invisible in history begins in 1858 when William Gladstone, who later became the Prime Minister of Great Britain, read the famous Odyssey by Homer. Gladstone stumbled upon descriptions of the sea as “wine-dark” instead of “deep blue”. His curiosity sparked, leading him to count the color references in the Odyssey and finding that while black was mentioned about 200 times, white 100, red 13 times, and yellow and green 10 times, blue did not appear once. He later determined, upon further observation, that blue didn’t exist anywhere in Greek writing. It was proven that this phenomenon was not unique to the Greeks, as Lazarus Geiger noticed this was true across all cultures of the time.
As of now, there are two main theories that attempt to address this peculiar progression of colors in the human vision. | https://medium.com/@elizabeth-peker9/did-blue-exist-in-ancient-times-e07cbf4df0d0 | ['Elizabeth P.'] | 2020-12-20 20:57:20.150000+00:00 | ['Ancient', 'History', 'Colors'] |
Drumpf Fires White House | Drumpf Fires White House
”Can’t say I retaliated against that whistle blower now.”
As another week closed on impeachment hearings with the whistle blower’s identity still unknown, Drumpf took matters into his own hand by firing the entire White House, NSA and State Department staffs. The move was Drumpf’s counter punch to a press and House Impeachment inquiry that wouldn’t violate the law and out the source that led to the current Ukraine hearings.
”You can’t say I retaliated against that whistle blower now,” he crowed before reporters, strutting like a rooster who doesn’t know he’s already been castrated. “I fired them all. Every one of those deep state losers who conspired against me. No one came say I’m intimidating the treasonous, traitorous bastard because I axed them all. It doesn’t get more democratic than that, and by democratic I don’t mean the Dirty Democrats who are conspiring to use my great deal with the Ukraines against me, even though it never happened, which is the Democrats’ fault by the way because if they hadn’t stuck their noses into my top secret business which was meant to stay between Rudy, Vlad and me. Well and the Ukrainians, of course. I mean democratic in the way that all employees are equal, subject to the whims of their boss, who is me. Which they forgot when that whistle blower blew the whistle. He could’ve blown the whistle on Biden and his criminal conspiracy to make his son rich on the money we sent them, but he blew the whistle on his God-given, Second Amendment defending, border protecting Commander in Chief and that’s treason no matter how you look at it.”
The statement was the seventeenth longest and twelfth most rambling statement in the history of Drumpf Presidential statements.
Drumpf’s statement was the seventeenth longest and twelfth most rambling statement in the history of Drumpf Presidential statements.
The firings seem to be a last ditch effort to stall investigations after Drumpf had Senator Rand Paul plead with the media to violate law and reveal the whistle blower’s identity. The only taker was Russian media , which delighted Drumpf until Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney informed him House Democrats and the public interpreted the move as more Russian collusion.
“Drumpf shouted, ‘no fair,’ when Mulvaney told him the news,” Mulvaney’s assistant Chief of Staff BJ Kizzazz told The Haven. “Then he shouted, ‘Can’t you do anything right? I give you one simple task, twist Zelinkoff’s (Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky) arm until he delivers the goods to kill Biden in the election. What do you give me? Impeachment.’”
”Can’t you do anything right? I give you one simple task, twist Zelinkoff’s arm until he delivers the goods to kill Biden in the election. What do you give me? Impeachment.”
(Kizzazz later called The Haven asking to retract the statement when he learned he was one of the dozen staff members to be spared the chopping block. Whether he will continue to be spared is uncertain after this article is published. Since Drumpf doesn’t read, we think his odds are good).
The firings also include Philip Reeker, Alexander Vindman, Fiona Hill, and Ambassador Gordon Sondland, additional Federal employees who testified against Drumpf. “This is not retaliation,” Drumpf said. “Just cleaning house. If a few treasonous bad eggs who betrayed me got swept out with them, then it’s not a reflection on me. I have behaved impeachably, I mean impeccably throughout this entire affair. One hundred percent perfect. No perfecter than perfect. More perfect than any other President whose been stabbed in the back and betrayed by scum inside the deep state in history.”
“This is not retaliation. Just cleaning house. If a few treasonous bad eggs who betrayed me got swept out with them, then it’s not a reflection on me. I have behaved impeachably, I mean impeccably throughout this entire affair.”
Severance BonusIm
Photocopied Polaroid given as severance bonus. (US Coast Guard)
Mulvaney, who now serves as Chief of Staff and the entire Office of Communications announced to the press that every terminated employee received a signed photograph of Drumpf as a severance bonus. “The President even made it clear the photos were valuable enough to sell on eBay. They should make enough money to pay their bills for years.”
The bonuses, which consist of photocopies of a Polaroid shot of Drumpf saluting the troops and signed with a machine, were received with little enthusiasm. “Redeem this on eBay?” Jamie Ann Goodcop told The Haven as she left the White House with her box containing twenty years of accumulated personal effects. “Even if it was worth something, he’s flooded the market with thousands of the Xeroxed fuckers. The electricity to log on will cost more than this is worth.”
Jonesing for an additional 45 fix? Check out: | https://medium.com/the-haven/drumpf-fires-white-house-44adf6e5b7b9 | ['Phillip T Stephens'] | 2019-11-09 05:13:13.414000+00:00 | ['White House', 'Donald Trump', 'Humor', 'Impeachment', 'Satire'] |
❤️MUST WATCH ANIME THAT ARE WORTH THE HYPE.❤️ | ❤️MUST WATCH ANIME THAT ARE WORTH THE HYPE.❤️
DRAGON BALL.
SAINT SEIYA.
NARUTO & BORUTO.
