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2,500 | Do You Wonder What Your Dreams Want to Tell You? | Do you wonder what your dreams want to tell you?
Rivetted by dreamtime imaginings years ago, I studied imagery and its meaning. Visualizations while half-asleep and those encountered in Dreamland seized my imagination. I wanted to understand them.
I found, sometimes, dreams depict what happens in the day. If you engage in a repetitive task, like conveyor-belt factory work, for instance, you might continue with your chore in a dream the following night.
At other times, however, your dreams offer profound insights.
Before I experimented with my own dreams, and those of friends, I had already examined symbolism and emotive content to fathom dream meanings with diverse success. But I learned how to create my own connections with symbols and embed them in my mind, which then uses them during my night-time imaginings, and you can too.
Emotions and symbols
Dream interpretations, I discovered, link with precise symbols held in your subconscious, like swords with conflict or love and hearts.
I saw how dreams could describe innermost secrets.
Studying emotions, I noted, was important too. When fear joins with heart imagery in dreams, for instance, it may reveal an unwillingness to love (dread of loss or rejection).
Distorted dream symbols make clarification difficult, though. Your subconscious attributes associations with them, but results are muddy.
That is, unless you expand your cognizant repertoire of symbols and attach them with exact meanings. Once sophisticated and repeated, they can penetrate your subconscious and crop up in your dreams.
Decipher (and note symbols and their associations)
It helps to work with what you have rather than start from scratch. Before you add fresh symbols, note pre-existing links you’ve already conjured.
Balloons, for example, might connect with freedom in your mind and rage or passion with fire.
You may find dream dictionaries useful. Then again, the author’s interpretation of symbol meanings, which vary, must match yours, and it’s a hit and miss affair. Hence, they don’t work for everyone. Many images and their meanings are imprinted in your subconscious, and the information in reference books won’t always be applicable.
List links your mind has already made. Next, add extra symbols, those you require your subconscious to connect with explicit meanings. This will improve how your mind communicates via your dreamworld.
So, on the left side of your list you might write ‘dove’ as a symbol, and on the other side ‘peace.’ (A generic example, but yours will be exclusive to you).
Create links between meanings and symbols
When sleepy, read the list before you go to bed. Picture symbols and their translations. Include emotion, too.
To connect fog with misunderstanding, for instance, recollect what confusion’s like as you imagine yourself encircled by smoke.
Interpret your dreams
When entrenched in your subconscious, the symbols you’ve learned will appear in your dreams. And you’ll understand them.
You can also ask your mind questions.
You might wish to know if someone’s an apt romantic partner or whether the investment you consider making is astute. Your subconscious stores everything you understand about the topic and can offer helpful tips as you sleep.
After repetition, you’ll no longer need your symbol list. Your psyche will have soaked them up and stored them ready for use.
Sometimes, your dreams won’t reveal anything pertinent. At others, however, they will reveal extraordinary insights. | https://medium.com/recycled/do-you-wonder-what-your-dreams-want-to-tell-you-c4cd196a1716 | ['Bridget Webber'] | 2020-11-10 01:51:56.699000+00:00 | ['Mind', 'Nonfiction', 'Life', 'Psychology', 'Dreams'] | Title Wonder Dreams Want Tell YouContent wonder dream want tell Rivetted dreamtime imaginings year ago studied imagery meaning Visualizations halfasleep encountered Dreamland seized imagination wanted understand found sometimes dream depict happens day engage repetitive task like conveyorbelt factory work instance might continue chore dream following night time however dream offer profound insight experimented dream friend already examined symbolism emotive content fathom dream meaning diverse success learned create connection symbol embed mind us nighttime imaginings Emotions symbol Dream interpretation discovered link precise symbol held subconscious like sword conflict love heart saw dream could describe innermost secret Studying emotion noted important fear join heart imagery dream instance may reveal unwillingness love dread loss rejection Distorted dream symbol make clarification difficult though subconscious attribute association result muddy unless expand cognizant repertoire symbol attach exact meaning sophisticated repeated penetrate subconscious crop dream Decipher note symbol association help work rather start scratch add fresh symbol note preexisting link you’ve already conjured Balloons example might connect freedom mind rage passion fire may find dream dictionary useful author’s interpretation symbol meaning vary must match it’s hit miss affair Hence don’t work everyone Many image meaning imprinted subconscious information reference book won’t always applicable List link mind already made Next add extra symbol require subconscious connect explicit meaning improve mind communicates via dreamworld left side list might write ‘dove’ symbol side ‘peace’ generic example exclusive Create link meaning symbol sleepy read list go bed Picture symbol translation Include emotion connect fog misunderstanding instance recollect confusion’s like imagine encircled smoke Interpret dream entrenched subconscious symbol you’ve learned appear dream you’ll understand also ask mind question might wish know someone’s apt romantic partner whether investment consider making astute subconscious store everything understand topic offer helpful tip sleep repetition you’ll longer need symbol list psyche soaked stored ready use Sometimes dream won’t reveal anything pertinent others however reveal extraordinary insightsTags Mind Nonfiction Life Psychology Dreams |
2,501 | On Being Held Hostage by Depression | For over four years, “You’ll never write again” is the mantra playing on a loop between my ears.
Vocation becomes affliction, soon demanding journalism and I break up. Although ours has always been a precarious union often funded by other work on the side, I’m bereft of purpose without it. Worse, I’m still hard-wired for the job. Curiosity keeps craving words and the blank page taunts me daily with threats of impending intellectual inertia.
So I placate curiosity with my library card, gorging on books in a bid to keep it — and myself — alive. It seems to work. But survival doesn’t pay. I need to start earning a living again, find a way to transfer my skill set to another industry, reinvent, rebrand, relaunch. This dehumanizing approach to work does nothing for my depression.
I’m not a fucking product, I want to scream, I’m a human!
So what if I’m fallible? News flash: We all are. And yet, with only the slightest touch of editorial alchemy, I transform my stay in Depressionland into a “sabbatical”, thus proving to myself my copywriting chops are still intact.
At the time, I’ve only been out of commission for two years. One word is all it takes to preempt awkward questions, one word is all it takes to conjure up the illusion of agency and success. Most importantly, one word is all it takes to slay the guilt and shame associated with not earning a living for so long.
But the word “sabbatical” rings hollow and feels awkward. Try as I might, I can’t get behind it. Besides, it conveys an aura of professional privilege that has always been alien to me. Case in point: I worked in Portugal under brutal financial austerity measures. As a result, my career is littered with the corpses of editorial endeavors that met an untimely end when public funding and advertising revenues ran out. What’s more, the lie touches a nerve. By passing off fiction as fact, I’ve become a full-fledged member of Depressionland’s cult of societal silence.
Not only have I turned on myself, but I’ve become complicit in the very thing I decry. | https://medium.com/invisible-illness/is-depression-holding-you-hostage-too-573f412f0c4d | ['A Singular Story'] | 2020-12-10 15:18:23.213000+00:00 | ['Journalism', 'Depression', 'Mental Health', 'Suicide', 'Life Lessons'] | Title Held Hostage DepressionContent four year “You’ll never write again” mantra playing loop ear Vocation becomes affliction soon demanding journalism break Although always precarious union often funded work side I’m bereft purpose without Worse I’m still hardwired job Curiosity keep craving word blank page taunt daily threat impending intellectual inertia placate curiosity library card gorging book bid keep — — alive seems work survival doesn’t pay need start earning living find way transfer skill set another industry reinvent rebrand relaunch dehumanizing approach work nothing depression I’m fucking product want scream I’m human I’m fallible News flash yet slightest touch editorial alchemy transform stay Depressionland “sabbatical” thus proving copywriting chop still intact time I’ve commission two year One word take preempt awkward question one word take conjure illusion agency success importantly one word take slay guilt shame associated earning living long word “sabbatical” ring hollow feel awkward Try might can’t get behind Besides conveys aura professional privilege always alien Case point worked Portugal brutal financial austerity measure result career littered corps editorial endeavor met untimely end public funding advertising revenue ran What’s lie touch nerve passing fiction fact I’ve become fullfledged member Depressionland’s cult societal silence turned I’ve become complicit thing decryTags Journalism Depression Mental Health Suicide Life Lessons |
2,502 | Image compression using singular value decomposition | Welcome back!
Last time we have introduced the SVD-decomposition and discussed the rank-k approximation of a matrix A. We have also seen a small example how it works, but we probably failed to convince the Reader why such suspicious-looking matrix manipulation would be useful outside of mathematics. To ease the doubt about the applicability of this mathematical tool, we are going to show an interesting application of the SVD-decomposition, namely image compression.
Image compression using SVD
Images are represented in a rectangular array where each element corresponds to the grayscale value for that pixel. For coloured images we have a 3-dimensional array of size n×m×3, where n and m represent the number of pixels vertically and horizontally, respectively, and for each pixel we store the intensity for colours red, green and blue.
What we are going to do is to repeat the low-rank approximation procedure that we introduced last week on a larger matrix, that is, we create the low-rank approximation of a matrix that represents an image for each colour separately. The resulting 3-dimensional array will be a good approximation of the original image, as we will see soon. The Ipython notebook with the following code snippets can be downloaded from this location.
For demonstration purposes we have chosen an image of the Castle hill in Budapest. The original image we would like to compress can be found below.
Castle hill, Budapest
The image can be imported into the notebook by using the PIL package. We have also normalized the intensity values in each pixel, that’s why we have divided the values by 255.
The next step is to separate the grayscale values for each color, that is, we work with 3 independent 2-dimensional matrices, and perform an SVD-decomposition for each colour separately. We have picked k=50, that is, we construct the best rank-50 approximations of the intensity matrices for each colour.
We can calculate how many bytes are needed to store the pieces of the rank-50 approximation compared to the size of the original image. Actually, we have achieved a compression rate 8% which means that only 8% of the original storage space is used for those matrices from which we can restore a matrix that is close to the original one (the closest among all matrices that have rank 50).
Well, the restored matrix can be close to the original image, but are we satisfied with the result? Good compression rate usually means quite bad quality, so let’s check what we have achieved.
Castle hill, restored image using rank-50 approximation
The buildings are recognisable, still, the approximate image is quite distorted and noisy. We have also repeated the experiments using k=10 and k=200. The resulting approximations can be found below. For the sake of completeness, the storage of the matrices for k=10 requires 62,080 bytes resulting in an impressive 1.6% compression rate (albeit the recovered image is nearly unrecognizable) whilst for k=200 the storage space is 12,561,600 bytes and the compression rate is 32.2%.
You may also would like try to compress several images using different values for k. You can do this by downloading the Ipython notebook and run the code on the images of your choice.
Castle hill, restored image using rank-10 approximation
Castle hill, restored image using rank-200 approximation
To sum up, the singular value decomposition is a very powerful mathematical tool with applications in many fields, like image compression that we have just covered briefly, but there are many others. SVD-decomposition is generally a good choice when one has to compress large dataset (that is, reduce their dimensions) in such a way that the inner structure and correspondence relations between the data points are preserved in some way. Principal component analysis is a good example, we might devote a post for it sometime. | https://medium.com/balabit-unsupervised/image-compression-using-singular-value-decomposition-de20451c69a3 | ['Unsupervised Blog'] | 2018-07-10 15:04:13.779000+00:00 | ['Compression', 'Jupyter Notebook', 'Data Science', 'Image Processing'] | Title Image compression using singular value decompositionContent Welcome back Last time introduced SVDdecomposition discussed rankk approximation matrix also seen small example work probably failed convince Reader suspiciouslooking matrix manipulation would useful outside mathematics ease doubt applicability mathematical tool going show interesting application SVDdecomposition namely image compression Image compression using SVD Images represented rectangular array element corresponds grayscale value pixel coloured image 3dimensional array size n×m×3 n represent number pixel vertically horizontally respectively pixel store intensity colour red green blue going repeat lowrank approximation procedure introduced last week larger matrix create lowrank approximation matrix represents image colour separately resulting 3dimensional array good approximation original image see soon Ipython notebook following code snippet downloaded location demonstration purpose chosen image Castle hill Budapest original image would like compress found Castle hill Budapest image imported notebook using PIL package also normalized intensity value pixel that’s divided value 255 next step separate grayscale value color work 3 independent 2dimensional matrix perform SVDdecomposition colour separately picked k50 construct best rank50 approximation intensity matrix colour calculate many byte needed store piece rank50 approximation compared size original image Actually achieved compression rate 8 mean 8 original storage space used matrix restore matrix close original one closest among matrix rank 50 Well restored matrix close original image satisfied result Good compression rate usually mean quite bad quality let’s check achieved Castle hill restored image using rank50 approximation building recognisable still approximate image quite distorted noisy also repeated experiment using k10 k200 resulting approximation found sake completeness storage matrix k10 requires 62080 byte resulting impressive 16 compression rate albeit recovered image nearly unrecognizable whilst k200 storage space 12561600 byte compression rate 322 may also would like try compress several image using different value k downloading Ipython notebook run code image choice Castle hill restored image using rank10 approximation Castle hill restored image using rank200 approximation sum singular value decomposition powerful mathematical tool application many field like image compression covered briefly many others SVDdecomposition generally good choice one compress large dataset reduce dimension way inner structure correspondence relation data point preserved way Principal component analysis good example might devote post sometimeTags Compression Jupyter Notebook Data Science Image Processing |
2,503 | A Look Into The Future: The Value of Science Fiction | “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading.” — Ray Bradbury
Food For Thought
The Value Of Science Fiction
Science fiction is the telescope that looks into the future. Through science fiction literature and films, we are able to address technological change, existential risks, and cultural crises that may define our future. This form of deep imagination is the ultimate form of preparation. It not only allows us to speculate what the future could look like, it also gives us tools to draw from when/if these or similar events actually take place.
To help prove our point, here are how some of the greatest sci-fi minds speak about the value of the genre. 😏🚀
Isaac Asimov:
“It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be…Science fiction writers foresee the inevitable, and although problems and catastrophes may be inevitable, solutions are not. Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today — but the core of science fiction, its essence…has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.”
Ray Bradbury:
“Science fiction is the most important literature in the history of the world, because it’s the history of ideas, the history of our civilization birthing itself. …Science fiction is central to everything we’ve ever done, and people who make fun of science fiction writers don’t know what they’re talking about.”
“We need not to be let alone. We need to be really bothered once in a while. How long is it since you were really bothered? About something important, about something real?”
Douglas Adams:
“Let us think the unthinkable, let us do the undoable, let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all.”
Philip K. Dick:
“I, for one, bet on science as helping us. I have yet to see how it fundamentally endangers us, even with the H-bomb lurking about. Science has given us more lives than it has taken; we must remember that.”
Gene Roddenberry:
“For me science fiction is a way of thinking, a way of logic that bypasses a lot of nonsense. It allows people to look directly at important subjects.”
And finally, Arthur Clarke: | https://medium.com/the-mission/a-look-into-the-future-the-value-of-science-fiction-3ac1519de7d9 | [] | 2019-04-12 19:32:00.174000+00:00 | ['Storytelling', 'Science Fiction', 'Reading', 'News', 'Science'] | Title Look Future Value Science FictionContent “You don’t burn book destroy culture get people stop reading” — Ray Bradbury Food Thought Value Science Fiction Science fiction telescope look future science fiction literature film able address technological change existential risk cultural crisis may define future form deep imagination ultimate form preparation allows u speculate future could look like also give u tool draw whenif similar event actually take place help prove point greatest scifi mind speak value genre 😏🚀 Isaac Asimov “It change continuing change inevitable change dominant factor society today sensible decision made longer without taking account world world be…Science fiction writer foresee inevitable although problem catastrophe may inevitable solution Individual science fiction story may seem trivial ever blinder critic philosopher today — core science fiction essence…has become crucial salvation saved all” Ray Bradbury “Science fiction important literature history world it’s history idea history civilization birthing …Science fiction central everything we’ve ever done people make fun science fiction writer don’t know they’re talking about” “We need let alone need really bothered long since really bothered something important something real” Douglas Adams “Let u think unthinkable let u undoable let u prepare grapple ineffable see may eff all” Philip K Dick “I one bet science helping u yet see fundamentally endangers u even Hbomb lurking Science given u life taken must remember that” Gene Roddenberry “For science fiction way thinking way logic bypass lot nonsense allows people look directly important subjects” finally Arthur ClarkeTags Storytelling Science Fiction Reading News Science |
2,504 | You Have to Impress Your Subconscious If You Want Affirmations to Work | Internal conflict arises when the data in your mind differs from what you say aloud. My friend Connie, for instance, repeats positive affirmations in front of her bathroom mirror.
She looks herself in the eye and says “you have a brilliant memory” and “your confidence grows day-by-day.”
Over lunch on Tuesday, though, she voiced disgruntlement and told me affirmations don’t work.
“Studies show…” but before I finished my sentence, she said:
“Don’t talk about studies! I’m living proof affirmations are useless.”
“Well, I think the opposite.”
She frowned until her forehead wrinkles looked like waves.
“What do you mean?”
I mentioned studies tell us everything you say and think is an affirmation when coupled with emotion, not just affirmations you create on purpose.
“Hang on a minute, everything?”
“Yep. You can tell your reflection you’re confident and happy until the cows come home, but if your words the rest of the day, including those you think, state the opposite they’ll dominate.”
“Are you sure?”
“Sure. Your brain accepts what you tell it most often. When you criticize yourself, you create beliefs that don’t serve you.”
“And they are the same as affirmations?”
“Yes.”
“Darn it.”
If my conversation with Connie’s captured your attention, you might wonder how to cut out the negative thoughts and words that take precedence over preferred affirmations. Connie felt the same.
“I’m doomed then. There’s no way I can stop criticizing myself.”
“Maybe you needn’t cut out every negative word to win the war, but make sure the balance tips in favor of positivity.”
“So I can still slip up?”
“I guess. It’s just necessary to produce more positivity than negativity. You know, so positivity tips the scales.”
“I can do that. I think…”
“Remember to add emotion. Only things you think or say with conviction impress your mind.”