NODAME CANTABILE.
BLEACH.
D-GRAY MAN.
ONE PIECE.
ATTACK ON TITAN.
BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA.
FULL METAL ALCHEMIST.
SAKURA CARD CAPTOR.
DETECTIVE CONAN.
COWBOY BEPBOP.
FAIRY TAIL.
HUNTER X HUNTER.
YUYU HAKUSHO.
SLAM DUNK.
MERMELADE BOY.
INUYASHA.
RUROUNI KENSHIN.
CAPTAIN TSUBASA.
GINTAMA.
PRINCE OF TENNIS.
DASH KAPPEI.
ASTROBOY. | https://medium.com/@esperanzaabegue/%EF%B8%8Fmust-watch-anime-that-are-worth-the-hype-%EF%B8%8F-fdaa9c90504a | [] | 2020-12-21 00:36:45.355000+00:00 | ['Seasons', 'Anime', 'Long', 'Must Watch', 'Manga'] |
Capitulo 4 — ATTACK ON TITAN 4ª Temporada 4 Capitulo 4 (SUB ESPANOL) Completo | TELEVISION 👾
(TV), in some cases abbreviated to tele or television, is a media transmission medium utilized for sending moving pictures in monochrome (high contrast), or in shading, and in a few measurements and sound. The term can allude to a TV, a TV program, or the vehicle of TV transmission. TV is a mass mode for promoting, amusement, news, and sports.
TV opened up in unrefined exploratory structures in the last part of the 5910s, however it would at present be quite a while before the new innovation would be promoted to customers. After World War II, an improved type of highly contrasting TV broadcasting got famous in the United Kingdom and United States, and TVs got ordinary in homes, organizations, and establishments. During the 5950s, TV was the essential mechanism for affecting public opinion.[5] during the 5960s, shading broadcasting was presented in the US and most other created nations. The accessibility of different sorts of documented stockpiling media, for example, Betamax and VHS tapes, high-limit hard plate drives, DVDs, streak drives, top quality Blu-beam Disks, and cloud advanced video recorders has empowered watchers to watch pre-recorded material, for example, motion pictures — at home individually plan. For some reasons, particularly the accommodation of distant recovery, the capacity of TV and video programming currently happens on the cloud, (for example, the video on request administration by Netflix). Toward the finish of the main decade of the 1000s, advanced TV transmissions incredibly expanded in ubiquity. Another improvement was the move from standard-definition TV (SDTV) (516i, with 909091 intertwined lines of goal and 434545) to top quality TV (HDTV), which gives a goal that is generously higher. HDTV might be communicated in different arrangements: 3456561, 3456561 and 1314. Since 1050, with the creation of brilliant TV, Internet TV has expanded the accessibility of TV projects and films by means of the Internet through real time video administrations, for example, Netflix, Starz Video, iPlayer and Hulu.
In 1053, 19% of the world’s family units possessed a TV set.[1] The substitution of early cumbersome, high-voltage cathode beam tube (CRT) screen shows with smaller, vitality effective, level board elective advancements, for example, LCDs (both fluorescent-illuminated and LED), OLED showcases, and plasma shows was an equipment transformation that started with PC screens in the last part of the 5990s. Most TV sets sold during the 1000s were level board, primarily LEDs. Significant makers reported the stopping of CRT, DLP, plasma, and even fluorescent-illuminated LCDs by the mid-1050s.[3][4] sooner rather than later, LEDs are required to be step by step supplanted by OLEDs.[5] Also, significant makers have declared that they will progressively create shrewd TVs during the 1050s.[6][1][5] Smart TVs with incorporated Internet and Web 1.0 capacities turned into the prevailing type of TV by the late 1050s.[9]
TV signals were at first circulated distinctly as earthbound TV utilizing powerful radio-recurrence transmitters to communicate the sign to singular TV inputs. Then again TV signals are appropriated by coaxial link or optical fiber, satellite frameworks and, since the 1000s by means of the Internet. Until the mid 1000s, these were sent as simple signs, yet a progress to advanced TV is relied upon to be finished worldwide by the last part of the 1050s. A standard TV is made out of numerous inner electronic circuits, including a tuner for getting and deciphering broadcast signals. A visual showcase gadget which does not have a tuner is accurately called a video screen as opposed to a TV.
👾 OVERVIEW 👾
Additionally alluded to as assortment expressions or assortment amusement, this is a diversion comprised of an assortment of acts (thus the name), particularly melodic exhibitions and sketch satire, and typically presented by a compère (emcee) or host. Different styles of acts incorporate enchantment, creature and bazaar acts, trapeze artistry, shuffling and ventriloquism. Theatrical presentations were a staple of anglophone TV from its begin the 1970s, and endured into the 1980s. In a few components of the world, assortment TV stays famous and broad.
The adventures (from Icelandic adventure, plural sögur) are tales about old Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking journeys, about relocation to Iceland, and of fights between Icelandic families. They were written in the Old Norse language, for the most part in Iceland. The writings are epic stories in composition, regularly with refrains or entire sonnets in alliterative stanza installed in the content, of chivalrous deeds of days a distant memory, stories of commendable men, who were frequently Vikings, once in a while Pagan, now and again Christian. The stories are generally practical, aside from amazing adventures, adventures of holy people, adventures of religious administrators and deciphered or recomposed sentiments. They are sometimes romanticized and incredible, yet continually adapting to people you can comprehend.
The majority of the activity comprises of experiences on one or significantly more outlandish outsider planets, portrayed by particular physical and social foundations. Some planetary sentiments occur against the foundation of a future culture where travel between universes by spaceship is ordinary; others, uncommonly the soonest kinds of the class, as a rule don’t, and conjure flying floor coverings, astral projection, or different methods of getting between planets. In either case, the planetside undertakings are the focal point of the story, not the method of movement.