She grimaced. “How do I add emotion?”
“The same way you are now. You’re implanting the idea affirmations are difficult; sowing an unhelpful seed.”
“So, have I got this straight? How I feel when I experience thoughts and words has an impact. If I am unemotional, an affirmation doesn’t work? And if I say one thing, but think another, it won’t help me?”
“Correct.”
“No wonder saying positive stuff to my reflection was no good. I didn’t believe it. I thought the words were enough.”
“Yeah, and you had negative thoughts that negated your efforts, anyway.”
“I don’t get it, though. I mean, how can I add belief to an affirmation I don’t believe? When I say ‘I’m confident,’ but I’m not yet, the affirmation won’t work.”
“Hmm. Okay. Think of something you believe in for a moment.”
“Right. I’ve thought of something.”
“What does it feel like?”
Connie looked baffled. “Feel like?”
“In your body. The feeling of confidence in a belief impacts your body. Where is it, and what’s it like?”
“My spine straightens and I seem taller.”
“Anything else?”
“I can breathe better. Straightening my spine has opened my airways.”
“Good. We’re getting somewhere. When you think about a solid belief, your back straightens and you take full breaths.”
“Yes.”
“That makes sense. I’m guessing the topic you’re thinking about makes you happy too?”
“That’s right. Why do you say that?”
“Because joy feels expansive in the body. You open up when you’re happy and restrict body functions when you’re sad. Right! We’ve got information to use now.”
“You want me to straighten my spine and take deep breaths when I say my affirmations?”
“Yes. More than that though. Get in the right frame of mind first too. Think of the same topic you’ve just considered. The one that made you straighten up and feel good. Then do the spine and breathing as you say affirmations.”
“Simple. It sounds doable. What about negative thoughts that pop into my head?”
“There’s no need to make things complicated. Just straighten your spine, take deep breaths and ignore unwanted thoughts.”
“And if I put myself down in a conversation?”
“Do the same thing. Correct yourself. Straighten up. Breathe. Expand your chest and say an affirmation you prefer.”
Connie tells me affirmations work for her now. Interestingly, I learned how to make my own affirmations work too by teaching Connie. Sometimes you learn best by describing how to do something and then doing it. | https://medium.com/recycled/you-have-to-impress-your-subconscious-if-you-want-affirmations-to-work-586599f4b4c1 | ['Bridget Webber'] | 2019-11-02 11:10:12.873000+00:00 | ['Law Of Attraction', 'Self Improvement', 'Mental Health', 'Affirmations', 'Psychology'] | Title Impress Subconscious Want Affirmations WorkContent Internal conflict arises data mind differs say aloud friend Connie instance repeat positive affirmation front bathroom mirror look eye say “you brilliant memory” “your confidence grows daybyday” lunch Tuesday though voiced disgruntlement told affirmation don’t work “Studies show…” finished sentence said “Don’t talk study I’m living proof affirmation useless” “Well think opposite” frowned forehead wrinkle looked like wave “What mean” mentioned study tell u everything say think affirmation coupled emotion affirmation create purpose “Hang minute everything” “Yep tell reflection you’re confident happy cow come home word rest day including think state opposite they’ll dominate” “Are sure” “Sure brain accepts tell often criticize create belief don’t serve you” “And affirmations” “Yes” “Darn it” conversation Connie’s captured attention might wonder cut negative thought word take precedence preferred affirmation Connie felt “I’m doomed There’s way stop criticizing myself” “Maybe needn’t cut every negative word win war make sure balance tip favor positivity” “So still slip up” “I guess It’s necessary produce positivity negativity know positivity tip scales” “I think…” “Remember add emotion thing think say conviction impress mind” grimaced “How add emotion” “The way You’re implanting idea affirmation difficult sowing unhelpful seed” “So got straight feel experience thought word impact unemotional affirmation doesn’t work say one thing think another won’t help me” “Correct” “No wonder saying positive stuff reflection good didn’t believe thought word enough” “Yeah negative thought negated effort anyway” “I don’t get though mean add belief affirmation don’t believe say ‘I’m confident’ I’m yet affirmation won’t work” “Hmm Okay Think something believe moment” “Right I’ve thought something” “What feel like” Connie looked baffled “Feel like” “In body feeling confidence belief impact body what’s like” “My spine straightens seem taller” “Anything else” “I breathe better Straightening spine opened airways” “Good We’re getting somewhere think solid belief back straightens take full breaths” “Yes” “That make sense I’m guessing topic you’re thinking make happy too” “That’s right say that” “Because joy feel expansive body open you’re happy restrict body function you’re sad Right We’ve got information use now” “You want straighten spine take deep breath say affirmations” “Yes though Get right frame mind first Think topic you’ve considered one made straighten feel good spine breathing say affirmations” “Simple sound doable negative thought pop head” “There’s need make thing complicated straighten spine take deep breath ignore unwanted thoughts” “And put conversation” “Do thing Correct Straighten Breathe Expand chest say affirmation prefer” Connie tell affirmation work Interestingly learned make affirmation work teaching Connie Sometimes learn best describing something itTags Law Attraction Self Improvement Mental Health Affirmations Psychology |
2,505 | Entrepreneurship can‘t be taught | Business skills can be taught; entrepreneurial qualities like grit and risk tolerance are inborn.
So can entrepreneurship be taught? Most entrepreneurs and investors seem to think the answer is ‘no’. Most academicians and students think the answer is ‘yes’. — Amity University
I sincerely believe that exceptional entrepreneurs have what it takes in them from the day they were born, and I think most psychologists will agree with me. We’re talking about the unicorns; the ones that make it to a respectable IPO. Why? Let me explain with a simple but intuitive analogy.
Entrepreneurs are born, not bred
How does one cultivate a great world class musician, say a pianist? First you gather all the young kids who can play the instrument. You then ask respectable piano teachers to evaluate who had the innate talent and aptitude to go far. And then you get these teachers to take them under their wings and put them through years of rigorous training and dedication to the craft.
You do not however, make playing the piano seem very cool and glamorous to attract general interest in all children, get a bunch of people who have never played the piano to evaluate them, and then choose a large number as apprentices and hope that eventually a few of them would achieve greatness.
The same could be said of any other achievements that require a lot of talent, determination and passion to succeed. I believe being a successful entrepreneur falls into such a category, having failed miserably in one attempt, achieved minor success in another, and met and talked with many who fell into both ends of the spectrum.
Encouraging entrepreneurial ‘spirit’
Some governments or academic institutions believe that encouraging entrepreneurial spirit is the key to creating more successful entrepreneurs. I believe that is a mistake. Getting more people to try does not increase the odds of getting successful startups .
The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘spirit’ as “the prevailing or typical quality, mood or attitude of a person, group or period of time”. By this very definition it implies that any ‘spirit’ is temporary in nature.
Rather than developing an overall sense of ‘entrepreneurial spirit’, it might be better to identify individuals with inherently strong entrepreneurial qualities that will last — passion, grit, resourcefulness, risk-taking aptitude — and giving them the encouragement and assistance they need to fully develop their potential over the long and obstacle laden process they will surely face.
It’s cool to do a startup
With big money and so much glamour propaganda injected into entrepreneurship these days, I have met many young founders doing startups because it is now ‘cooler’ and less boring than working in a big corporation. They also tend to choose popular themes such as Artificial Intelligence or Blockchain because it’s easier to get investors’ attention. They quote Jack Ma or Steve Jobs as role models and use popular lingo like solving “pain points” that venture capitalists love to hear in pitches. | https://lancengym.medium.com/entrepreneurship-cant-be-taught-980380d2423d | ['Lance Ng'] | 2018-11-21 01:13:14.664000+00:00 | ['Startup Lessons', 'Startup', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Entrepreneur', 'Founders'] | Title Entrepreneurship can‘t taughtContent Business skill taught entrepreneurial quality like grit risk tolerance inborn entrepreneurship taught entrepreneur investor seem think answer ‘no’ academician student think answer ‘yes’ — Amity University sincerely believe exceptional entrepreneur take day born think psychologist agree We’re talking unicorn one make respectable IPO Let explain simple intuitive analogy Entrepreneurs born bred one cultivate great world class musician say pianist First gather young kid play instrument ask respectable piano teacher evaluate innate talent aptitude go far get teacher take wing put year rigorous training dedication craft however make playing piano seem cool glamorous attract general interest child get bunch people never played piano evaluate choose large number apprentice hope eventually would achieve greatness could said achievement require lot talent determination passion succeed believe successful entrepreneur fall category failed miserably one attempt achieved minor success another met talked many fell end spectrum Encouraging entrepreneurial ‘spirit’ government academic institution believe encouraging entrepreneurial spirit key creating successful entrepreneur believe mistake Getting people try increase odds getting successful startup Oxford Dictionary defines ‘spirit’ “the prevailing typical quality mood attitude person group period time” definition implies ‘spirit’ temporary nature Rather developing overall sense ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ might better identify individual inherently strong entrepreneurial quality last — passion grit resourcefulness risktaking aptitude — giving encouragement assistance need fully develop potential long obstacle laden process surely face It’s cool startup big money much glamour propaganda injected entrepreneurship day met many young founder startup ‘cooler’ le boring working big corporation also tend choose popular theme Artificial Intelligence Blockchain it’s easier get investors’ attention quote Jack Steve Jobs role model use popular lingo like solving “pain points” venture capitalist love hear pitchesTags Startup Lessons Startup Entrepreneurship Entrepreneur Founders |
2,506 | Connecting with the Autistic Adults in Your Life | Connecting with the Autistic Adults in Your Life
Tips for educators, therapists, friends, and loved ones
Photo by Dario Valenzuela on Unsplash
I’m an adult Autistic person, and I love being Autistic.
Autism has brought a lot of wonderful things into my life. It’s given me the focus and intensity required to become a prolific writer. It’s helped me develop an analytic, critical perspective that can cut through the bullshit of bureaucracy, meaningless social rules, outdated gender norms, and so much more. And Autism has taught me to be strong in the face of judgement and ostracism, allowing me to stand up for what is right and provide a warm embrace to other people who have been excluded for being strange, inappropriate, not enough, “wrong”.
But for all its gifts, Autism also has its share of challenges. Actually, scratch that. It’s not Autism that’s the problem. It’s how other people respond to Autism.
Mainstream, neurotypical society creates loud, bright, unpredictable spaces, then expects Autistic people to navigate them seamlessly, without a wince or a complaint. When an Autistic person struggles, they are typically blamed for being oversensitive, or non-compliant, or simply for not trying enough. Without ever meaning to, allistic (non-Autistic) people lay out numerous Autism-unfriendly expectations for how other people think and act, and routinely express themselves in ways that Autistic people find confounding.
When we aren’t subjected to allistic expectations and norms, many Autistic folks get along just fine. Being Autistic, by itself, can be pretty easy. It’s being Autistic around neurotypical people that is hard.
A couple of days ago, an allistic therapist tweeted at me, asking how she could better serve her Autistic patients. I was so glad she knew to ask. Most mental health providers aren’t taught much about what Autism looks like in adults. Adult educators usually don’t know a thing about the topic. Neither do the friends and loved ones of Autistic adults. There’s a lot of very general information about childhood Autism to be found online, mostly stereotypical stuff best suited for cisgender boys with “masculine” interests, but if you love an Autistic person who differs from that mold, particularly an adult, you’re probably kind of lost.
So, how do you support the Autistic adults around you? How can you make the world a more accessible place for us? How can you be a more accommodating coworker, therapist, lover, or friend? Here are a few tips, inspired by a blend of my own experience, the (limited) research that is available, and countless conversations with my Autistic peers:
Communicate Directly — Even When It’s Uncomfortable
I often find that non-autistic people communicate in indirect, symbolic ways. They often care more about conveying a general feeling than they do expressing the literal truth. A lot of their messaging occurs on a non-verbal or social level, and when you’re Autistic, it’s easy to miss entirely.
Many non-Autistics seem to be especially uncomfortable with negativity. Saying “no” to an idea, telling a person they’ve got the facts wrong, passing judgement on an unethical act — these are really difficult for allistics to express. Instead, they’ll approach the truth from an angle. They’ll use sarcasm, veiled compliments, and small talk to make a point rather than stating it outright. It confuses Autistic people a lot, and makes us feel crazy.
For example, I’ve noticed that when an allistic person doesn’t want to do something, they will often point out an irrelevant flaw with the suggestion instead of just saying “sorry, I’m not interested in that activity”. Or they’ll say “maybe” when they actually mean “no”. They’ll broadcast countless nonverbal messages that mean anything from “please come over here” to “stop doing that” to “please leave me alone to talk with this person”, and then get frustrated when Autistic people can’t read them.
There’s also a frustrating lack of consistency in what an allistic person’s veiled message even is. Sometimes, an allistic person will vent or complain about a stressful situation as a way of indirectly asking for help in handling it. Other times, they’ll vent and complain because they want a supportive ear — and will be offended if somebody tries to offer them advice. It’s very hard to tell the difference.
Most Autistic people try very, very hard to communicate well. Because we’ve been told we’re “weird” all our lives, we work hard to present ourselves and our ideas in comprehensible ways. Because we are often ignored or silenced, we expend a lot of effort trying to be heard and taken seriously. Unfortunately, the allistic people around us fail to put the same level of effort into communicating effectively with us.
Photo by Alexis Brown on Unsplash
Many Autistic people have a hard time detecting sarcasm, and we usually believe people mean exactly what they say. So if you want to express yourself to one of us, don’t dodge the issue. Just say it outright.
“I can’t do that”“Please give me some space”, “I don’t understand what you mean, can you explain it again?”, “I’m tired of talking about this”, and “I would love to do that” are all great examples of clear, direct communication. Just say what you mean. It’s that simple!
Of course, I recognize that for many allistic people, being straightforward isn’t actually simple at all. You’ve been taught all your life to temper rejection with praise, to hide disagreement behind agreeable language. But when you’re communicating with Autistic folks, you’ve got to throw that playbook — and your fears of being “negative” — out the window. As a general rule, we don’t get offended when people tell us “no”.
In fact, clear boundaries and honest rejections can help us feel safe. Most of the time we have to guess frantically at what allistic people mean, so it’s a relief when one just lays out how they’re actually feeling. Also, try not to be offended when we are similarly direct or blunt with you. We’re not trying to be hurtful or barbed. We’re just trying to express our feelings in a way that won’t be misconstrued.
Manage Expectations
Autistic folks expect people’s actions to be predictable and logical. To most of us, numbers have specific meanings, life has a structure, and things happen for a reason. When allistic people operate in vaguer, more intuitive terms, it can really throw us for a loop.
Here’s a really simple example. If my partner says he’s going to be ready to leave the house in five minutes, I assume he’ll be out the door in exactly five minutes. But often, “in five minutes” means something way more amorphous and vague to him than that. It’s more about a feeling of readiness than it is about something quantifiable. I know this about him — we’ve been together nine years — yet my brain short-circuits with confusion every single time it happens.
Similarly, when an allistic coworker tells me they’ll have a draft ready “by tomorrow”, I assume they have an accurate gauge on how long a task will take, and have set aside that amount of time to get it done. This almost never actually happens. I have found that for most allistic people, “tomorrow” is more aspirational than it is literal. When someone says “this will be done tomorrow” what they often mean is something like, “I’m gonna start working on it sometime this week”.
No human being is completely rational; even Autistic folks aren’t robots. But when we’re surrounded by allistic people who communicate in vague, emotion-based ways, we often end up feeling like confused robots who haven’t been properly programmed to interpret human speech. We thrive on consistency and feel most at ease when we know what to expect, so the more accurate you can be with us, the better.
Not sure how long an activity will take to complete? Give an estimate that allows room for error and setbacks. Want to cancel plans? Just say that you need to cancel, instead of using wishy-washy language about how you “might not be up for it”. Have to deviate from the pre-determined schedule? Let the Autistic person know as soon as you can, so we can prepare for it. Don’t try to soften the blow with euphemistic language — we might miss the message or be confused about why a change is happening.
Be Willing to Go Deep
Autistic people do not live in the shallows. We are obsessive and passionate. Most of us have a variety of rotating special interests, which we consume information about voraciously. We can spend hours joyously hyper-focusing on an activity or creative outlet, so delighted that we forget to eat or drink. We love intellectual debates, pedantic conversations, and getting lost in the weeds. Unfortunately, all too many non-Autistic folks see our deep capacity for engagement as “cringey”, immature, or embarrassing.
Photo by Cristian Palmer on Unsplash
I will never understand why someone would choose to only love something in half measures. It’s tragic to me that some people never get to throw themselves into the depths of passion for fear of seeming “weird”. Loving something intensely is a wonderful escape from the stressors of everyday life. It’s a transcendent experience. It helps us develop new skills and knowledge bases, and connects us with other people who share that capacity for depth.
Of course, allistic people are completely capable of going just as deep as Autistic people are. You can decide at any time to abandon your fears of seeming “cringey”, and take the plunge right along with us. You might find you like how it feels to lose yourself to obsession every once in a while.
Want to dive in? It’s really easy. Just ask an Autistic person about a topic that interests them, and really listen, with a genuine ear. Often, allistic people will do this frustrating thing where they’ll bring up an exciting, complex topic, but then quickly lose interest the second an Autistic person really tries to engage with the topic’s depth. It’s not a crime to prefer small talk, but most Autistics want to get more philosophical or analytical than that. Try coming along for the ride. You might learn something!
Autistic people love to share information about the topics that excite us. The process is called “info-dumping”, but it’s really an expression of affection and passion. You don’t have to sit and listen to one of us prattle on about Pokemon forever if you don’t want to, but if you can find common ground with one of us, there’s a lot of potential for connection and creativity.
Passionate Autistic people are the lifeblood of every nerd community, online database, and digital subculture. We pour a ton of energy into these social groups, and help make them into eccentric, comfortable spaces where everyone is welcome. Don’t be afraid to join them and geek out with us — nobody is going to judge you. It’s cool to be earnest. It’s fun to care about things! And the more time you spend with Autistic people, the less self-conscious you’ll feel about whatever freaky or niche interests you might have lurking inside you.