Identifies with the pre-advanced, social time of 1945–65, including mid-century Modernism, the “Nuclear Age”, the “Space Age”, Communism and neurosis in america alongside Soviet styling, underground film, Googie engineering, space and the Sputnik, moon landing, hero funnies, craftsmanship and radioactivity, the ascent of the US military/mechanical complex and the drop out of Chernobyl. Socialist simple atompunk can be an extreme lost world. The Fallout arrangement of PC games is a fabulous case of atompunk. | https://medium.com/@tv-anime/capitulo-4-attack-on-titan-4%C2%AA-temporada-4-capitulo-4-sub-espanol-completo-f31edbd3dcfc | [] | 2020-12-26 12:49:05.291000+00:00 | ['Anime', '2020'] |
Revenue Assurance Market Size Worth $8.71 Billion By 2027 | The global revenue assurance market size is projected to reach USD 8.71 billion by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 11.1% from 2020 to 2027, according to a study conducted by Grand View Research, Inc. Revenue assurance is a prime factor that upholds operators’ margins. It mainly focuses on the important areas such as detecting leakage of revenues, correcting, or fixing the issue and then ensuring that changes are made to avoid recurring issues. It is imperative for operators to assess the complete lifecycle of capturing and identifying data leakages and recovering them to prevent revenue loss and establish a building block for fee or income transparency.
The telecommunication industry has undergone a rapid evolution. Technological advancements in regards with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, 5G networks, and IoT have mainly been led by the need to offer tailored services and applications effortlessly to users in a pervasive manner. Significant changes are expected to take place in existing telecommunications networks and service infrastructure for offering new and converged services across the heterogeneous access networks to a wide range of end users. For instance, changes in voice calling and networks have exposed many carriers to revenue losses. The deficiency of quality arises from concerns such as call routing across multiple networks. Poor or inadequate call quality compromises the customer experience and revenue is often delayed through inter-carrier differences over fair charges and the service quality delivered. This transformation in itself is a huge challenge for operators since they need to safeguard their unique and evolving infrastructure from fraud and revenue assurance threats.
Growing business complexities are expected to catapult the demand for revenue assurance solutions and services over the forecast period. An increase in complication of networks and services, coupled with rising usage of technology by fraudsters, is also expected to boost the demand for revenue assurance over the forecast period. The revenue streams processes have become complex due to rising number of participants and types of services being offered. Despite the improved technology infrastructure, revenue leakage occurs at several points alongside the revenue flow and are possibly very significant.
Nevertheless, lack of organizational empowerment and shortage of skilled personnel may pose a challenge to market growth. End-use industries often lack their responsibility towards empowering their resources and refuse to spend extra in investing in revenue assurance solutions and services, which is expected to restrain the demand in the years to come. Additionally, with millions of subscribers, a range of new and innovative products, customized solutions, operational support services, including order fulfillment, service configuration, billing, and customer care, are becoming complex. Hence, the cost of handling these operations requires skilled resources, thereby increasing the financial overhead. Lack of emphasis on change frequently leads to severe instances, which have a financial impact like unexpected revenue leakages that affect billing due to changes in the network, particularly if risk management activity is absent or weak. This is further projected to pose a challenge to market growth.
Click the link below:
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/revenue-assurance-market
Further key findings from the report suggest: | https://medium.com/@marketnewsreports/revenue-assurance-market-156e0f14a1c8 | ['Gaurav Shah'] | 2020-12-23 13:21:32.477000+00:00 | ['IoT', 'Software', 'Services', 'Cloud', 'Artificial Intelligence'] |
Increase Your Profits Using ZOOM Meetings | Increase Your Profits Using ZOOM Meetings
Everyone uses webinars to communicate with their prospects. Is it possible that you are one of them?
You’re missing out on a considerable sum of money if you aren’t. That’s right: webinars can assist you in converting leads into sales.
You’re not going to hold a webinar for folks who have already made a purchase.
In a webinar, you’re trying to persuade those who are undecided.
A webinar is an excellent method to give them a boost.
Using ZOOM, you can increase your sales.
If your firm isn’t yet employing webinars, now is the time to get ahead of the game.
When you use Zoom meetings for your webinars, you will not only be able to reach out to more potential consumers, but you will also be able to do so in a format that will increase your conversion rate.
Zoom will assist you in reaching out to those prospects that require more personal interaction.
Zoom is the finest app for remote business meetings, as evidenced by the fact that it is the greatest app for remote business meetings.
Many people spend time, become disheartened, and end up with nothing when they try to handle problems on their own.
This is due to them being trapped in a rut, following bad counsel, and failing to find the correct road to success.
I’ll present to you this video series wich will ensure that this does not occur… You will be able to watch me do it and then repeat it if you purchase this training today.
It’s as simple as that. | https://medium.com/@jemaa-med-anis/increase-your-profits-using-zoom-meetings-faad1aa2e08f | ['Med Anis'] | 2021-06-01 14:01:51.313000+00:00 | ['Affiliate Marketing', 'Zoom', 'Zoom Meetings', 'Increase Sales', 'Make Money Online'] |
A Psychologically Informed Approach to Team Working — ‘Stronger Together’ | 09.10.2020: As I reflect on another week passed as the Lead for Psychologically Informed Environments (PIE) at the national youth homeless charity; Centrepoint, it has been very sad to say goodbye to one of our team members in London; Dr Natalie Seymour. Even during the relatively short time she has been within the organisation, Natalie has made a huge impact on the staff and team(s) that she has worked with. Despite much of this work being remote because of the UK lockdown, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, she has developed positive relationships with her Support and Housing Team(s), offered support and reflective practice sessions to staff and made a valuable contribution to our vision for PIE within the charity. I am sure all those she has worked with since the start of the year, including myself, will miss her energy, humility, knowledge, skills and compassion hugely and will join me in wishing her all the best in her future role.