Don’t Expect Our Emotions to Look Like Yours
A few months ago, a lot of well-meaning feminist writers wrote pieces celebrating the fact that climate activist Greta Thunberg doesn’t smile very often. In a world where women are expected to be easygoing and pleasant to look at, it seemed revolutionary for a teenager girl to move through the world with a flat, serious face. Shockingly, most of these essays said little about the fact that Thunberg is an out, proud Autistic young woman.
You cannot separate Thunberg’s steely confidence from her Autism, and you can’t discuss the criticism she faces without acknowledging the ableism at the core of it. Thunberg isn’t just criticized for frowning because she is a young woman. It’s also because her way of emoting and expressing herself is deeply, proudly Autistic, and most people are still very uncomfortable with that.
Autistic emotions are different. We are often “flat-affected” and seem far less expressive and outgoing than our non-Autistic peers. This can leave people with the impression that we have no feelings or internal lives at all. Our neutral, resting expressions can read as angry, blank, or depressed to allistic people. We often get told to “smile!”, or get criticized for seeming unfriendly, but faking the cheerful bubbliness that allistic people desire from us can be downright exhausting.
Paradoxically, many Autistics actually experience emotions very intensely. When we’re happy, we may flap our hands, rock in place, or make gleeful, chirpy noises. When we’re angry we may try to hit ourselves in the head. We can even be sent into a full-blown meltdown state if we become too overwhelmed with grief, sadness, frustration, or excitement. When an emotional overload happens, and we find ourselves crying on the floor or slapping the walls out of sheer rage, people view us as abnormal or scary. And when allistic people are scared of us, the results can be deadly.
Expressing emotions as an Autistic person is a total double-bind. If we try to look calm and behave “normally”, people think we are emotionless automatons. Yet if we express ourselves in the loud, physical, abnormal ways that feel authentic, people think that we’re freaks. Whichever route we choose, we end up being corrected and reprimanded constantly. By the time we’re adults, most of us have been told thousands of times that our emotions are totally inappropriate, so we’ve learned to don an impassive, phony mask instead.
“Masking” Autism is exhausting. A lot of research has shown that the better an Autistic person is at feigning a neurotypical personality, the greater a toll it takes on our mental health. So if you want to be a true and committed ally to the Austitic folks around you, you’ve got to get comfortable with our unique ways of expressing emotion.
If you love an Autistic person, don’t try to guess what they are feeling. Don’t assume that just because their face is flat and serious-seeming that they are angry, or sad, or depressed. Don’t ask us constantly if we are “doing okay” or if “something is wrong” — it can feel like a reprimand to put our mask back on. Don’t tell the Autistic people in your life that their happy flapping or sorrowful bawling is “too much”. Read up on Autistic meltdowns, and come to understand how emotional overloads feel.
Most of all, don’t pressure Autistic people to feign a neurotypical personality. One of the most damaging things you can do to one of us is to judge and stifle our authentic, healthy communication.
Relax the Social Rules
Most social norms are completely arbitrary and have no logical explanation. This confounds the hell out of most Autistic people. Why does wearing a piece of elaborately knotted fabric around your throat signify that you are a professional? Why are some complicated hairstyles considered fancy, yet other, equally elaborate hairstyles are considered workplace-inappropriate? Why do we routinely ask people how they are doing, yet never expect a negative reply?
At best, these pointless rules are an annoyance that neurotypical people learn to ignore. At worst, they are a means of exclusion, making public life inaccessible for anyone who is marginalized. Rules about what counts as ‘professional’ conduct and attire are often racist, sexist, transphobic, and ableist to a massive degree.
One of the greatest gifts of Autism is a keen ability to see through all this arbitrary prejudice. Many of us find it nigh impossible to follow rules that make no sense or are damaging. If a piece of useless fabric is physically uncomfortable, we’re not gonna wear it. If a gender norm is reductive, we’re not going to follow it. If there’s an injustice staring us in the face, we’re going to want to confront it, even if the allistic people around us view doing so as ‘impolite’.
In mainstream, neurotypical society, this amazing gift is instead perceived as a curse. Sitting comfortably and wearing cozy clothing is seen as sloppy or immature. Honesty and authenticity gets us labeled rude. If we don’t provide the socially expected amount of eye contact, people think we’re liars, or even joke that we seem dangerous and scary. We end up being ostracized despite having done no harm at all.
If you want to help Autistic people thrive, you’ve got to loosen the rules. In professional settings, really consider which expectations are important, and which are arbitrary signifiers of status or ability. Does having a dress code impact how business is done in any measurable way? If people are permitted to a little strange, is there any harm done? Do you need every employee to be a talented conversationalist, or is there room in your world for people who are shy, with stuttering voices or gazes that never leave the floor?
Outside of work and school, consider how social norms influence your social perceptions. Are you creeped out when you see a guy rocking in place on the bus? If someone takes a few seconds longer than normal to answer a question, do you respect them less? Do you think it’s wrong or inappropriate for an adult to sleep with a stuffed animal? Do you only choose friends who dress, talk, emote, think, and live as you do? Why?
Don’t be afraid to surround yourself with people who make you feel a little awkward sometimes. And don’t hesitate to stand up for those among us who come across as unusual, eccentric, or harmlessly awkward. People who behave and think in non-normative ways can challenge you and help you to grow. And being around a variety of types of people can free you to be more authentically, bizarrely yourself, too.
…
Being Autistic in a neurotypical society means constantly violating the rules of a game that no one taught you how to play, and which you never consented to being a part of. You’re constantly being told, in indirect ways, that your actions, mannerisms, and words are unacceptable. People seem to be constantly misleading you, and yet find your attempts at clearing things up to be rude or suspect. When you do finally figure out the rules of the game, you discover that they are incredibly taxing and emotionally depleting for you to follow. It can be despair-inducing, and deeply isolating.
This can all change in an instant, however, when an allistic person makes the choice to meet us halfway. When people are honest and straightforward with us, we are able to form safe, healthy relationships with strong lines of communication. When we are celebrated for our weirdness, we get to challenge the status quo in important, far-reaching ways. And when we are allowed to express ourselves without fear of reprisal, we get to share our deep capacity for joy with a world that desperately needs it.
Autistic people do not need to be cured — we need to be accommodated. Thankfully, if you’re an allistic ally, accommodation can be easy. Just relax your adherence to social norms, get comfortable with a bit of strangeness, and tell us how you’re feeling. We want to get to know you. We have been reaching out and making overtures all our lives. Make an effort to know us, too. | https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/connecting-with-the-autistic-adults-in-your-life-64a4e3df950e | ['Devon Price'] | 2020-01-07 20:34:48.152000+00:00 | ['Mental Health', 'Education', 'Autism', 'Psychology', 'Disability'] | Title Connecting Autistic Adults LifeContent Connecting Autistic Adults Life Tips educator therapist friend loved one Photo Dario Valenzuela Unsplash I’m adult Autistic person love Autistic Autism brought lot wonderful thing life It’s given focus intensity required become prolific writer It’s helped develop analytic critical perspective cut bullshit bureaucracy meaningless social rule outdated gender norm much Autism taught strong face judgement ostracism allowing stand right provide warm embrace people excluded strange inappropriate enough “wrong” gift Autism also share challenge Actually scratch It’s Autism that’s problem It’s people respond Autism Mainstream neurotypical society creates loud bright unpredictable space expects Autistic people navigate seamlessly without wince complaint Autistic person struggle typically blamed oversensitive noncompliant simply trying enough Without ever meaning allistic nonAutistic people lay numerous Autismunfriendly expectation people think act routinely express way Autistic people find confounding aren’t subjected allistic expectation norm many Autistic folk get along fine Autistic pretty easy It’s Autistic around neurotypical people hard couple day ago allistic therapist tweeted asking could better serve Autistic patient glad knew ask mental health provider aren’t taught much Autism look like adult Adult educator usually don’t know thing topic Neither friend loved one Autistic adult There’s lot general information childhood Autism found online mostly stereotypical stuff best suited cisgender boy “masculine” interest love Autistic person differs mold particularly adult you’re probably kind lost support Autistic adult around make world accessible place u accommodating coworker therapist lover friend tip inspired blend experience limited research available countless conversation Autistic peer Communicate Directly — Even It’s Uncomfortable often find nonautistic people communicate indirect symbolic way often care conveying general feeling expressing literal truth lot messaging occurs nonverbal social level you’re Autistic it’s easy miss entirely Many nonAutistics seem especially uncomfortable negativity Saying “no” idea telling person they’ve got fact wrong passing judgement unethical act — really difficult allistics express Instead they’ll approach truth angle They’ll use sarcasm veiled compliment small talk make point rather stating outright confuses Autistic people lot make u feel crazy example I’ve noticed allistic person doesn’t want something often point irrelevant flaw suggestion instead saying “sorry I’m interested activity” they’ll say “maybe” actually mean “no” They’ll broadcast countless nonverbal message mean anything “please come here” “stop that” “please leave alone talk person” get frustrated Autistic people can’t read There’s also frustrating lack consistency allistic person’s veiled message even Sometimes allistic person vent complain stressful situation way indirectly asking help handling time they’ll vent complain want supportive ear — offended somebody try offer advice It’s hard tell difference Autistic people try hard communicate well we’ve told we’re “weird” life work hard present idea comprehensible way often ignored silenced expend lot effort trying heard taken seriously Unfortunately allistic people around u fail put level effort communicating effectively u Photo Alexis Brown Unsplash Many Autistic people hard time detecting sarcasm usually believe people mean exactly say want express one u don’t dodge issue say outright “I can’t that”“Please give space” “I don’t understand mean explain again” “I’m tired talking this” “I would love that” great example clear direct communication say mean It’s simple course recognize many allistic people straightforward isn’t actually simple You’ve taught life temper rejection praise hide disagreement behind agreeable language you’re communicating Autistic folk you’ve got throw playbook — fear “negative” — window general rule don’t get offended people tell u “no” fact clear boundary honest rejection help u feel safe time guess frantically allistic people mean it’s relief one lay they’re actually feeling Also try offended similarly direct blunt We’re trying hurtful barbed We’re trying express feeling way won’t misconstrued Manage Expectations Autistic folk expect people’s action predictable logical u number specific meaning life structure thing happen reason allistic people operate vaguer intuitive term really throw u loop Here’s really simple example partner say he’s going ready leave house five minute assume he’ll door exactly five minute often “in five minutes” mean something way amorphous vague It’s feeling readiness something quantifiable know — we’ve together nine year — yet brain shortcircuits confusion every single time happens Similarly allistic coworker tell they’ll draft ready “by tomorrow” assume accurate gauge long task take set aside amount time get done almost never actually happens found allistic people “tomorrow” aspirational literal someone say “this done tomorrow” often mean something like “I’m gonna start working sometime week” human completely rational even Autistic folk aren’t robot we’re surrounded allistic people communicate vague emotionbased way often end feeling like confused robot haven’t properly programmed interpret human speech thrive consistency feel ease know expect accurate u better sure long activity take complete Give estimate allows room error setback Want cancel plan say need cancel instead using wishywashy language “might it” deviate predetermined schedule Let Autistic person know soon prepare Don’t try soften blow euphemistic language — might miss message confused change happening Willing Go Deep Autistic people live shallow obsessive passionate u variety rotating special interest consume information voraciously spend hour joyously hyperfocusing activity creative outlet delighted forget eat drink love intellectual debate pedantic conversation getting lost weed Unfortunately many nonAutistic folk see deep capacity engagement “cringey” immature embarrassing Photo Cristian Palmer Unsplash never understand someone would choose love something half measure It’s tragic people never get throw depth passion fear seeming “weird” Loving something intensely wonderful escape stressor everyday life It’s transcendent experience help u develop new skill knowledge base connects u people share capacity depth course allistic people completely capable going deep Autistic people decide time abandon fear seeming “cringey” take plunge right along u might find like feel lose obsession every Want dive It’s really easy ask Autistic person topic interest really listen genuine ear Often allistic people frustrating thing they’ll bring exciting complex topic quickly lose interest second Autistic person really try engage topic’s depth It’s crime prefer small talk Autistics want get philosophical analytical Try coming along ride might learn something Autistic people love share information topic excite u process called “infodumping” it’s really expression affection passion don’t sit listen one u prattle Pokemon forever don’t want find common ground one u there’s lot potential connection creativity Passionate Autistic people lifeblood every nerd community online database digital subculture pour ton energy social group help make eccentric comfortable space everyone welcome Don’t afraid join geek u — nobody going judge It’s cool earnest It’s fun care thing time spend Autistic people le selfconscious you’ll feel whatever freaky niche interest might lurking inside Don’t Expect Emotions Look Like month ago lot wellmeaning feminist writer wrote piece celebrating fact climate activist Greta Thunberg doesn’t smile often world woman expected easygoing pleasant look seemed revolutionary teenager girl move world flat serious face Shockingly essay said little fact Thunberg proud Autistic young woman cannot separate Thunberg’s steely confidence Autism can’t discus criticism face without acknowledging ableism core Thunberg isn’t criticized frowning young woman It’s also way emoting expressing deeply proudly Autistic people still uncomfortable Autistic emotion different often “flataffected” seem far le expressive outgoing nonAutistic peer leave people impression feeling internal life neutral resting expression read angry blank depressed allistic people often get told “smile” get criticized seeming unfriendly faking cheerful bubbliness allistic people desire u downright exhausting Paradoxically many Autistics actually experience emotion intensely we’re happy may flap hand rock place make gleeful chirpy noise we’re angry may try hit head even sent fullblown meltdown state become overwhelmed grief sadness frustration excitement emotional overload happens find cry floor slapping wall sheer rage people view u abnormal scary allistic people scared u result deadly Expressing emotion Autistic person total doublebind try look calm behave “normally” people think emotionless automaton Yet express loud physical abnormal way feel authentic people think we’re freak Whichever route choose end corrected reprimanded constantly time we’re adult u told thousand time emotion totally inappropriate we’ve learned impassive phony mask instead “Masking” Autism exhausting lot research shown better Autistic person feigning neurotypical personality greater toll take mental health want true committed ally Austitic folk around you’ve got get comfortable unique way expressing emotion love Autistic person don’t try guess feeling Don’t assume face flat seriousseeming angry sad depressed Don’t ask u constantly “doing okay” “something wrong” — feel like reprimand put mask back Don’t tell Autistic people life happy flapping sorrowful bawling “too much” Read Autistic meltdown come understand emotional overload feel don’t pressure Autistic people feign neurotypical personality One damaging thing one u judge stifle authentic healthy communication Relax Social Rules social norm completely arbitrary logical explanation confounds hell Autistic people wearing piece elaborately knotted fabric around throat signify professional complicated hairstyle considered fancy yet equally elaborate hairstyle considered workplaceinappropriate routinely ask people yet never expect negative reply best pointless rule annoyance neurotypical people learn ignore worst mean exclusion making public life inaccessible anyone marginalized Rules count ‘professional’ conduct attire often racist sexist transphobic ableist massive degree One greatest gift Autism keen ability see arbitrary prejudice Many u find nigh impossible follow rule make sense damaging piece useless fabric physically uncomfortable we’re gonna wear gender norm reductive we’re going follow there’s injustice staring u face we’re going want confront even allistic people around u view ‘impolite’ mainstream neurotypical society amazing gift instead perceived curse Sitting comfortably wearing cozy clothing seen sloppy immature Honesty authenticity get u labeled rude don’t provide socially expected amount eye contact people think we’re liar even joke seem dangerous scary end ostracized despite done harm want help Autistic people thrive you’ve got loosen rule professional setting really consider expectation important arbitrary signifier status ability dress code impact business done measurable way people permitted little strange harm done need every employee talented conversationalist room world people shy stuttering voice gaze never leave floor Outside work school consider social norm influence social perception creeped see guy rocking place bus someone take second longer normal answer question respect le think it’s wrong inappropriate adult sleep stuffed animal choose friend dress talk emote think live Don’t afraid surround people make feel little awkward sometimes don’t hesitate stand among u come across unusual eccentric harmlessly awkward People behave think nonnormative way challenge help grow around variety type people free authentically bizarrely … Autistic neurotypical society mean constantly violating rule game one taught play never consented part You’re constantly told indirect way action mannerism word unacceptable People seem constantly misleading yet find attempt clearing thing rude suspect finally figure rule game discover incredibly taxing emotionally depleting follow despairinducing deeply isolating change instant however allistic person make choice meet u halfway people honest straightforward u able form safe healthy relationship strong line communication celebrated weirdness get challenge status quo important farreaching way allowed express without fear reprisal get share deep capacity joy world desperately need Autistic people need cured — need accommodated Thankfully you’re allistic ally accommodation easy relax adherence social norm get comfortable bit strangeness tell u you’re feeling want get know reaching making overture life Make effort know u tooTags Mental Health Education Autism Psychology Disability |
2,507 | How Abzu adapted to Corona times | How Abzu adapted to Corona times
Small and large adjustments from a global artificial intelligence startup
March 2020 is a month we will never forget. The world changed quite quickly, and we were all stunned by the severity of the crisis as countries shut down and borders rapidly closed.
Here at Abzu, we are categorically aware that every state’s response is unique. We’re a European company at heart with offices in Barcelona and Copenhagen, and the situation in each country is quite different:
Spain was hit quickly and hard with the virus, and a mandate was put in place that required everyone to shelter at home. Our Barcelonian coworkers and friends can only leave their homes to buy medicine or necessary groceries. Schools and the public sector are closed.
Denmark has been mostly shut down since March 11th, but it has recently started a gradual reopening. At the time of writing, schools and kindergartens have partially reopened.
Abzu is an international company, famous for our self-organizing culture, and we already have an established culture of running “video windows” the entire workday to connect our two offices and anyone working remotely. We use Zoom a lot for daily check-ins and various pairings or meetings.