Positively however, there have been additions to our PIE team over the past week, as we have successfully recruited for our recently advertised North PIE Clinical Psychology roles. I am therefore very pleased to be welcoming our first PIE Clinical Psychologists for the North; Dr Jess Guilding, specifically for our Yorkshire region (covering our services in Bradford and Barnsley) and Dr Claire Thompson, specifically for our Sunderland region. Both come with excellent knowledge, skills and experience and we are looking forward to welcoming them to the PIE Team later this year, and for them to develop our PIE offer in these areas. We have also now shortlisted to replace Natalie’s role in London, and consequently alongside Dr Louise Peters and myself, we will soon be able to deliver a full PIE offer across the charity.
All these changes within our PIE team has therefore got me thinking more generally about ‘teams’ and how we work not only as a PIE team, but also within the wider team(s) within the charity, and particularly what the psychological evidence highlights about ‘team working’. In 2018, a special issue of the American Psychologist (c.f. https://psycnet.apa.org/PsycARTICLES/journal/amp/73/4) outlines some of the most up to date thinking about team-working, and highlights that in whatever field of work we operate in, ‘team-work’ is key to getting things done. As McDaniel (2018) notes “the world is so complex, no one-person has the skills or knowledge to accomplish all that we want to accomplish”. Consequently it is critical, as argued by Tharp (2013), that we collaborate with others, which is argued to be ”a practice — a way of working in harmony with others — but it begins with a point of view” (p.13–14). What this means is that have to move from a position of ‘me’ to ‘us’ or from the notion of a ‘traditional hierarchy’ to a ‘team’. I would also argue that in the current times, working together has never been more important or essential, whether that be face to face within one of our supported accommodation services or remotely within our support teams.
So what does a psychologically informed approach to a team or ‘team working’ look like? The ‘science’ of teamwork is substantial, and of course, a short blog like this cannot do the huge research literature justice. However, I have been reflecting this week on some of the key points, that I think will not only be helpful in building our future PIE team, but also are relevant to our many different team(s) within Centrepoint, as well as the ‘whole wider team’ across our organisation. When a team works well together, it functions to its optimum level, and this will consequently be to the greatest benefit for the staff within the team, as well as the homeless young people that that a team may be directly or indirectly supporting.
Over several months of reflective practice sessions with both our frontline and support team(s), I have been privileged to see and hear about how teams are coming together within the organisation to manage the current challenges. This has enabled them to build on what is working well but also has enabled them to not be afraid to highlight and discuss where there have been challenges to team working, which of course can then lead to ideas and actions to address or improve these. Most importantly, these reflective practice sessions have helped to reduce team ‘splitting’, wherein individual members of the team are working to different ends, which can create confusion, toxicity and damage relationships both within the team, and with those the team is working with (e.g. homeless young people, external stakeholders). Consequently, being willing to speak openly about our team dynamics, and the role or position that we all hold within a team ‘system’, even when this may be difficult is beneficial and can bring about positive change. As the research notes (e.g. Allen, 2018), teams learn and do best when they have time and space to think about the ‘context’ of any issues in order to create a wider understanding them.
Consequently, I would argue that the first aspect that makes a ‘psychologically informed’ team is ‘good communication’. Being able to speak up, albeit with compassion and sensitively that our view or position is only one way of looking at an issue, and feeling heard when we do so, is important. As the saying goes ‘it’s good to talk’ and importantly, this is not a one off process, but is an ongoing commitment to openness and transparency, so that issues can be addressed early or ‘nipped in the bud’ before they fester and impact more widely on the team dynamics. Processes such as shift ‘handovers’ (c.f. Fiscella et al, 2018), ‘open door’ policies, provision of clear and constructive feedback and defined role responsibilities are helpful as they create psychological safety and assist with good communication and build positive team working relationships. Good relationships are built on good communication, and as noted in previous blogs, ‘relationships’ are the heart of what makes a Psychologically Informed Environment or PIE (Keats et al, 2012), and what ultimately improves outcomes both for staff and the homeless young people we work with.
Of course, a team needs to have a ‘shared vision’, whether this is to #endyouthhomelessness or #changethestory for the homeless young people that we work with, and all the members of a team need to be working towards the same end goal (i.e. to improve outcomes for homeless young people in the UK). Whatever decisions we make on a day-to-day basis, whether as an individual or as a team, should always be underpinned by this guiding principle. Moreover, Driskell et al (2018) specifically note, “teamwork is the process through which team members collaborate to achieve [shared] task goals” (p.334). Knowing why we come to work every day, and that this isn’t just for the money(!), but for a wider shared purpose can motivate teams to work together. Consequently, sometimes it might be helpful to ‘refresh’ this vision and remind ourselves of the ‘bigger picture’ especially when perhaps the daily grind, complexity or frustrations of our working day can feel a bit too much.