Daily check-ins every morning at Abzu
In the “new normal,” we’ve democratized our “video window”: now we leave a Zoom room open all day, which has an average of eight Abzu faces at any time with various emotions (concentration, frustration, amusement, etc.), or sometimes empty chairs or couches as symbols of solidarity, or the occasional cat or kid vying for attention. Our mics are mostly muted, but it recreates the feeling of being around our colleagues. It’s a small change that has returned large, fuzzy dividends.
Human connection during a time of isolation
But a significant change for us was our decision to alter the launch of our product which we had planned for full release in April 2020. Of course the decision was difficult — especially as plans had been underway for over two years — but it was abruptly apparent that we had to adjust more than just tech use in this “new normal”.
We’ve shifted our plans to an invite-only launch. It’s a little annoying, but we’ll change the face of artificial intelligence with a select group of users instead of the public. And although this wasn’t the big splash we have all been working towards, it has its benefits: white-glove onboarding service, more tailored feedback, and the opportunity to improve our digital communications.
Some home offices are tidier than others
It’s been a privilege to see how well all the Abzoids have adapted to this situation, with children running around them and up and down the walls, and a monumental shift in product strategy. It’s humbling, to say the least. But I am looking forward to our next in-person gathering. We all miss the hugs.
Whatever changes Coronavirus has forced you and your team to make in your culture and operations, don’t underestimate the toll it takes on your employees. Whether they’re still sheltering in place under heavy restrictions or gradually reopening — which has its own set of unique challenges — we’ve found that small and genuine tokens of appreciation and connection go a very long way.
When you’re making deadlines, sometimes you need coffee, soda, and beer
A few tips and techniques that have done more than keep us sane: | https://medium.com/abzuai/how-abzu-adapted-to-corona-times-2735c4e37b3b | ['Jonas Wilstrup'] | 2020-04-21 14:02:54.752000+00:00 | ['Remote Working', 'Teal Organizations', 'Work From Home', 'Startup', 'Coronavirus'] | Title Abzu adapted Corona timesContent Abzu adapted Corona time Small large adjustment global artificial intelligence startup March 2020 month never forget world changed quite quickly stunned severity crisis country shut border rapidly closed Abzu categorically aware every state’s response unique We’re European company heart office Barcelona Copenhagen situation country quite different Spain hit quickly hard virus mandate put place required everyone shelter home Barcelonian coworkers friend leave home buy medicine necessary grocery Schools public sector closed Denmark mostly shut since March 11th recently started gradual reopening time writing school kindergarten partially reopened Abzu international company famous selforganizing culture already established culture running “video windows” entire workday connect two office anyone working remotely use Zoom lot daily checkins various pairing meeting Daily checkins every morning Abzu “new normal” we’ve democratized “video window” leave Zoom room open day average eight Abzu face time various emotion concentration frustration amusement etc sometimes empty chair couch symbol solidarity occasional cat kid vying attention mics mostly muted recreates feeling around colleague It’s small change returned large fuzzy dividend Human connection time isolation significant change u decision alter launch product planned full release April 2020 course decision difficult — especially plan underway two year — abruptly apparent adjust tech use “new normal” We’ve shifted plan inviteonly launch It’s little annoying we’ll change face artificial intelligence select group user instead public although wasn’t big splash working towards benefit whiteglove onboarding service tailored feedback opportunity improve digital communication home office tidier others It’s privilege see well Abzoids adapted situation child running around wall monumental shift product strategy It’s humbling say least looking forward next inperson gathering miss hug Whatever change Coronavirus forced team make culture operation don’t underestimate toll take employee Whether they’re still sheltering place heavy restriction gradually reopening — set unique challenge — we’ve found small genuine token appreciation connection go long way you’re making deadline sometimes need coffee soda beer tip technique done keep u saneTags Remote Working Teal Organizations Work Home Startup Coronavirus |
2,508 | A Reading List for a Vegan Left | When so much coverage of veganism is divorced from politics, it was a breath of fresh air to read a recent BBC piece covering a boom in vegan restaurants in St. Petersburg, Russia — all run by anarchists.
“Inside, rainbow-flag tote bags, feminist stickers and vegan condoms are sold alongside plant-based Napoleon cakes and reusable straws. In the freezer, there are varenyky and pel’meni dumplings made by She’s Got A Knife, a ‘feminist horizontalist culinary project’,” the piece by Ashitha Nagesh reads. “In a back room, there’s an unassuming hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Tempeh Time. It’s dedicated to serving dishes made with tempeh — pronounced ‘tem-pay’ — a protein made from fermented soya beans.”
Nagesh covers quite a bit of vegan anarchist history in the piece, which got me thinking about what a starter reading list for a vegan left would look like. Here, some highly recommended work for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of veganism as a coherent political philosophy that seeks to break down oppression in all its forms.
This is mentioned in the BBC piece as the piece of writing that coined the term “veganarchist” in 1997. It outlines the interlocking oppressions faced by humans and nonhuman animals, and how a liberal approach to veganism misses significant points. “It is not enough to boycott the meat industry and hope that resources will be re-allocated to feed the hungry,” writes Dominick. “We must establish a system which actually intends to meet human needs, which implies social revolution.”
Here, the three writers respond to the left’s general dismissal of animal rights as a bourgeois concern. “The problem with the view that the animal rights movement finds its roots exclusively in bourgeois ideology is that it is simply wrong,” they write. “There was, of course, a bourgeois presence in the movement, but is role has been greatly over-emphasized to the detriment of socialist thought on the doctrinal level, and the important practical participation by women and the working classes.”
New Press
Sunaura Taylor is one of the best thinkers on human and nonhuman animal oppression. In this newer classic, she outlines similarities between the treatment of animal and disabled bodies. “Clearly we project ableism onto nonhuman animals,” she writes. “Do we also project disability itself? If the notion of disability is a social construction, what does it mean to say that an animal is disabled?”
One of the texts that comes up most enthusiastically every time vegan anarchy is discussed is this cookbook zine that brings together manifestos and recipes for a punk guide to life and cooking without succumbing (too much) to the Establishment. Bringing down the government with vegetables never seemed so fun.
Bloomsbury
An absolutely indispensable vegan theory text that establishes the connections between consumption of animal bodies and women’s bodies. To understand ecofeminism and the ways in which meat consumption constantly reincorporates itself into the culture through patriarchy, pick it up.
Often, anarchists dismiss veganism as essentially a consumer-based boycott, thus meaningless as political action. Here, Torres breaks that perspective down through Marxist and anarchist thought to make the anti-capitalist case for animal rights. | https://medium.com/tenderlymag/a-reading-list-for-a-vegan-left-acbf3edd2494 | ['Alicia Kennedy'] | 2019-11-27 16:33:55.836000+00:00 | ['Philosophy', 'Books', 'Reading', 'Vegan', 'Politics'] | Title Reading List Vegan LeftContent much coverage veganism divorced politics breath fresh air read recent BBC piece covering boom vegan restaurant St Petersburg Russia — run anarchist “Inside rainbowflag tote bag feminist sticker vegan condom sold alongside plantbased Napoleon cake reusable straw freezer varenyky pel’meni dumpling made She’s Got Knife ‘feminist horizontalist culinary project’” piece Ashitha Nagesh read “In back room there’s unassuming holeinthewall restaurant called Tempeh Time It’s dedicated serving dish made tempeh — pronounced ‘tempay’ — protein made fermented soya beans” Nagesh cover quite bit vegan anarchist history piece got thinking starter reading list vegan left would look like highly recommended work anyone seeking deepen understanding veganism coherent political philosophy seek break oppression form mentioned BBC piece piece writing coined term “veganarchist” 1997 outline interlocking oppression faced human nonhuman animal liberal approach veganism miss significant point “It enough boycott meat industry hope resource reallocated feed hungry” writes Dominick “We must establish system actually intends meet human need implies social revolution” three writer respond left’s general dismissal animal right bourgeois concern “The problem view animal right movement find root exclusively bourgeois ideology simply wrong” write “There course bourgeois presence movement role greatly overemphasized detriment socialist thought doctrinal level important practical participation woman working classes” New Press Sunaura Taylor one best thinker human nonhuman animal oppression newer classic outline similarity treatment animal disabled body “Clearly project ableism onto nonhuman animals” writes “Do also project disability notion disability social construction mean say animal disabled” One text come enthusiastically every time vegan anarchy discussed cookbook zine brings together manifesto recipe punk guide life cooking without succumbing much Establishment Bringing government vegetable never seemed fun Bloomsbury absolutely indispensable vegan theory text establishes connection consumption animal body women’s body understand ecofeminism way meat consumption constantly reincorporates culture patriarchy pick Often anarchist dismiss veganism essentially consumerbased boycott thus meaningless political action Torres break perspective Marxist anarchist thought make anticapitalist case animal rightsTags Philosophy Books Reading Vegan Politics |
2,509 | The Art of Effective Visualization of Multi-dimensional Data | It’s quite easy to contrast and compare these statistical measures for the different types of wine samples. Notice the stark difference in some of the attributes. We will emphasize those in some of our visualizations later on.
Univariate Analysis
Univariate analysis is basically the simplest form of data analysis or visualization where we are only concerned with analyzing one data attribute or variable and visualizing the same (one dimension).
Visualizing data in One Dimension (1-D)
One of the quickest and most effective ways to visualize all numeric data and their distributions, is to leverage histograms using pandas
Visualizing attributes as one-dimensional data
The plots above give a good idea about the basic data distribution of any of the attributes.
Let’s drill down to visualizing one of the continuous, numeric attributes. Essentially a histogram or a density plot works quite well in understanding how the data is distributed for that attribute.
Visualizing one-dimensional continuous, numeric data
It is quite evident from the above plot that there is a definite right skew in the distribution for wine sulphates .
Visualizing a discrete, categorical data attribute is slightly different and bar plots are one of the most effective ways to do the same. You can use pie-charts also but in general try avoiding them altogether, especially when the number of distinct categories is more than three.
Visualizing one-dimensional discrete, categorical data
Let’s move on to looking at higher dimensional data now.
Multivariate Analysis
Multivariate analysis is where the fun as well as the complexity begins. Here we analyze multiple data dimensions or attributes (2 or more). Multivariate analysis not only involves just checking out distributions but also potential relationships, patterns and correlations amongst these attributes. You can also leverage inferential statistics and hypothesis testing if necessary based on the problem to be solved at hand to check out statistical significance for different attributes, groups and so on.
Visualizing data in Two Dimensions (2-D)
One of the best ways to check out potential relationships or correlations amongst the different data attributes is to leverage a pair-wise correlation matrix and depict it as a heatmap.
Visualizing two-dimensional data with a correlation heatmap
The gradients in the heatmap vary based on the strength of the correlation and you can clearly see it is very easy to spot potential attributes having strong correlations amongst themselves. Another way to visualize the same is to use pair-wise scatter plots amongst attributes of interest.
Visualizing two-dimensional data with pair-wise scatter plots
Based on the above plot, you can see that scatter plots are also a decent way of observing potential relationships or patterns in two-dimensions for data attributes.
An important point to note about pairwise scatter plots is that the plots are actually symmetric. The scatterplot for any pair of attributes (X, Y) looks different from the same attributes in (Y, X) only because the vertical and horizontal scales are different. It does not contain any new information.
Another way of visualizing multivariate data for multiple attributes together is to use parallel coordinates.
Parallel coordinates to visualize multi-dimensional data
Basically, in this visualization as depicted above, points are represented as connected line segments. Each vertical line represents one data attribute. One complete set of connected line segments across all the attributes represents one data point. Hence points that tend to cluster will appear closer together. Just by looking at it, we can clearly see that density is slightly more for red wines as compared to white wines. Also residual sugar and total sulfur dioxide is higher for white wines as compared to red and fixed acidity is higher for red wines as compared to white wines . Check out the statistics from the statistic table we derived earlier to validate this assumption!
Let’s look at some ways in which we can visualize two continuous, numeric attributes. Scatter plots and joint plots in particular are good ways to not only check for patterns, relationships but also see the individual distributions for the attributes.
Visualizing two-dimensional continuous, numeric data using scatter plots and joint plots
The scatter plot is depicted on the left side and the joint plot on the right in the above figure. Like we mentioned, you can check out correlations, relationships as well as individual distributions in the joint plot.
How about visualizing two discrete, categorical attributes? One way is to leverage separate plots (subplots) or facets for one of the categorical dimensions.
Visualizing two-dimensional discrete, categorical data using bar plots and subplots (facets)
While this is a good way to visualize categorical data, as you can see, leveraging matplotlib has resulted in writing a lot of code. Another good way is to use stacked bars or multiple bars for the different attributes in a single plot. We can leverage seaborn for the same easily.
Visualizing two-dimensional discrete, categorical data in a single bar chart
This definitely looks cleaner and you can also effectively compare the different categories easily from this single plot.
Let’s look at visualizing mixed attributes in two-dimensions (essentially numeric and categorical together). One way is to use faceting\subplots along with generic histograms or density plots.
Visualizing mixed attributes in two-dimensions leveraging facets and histograms\density plots
While this is good, once again we have a lot of boilerplate code which we can avoid by leveraging seaborn and even depict the plots in one single chart.
Leveraging multiple histograms for mixed attributes in two-dimensions
You can see the plot generated above is clear and concise and we can easily compare across the distributions easily. Besides this, box plots are another way of effectively depicting groups of numeric data based on the different values in the categorical attribute. Box plots are a good way to know the quartile values in the data and also potential outliers.
Box Plots as an effective representation of two-dimensional mixed attributes
Another similar visualization is violin plots, which are another effective way to visualize grouped numeric data using kernel density plots (depicts probability density of the data at different values).
Violin Plots as an effective representation of two-dimensional mixed attributes
You can clearly see the density plots above for the different wine quality categories for wine sulphate .
Visualizing data till two-dimensions is pretty straightforward but starts becoming complex as the number of dimensions (attributes) start increasing. The reason is because we are bound by the two-dimensions of our display mediums and our environment. For three-dimensional data, we can introduce a fake notion of depth by taking a z-axis in our chart or leveraging subplots and facets. However for data higher than three-dimensions, it becomes even more difficult to visualize the same. The best way to go higher than three dimensions is to use plot facets, color, shapes, sizes, depth and so on. You can also use time as a dimension by making an animated plot for other attributes over time (considering time is a dimension in the data). Check out Hans Roslin’s excellent talk to get an idea of the same!
Visualizing data in Three Dimensions (3-D)
Considering three attributes or dimensions in the data, we can visualize them by considering a pair-wise scatter plot and introducing the notion of color or hue to separate out values in a categorical dimension.
Visualizing three-dimensional data with scatter plots and hue (color)
The above plot enables you to check out correlations and patterns and also compare around wine groups. Like we can clearly see total sulfur dioxide and residual sugar is higher for white wine as compared to red.
Let’s look at strategies for visualizing three continuous, numeric attributes. One way would be to have two dimensions represented as the regular length (x-axis)and breadth (y-axis) and also take the notion of depth (z-axis) for the third dimension.
Visualizing three-dimensional numeric data by introducing the notion of depth
We can also still leverage the regular 2-D axes and introduce the notion of size as the third dimension (essentially a bubble chart) where the size of the dots indicate the quantity of the third dimension.
Visualizing three-dimensional numeric data by introducing the notion of size
Thus you can see how the chart above is not a conventional scatter plot but more of a bubble chart with varying point sizes (bubbles) based on the quantity of residual sugar . Of course its not always that you will find definite patterns in the data like in this case, we see varying sizes across the other two dimensions.
For visualizing three discrete, categorical attributes, while we can use the conventional bar plots, we can leverage the notion of hue as well as facets or subplots to support the additional third dimension. The seaborn framework helps us keep the code to a minimum and plot this effectively.
Visualizing three-dimensional categorical data by introducing the notion of hue and facets
The chart above clearly shows the frequency pertaining to each of the dimensions and you can see how easy and effective this can be in understanding relevant insights.
Considering visualization for three mixed attributes, we can use the notion of hue for separating our groups in one of the categorical attributes while using conventional visualizations like scatter plots for visualizing two dimensions for numeric attributes.
Visualizing mixed attributes in three-dimensions leveraging scatter plots and the concept of hue
Thus hue acts as a good separator for the categories or groups and while there is no or very weak correlation as observed above, we can still understand from these plots that sulphates are slightly higher for red wines as compared to white. Instead of a scatter plot, you can also use a kernel density plot to understand the data in three dimensions.
Visualizing mixed attributes in three-dimensions leveraging kernel density plots and the concept of hue
It is quite evident and expected that red wine samples have higher sulphate levels as compared to white wines. You can also see the density concentrations based on the hue intensity.
In case we are dealing with more than one categorical attribute in the three dimensions, we can use hue and one of the regular axes for visualizing data and use visualizations like box plots or violin plots to visualize the different groups of data.
Visualizing mixed attributes in three-dimensions leveraging split violin plots and the concept of hue
In the figure above, we can see that in the 3-D visualization on the right hand plot, we have represented wine quality on the x-axis and wine_type as the hue. We can clearly see some interesting insights like volatile acidity is higher for red wines as compared to white wines.
You can also consider using box plots for representing mixed attributes with more than one categorical variable in a similar way.
Visualizing mixed attributes in three-dimensions leveraging box plots and the concept of hue
We can see that both for quality and quality_label attributes, the wine alcohol content increases with better quality. Also red wines tend to have a sightly higher median alcohol content as compared to white wines based on the quality class. However if we check the quality ratings, we can see that for lower rated wines (3 & 4), the white wine median alcohol content is greater than red wine samples. Otherwise red wines seem to have a slightly higher median alcohol content in general as compared to white wines.
Visualizing data in Four Dimensions (4-D)
Based on our discussion earlier, we leverage various components of the charts visualize multiple dimensions. One way to visualize data in four dimensions is to use depth and hue as specific data dimensions in a conventional plot like a scatter plot.
Visualizing data in four-dimensions leveraging scatter plots and the concept of hue and depth
The wine_type attribute is denoted by the hue which is quite evident from the above plot. Also, while interpreting these visualizations start getting difficult due to the complex nature of the plots, you can still gather insights like fixed acidity is higher for red wines and residual sugar is higher for white wines. Of course if there were some association between alcohol and fixed acidity we might have seen a gradually increasing or decreasing plane of data points showing some trend.
Another strategy is to keep a 2-D plot but use hue and data point size as data dimensions. Typically this would be a bubble chart similar to what we visualized earlier.
Visualizing data in four-dimensions leveraging bubble charts and the concept of hue and size
We use hue to represent wine_type and the data point size to represent residual sugar . We do see similar patterns from what we observed in the previous chart and bubble sizes are larger for white wine in general indicate residual sugar values are higher for white wine as compared to red.
If we have more that two categorical attributes to represent, we can reuse our concept of leveraging hue and facets to depict these attributes and regular plots like scatter plots to represent the numeric attributes. Let’s look at a couple of examples.
Visualizing data in four-dimensions leveraging scatter plots and the concept of hue and facets
The effectiveness of this visualization is verified by the fact we can easily spot multiple patterns. The volatile acidity levels for white wines are lower and also high quality wines have lower acidity levels. Also based on white wine samples, high quality wines have higher levels of alcohol and low quality wines have the lowest levels of alcohol !
Let’s take up a similar example with some other attributes and build a visualization in four dimensions.
Visualizing data in four-dimensions leveraging scatter plots and the concept of hue and facets
We clearly see that high quality wines have lower content of total sulfur dioxide which is quite relevant if you also have the necessary domain knowledge about wine composition. We also see that total sulfur dioxide levels for red wine are lower than white wine. The volatile acidity levels are however higher for red wines in several data points.
Visualizing data in Five Dimensions (5-D)
Once again following a similar strategy as we followed in the previous section, to visualize data in five dimensions, we leverage various plotting components. Let’s use depth, hue and size to represent three of the data dimensions besides regular axes representing the other two dimensions. Since we use the notion of size, we will be basically plotting a three dimensional bubble chart.
Visualizing data in five-dimensions leveraging bubble charts and the concept of hue, depth and size
This chart depicts the same patterns and insights that we talked about in the previous section. However, we can also see that based on the point sizes which are represented by total sulfur dioxide , white wines have higher total sulfur dioxide levels as compared to red wines.
Instead of depth, we can also use facets along with hue to represent more than one categorical attribute in these five data dimensions. One of the attributes representing size can be numerical (continuous) or even categorical (but we might need to represent it with numbers for data point sizes). While we don’t depict that here due to the lack of categorical attributes, feel free to try it out on your own datasets.
Visualizing data in five-dimensions leveraging bubble charts and the concept of hue, facets and size
This is basically an alternative approach to visualizing the same plot which we plotted previously for five dimensions. While the additional dimension of depth might confuse many when looking at the plot we plotted previously, this plot due to the advantage of facets, still remains effectively on the 2-D plane and hence is often more effective and easy to interpret.
We can already see that it’s becoming complex handling so many data dimensions! If some of you are thinking, why not add more dimensions? Let’s go ahead and give it a shot!
Visualizing data in Six Dimensions (6-D)
Now that we are having fun (I hope!), let’s add another data dimension in our visualizations. We will leverage depth, hue, size and shape besides our regular two axes to depict all the six data dimensions.
Visualizing data in six-dimensions leveraging scatter charts and the concept of hue, depth, shape and size
Wow that is six dimensions in one plot! We have wine quality_label depicted by shapes, high (the squared pixel), medium (the X marks) and low (the circles) quality wines. The wine_type is represented by hue, fixed acidity by the depth and data point size represents total sulfur dioxide content.
Interpreting this might seem a bit taxing but consider a couple of components at a time when trying to understand what’s going on.
Considering shape & y-axis, we have high and medium quality wines having higher alcohol levels as compared to low quality wines. Considering hue and size, we have higher content of total sulfur dioxide for white wines as compared to red wines. Considering depth and hue, we have white wines having lower fixed acidity levels as compared to red wines. Considering hue and x-axis, we have red wines having lower levels of residual sugar as compared to white wines. Considering hue and shape, white wines seem to have more high quality wines as compared to red wines (possibly due to larger sample size of white wines).
We can also build a 6-D visualization by removing the depth component and use facets instead for a categorical attribute. | https://towardsdatascience.com/the-art-of-effective-visualization-of-multi-dimensional-data-6c7202990c57 | ['Dipanjan', 'Dj'] | 2018-12-11 15:32:45.250000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Data Science', 'Python', 'Towards Data Science', 'Visualization'] | Title Art Effective Visualization Multidimensional DataContent It’s quite easy contrast compare statistical measure different type wine sample Notice stark difference attribute emphasize visualization later Univariate Analysis Univariate analysis basically simplest form data analysis visualization concerned analyzing one data attribute variable visualizing one dimension Visualizing data One Dimension 1D One quickest effective way visualize numeric data distribution leverage histogram using panda Visualizing attribute onedimensional data plot give good idea basic data distribution attribute Let’s drill visualizing one continuous numeric attribute Essentially histogram density plot work quite well understanding data distributed attribute Visualizing onedimensional continuous numeric data quite evident plot definite right skew distribution wine sulphate Visualizing discrete categorical data attribute slightly different bar plot one effective way use piecharts also general try avoiding altogether especially number distinct category three Visualizing onedimensional discrete categorical data Let’s move looking higher dimensional data Multivariate Analysis Multivariate analysis fun well complexity begin analyze multiple data dimension attribute 2 Multivariate analysis involves checking distribution also potential relationship pattern correlation amongst attribute also leverage inferential statistic hypothesis testing necessary based problem solved hand check statistical significance different attribute group Visualizing data Two Dimensions 2D One best way check potential relationship correlation amongst different data attribute leverage pairwise correlation matrix depict heatmap Visualizing twodimensional data correlation heatmap gradient heatmap vary based strength correlation clearly see easy spot potential attribute strong correlation amongst Another way visualize use pairwise scatter plot amongst attribute interest Visualizing twodimensional data pairwise scatter plot Based plot see scatter plot also decent way observing potential relationship pattern twodimensions data attribute important point note pairwise scatter plot plot actually symmetric scatterplot pair attribute X look different attribute X vertical horizontal scale different contain new information Another way visualizing multivariate data multiple attribute together use parallel coordinate Parallel coordinate visualize multidimensional data Basically visualization depicted point represented connected line segment vertical line represents one data attribute One complete set connected line segment across attribute represents one data point Hence point tend cluster appear closer together looking clearly see density slightly red wine compared white wine Also residual sugar total sulfur dioxide higher white wine compared red fixed acidity higher red wine compared white wine Check statistic statistic table derived earlier validate assumption Let’s look way visualize two continuous numeric attribute Scatter plot joint plot particular good way check pattern relationship also see individual distribution attribute Visualizing twodimensional continuous numeric data using scatter plot joint plot scatter plot depicted left side joint plot right figure Like mentioned check correlation relationship well individual distribution joint plot visualizing two discrete categorical attribute One way leverage separate plot subplots facet one categorical dimension Visualizing twodimensional discrete categorical data using bar plot subplots facet good way visualize categorical data see leveraging matplotlib resulted writing lot code Another good way use stacked bar multiple bar different attribute single plot leverage seaborn easily Visualizing twodimensional discrete categorical data single bar chart definitely look cleaner also effectively compare different category easily single plot Let’s look visualizing mixed attribute twodimensions essentially numeric categorical together One way use facetingsubplots along generic histogram density plot Visualizing mixed attribute twodimensions leveraging facet histogramsdensity plot good lot boilerplate code avoid leveraging seaborn even depict plot one single chart Leveraging multiple histogram mixed attribute twodimensions see plot generated clear concise easily compare across distribution easily Besides box plot another way effectively depicting group numeric data based different value categorical attribute Box plot good way know quartile value data also potential outlier Box Plots effective representation twodimensional mixed attribute Another similar visualization violin plot another effective way visualize grouped numeric data using kernel density plot depicts probability density data different value Violin Plots effective representation twodimensional mixed attribute clearly see density plot different wine quality category wine sulphate Visualizing data till twodimensions pretty straightforward start becoming complex number dimension attribute start increasing reason bound twodimensions display medium environment threedimensional data introduce fake notion depth taking zaxis chart leveraging subplots facet However data higher threedimensions becomes even difficult visualize best way go higher three dimension use plot facet color shape size depth also use time dimension making animated plot attribute time considering time dimension data Check Hans Roslin’s excellent talk get idea Visualizing data Three Dimensions 3D Considering three attribute dimension data visualize considering pairwise scatter plot introducing notion color hue separate value categorical dimension Visualizing threedimensional data scatter plot hue color plot enables check correlation pattern also compare around wine group Like clearly see total sulfur dioxide residual sugar higher white wine compared red Let’s look strategy visualizing three continuous numeric attribute One way would two dimension represented regular length xaxisand breadth yaxis also take notion depth zaxis third dimension Visualizing threedimensional numeric data introducing notion depth also still leverage regular 2D ax introduce notion size third dimension essentially bubble chart size dot indicate quantity third dimension Visualizing threedimensional numeric data introducing notion size Thus see chart conventional scatter plot bubble chart varying point size bubble based quantity residual sugar course always find definite pattern data like case see varying size across two dimension visualizing three discrete categorical attribute use conventional bar plot leverage notion hue well facet subplots support additional third dimension seaborn framework help u keep code minimum plot effectively Visualizing threedimensional categorical data introducing notion hue facet chart clearly show frequency pertaining dimension see easy effective understanding relevant insight Considering visualization three mixed attribute use notion hue separating group one categorical attribute using conventional visualization like scatter plot visualizing two dimension numeric attribute Visualizing mixed attribute threedimensions leveraging scatter plot concept hue Thus hue act good separator category group weak correlation observed still understand plot sulphate slightly higher red wine compared white Instead scatter plot also use kernel density plot understand data three dimension Visualizing mixed attribute threedimensions leveraging kernel density plot concept hue quite evident expected red wine sample higher sulphate level compared white wine also see density concentration based hue intensity case dealing one categorical attribute three dimension use hue one regular ax visualizing data use visualization like box plot violin plot visualize different group data Visualizing mixed attribute threedimensions leveraging split violin plot concept hue figure see 3D visualization right hand plot represented wine quality xaxis winetype hue clearly see interesting insight like volatile acidity higher red wine compared white wine also consider using box plot representing mixed attribute one categorical variable similar way Visualizing mixed attribute threedimensions leveraging box plot concept hue see quality qualitylabel attribute wine alcohol content increase better quality Also red wine tend sightly higher median alcohol content compared white wine based quality class However check quality rating see lower rated wine 3 4 white wine median alcohol content greater red wine sample Otherwise red wine seem slightly higher median alcohol content general compared white wine Visualizing data Four Dimensions 4D Based discussion earlier leverage various component chart visualize multiple dimension One way visualize data four dimension use depth hue specific data dimension conventional plot like scatter plot Visualizing data fourdimensions leveraging scatter plot concept hue depth winetype attribute denoted hue quite evident plot Also interpreting visualization start getting difficult due complex nature plot still gather insight like fixed acidity higher red wine residual sugar higher white wine course association alcohol fixed acidity might seen gradually increasing decreasing plane data point showing trend Another strategy keep 2D plot use hue data point size data dimension Typically would bubble chart similar visualized earlier Visualizing data fourdimensions leveraging bubble chart concept hue size use hue represent winetype data point size represent residual sugar see similar pattern observed previous chart bubble size larger white wine general indicate residual sugar value higher white wine compared red two categorical attribute represent reuse concept leveraging hue facet depict attribute regular plot like scatter plot represent numeric attribute Let’s look couple example Visualizing data fourdimensions leveraging scatter plot concept hue facet effectiveness visualization verified fact easily spot multiple pattern volatile acidity level white wine lower also high quality wine lower acidity level Also based white wine sample high quality wine higher level alcohol low quality wine lowest level alcohol Let’s take similar example attribute build visualization four dimension Visualizing data fourdimensions leveraging scatter plot concept hue facet clearly see high quality wine lower content total sulfur dioxide quite relevant also necessary domain knowledge wine composition also see total sulfur dioxide level red wine lower white wine volatile acidity level however higher red wine several data point Visualizing data Five Dimensions 5D following similar strategy followed previous section visualize data five dimension leverage various plotting component Let’s use depth hue size represent three data dimension besides regular ax representing two dimension Since use notion size basically plotting three dimensional bubble chart Visualizing data fivedimensions leveraging bubble chart concept hue depth size chart depicts pattern insight talked previous section However also see based point size represented total sulfur dioxide white wine higher total sulfur dioxide level compared red wine Instead depth also use facet along hue represent one categorical attribute five data dimension One attribute representing size numerical continuous even categorical might need represent number data point size don’t depict due lack categorical attribute feel free try datasets Visualizing data fivedimensions leveraging bubble chart concept hue facet size basically alternative approach visualizing plot plotted previously five dimension additional dimension depth might confuse many looking plot plotted previously plot due advantage facet still remains effectively 2D plane hence often effective easy interpret already see it’s becoming complex handling many data dimension thinking add dimension Let’s go ahead give shot Visualizing data Six Dimensions 6D fun hope let’s add another data dimension visualization leverage depth hue size shape besides regular two ax depict six data dimension Visualizing data sixdimensions leveraging scatter chart concept hue depth shape size Wow six dimension one plot wine qualitylabel depicted shape high squared pixel medium X mark low circle quality wine winetype represented hue fixed acidity depth data point size represents total sulfur dioxide content Interpreting might seem bit taxing consider couple component time trying understand what’s going Considering shape yaxis high medium quality wine higher alcohol level compared low quality wine Considering hue size higher content total sulfur dioxide white wine compared red wine Considering depth hue white wine lower fixed acidity level compared red wine Considering hue xaxis red wine lower level residual sugar compared white wine Considering hue shape white wine seem high quality wine compared red wine possibly due larger sample size white wine also build 6D visualization removing depth component use facet instead categorical attributeTags Machine Learning Data Science Python Towards Data Science Visualization |
2,510 | “There are only two ways to tell your story.” | Getting Attention
A brand does not want attention.
A brand wants revenue.
A brand acquires revenue by selling its product.
But in order to sell its product for revenue, the brand must first get people to pay attention to that product.
So every brand needs to be in the business of getting attention whether they want to be or not.
At the end of the day, everything is PR.
There is only one way to get attention
The only way to get attention is to tell stories.
Brands should know this well, for what is a brand but a story itself.
There are only two ways to tell these stories:
You can get others to tell your story, or you can tell your story yourself.
Getting others to tell your story
Brands don’t make stories, they make products.
So to get stories made, they need to find a storyteller.
When a brand finds that storyteller, the storyteller wants to tell the brand’s story in the storyteller’s own way.
That’s the challenge.
But storytellers have large audiences, and that’s the opportunity.
Storytellers reach large audiences because the storyteller tells stories their audience wants to hear.
To the audience, those stories are timely or relevant or interesting.
The audience feels like the storyteller understands their needs.
Between the audience and the storyteller there is trust, which is the foundation of any good relationship.
Which means: when you get others to tell your story, you are renting their audience’s trust.
Large & Rented Audience: The storyteller can reach a large audience because the storyteller tells stories the audience wants to hear. The brand rents the audience.
Telling your story to others
When you tell your story to others you have control of that story, but you reach a smaller audience.
You reach a smaller audience because the story is about yourself.
Instead of understanding the audience, you are asking them to understand you.
Sadly for our purposes, but luckily for humans in general, there are fewer people who care about you than there are people who care about themselves.
That’s one challenge.
Another challenge is brands, despite being stories themselves, aren’t very good at telling more stories.
A brand is good at products, and meetings about products, and sometimes products that help you have more meetings.
But the production line for a story rarely moves at the speed of a production line for a product or a meeting, or has the same incentives.
Nobody’s bonus is tied to making stories.
All that said, when you tell your own story, you create trust with your smaller audience.
That’s the opportunity.
Trust over time equals a growing audience. But of course, there is no trust without consistency.
Small & Dedicated Audience: The brand reaches a small (but dedicated) audience by telling stories about itself. The brand owns the audience.
The third way
Misleading titles of Medium posts notwithstanding, there is actually a third way to tell your story—and that’s not to tell your story at all.
The third way is to tell an audience a story about themselves.
That is, to tell a story about an aspirational topic that exists between you and your audience and is born of mutual interest.
This is, for example, is how Vanity Fair works, and WIRED works, and whatever publication you read works.
The editors are experts in celebrity, or technology (or whatever) and they tell stories about celebrity, or technology (or whatever) to an audience who is already interested in those topics.
For the editors, the topics are an expression of their expertise.
For the audience, the topics are an expression of their aspirations.
Brands, you’re probably already aware, do this too.
GE is in the business of several industries, and GE Reports covers the future of innovation in those industries.
Autodesk in the business of 3D software, and AutoDesk’s Redshift covers the future of creative building.
Google in the business of selling information, and Google’s Think Quarterly covers the future of marketing.
The editors and their audience form a venn diagram.
In the middle are the topics they have in common.
Large & Aspirational Audience: The brand can reach a larger audience if the brand tells aspirational stories about a mutual interest, thus positioning itself as that Ozymandian of things, the “thought leader”.
Funnily enough, you may have noticed Facebook and Instagram and Google and anything that’s customized to your interests works like this, too.
They’re all expert in telling you stories that you‘re likely to be most interested in.
Which is just to say, pay attention to the stories people want to hear. There’s money in that banana stand.
And stop it with the meetings.