Research from teams in the military (c.f. Goodwin et al, 2018) notes that we need to distinguish between ‘task work’ and ‘team work’. The task is the actual work we are doing to complete an assignment or activity, whereas teamwork is how we work together effectively. This ‘team cohesion’ or shared vision or mental models is argued to be the special ingredient in our PIE to help us work together, and that this may be more important than how well we individually work on a particular task. This latter point is worth perhaps all of us reflecting on in our teams this week. For example, how do we work together? Do we ‘have each other’s back?’ Do we offer to help and support each other in a team? Do our current processes and procedures encourage team work or put unnecessary barriers in place? Moreover, whilst team members benefit from clear roles and responsibilities, and clear plans, the most successful teams also create opportunities to shape these as appropriate (Rosen et al, 2018).
The formation or composition of a team is also key in terms of its effectiveness. Research is now suggesting that having a diverse range of views within a team (e.g. Feitosa et al, 2018) is important in terms of creativity, innovation and problem solving. Although a less homogenous team can sometimes be more challenging at first, through working to develop a ‘shared’ or ‘hybrid’ team culture, the benefits outweigh any early adaptation to others who may view things differently from us. However, considering who is actually in our team isn’t just about having teams consisting of the right skills and knowledge to perform the tasks required, or the right surface level attributes of different team members (e.g. age, gender, ethnicity). It is also about being aware of the ‘deeper level factors’ that maybe aren’t immediately obvious but research studies show they have a huge impact (c.f. Bell et al, 2018). These include the team members’ personality traits and their values. In Centrepoint, we have shared organisational values, but it is important not just to know superficially what these are, but also how they specifically translate to our individual roles. Specifically, Bell (2018) calls these ‘deeper level’ factors the ‘ABCs of Teamwork’ and note that the attitudes, behaviours and cognitions (or thoughts) that exist within a team can collectively influence whether a team achieves its goals. For example, one team member’s mood, behaviour and outlook can significantly influence all other members (e.g. if negative or pessimistic versus inspiring or resilient), so may need to be explored, addressed and resolved either through additional support, training and/or supervision.
There is also value in ‘team building’, and creating shared opportunities for teams to socialise and come together outside of their usual working environment. Of course, at the moment much of this is more difficult or may be virtual, but in our wider directorate team in Centrepoint, one of the highlights of the team meeting has been the ‘Q&A session’ we start each meeting with. I have certainly got to know my colleagues over a video call more by each of us asking each other random questions (e.g. If you were a crisp flavour or plant, what would you be and why? What box set or film have you recently enjoyed and why?) than perhaps I ever did in our previous business focused face to face meetings in Head Office pre-lockdown. And in some of our face to face teams in our accommodation services, how often do we create opportunities in our working week to ask about how someone’s weekend has been, or share our hobbies or interests?
Most importantly perhaps of all, the leading organisational psychologist Hackman, who has been researching team working and team effectiveness since the 1970s, has identified after more than 40 years of research that ‘what matters most to collaboration … [and] what teams need to thrive are certain enabling conditions’ (Haas & Mortensen, 2016). In other words, a supportive context or system within which a team is operating. This is why our PIE Team / HR Team work on the organisation’s ‘People Strategy’ is so important. We need to foster a psychologically informed environment for our staff to work in that considers wellbeing and inclusion, supports and develops our staff through reflective practice, training opportunities and processes that empower and develop our staff’s skills and knowledge further and don’t create unnecessary barriers or challenges. We also need a reward system that reinforces good performance and not just highlights problems, and information systems and resources that function appropriately and provide what we need to do our roles to the best of our ability. These conditions create ‘enabling environments’ in which teams can flourish. Finally, as Gestalt Psychologists have noted ‘the whole is greater than the sum of our parts’, and consequently our ‘teams’ will always achieve more working together than working individually or in silos. As this blog ‘Team’ image above notes, within a psychologically informed environment, it is always better to work together, for that way, everyone achieves more… | https://medium.com/@drhelenmiles/a-psychologically-informed-approach-to-team-working-stronger-together-a1f199d326ae | ['Dr Helen Miles'] | 2020-10-09 08:58:53.563000+00:00 | ['Psychologicallyinformed', 'Teamwork', 'Homelessness', 'Young People', 'Pie'] |
Kubernetes On Work… | Kubernetes, also known as K8s, is an open-source system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. In other words, it is a container orchestration tool, created by GOOGLE. It groups containers that make up an application into logical units for easy management and discovery. Containerisation technology used by k8s used to be Docker which is being shifted to Cri-o, for its faster and daemon less deployment. Many of the Companies are moving towards this technology for their Sever setup. Of which the case study of Spotify is described in this section.
Spotify was launched around 2008 and has grown since then, till 2017 it had a great number of listeners. This created a clear image in the technical heads of the company that the management of the servers would be a back-breaking task for the teams. So, they decided to adopt k8s for server deployment.
“We saw the amazing community that had grown up around Kubernetes, and we wanted to be part of that,” says Jai Chakrabarti, Director of Engineering, Infrastructure and Operations. Kubernetes was more feature-rich than Helios. Plus, “we wanted to benefit from added velocity and reduced cost, and also align with the rest of the industry on best practices and tools.” At the same time, the team wanted to contribute its expertise and influence in the flourishing Kubernetes community. The migration, which would happen in parallel with Helios running, could go smoothly because “Kubernetes fit very nicely as a compliment and now as a replacement to Helios,” says Chakrabarti.
And today Spotify is completely relying on the k8s and cloud for providing us with the best quality and variety of music services. | https://medium.com/@123heerasingh/kubernetes-on-work-772277bf8cb6 | [] | 2020-12-26 16:04:01.206000+00:00 | ['Kubernetes', 'K8s', 'Spotify', 'Kubernetes Engine'] |
Reducing generation gaps with MINGLE… | THE PROBLEM:
“Boomer: a term used humorously to refer to an old person (born before the 1970s) who has closed-minded opinions or has been out-of-touch with the latest ideologies, cultures, and technologies…”
All of us have seen in TV shows, movies and even in real life how old people are left behind in every society due to their outdated understanding of the world because of which they are not able to mingle with the younger generation. They feel lonely and depressed and think that there is nothing that they can do about it, as this is what old age is, this is what their fate is: sad and lonely.
Being a “boomer”, slowly they lose the number of topics that they can have conversations over with younger people, and forcing one just becomes boring. This irritates the elderly sometimes as there is no road that shows them the way to get over this problem even if they want to. There are no books, no articles, no newspapers that target this problem. So, what to do?
THE SOLUTION:
“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you do not mind, it doesn’t matter…”
The remedy is simple. Just like water, the elderly will have to mould themselves according to their surroundings, and this is where MINGLE comes into picture.
MINGLE is an education app that coaches the user’s mind to work according to current trends, cultures and ways of life through which they would be able to get along with the gen z, without any confusions.
It will train their IQ in such a way that their understanding of the world will increase from the 70s up to the present. This will require a good amount of teaching that will cover all the topics: starting with the basics of using electronic items like computers and smartphones, to more advanced topics like understanding memes and rap songs.
Not being able to cope up with the fast pace growth of the 21st century is not anyone’s fault. We understand that there are a ton of other responsibilities that are much more important than following the latest trends. So no matter when they decide to join in, it is never too late.
Our goal is simple: to heal the damage that time does, and, to make people of all ages comfortable with their present surroundings.
THE WORKING:
“Never forget how wildly capable you are…”
First, the app will take a test to identify the amount of work that will be required to be done on the user’s present knowledge so that it matches to that of a 2020s 18-year-old. This milestone is chosen because in any day and age it is the teenagers who have the most energetic and skilled brains.
To achieve this goal, the course will consist of a wide variety of topics that will be covered as per the grasping power of the user.
All the possibly helpful topics will be covered so there is no need to doubt on the working of our app.
Topics to be covered initially:
· Change in education system, communication, dressing, language, grooming
· Art(dance/songs/movies)
· Relations (family, marriage, dating)
· Nature (farming techniques, pollution, wildlife, land discovered)
· Space (aliens, planets, astronomy vs astrology)
· Lifestyle (inflation, food, homes, vehicles, vices)
More topics will be introduced to the user according to their progress.
MARKET DEMAND:
“You don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you…”
Demand of this product is expected from four types of customers:
· The elderly: to get along with the latest generation
· The creators making entertainment pieces like movies: to live in any era of their choice
· The researchers: gaining in depth knowledge of our world’s history
· The curious heads: people who just want to quench their thirst of knowing about this world
TARGET CUSTOMERS:
“Satisfaction is a rating. Loyalty is a brand…”
Initially, only the elderly will be our target audience as they will benefit the most out of our app. We will target above mentioned categories as well, right after we achieve success in our first goal.
MARKETING PLAN:
“Good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart…”
We plan on starting with building a website for the company, and using social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Telegram, for no cost marketing. After gaining some genuine feedback we will start collaborating with the content creators on the mentioned platforms to spread our message.
PRODUCT PRICING:
“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get…”
The app will be completely free of cost for every customer. Although we plan on adding premium versions for those who are willing to go the extra mile, which will include features like live doubt solving sessions, interaction with industry experts, annual meets, and extra material for better learning.
This version will be based on a monthly subscription of Rs.500, or, on an annual subscription of Rs.5,000.
REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE/EXPERTISE:
“To win in the marketplace you must first win in the work place…”
This is the most important part of our concept and is also the most exciting. We plan on hiring people from majorly two age brackets-
People between 18–25 years of age — will provide the latest content for teaching purposes.
People between 50–60 years of age- will be experienced enough to know how to relate knowledge of older generations to the current generations to make it easier to understand.
ESTIMATED BUDGET:
“Budgeting is the first step towards financial freedom…”
An approximate of Rs. 1 lakh will be required for our company which will be divided into 2 main parts: Salaries of employees, and, The development and quality assurance of the app .
MILESTONES AND TIMELINE:
“There is no GIANT step that does it. It’s a lot of little steps…”
Here’s a rough idea for the timeline of our project-
Planning (concept and working of the app): 2 Months
Implementing (making the app and website): 9 Months
Testing (gathering feedback, problems and solving them): 2 Months
Launching (listing and marketing of the app) : 2 Months
RISK ANALYSIS:
“The biggest risk is not taking any risk…”
We expect that there is a very small chance that things might go wrong in the testing phase as some people may be a bit repulsive for this app as this is a new concept and gaining trust in this new concept will require some adaptation. Still, we will be ready is this happens and we’ll handle it in the wisest possible way.
WHY MINGLE?
“When you catch a glimpse of your potential, that’s when passion is born…”
We don’t want to boast, but our concept is pretty unique for the market and thus we have only one competition for our app. US.