Nobody likes those. | https://stevebryant.medium.com/there-are-only-two-ways-to-tell-your-story-2e72d0f50ce | ['Steve Bryant'] | 2020-03-09 13:45:44.234000+00:00 | ['Storytelling', 'Technology', 'Marketing', 'Tech', 'Content Marketing'] | Title “There two way tell story”Content Getting Attention brand want attention brand want revenue brand acquires revenue selling product order sell product revenue brand must first get people pay attention product every brand need business getting attention whether want end day everything PR one way get attention way get attention tell story Brands know well brand story two way tell story get others tell story tell story Getting others tell story Brands don’t make story make product get story made need find storyteller brand find storyteller storyteller want tell brand’s story storyteller’s way That’s challenge storyteller large audience that’s opportunity Storytellers reach large audience storyteller tell story audience want hear audience story timely relevant interesting audience feel like storyteller understands need audience storyteller trust foundation good relationship mean get others tell story renting audience’s trust Large Rented Audience storyteller reach large audience storyteller tell story audience want hear brand rent audience Telling story others tell story others control story reach smaller audience reach smaller audience story Instead understanding audience asking understand Sadly purpose luckily human general fewer people care people care That’s one challenge Another challenge brand despite story aren’t good telling story brand good product meeting product sometimes product help meeting production line story rarely move speed production line product meeting incentive Nobody’s bonus tied making story said tell story create trust smaller audience That’s opportunity Trust time equal growing audience course trust without consistency Small Dedicated Audience brand reach small dedicated audience telling story brand owns audience third way Misleading title Medium post notwithstanding actually third way tell story—and that’s tell story third way tell audience story tell story aspirational topic exists audience born mutual interest example Vanity Fair work WIRED work whatever publication read work editor expert celebrity technology whatever tell story celebrity technology whatever audience already interested topic editor topic expression expertise audience topic expression aspiration Brands you’re probably already aware GE business several industry GE Reports cover future innovation industry Autodesk business 3D software AutoDesk’s Redshift cover future creative building Google business selling information Google’s Think Quarterly cover future marketing editor audience form venn diagram middle topic common Large Aspirational Audience brand reach larger audience brand tell aspirational story mutual interest thus positioning Ozymandian thing “thought leader” Funnily enough may noticed Facebook Instagram Google anything that’s customized interest work like They’re expert telling story you‘re likely interested say pay attention story people want hear There’s money banana stand stop meeting Nobody like thoseTags Storytelling Technology Marketing Tech Content Marketing |
2,511 | A creative introduction to EDA | What is the Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA)?
What you should do when a new, unknown dataset is given.
Here we are going to review some basic techniques to perform a successful exploration of data. There are many motivations behind this set of procedures. If you get meaningful insights you may be able to design outperforming models saving computational efforts. If the intuition about data is clear it will be easier to develop appropriate hypothesis with which build a good model. And so on…
This insights will have different consequences on your dataset. You may be lead to keep or modify some feature, remove o create some feature from the old one. Such procedure have different names like feature selection, among others. Here we will use the term EDA as a (positive) umbrella term.
A good EDA can help you to decide in which way you should spent more or less time in preprocessing, building baselines, modeling ecc..
One important counterpart is data visualization. If there is a pattern in the data it may be found, with some luck, with an appropriate visualization. Here we will show some, EDA oriented, visualization techniques. It means that these visualization will be mid-quality but very easy to implement.
Given a problem which you know nothing about a good strategy is to make up your mind and clarify what you should do. Mostly, we don’t need to know that much about the topic, since data science is a very generic discipline and cover a wide range of topics. Just a couple of tips:
1 search other people solution to similar problems with github, medium..
2 googling and searching on wikipedia, to get the features meaning
Disclaimer
Keep in mind that EDA is not a linear, sequential procedure. You will never be given a recipe or a list of steps to follow. Here we are in the realm of intuition and the reader should interpret this notebook as a collection of tips, techniques, good practices.
Some lines of code are not extensively explained and some passages may seem dead leaves.. they are suggestions and is up to you to develop what you find interesting.
We strongly encourage to use your creativity!
LET’S START
You can download the notebook from the link:
https://github.com/MLJCUnito/HowToTackleAMLCompetition
You will never use one library, but rather a combination of multiple libraries.
Be bright, and develop your intuition about how to combine at least the most famous python libraries.
First we import some libraries
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import os
import seaborn as sns %matplotlib inline
Here we set an environment variable,the path that will tell the computer where data are stored.
You may want to download the dataset directly from the jupyter notebook, but it is quite a complicated story that depends on the machine you are working with…
You can download the dataset from your browser, and move it to your working directory with your favorite procedure.
You can find the dataset here: https://www.kaggle.com/fayomi/advertising/download
DATA_FOLDER = # your path here
adv = pd.read_csv(os.path.join(DATA_FOLDER, 'advertising.csv'))
Let’s give a look at the data, and check what features contains.
This step is crucial, because if we already know the research field where features come from we could start to figure out how to proceed with our analysis. We may easily figure out what the baselines of the problem are. We need to be as informed as possible about features meaning. It is often useful answer one question in different ways, ie understand different commands can help us to solve the same problem. Maybe, sometimes further, these little differences in the output will be helpful!
What can we expect to see when exploring the basic features of a dataframe?
How many entries are there in the dataset?
Which features are contained?
print( “ Dataset shape: “,adv.shape[0])
print( “ Number of features: “, adv.shape[1] ) print( “ Your features are:
”)
print(adv.columns) print(“ Features Types:
“)
print(adv.dtypes)
The standard access to a dataframe column is dataframe.[“featuename”]. We can have easier access, avoiding strings usage, in the format `dataframe.featurename`, as if it were a object method.
We can do that if we slightly change the columns names removing all the spaces and renaming the columns with these new strings
features = list(adv.columns) for f in features:
phi = f.replace(‘ ‘,’’)
adv = adv.rename(columns = {f:phi})
The following command just shows the first rows of our dataset. In the first column we have the features names. The remaining columns are the entries of the dataset. This kind of visualization may be more eye pleasant the the former ones if the number of features is not that large
adv.head().T
Another important dataframe method is `info`, which summarizes the dataframe content.
With this command we can even see that there are not missing values in the data which, as we will see in future posts, may be something important to think about.
adv.info()
It is in the spirit of EDA to understand which feature of the raw dataset plays which role.
Since this is an advertisement dataset we can say that there is one feature more important than all the other, ClickedonAd that is a binary feature. Let’s see what contains:
adv.ClickedonAd.head(11)
Now we can check if the dataset is balanced, ie if there are as many samples of one kind as the other:
n = len(pd.unique(adv[‘ClickedonAd’]))
print(“Number of unique values :”, n)
print(adv[‘ClickedonAd’].value_counts())
We were lucky! We found that our dataset is perfectly balanced. In real situations this never happens and this fact absolutely needs to be checked every time we analyze a new dataset.
Now, brief digression. This perfect balance is a feature of `case study` datasets. They are data preprocessed by the provider in order to be easier to analyze. Even if they are `toy problems` they are very helpful because you can learn the basics of EDA without worrying that much about other messy things such as decoding, preprocessing, augmentation and so on.
For sake of simplicity we can save the target feature in a different object and then remove it from the data.
target = adv.ClickedonAd
adv = adv.drop(["ClickedonAd"],axis=1)
Here is a binary classification problem!
We can investigate features correlations plotting the 2d histogram of a couple of variables. This exploration may help us to decide how to proceed in data preprocessing or, in general, further investigations.
f, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(10, 10))
sns.kdeplot(adv.Age, adv.DailyTimeSpentonSite, color="b", ax=ax)
sns.rugplot(adv.Age, color="r", ax=ax)
sns.rugplot(adv.DailyTimeSpentonSite, vertical=True, ax=ax)
From the former plot we see that we may proceed with a clustering analysis or, in general, unsupervised learning procedures.
We can extend the former reasoning plotting all the couples of numeric features. We could do that for other feature types, and we left it as an exercise for the reader. A reason for our choice is that pandas can encode integers and categorical features in the same way. This happens because it may not be clear for some variables, such as age, if they should be treated as integers or categorical. How to use these amphibious kind of variable is up to you and your intuition /knowledge about data.
numeric_adv = adv.select_dtypes(include=[np.float]) numeric_adv.head()
from pandas.plotting import scatter_matrix
scatter_matrix(numeric_adv, alpha=0.3, figsize=(10,10))
This plot is not that clear but suggest that we should investigate the correlations between `DailyTimeSpentonSite` and `DailyInternetUsage`. This clustering will identify two communities: the first is composed by users that spent a lot of their daily internet time on the site, the other that do the opposite.
f, ax = plt.subplots(figsize=(6, 6))
sns.kdeplot(adv.DailyInternetUsage, adv.DailyTimeSpentonSite, color="b", ax=ax)
sns.rugplot(adv.Age, color="r", ax=ax)
sns.rugplot(adv.DailyTimeSpentonSite, vertical=True, ax=ax)
We can tye to create a new feature, the `faithfulness` of a user. We would like that this feature encodes the clustering structure. We expect that this feature exhibits a bimodal histogram so it will be easier for our algorithm to build correlations between data and target. We try the following combination
from scipy.stats import norm adv["Faithfulness"]=(
adv["DailyTimeSpentonSite"]*adv["DailyInternetUsage"]/
(adv["DailyTimeSpentonSite"]+adv["DailyInternetUsage"])
) sns.distplot(adv[‘Faithfulness’], hist=False, color=’r’, rug=True);
We combined the information of two feature into a new, maybe better one. At this point we may be tempted to drop the two old features. This may lead to some issue during training and so on but this is not the place to discuss this problem. We are happy to have found such a new feature and for sake of simplicity we will drop the old features keeping only the new one. This is a procedure that is known as feature reduction.
Now let’s focus on the features encoded by pandas as objects:
object_features = ['AdTopicLine', 'City', 'Country']
adv[object_features].describe(include=['O'])
As we can see from the table above that all the values in column “Ad Topic Line” is unique, while the “City” column contains 969 unique values out of 1000. There are too many unique elements within these two categorical columns and it is generally difficult to perform a prediction from a flat histogram. We can consider those features as noise since or they have uniform almost distribution or they are constants, which does not carry information too. In the next post we will see some more robust procedure to detect such features. Because of that, they will be omitted from from the analysis.
The third categorical variable, i.e “Country”, has a unique element (France) that repeats 9 times. Additionally, we can determine countries with the highest number of visitors. The table below shows the 20 most represented countries in our DataFrame.
pd.crosstab(index=adv['Country'],
columns='count').sort_values(['count'],
ascending=False).head(10)
We have already seen, there are 237 different unique countries in our dataset and no single country is too dominant. A large number of unique elements will not allow a model to establish meaningful relationships. For that reason, this variable will be excluded too. It is too difficult to learn from (almost) flat distribution that is equivalent to white noise.
data = adv.drop([‘AdTopicLine’, ‘City’, ‘Country’], axis=1)
Now, let’s focus on a single feature, *Timestamp*. It contains date and time of the day when the entry was recorded. Entries are recorded in the format *date&hour*. It is likely that, if we split this one in two new features, like *day* and *hour* we may be able to observe different kind of pattern occurring in the two new features. The idea here is that individual activities are determined by time management. We manage in different ways our time on the week scale respect to the 24h scale. It is often a good idea to create new features from the “raw”. With a physics analogy, it is like if we are separating the different time scales of our problem. First, we give a look at this “Mother” feature:
print ( adv.Timestamp )
Our purpose now is to create three new features by splitting one column in three. If we split features and properly operate on them we may get something useful.
The “Day of the week” variable contains values from 0 to 6, where each number represents a specific day of the week (from Monday to Sunday). The category values here are the days of the week, which may be useful to detect periodic pattern in our data. Hours will be categorical too. Date will remain in pandas time format.
We can proceed as follows
1 convert the timestamp column (string format) into pandas datetime format
2 through the dt method split time and date, hour and day of the week and assign them to new columns
3 Eliminate the timestamp column. There is no information loss here
4 check the output
adv[‘Timestamp’] = pd.to_datetime(adv[‘Timestamp’])
adv_times=adv[‘Timestamp’] adv[‘Hour’] = pd.to_datetime(adv_times, format=’%H:%M’).dt.hour
adv[‘Date’] = pd.to_datetime(adv_times, format=’%M:%D’).dt.date
adv[‘WDay’] = pd.to_datetime(adv_times).dt.weekday adv[‘Click’] = target adv = adv.drop(['Timestamp'], axis=1) adv.head()
We can evaluate how much time our dataset spans and fix our problem timescale
print('Train min/max date:', adv.Date.min(), adv.Date.max() )
print('Dataset time span: ',adv.Date.max()-adv.Date.min())
First, one very simple histogram: which day of the week carry us more information? Is there a “special day”?
It does not seem, but we can detect a periodic pattern in the data. We can do the same for the hours of the day.
ax = adv['WDay'].value_counts(sort=False).plot(kind='bar')
ax.set_xlabel("Day of the week")
ax.set_ylabel("Records")
ax = adv[‘Hour’].value_counts(sort=False).plot(kind=’bar’)
ax.set_xlabel(“Hour of the day”)
ax.set_ylabel(“Records”)
To obtain this result we have never filtered the data or, equivalently, we didn’t transformed our features. They are still raw. Can we extract more information -as in the first feature reduction case- modifying the original data, applying some kind of filtering? If true, this may lead us to meaningful insights.
We can try to drop all entries where the used did not clicked on the ad, in order to investigate if there is a daily-based preference in clicking
adv_time = pd.DataFrame() adv_time[‘WDay’] = adv[‘WDay’]
#adv_time[‘Hour’] = pd.to_datetime(adv[‘Hour’])
adv_time[‘Hour’] = adv[‘Hour’]
adv_time[‘Click’] = target adv_time.info()
Can we see if there are hour of the day where we should do targeted advertisement? The idea here is to separate, according to the target feature (ClickedOnAd) a variable of interest. This may not lead to a particular result, but is to enforce our intuition about data. Now let’s focus only on the time features. We can try to see if the appreciation or not of our advertise exhibit different patterns that we can employ in some way. Here we employ the mask concept: it can be thought as a boolean grid that filters our dataframe according to a characteristic condition and help us to split the data in more and more parts
mask_one = (adv_time[‘Click’] == 1)
adv_time_one = adv_time[mask_one] mask_zero = (adv_time[‘Click’] == 0)
adv_time_zero = adv_time[mask_zero]
Let’s see if there are some evident patterns in the features we found, with a simple plot
fig = plt.figure(figsize=(20,15)) ax = fig.add_subplot(221)
adv_time_one['WDay'].value_counts(sort=False).plot(kind='bar')
ax.set_xlabel("WDay people click")
ax.set_ylabel("Records") ax = fig.add_subplot(222)
adv_time_zero['WDay'].value_counts(sort=False).plot(kind='bar')
ax.set_xlabel("WDay people DON'T click")
fig = plt.figure(figsize=(20,15)) ax = fig.add_subplot(221)
adv_time_one['Hour'].value_counts(sort=False).plot(kind='bar',title="Hour people click")
ax.set_xlabel("Hour people click")
ax.set_ylabel("Records") ax = fig.add_subplot(222)
adv_time_zero['Hour'].value_counts(sort=False).plot(kind='bar',title="Hour people DON'T click")
ax.set_xlabel("Hour people DON'T click")
There may be patterns in data, but it is not obvious how to proceed. It is not obvious which model we should choose, since there are no evident clustering or periodicity in the preference or not for clicking.
With this little failure we are facing the necessity to introduce an automatic feature extraction mechanics, possibly designed according to some optimization principle. This is the basic idea behind machine learning or, more specifically, neural networks!
Conclusions:
In this post we introduced some good practices for an efficient EDA. If the number of features is not too large we can try to study little groups of features, according to their type. Once this is done we have a wide range of choices. With some patience we can investigate the basic correlations between our features. For a first step a basic scatter plot is enough. From the insights that we obtain here we can try to investigate some couples of variables that exhibit particular patterns. If this is the case we can try to create new features as combinations of the raw ones and if this combination seems to reasonably resemble the properties of the couple clustering we can replace the old variables with the new one. This procedure is known as feature reduction. We can get feature reduction even investigating the variability of values that our features take. We can group those values in a histogram and if it happens to be flat we can consider it as pure noise and drop these features. We can follow the opposite practice: feature augmentation. This procedure allows us to create new features from a raw one, as happened with temporal data. From a yy/mm/dd hh/mm entry we created tree new features: the hour, the day of the week and the date of the advestising-user interaction, starting from a a physics-like reasoning. Unfortunately, further investigation showed us that such procedure does not lead to clear patterns. This little failure is not purely a bad thing and we can learn something important from that. If data does not exhibit a clear clustering we may imagine to introduce some algorithm able to extract or design with an automatic procedure meaningful combinations of the features. That’s why with highly dimensional problems we need to introduce machine learning.
I hope this article was useful for you. If you have any, do not hesitate in posting a comment! Thanks!
References:
https://www.coursera.org/learn/competitive-data-science
https://stackabuse.com/predicting-customer-ad-clicks-via-machine-learning/
Yaser S. Abu-Mostafa, Malik Magdon-Ismail, Hsuan-Tien Lin, “Learning from Data” | https://medium.com/mljcunito/a-creative-introduction-to-eda-be9e906cbcb | ['Jacopo Pasqualini'] | 2020-10-18 21:58:21.807000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Exploratory Data Analysis', 'Data Science', 'Pandas', 'Advertising'] | Title creative introduction EDAContent Exploratory Data Analysis EDA new unknown dataset given going review basic technique perform successful exploration data many motivation behind set procedure get meaningful insight may able design outperforming model saving computational effort intuition data clear easier develop appropriate hypothesis build good model on… insight different consequence dataset may lead keep modify feature remove create feature old one procedure different name like feature selection among others use term EDA positive umbrella term good EDA help decide way spent le time preprocessing building baseline modeling ecc One important counterpart data visualization pattern data may found luck appropriate visualization show EDA oriented visualization technique mean visualization midquality easy implement Given problem know nothing good strategy make mind clarify Mostly don’t need know much topic since data science generic discipline cover wide range topic couple tip 1 search people solution similar problem github medium 2 googling searching wikipedia get feature meaning Disclaimer Keep mind EDA linear sequential procedure never given recipe list step follow realm intuition reader interpret notebook collection tip technique good practice line code extensively explained passage may seem dead leaf suggestion develop find interesting strongly encourage use creativity LET’S START download notebook link httpsgithubcomMLJCUnitoHowToTackleAMLCompetition never use one library rather combination multiple library bright develop intuition combine least famous python library First import library import panda pd import numpy np import matplotlibpyplot plt import o import seaborn sn matplotlib inline set environment variablethe path tell computer data stored may want download dataset directly jupyter notebook quite complicated story depends machine working with… download dataset browser move working directory favorite procedure find dataset httpswwwkagglecomfayomiadvertisingdownload DATAFOLDER path adv pdreadcsvospathjoinDATAFOLDER advertisingcsv Let’s give look data check feature contains step crucial already know research field feature come could start figure proceed analysis may easily figure baseline problem need informed possible feature meaning often useful answer one question different way ie understand different command help u solve problem Maybe sometimes little difference output helpful expect see exploring basic feature dataframe many entry dataset feature contained print “ Dataset shape “advshape0 print “ Number feature “ advshape1 print “ feature ” printadvcolumns print“ Features Types “ printadvdtypes standard access dataframe column dataframe“featuename” easier access avoiding string usage format dataframefeaturename object method slightly change column name removing space renaming column new string feature listadvcolumns f feature phi freplace‘ ‘’’ adv advrenamecolumns fphi following command show first row dataset first column feature name remaining column entry dataset kind visualization may eye pleasant former one number feature large advheadT Another important dataframe method info summarizes dataframe content command even see missing value data see future post may something important think advinfo spirit EDA understand feature raw dataset play role Since advertisement dataset say one feature important ClickedonAd binary feature Let’s see contains advClickedonAdhead11 check dataset balanced ie many sample one kind n lenpduniqueadv‘ClickedonAd’ print“Number unique value ” n printadv‘ClickedonAd’valuecounts lucky found dataset perfectly balanced real situation never happens fact absolutely need checked every time analyze new dataset brief digression perfect balance feature case study datasets data preprocessed provider order easier analyze Even toy problem helpful learn basic EDA without worrying much messy thing decoding preprocessing augmentation sake simplicity save target feature different object remove data target advClickedonAd adv advdropClickedonAdaxis1 binary classification problem investigate feature correlation plotting 2d histogram couple variable exploration may help u decide proceed data preprocessing general investigation f ax pltsubplotsfigsize10 10 snskdeplotadvAge advDailyTimeSpentonSite colorb axax snsrugplotadvAge colorr axax snsrugplotadvDailyTimeSpentonSite verticalTrue axax former plot see may proceed clustering analysis general unsupervised learning procedure extend former reasoning plotting couple numeric feature could feature type left exercise reader reason choice panda encode integer categorical feature way happens may clear variable age treated integer categorical use amphibious kind variable intuition knowledge data numericadv advselectdtypesincludenpfloat numericadvhead pandasplotting import scattermatrix scattermatrixnumericadv alpha03 figsize1010 plot clear suggest investigate correlation DailyTimeSpentonSite DailyInternetUsage clustering identify two community first composed user spent lot daily internet time site opposite f ax pltsubplotsfigsize6 6 snskdeplotadvDailyInternetUsage advDailyTimeSpentonSite colorb axax snsrugplotadvAge colorr axax snsrugplotadvDailyTimeSpentonSite verticalTrue axax tye create new feature faithfulness user would like feature encodes clustering structure expect feature exhibit bimodal histogram easier algorithm build correlation data target try following combination scipystats import norm advFaithfulness advDailyTimeSpentonSiteadvDailyInternetUsage advDailyTimeSpentonSiteadvDailyInternetUsage snsdistplotadv‘Faithfulness’ histFalse color’r’ rugTrue combined information two feature new maybe better one point may tempted drop two old feature may lead issue training place discus problem happy found new feature sake simplicity drop old feature keeping new one procedure known feature reduction let’s focus feature encoded panda object objectfeatures AdTopicLine City Country advobjectfeaturesdescribeincludeO see table value column “Ad Topic Line” unique “City” column contains 969 unique value 1000 many unique element within two categorical column generally difficult perform prediction flat histogram consider feature noise since uniform almost distribution constant carry information next post see robust procedure detect feature omitted analysis third categorical variable ie “Country” unique element France repeat 9 time Additionally determine country highest number visitor table show 20 represented country DataFrame pdcrosstabindexadvCountry columnscountsortvaluescount ascendingFalsehead10 already seen 237 different unique country dataset single country dominant large number unique element allow model establish meaningful relationship reason variable excluded difficult learn almost flat distribution equivalent white noise data advdrop‘AdTopicLine’ ‘City’ ‘Country’ axis1 let’s focus single feature Timestamp contains date time day entry recorded Entries recorded format datehour likely split one two new feature like day hour may able observe different kind pattern occurring two new feature idea individual activity determined time management manage different way time week scale respect 24h scale often good idea create new feature “raw” physic analogy like separating different time scale problem First give look “Mother” feature print advTimestamp purpose create three new feature splitting one column three split feature properly operate may get something useful “Day week” variable contains value 0 6 number represents specific day week Monday Sunday category value day week may useful detect periodic pattern data Hours categorical Date remain panda time format proceed follows 1 convert timestamp column string format panda datetime format 2 dt method split time date hour day week assign new column 3 Eliminate timestamp column information loss 4 check output adv‘Timestamp’ pdtodatetimeadv‘Timestamp’ advtimesadv‘Timestamp’ adv‘Hour’ pdtodatetimeadvtimes format’HM’dthour adv‘Date’ pdtodatetimeadvtimes format’MD’dtdate adv‘WDay’ pdtodatetimeadvtimesdtweekday adv‘Click’ target adv advdropTimestamp axis1 advhead evaluate much time dataset span fix problem timescale printTrain minmax date advDatemin advDatemax printDataset time span advDatemaxadvDatemin First one simple histogram day week carry u information “special day” seem detect periodic pattern data hour day ax advWDayvaluecountssortFalseplotkindbar axsetxlabelDay week axsetylabelRecords ax adv‘Hour’valuecountssortFalseplotkind’bar’ axsetxlabel“Hour day” axsetylabel“Records” obtain result never filtered data equivalently didn’t transformed feature still raw extract information first feature reduction case modifying original data applying kind filtering true may lead u meaningful insight try drop entry used clicked ad order investigate dailybased preference clicking advtime pdDataFrame advtime‘WDay’ adv‘WDay’ advtime‘Hour’ pdtodatetimeadv‘Hour’ advtime‘Hour’ adv‘Hour’ advtime‘Click’ target advtimeinfo see hour day targeted advertisement idea separate according target feature ClickedOnAd variable interest may lead particular result enforce intuition data let’s focus time feature try see appreciation advertise exhibit different pattern employ way employ mask concept thought boolean grid filter dataframe according characteristic condition help u split data part maskone advtime‘Click’ 1 advtimeone advtimemaskone maskzero advtime‘Click’ 0 advtimezero advtimemaskzero Let’s see evident pattern feature found simple plot fig pltfigurefigsize2015 ax figaddsubplot221 advtimeoneWDayvaluecountssortFalseplotkindbar axsetxlabelWDay people click axsetylabelRecords ax figaddsubplot222 advtimezeroWDayvaluecountssortFalseplotkindbar axsetxlabelWDay people DONT click fig pltfigurefigsize2015 ax figaddsubplot221 advtimeoneHourvaluecountssortFalseplotkindbartitleHour people click axsetxlabelHour people click axsetylabelRecords ax figaddsubplot222 advtimezeroHourvaluecountssortFalseplotkindbartitleHour people DONT click axsetxlabelHour people DONT click may pattern data obvious proceed obvious model choose since evident clustering periodicity preference clicking little failure facing necessity introduce automatic feature extraction mechanic possibly designed according optimization principle basic idea behind machine learning specifically neural network Conclusions post introduced good practice efficient EDA number feature large try study little group feature according type done wide range choice patience investigate basic correlation feature first step basic scatter plot enough insight obtain try investigate couple variable exhibit particular pattern case try create new feature combination raw one combination seems reasonably resemble property couple clustering replace old variable new one procedure known feature reduction get feature reduction even investigating variability value feature take group value histogram happens flat consider pure noise drop feature follow opposite practice feature augmentation procedure allows u create new feature raw one happened temporal data yymmdd hhmm entry created tree new feature hour day week date advestisinguser interaction starting physicslike reasoning Unfortunately investigation showed u procedure lead clear pattern little failure purely bad thing learn something important data exhibit clear clustering may imagine introduce algorithm able extract design automatic procedure meaningful combination feature That’s highly dimensional problem need introduce machine learning hope article useful hesitate posting comment Thanks References httpswwwcourseraorglearncompetitivedatascience httpsstackabusecompredictingcustomeradclicksviamachinelearning Yaser AbuMostafa Malik MagdonIsmail HsuanTien Lin “Learning Data”Tags Python Exploratory Data Analysis Data Science Pandas Advertising |
2,512 | Moving pixels and throwing shapes: how exercise has made me a better designer | The benefits of exercise are well-known and the fitness industry is growing more than ever. I’m pretty sure that the majority of my colleagues here in the Idean London studio take up some sort of physical exercise as part of their weekly routine. The culture of our studio is pretty ‘hip and healthy’ — we have fresh fruit available in our kitchens, a great mental health policy in place and a qualified colleague has run the odd yoga sessions in the studio. Personally, physical exercise has become a large part of my daily life and I’m fully embracing the benefits of it in and outside of work — but it hasn’t always been so.
I was never the sporty type at school nor particularly enjoyed the PE lessons. I dreaded the annual sports day and when puberty hit, I became increasingly self-conscious of my body shape. I wouldn’t have believed it if you had told my younger self that I would come to love exercise and go the gym most days.
So how did a self-conscious girl come to love exercise? I first entered the gym the year I graduated university. This was the year of the financial crisis.
Fresh out of uni, graduates were wandering their way around London like lost lambs trying to find a place who would take them on for an internship. It was TOUGH. Finding a place that will let you gain some experience was incredibly difficult, let alone obtaining a job. After spending a few months building my portfolio website, sending out emails to all the agencies, I found myself pressing the refresh button on my email every 5 minutes — waiting to see if I had received any replies from potential employers. With each rejection, unsuccessful interview and empty inbox, I was losing hope. Of course with no income and low mood I became reluctant to step out of the house and meet friends; because traveling out to see them for some kind of social activity required; money. I was still living at home and my mother had noticed how reclusive I was becoming.
My mother, who had been a member of a local gym for a few years, persuaded me to give the gym a try to give myself a breather. My growing frustrations, bored of staying at home, and along with a bit of an ever-present desire to lose some weight I decided to give it a go. How did I find it?
I HATED IT
Everyone else seemed to know what they were doing, they seemed to ‘get it’. At first I kind of floated around, mostly sticking to the treadmill and then venturing onto other machines a few minutes at a time. I then plucked enough courage to join the classes — this was a game changer.
Although at first I was the one hiding behind at the back of the class struggling to follow and coordinate my body, within a few months time I noticed how I was getting better at controlling how my body moves. I thought to myself that if I gave it my all in the classes, not worried about how I looked, I would look like I knew what I was doing whilst probably burning a few more calories than my fellow classmates. I had changed my mindset.
This worked. As my muscles became accustomed to the repeated basic moves, I made the movements bigger to make it more physically challenging and with that, caught the attention of the instructors and the occasional shout-outs of praise during the classes. I even had compliments from fellow classmates. I found the praises were embarrassing at first but it did wonders for my morale. I became someone who got to classes early so I could get the front row spot. Bang in centre. I became friends with the regular attendees, and we even began to socialise together outside the gym. The friends I had made there were people I wouldn’t typically come across in my social circle; students, mothers and people much older than my parents. | https://medium.com/ideas-by-idean/moving-pixels-and-throwing-shapes-how-exercise-has-made-me-a-better-designer-ce7a1c1d3f22 | ['Yuri Yoshimura'] | 2019-08-13 14:09:09.067000+00:00 | ['Work', 'Work Life Balance', 'Design', 'Productivity', 'Fitness'] | Title Moving pixel throwing shape exercise made better designerContent benefit exercise wellknown fitness industry growing ever I’m pretty sure majority colleague Idean London studio take sort physical exercise part weekly routine culture studio pretty ‘hip healthy’ — fresh fruit available kitchen great mental health policy place qualified colleague run odd yoga session studio Personally physical exercise become large part daily life I’m fully embracing benefit outside work — hasn’t always never sporty type school particularly enjoyed PE lesson dreaded annual sport day puberty hit became increasingly selfconscious body shape wouldn’t believed told younger self would come love exercise go gym day selfconscious girl come love exercise first entered gym year graduated university year financial crisis Fresh uni graduate wandering way around London like lost lamb trying find place would take internship TOUGH Finding place let gain experience incredibly difficult let alone obtaining job spending month building portfolio website sending email agency found pressing refresh button email every 5 minute — waiting see received reply potential employer rejection unsuccessful interview empty inbox losing hope course income low mood became reluctant step house meet friend traveling see kind social activity required money still living home mother noticed reclusive becoming mother member local gym year persuaded give gym try give breather growing frustration bored staying home along bit everpresent desire lose weight decided give go find HATED Everyone else seemed know seemed ‘get it’ first kind floated around mostly sticking treadmill venturing onto machine minute time plucked enough courage join class — game changer Although first one hiding behind back class struggling follow coordinate body within month time noticed getting better controlling body move thought gave class worried looked would look like knew whilst probably burning calorie fellow classmate changed mindset worked muscle became accustomed repeated basic move made movement bigger make physically challenging caught attention instructor occasional shoutouts praise class even compliment fellow classmate found praise embarrassing first wonder morale became someone got class early could get front row spot Bang centre became friend regular attendee even began socialise together outside gym friend made people wouldn’t typically come across social circle student mother people much older parentsTags Work Work Life Balance Design Productivity Fitness |
2,513 | How Virtual Assistant Tech Can Help Local News and Local Business Thrive | In the current advertising environment, extracting value from a journalism business — especially a niche or local news site — is becoming more difficult than ever.
As a fellow in the 2019 Tow-Knight Entrepreneurial Journalism program, I was interested in making my venture sustainable. Called Livin’ Americana, its goal is to surface the stories of exceptional Latinx people in cities where we don’t expect a growing Latinx population, places like Nashville. The venture I’m planning would include in-depth and engaging multimedia stories as well as real-life events to build our audience. However, it’s clear to me that my business model needs to be more distinctive, compared to others already doing this type of work. In addition, I need to establish a Minimum Viable Product that draws a clearer line to revenue than the broad idea I originally envisioned.
As I conducted my due diligence for Livin’ Americana it also became more clear to me that many of the people who’ve been doing this work for years say that making money has been extremely difficult. Even established and respected independent community journalists often have to work multiple jobs to earn a decent living, which in turn means that even some of our most trusted community voices are in serious trouble. Starting a pure-journalism venture from scratch without massive financial backing was not the best first step for me. However, I haven’t given up on Livin’ Americana, instead, I have decided to focus on developing a business that — while not pure journalism — is in the service of journalism, helping established but financially struggling journalists grow their revenue.
Today I’m introducing LatinXConneX, an advertising and virtual assistant technology studio that allows journalists, especially niche, local, and hyperlocal news sites — who due to their geographic or demographic size can’t grow a large enough audience to sell the advertisements necessary to be sustainable in today’s pay-per-click and pay-per-ad-impression digital advertising market — extract value from the trusted relationships they’ve built with their audiences.
Meanwhile, as local news outlets struggle, local businesses and service providers are also fighting to survive as they compete against online retail and digital goods and services providers. For local businesses, while there may be enough customers living nearby, the entrepreneurs aren’t reaching them effectively. In the past, a local newspaper was a great ad-delivery vehicle, but dwindling circulation has made it more difficult for local businesses to reach local customers and to compete with the targeted and programmatic digital ad-delivery mechanisms that national retail chains and online sellers can leverage. The impact on our local communities is palpable. Main streets and other business districts are often littered with empty storefronts or long walls of security gates, devoid of commerce.
But LatinXConneX believes that there is untapped value in niche and local outlets — especially those that are located in predominantly Latino communities — that goes beyond page views or ad impressions. It’s called trust. Local residents, LatinX audiences, and niche news consumers trust their local and niche news sources for recommendations on goods and services, what’s the best restaurant in town, which retailers have the best deals, and what community events are worth attending.
We believe that the authenticity and trust that niche, LatinX, hyperlocal, and local news sites have established uniquely positions them to satisfy the need of local businesses who have been unable to effectively target nearby customers looking for the goods and services they provide. We believe our virtual assistant technology can help local news sites reach their neighbors and finally extract value from the trust they’ve built after years of authentically serving their communities.
LatinXConneX Three Pillars:
We help news platforms with a loyal following earn revenue that isn’t dependent on generating millions of ad impressions or massive audience numbers. News platforms leverage the monetary value businesses place on the trust readers give to the recommendations made by news outlets. We expect our virtual assistant technology to help increase a news platform’s ad revenue beyond what traditional web- and newsletter-advertising services can bring.
with a loyal following earn revenue that isn’t dependent on generating millions of ad impressions or massive audience numbers. News platforms leverage the monetary value businesses place on the trust readers give to the recommendations made by news outlets. We expect our virtual assistant technology to help increase a news platform’s ad revenue beyond what traditional web- and newsletter-advertising services can bring. We help businesses offer their goods and services to thousands of local customers. Rather than being reliant on capturing a passive audience, who can easily overlook a newspaper ad. Or lose a potential client because their offering was lost in a sea of Google search results, or outranked by fakes, our virtual concierge technology lets local business directly reach customers searching for the goods and services they’re offering right where they live and on their preferred platform (Facebook, web, or text). It also allows businesses to immediately provide their clients with the good or service at the moment they need it, rather than having them wait for days for delivery.
offer their goods and services to thousands of local customers. Rather than being reliant on capturing a passive audience, who can easily overlook a newspaper ad. Or lose a potential client because their offering was lost in a sea of Google search results, or outranked by fakes, our virtual concierge technology lets local business directly reach customers searching for the goods and services they’re offering right where they live and on their preferred platform (Facebook, web, or text). It also allows businesses to immediately provide their clients with the good or service at the moment they need it, rather than having them wait for days for delivery. We help audiences get the local news, community information, and valuable deals they WANT right when they want it. LatinXConneX users should never cringe when their phone vibrates with an incoming message from us. On the contrary, we want our audience to eagerly await the next amazing offer or the next headline that LatinXConneX delivers to them via our media clients. Even better, we expect our audiences will actively engage with our virtual assistants and use them as their trusted community guides for concise, actionable information, rather than going down the Google search rabbit-hole. Or having to wait days or hours for an item. We will never overwhelm, send unvetted info, or spam our users. If they’re ever annoyed by our service, we’ve failed.