We strive to be the best version of ourselves and make this product a revolution for those who don’t want to give up, for those seek knowledge , and for those who make their own future… | https://medium.com/@kizashi-kiz/reducing-generation-gaps-with-mingle-6b130c59c743 | ['Vaibhav Nagar'] | 2020-12-20 18:32:16.552000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Knowledge', 'Old Age', 'Latest News', 'Teaching And Learning'] |
Radian | POETRY
Radian
A free-verse poem
GIF by Lucas Vieira on Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
Hearing in arcs
and with the convex
of my eye
there is a sound for shapes
In the kinetic opus
feelings join trajectories
where chest rises in angles,
where beats clash in taut air
under low frequency of bone
and hot vibrations of skin
weep birth
to new stellar orbits,
The song of the body,
— its elbows and knees
flung into slow motion —
breathes as decelerating wind
skimming the strings
in acoustic wilderness,
a hanging garden
tended by science and art,
sky architecture
in a symphony of black
strung in vaporous lights
eerily lit in orbs of fog
that hint at doom
and sing of beauty
in fluid synth/esis
and cosmic pang
In the nostalgic future
there are manifold ways
to drift dimensionless,
to come full circle,
to know its motion
as a radian of feeling,
to catch the movement
of emotion in sound | https://medium.com/loose-words/radian-7d8824fe7c13 | ['Jessica Lee Mcmillan'] | 2020-12-19 14:08:06.616000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Connection', 'Retrofuturism', 'Emotions', 'Music'] |
The Best Way to Invest in Real Estate in 2020 | Most Investors are About to Miss the Biggest Opportunity of the Decade LizBrumerSmith Jan 25·5 min read
Photo by Kayle Kaupanger on Unsplash
I got my start in real estate just in 2012, a time when many careers and lives were falling to shambles, thanks to the Great Recession. Despite countless investors losing their shirts during the years that followed, I found a goldmine investing in non-performing notes. At the time, I thought the opportunity and profits I was experiencing was a fluke, a once in a lifetime opportunity.
But it’s about to happen again, and most investors aren’t even aware it’s happening.
Mortgage note investing isn’t a super popular way to invest in real estate. Housing flipping, wholesaling, rental real estate almost always get the spotlight. But this niche investment strategy is about to see an investment opportunity that will rival the great depression.
Millions of loans are delinquent
Recessions are a natural part of our economic cycle. There are years of growth and expansion and years of slowdown and stagnant production. What isn’t normal, however, is the extent of the crises we’re experiencing. The coronavirus pandemic has left millions of American’s unemployed and unable to pay their rent or mortgage. The government acted swiftly, offering certain protections through mortgage and rent moratoriums while extending forbearance plans to borrowers in need. But despite these efforts, an estimated 2.2 million people are seriously delinquent on their mortgage, and an additional 2.7 million borrowers are in some stage of forbearance.
Servicing companies and other lending institutions who create, buy and sell mortgage loans on the secondary market as securities are required to pay their investors whether the loan is paying or not. High default rates put tremendous pressure on the institutions and require significant liquidity to maintain.
Government action won’t put off the inventible
Right now, quantitative easing, which is the gradual influx of money into the financial and bond markets in addition to Fannie Mae, Ginnie Mae, and Freddie Mac purchasing loans in forbearance, banks have been able to skate by despite high default rates. But this won’t last forever. Eventually, the lending institutions will reach a tipping point where it’s no longer sustainable to hold the defaulted debt and are forced to sell the delinquent loans on the secondary market.
In the years that followed the Great Recession, banks, servicing companies, and lending institutions either sold the non-performing loans at a discount or went under. That meant investors who understood how to invest in this asset class and the capital to back them could purchase non-performing loans (NPLs) at an extreme discount.
How mortgage note investing works
When you invest in mortgage notes, you don’t invest in physical real estate itself, but the debt securing the real estate. When a loan is sold, the buyer steps into the shoes of the lender, having full rights to collect the remainder of the mortgage or pursue alternative actions to collect the debt, which can include forbearance, modifying the loan, or foreclosing. If you get the borrower repaying, you now have a passive income stream in the form of principal and interest payments. If you gain access to the real estate, you can sell the property as-is, fix it up, or hold it as a rental, among other strategies.
Back in the heyday of the financial crisis, non-performing notes (NPNs) that were 90 days delinquent or more could be purchased anywhere from 20% to 40% of the loan balance or property value, whichever was less. Meaning an investor could purchase a mortgage loan with a balance of roughly $200,000 for $60,000 and have the right to collect the entire remaining balance or the right to foreclose or gain title to the property and sell it at its face value.
Tremendous upside
To give you a real-life example of how big the profit margins could be, here’s a real example of a non-performing mortgage I purchased secured by a single-family home in 2016. The balance on the loan was $150,000 with a principal and interest payment of $811. I estimated the property value in its current condition to be around $90,000, and I purchased the loan for $37,000 (24% of the loan balance and 41% of the property value).
After buying the loan, our servicing company reached out to the borrower and discovered the borrower wanted to move on from the property. We agreed to a friendly foreclosure to remove other liens that were attached to the property with cost $2,500 and gave the borrower $3,000 to help with moving expenses putting us all in at $42,500. The property went to a foreclosure sale and sold at auction for $123,800, netting us over $81,000 on the investment, or a return of 190% in under a year.
Even if the borrower decided to repay us, and we worked with them to lower their loan balance closer to the current market value of $90,000, we would have had the ability to collect a principal and interest payment that would have netted us upwards of 15–17% on our money. All while never having to deal with tenants, repairs on the property, or paying taxes which are all responsibilities of the borrower.
Opportunity is coming
Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of non-performing loans were sold at steep discounts from 2011–2016 and continue to be sold today. While discounted prices have increased steadily over the past decade as the economy and mortgage crisis recovered, there is still tremendous opportunity for real estate investors. But only those that are informed and prepared for the opportunity will profit.
Like with any investment, there is a risk. Investing in mortgage notes is a complex investment strategy that requires specified training and careful attention to regulatory compliance. If you decide note investing is an avenue to pursue do your due diligence, speak with licensed attorneys or professionals to help advise you on the exact risks, and procedures to follow for your area of focus. If done correctly, you have the opportunity to not only profit but help homeowners in need while doing so. | https://themakingofamillionaire.com/most-real-estate-investors-are-about-to-miss-the-biggest-opportunity-of-the-decade-f2423ab0ba2 | [] | 2021-02-01 14:50:11.508000+00:00 | ['Real Estate Investments', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Real Estate', 'Money', 'Investing'] |
Dash Blockchain Becomes First Cryptocurrency in History To Sponsor A Circus | As part of the Dash DAO, I’m always educating myself on the various proposals that come into the Dash ecosystem. The most surprising proposal yet, has just arrived and planted itself firmly inside of Dash Nation and guess what, it’s a circus! This might be the very first time in history a cryptocurrency has sponsored a circus. Is Dash going to be the Red Bull of cryptocurrencies? It kind of looks that way, with the addition of Circus City.
Circus City is a biennial festival of circus in Bristol, UK, that
runs for several weeks in October. It aims to bring exciting and innovative performances to the city, to showcase work by Bristol and UK artists, support the UK circus touring circuit and to inspire the circus community. -Circus City
Here’s part of the original Dash proposal that performer and director, Edward Rapley, created for Dash Central and which the masternodes voted for:
“Circus City 2017 is proposing that Dash becomes the sole Commercial Sponsor of Circus City 2017, becoming the first blockchain to sponsor a major cultural and artistic event in the UK.”
Edward Rapley
I had a chance to interview Edward Rapley about his involvement with cryptocurrencies and the world of circus performance. From his website, we learn that he defines himself as a:
“Performer, Director, Cultural Activist, Fool, Clown and Self-Proclaimed Genius.”
Stellabelle: How did you find Dash?
Edward: I’m someone who owned several hundred bitcoins in 2011, I got them at $3 and sold them at $4 and purchased silver. I felt like a financial genius! We all know how that trade played out. Having regretted it ever since, I chose to ignore crypto, it was just too painful to look at how big a mistake I had made.
Luckily for me earlier this year a friend in the US owed me some money and he offered to pay me back in Bitcoin. I leapt at the chance and that was how I got back into crypto in general, from there I went looking at all the new blockchains that had sprung up. The truth is that I didn’t understand anything in 2011 but by 2017 I had educated myself, and I was ready to get involved.
I got into Dash and read through the forums, the wiki, the Reddit pages and I could see that here was a project that had all the elements needed to be successful. Technically the most important aspects are the services provided by masternodes, the governance and budget system. But the biggest asset is actually the community around the currency. Elsewhere I found competition and trolling, but in Dash I found cooperation, collaboration and a generous gift economy where people give their time to help each other. Those are the defining characteristics of a functional community.
S: Can you explain what kind of circus you’re in?
E: I’m going to disappoint you here. I’m not in a circus. I have trained as a clown with Philippe Gaulier, who is one of the world’s great teachers but I use that training in my work as a performer and director, working mostly in theatres. I have a lot of friends who work in circus arts as performers, teachers, and producers. This includes Lina B. Frank who is the co-director of Circus City so it was great to bring these two things together: crypto and circus.
S: How did you get your start in performance?
E: I had always dreamt of being an actor, I just never told anyone or did anything about it. Finally at the age of 24 I decided to try some static trapeze classes and my life as an artist opened up from there. I moved from circus towards performance art and then into theatre and right now my favourite way of working is fooling which I learned from Holly Stoppit. It’s a form of improvisation where you walk on stage with no idea what you will do. All you have to play with is your connection to yourself and the audience. It’s based on playful awareness and creates incredible moments of beauty. You can read about it here.
S: What made you think that the Dash Treasury would fund a circus?
E: It was a lightning bolt of inspiration, it was instantly clear to me that Dash would be a solution to the international circus community, people who might be in 4 countries in a week. I could also see that Dash had reached the point where it was ready for mass adoption, all that needs to happen is to put wallets in people’s hands, put Dash in those wallets and watch them go with just a little bit of hand holding and explanation.
My practice as a community organizer involves bringing people together for projects and I knew that Dash and Circus City would work well together. I’ve been proven right so far and it’s just the beginning, there is so much excitement around this sponsorship. People who knew nothing of Dash a month ago were refreshing dashvotetracker.com every 5 minutes on the final day.
S: Do circus people already use cryptocurrency?
E: Yes, in fact the only people who I knew back in 2011 who used Bitcoin were circus performers. Both of them did street performance and after a week they would have kilos of coins from the country they were in and that is useless in so many ways. So they would find a way to exchange it for bitcoin and then move on to the next country.
S: What are the similarities between cryptocurrency and the circus life?
Circus City and cryptocurrencies going to the m00n
E: Borders are meaningless, that is a common feature. Artists go wherever their shows them, wherever that is in the world. In the circus, people are always looking to get better, they practice and train, they learn new skills and they share them with the world. In a way, that is what Dash is doing. The core team and community are working every day to make Dash better.
The circus is also driven and sustained by a strong community. It’s people that drive projects forward, people who are passionate about what they do and give their energy to it. This is exactly what I’ve found in the Dash Nation slack channels and that’s something everyone involved can feel proud of.
S: Where can people learn more about you and the projects you support?
E: You can find me on Dash Nation Slack as @syntheist or through my website: http://www.edwardrapley.co.uk/
Learn more about Circus City, Holly Stoppit, Ecole Philippe Gaulier
Stay tuned to see how Dash and Circus City will be integrated in October 2017 when Circus City opens. | https://medium.com/dash-for-newbies/the-dash-blockchain-has-become-the-first-cryptocurrency-in-history-to-sponsor-a-circus-78aaa36f7008 | [] | 2017-06-11 21:06:14.409000+00:00 | ['Dash', 'Bitcoin', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Blockchain', 'Art'] |
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