The Uptown Collective Case Study
Growing an audience is the most difficult aspect of creating a sustainable media business. That’s why, instead of focusing on building our own audience, we will team up with Uptown Collective, an established hyperlocal site with 50,000 active users on the web, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and its weekly newsletter, which has struggled to monetize its platform. For the next three months, LatinXConneX and Uptown Collective will develop a media kit around our advertising model, develop a virtual assistant technology called the Uptown Collective Concierge, and sign-on advertisers. Furthermore, once we’ve developed those aspects, we will launch our beta version, which will serve as a case study to test our business model. At the conclusion of the case study, we expect to have a proof-of-concept we can then use to attract more advertisers, onboard more media companies, and possibly pitch to investors.
I’m excited by the prospects of LatinXConneX as a business, and as the first step towards building Livin’ Americana Global Media. Stay tuned! | https://medium.com/journalism-innovation/how-virtual-assistants-can-help-local-news-and-local-biz-thrive-92926b66d0e4 | ['Octavio Blanco'] | 2019-04-05 03:21:00.768000+00:00 | ['Latinx', 'Journalism', 'Local Retail', 'Local News', 'Entrepreneurship'] | Title Virtual Assistant Tech Help Local News Local Business ThriveContent current advertising environment extracting value journalism business — especially niche local news site — becoming difficult ever fellow 2019 TowKnight Entrepreneurial Journalism program interested making venture sustainable Called Livin’ Americana goal surface story exceptional Latinx people city don’t expect growing Latinx population place like Nashville venture I’m planning would include indepth engaging multimedia story well reallife event build audience However it’s clear business model need distinctive compared others already type work addition need establish Minimum Viable Product draw clearer line revenue broad idea originally envisioned conducted due diligence Livin’ Americana also became clear many people who’ve work year say making money extremely difficult Even established respected independent community journalist often work multiple job earn decent living turn mean even trusted community voice serious trouble Starting purejournalism venture scratch without massive financial backing best first step However haven’t given Livin’ Americana instead decided focus developing business — pure journalism — service journalism helping established financially struggling journalist grow revenue Today I’m introducing LatinXConneX advertising virtual assistant technology studio allows journalist especially niche local hyperlocal news site — due geographic demographic size can’t grow large enough audience sell advertisement necessary sustainable today’s payperclick payperadimpression digital advertising market — extract value trusted relationship they’ve built audience Meanwhile local news outlet struggle local business service provider also fighting survive compete online retail digital good service provider local business may enough customer living nearby entrepreneur aren’t reaching effectively past local newspaper great addelivery vehicle dwindling circulation made difficult local business reach local customer compete targeted programmatic digital addelivery mechanism national retail chain online seller leverage impact local community palpable Main street business district often littered empty storefront long wall security gate devoid commerce LatinXConneX belief untapped value niche local outlet — especially located predominantly Latino community — go beyond page view ad impression It’s called trust Local resident LatinX audience niche news consumer trust local niche news source recommendation good service what’s best restaurant town retailer best deal community event worth attending believe authenticity trust niche LatinX hyperlocal local news site established uniquely position satisfy need local business unable effectively target nearby customer looking good service provide believe virtual assistant technology help local news site reach neighbor finally extract value trust they’ve built year authentically serving community LatinXConneX Three Pillars help news platform loyal following earn revenue isn’t dependent generating million ad impression massive audience number News platform leverage monetary value business place trust reader give recommendation made news outlet expect virtual assistant technology help increase news platform’s ad revenue beyond traditional web newsletteradvertising service bring loyal following earn revenue isn’t dependent generating million ad impression massive audience number News platform leverage monetary value business place trust reader give recommendation made news outlet expect virtual assistant technology help increase news platform’s ad revenue beyond traditional web newsletteradvertising service bring help business offer good service thousand local customer Rather reliant capturing passive audience easily overlook newspaper ad lose potential client offering lost sea Google search result outranked fake virtual concierge technology let local business directly reach customer searching good service they’re offering right live preferred platform Facebook web text also allows business immediately provide client good service moment need rather wait day delivery offer good service thousand local customer Rather reliant capturing passive audience easily overlook newspaper ad lose potential client offering lost sea Google search result outranked fake virtual concierge technology let local business directly reach customer searching good service they’re offering right live preferred platform Facebook web text also allows business immediately provide client good service moment need rather wait day delivery help audience get local news community information valuable deal WANT right want LatinXConneX user never cringe phone vibrates incoming message u contrary want audience eagerly await next amazing offer next headline LatinXConneX delivers via medium client Even better expect audience actively engage virtual assistant use trusted community guide concise actionable information rather going Google search rabbithole wait day hour item never overwhelm send unvetted info spam user they’re ever annoyed service we’ve failed Uptown Collective Case Study Growing audience difficult aspect creating sustainable medium business That’s instead focusing building audience team Uptown Collective established hyperlocal site 50000 active user web Facebook Instagram Twitter weekly newsletter struggled monetize platform next three month LatinXConneX Uptown Collective develop medium kit around advertising model develop virtual assistant technology called Uptown Collective Concierge signon advertiser Furthermore we’ve developed aspect launch beta version serve case study test business model conclusion case study expect proofofconcept use attract advertiser onboard medium company possibly pitch investor I’m excited prospect LatinXConneX business first step towards building Livin’ Americana Global Media Stay tunedTags Latinx Journalism Local Retail Local News Entrepreneurship |
2,514 | 100 not-so-good things to do if you want to be a successful homesteader | I saw an article recently about things you should learn if you want to be a good homesteader — or at least things you should master if you want to live a more self-reliant lifestyle.
It was a good list, and I can proudly say that between myself and my husband, we have pretty much accomplished — or, umm, at least practiced — very nearly the entirety of that particular list. We have been homesteading for the past several years, not completely off grid, but at the edge of it. We are much more self-sufficient than we were when we started, although we know we have many skills to learn before we can really hold our heads high.
What I have learned about people who want to give homesteading a go, is that many people love the IDEA of homesteading, but really have no clue as to what this lifestyle consists of.
There are a great number of articles and resources out there that show the pretty side of homesteading — beautiful chickens in the yard, a lush garden, homegrown food on the table… but there aren’t many resources out there that focus on the hard work, the lessons in ingenuity, the character traits that are a must.
Hopefully this article will drive two points home — Number one, it’s hard work. Every day. Number two, the rewards cannot be measured.
If you’re considering venturing off into this lifestyle, take a look at my list below. It will help you decide if you’ve really got what it takes. And for those of you who can relate, I’m sure it’ll make you laugh out loud a time or two — we’ve all learned many of these things the hard way!
Enjoy — and know that you can do anything you set your mind to. And if this lifestyle is something you want to undertake, if you’ve got the drive and determination, if you’ve got a good attitude and can laugh at yourself and at broken well pumps and muddy shoes and ‘possums on the porch, you will succeed and you will not regret the decision to live a more sustainable lifestyle.
Homesteading will truly change your life and make you stronger, wiser and tireder at the end of the day… and you’ll never want to move back into a conventional neighborhood ever again!
100 not-so-good things to be or do if you want to be a successful homesteader: | https://medium.com/driftwood-chronicle/100-not-so-good-things-to-do-if-you-want-to-be-a-successful-homesteader-e9ac2dde6da3 | ['Tauna Pierce'] | 2016-11-18 13:57:38.831000+00:00 | ['Homesteading', 'Environment', 'Edible Backyard', 'Off Grid Lifestyle', 'Sustainability'] | Title 100 notsogood thing want successful homesteaderContent saw article recently thing learn want good homesteader — least thing master want live selfreliant lifestyle good list proudly say husband pretty much accomplished — umm least practiced — nearly entirety particular list homesteading past several year completely grid edge much selfsufficient started although know many skill learn really hold head high learned people want give homesteading go many people love IDEA homesteading really clue lifestyle consists great number article resource show pretty side homesteading — beautiful chicken yard lush garden homegrown food table… aren’t many resource focus hard work lesson ingenuity character trait must Hopefully article drive two point home — Number one it’s hard work Every day Number two reward cannot measured you’re considering venturing lifestyle take look list help decide you’ve really got take relate I’m sure it’ll make laugh loud time two — we’ve learned many thing hard way Enjoy — know anything set mind lifestyle something want undertake you’ve got drive determination you’ve got good attitude laugh broken well pump muddy shoe ‘possums porch succeed regret decision live sustainable lifestyle Homesteading truly change life make stronger wiser tireder end day… you’ll never want move back conventional neighborhood ever 100 notsogood thing want successful homesteaderTags Homesteading Environment Edible Backyard Grid Lifestyle Sustainability |
2,515 | Your Home Needs One Simple Design Philosophy to Be More Productive and Happier | As the pandemic stretches on, most of us have hit the breaking point of working from home fever. Our home feels constricted, in some moments even claustrophobic. Time feels featureless; the clock a stagnant lake.
Since the pandemic started, I’ve been working from my home. This is the first time I had settled in one place for more than a few months. Before the pandemic, training contracts took me to other cities and countries every 2 or 3 months.
After a few months of being stuck at home, my home office has lost its luster.
You know what I’m talking about. The depressing monotony of looking at the same walls is driving you crazy. Every day is fraught with stress and you’re stuck home, working part-time or full-time. Juggling work and your home life are utterly exhausting. The stress is causing you to get short and snap at your partner. As the pandemic continues, you’re worried you will lose your paycheck or have your salary cut at some point.
All these spending too much time in a confined space has thrown your productivity out of the window.
At one point, I got alarmed when I fixated on a crevice in the ceiling, instead of writing an article the whole afternoon. That day felt like the walls were collapsing on me. I wished to get out and teach my students face-to-face — even though I knew it was impossible.
Before I went crazy, a friend suggested turning to houseplants to give my home a sense of serenity. I started reading about a design philosophy called biophilia — bringing nature inside. I started bringing nature’s magic back into my home.
Today, I’m writing to you from my new biophilic designed home. It has been two months since I purchased houseplants and flowers for my studio apartment where I live with my partner. The plants I see when I wake up and sit down in front of my computer help me find a sense of equilibrium and comfort. My productivity has improved and I’m a lot happier these days.
If I’m going to spend every day, every week, and every month in my apartment, then it has to be a sanctuary for me. A place where I can take a break and have some serenity. Where a sustained engagement with nature improves my mood and boosts my productivity.
Even if the pandemic is still haunting the outdoors, you can bring nature inside.
Even if you have a tiny space for your home office, you can create a harmonious work environment. Proximity of nature, even if you buy a tiny, single green houseplant, fosters a positive connection with your workplace. Or you can just put a visual image of your favorite nature picture on your walls.
Before the pandemic, you could do lots of things to boost your productivity. You could call your friends and visit your favorite park in your city. You could watch fresh green leaves unfurling right in front of your eyes. You could recharge your system by walking in a garden that’s bursting into life. You could take off your shoes and feel the damp earth beneath your feet and feel you could do anything.
Now, any outside exposure is scary. We’re terrified of contracting the coronavirus.
So, we’re reorienting our home to create a restorative workplace inside.
Some of us are creating spaces in our homes to put houseplants that energize, stimulate, and connect us. We’re designing nature’s magic back into our homes where they can give us a calm, relaxing, and restorative effect on our work.
Yes, this is an indirect experience with nature. But it’s still a wonderful experience.
This is because…
Productivity enhancement is one of the priceless biophilic design benefits.
One study conducted in two large commercial offices in the UK and The Netherlands showed that ‘green’ offices with plants made staff 15% more productive than ‘lean’ designs stripped of greenery.
Purchasing gorgeous houseplants and putting them in every room of my apartment is the best decision I made since the pandemic started. My plants help me project a soothing image to colleagues on daily video calls. I can show my energy on the camera when I teach my students online. I no longer look at a ceiling and get bored. Instead, I can look at my plants and feel soothed.
Intentionally putting plants inside your home can boost your productivity.
When you have a plant inside your home, your creativity and attention span increases. You get a decent handle on stress. Because filling your indoor environment with plants boosts the creation of melatonin. Melatonin is important since it regulates people’s sleep-wake cycles, making a noticeable difference in your energy levels.
These days, an optimal work-from-home condition is a necessary tool.
We don’t know how long we will work from home. 2020 has been an education in learning to swim in an ocean of not knowing. For me, the uncertainty has been exhausting. We have to design our home with our well-being in mind. When we work from home, it needs to feel like we’re walking through an open door, instead of banging our head against a wall.
Buying in-house plants for your home is a great place to start.
Giant companies had already designed their offices with a biophilic design before the world heard of a vicious virus. Microsoft debuted tree-house conference rooms in Redmond, Washington. Facebook created a 3.6-acre rooftop garden at its Silicon Valley hub.
You can make your home a place where you can have some serenity and foster a positive connection with your work.
Your home does not have to be a mansion to benefit from nature. With any available space you have, buy houseplants you can put in pots.
While you’re at it, use any available natural light. Sunlight stimulates the hypothalamus or the mood center of the brain. Any ray of sunshine that comes through your window boosts your productivity. It soothes you. So, open your curtains. Keep your windows clear and clean. No blinds.
Look outside your window and think about how you can bring nature inside your home. When you do, you create a work environment with your well-being in mind.
I hope you create a tiny refuge in your home from the bruising world outside. | https://bandaxen.medium.com/your-home-needs-one-simple-design-philosophy-to-be-more-productive-and-happier-1a66907392ef | ['Banchiwosen Woldeyesus', 'Blogger Ethiopia'] | 2020-11-11 08:43:52.499000+00:00 | ['Nature', 'Productivity', 'Life Lessons', 'Productivity Hacks', 'Coronavirus'] | Title Home Needs One Simple Design Philosophy Productive HappierContent pandemic stretch u hit breaking point working home fever home feel constricted moment even claustrophobic Time feel featureless clock stagnant lake Since pandemic started I’ve working home first time settled one place month pandemic training contract took city country every 2 3 month month stuck home home office lost luster know I’m talking depressing monotony looking wall driving crazy Every day fraught stress you’re stuck home working parttime fulltime Juggling work home life utterly exhausting stress causing get short snap partner pandemic continues you’re worried lose paycheck salary cut point spending much time confined space thrown productivity window one point got alarmed fixated crevice ceiling instead writing article whole afternoon day felt like wall collapsing wished get teach student facetoface — even though knew impossible went crazy friend suggested turning houseplant give home sense serenity started reading design philosophy called biophilia — bringing nature inside started bringing nature’s magic back home Today I’m writing new biophilic designed home two month since purchased houseplant flower studio apartment live partner plant see wake sit front computer help find sense equilibrium comfort productivity improved I’m lot happier day I’m going spend every day every week every month apartment sanctuary place take break serenity sustained engagement nature improves mood boost productivity Even pandemic still haunting outdoors bring nature inside Even tiny space home office create harmonious work environment Proximity nature even buy tiny single green houseplant foster positive connection workplace put visual image favorite nature picture wall pandemic could lot thing boost productivity could call friend visit favorite park city could watch fresh green leaf unfurling right front eye could recharge system walking garden that’s bursting life could take shoe feel damp earth beneath foot feel could anything outside exposure scary We’re terrified contracting coronavirus we’re reorienting home create restorative workplace inside u creating space home put houseplant energize stimulate connect u We’re designing nature’s magic back home give u calm relaxing restorative effect work Yes indirect experience nature it’s still wonderful experience because… Productivity enhancement one priceless biophilic design benefit One study conducted two large commercial office UK Netherlands showed ‘green’ office plant made staff 15 productive ‘lean’ design stripped greenery Purchasing gorgeous houseplant putting every room apartment best decision made since pandemic started plant help project soothing image colleague daily video call show energy camera teach student online longer look ceiling get bored Instead look plant feel soothed Intentionally putting plant inside home boost productivity plant inside home creativity attention span increase get decent handle stress filling indoor environment plant boost creation melatonin Melatonin important since regulates people’s sleepwake cycle making noticeable difference energy level day optimal workfromhome condition necessary tool don’t know long work home 2020 education learning swim ocean knowing uncertainty exhausting design home wellbeing mind work home need feel like we’re walking open door instead banging head wall Buying inhouse plant home great place start Giant company already designed office biophilic design world heard vicious virus Microsoft debuted treehouse conference room Redmond Washington Facebook created 36acre rooftop garden Silicon Valley hub make home place serenity foster positive connection work home mansion benefit nature available space buy houseplant put pot you’re use available natural light Sunlight stimulates hypothalamus mood center brain ray sunshine come window boost productivity soothes open curtain Keep window clear clean blind Look outside window think bring nature inside home create work environment wellbeing mind hope create tiny refuge home bruising world outsideTags Nature Productivity Life Lessons Productivity Hacks Coronavirus |
2,516 | Visualize an Interesting Sorting Algorithms With Python | NOTE:- In this article, we will also compute the number of operations performed and will be able to see the time complexity of the sorting algorithm.
As our purpose is to only visualize the sorting algorithms hence I will be using the merge sort for a demonstration but you should implement the rest of them in order to understand the differences among them.
Before we start coding, you must have python 3.3 or above installed because I have used the yield from feature or generator.
Let’s Start:-
Firstly you need to import the given libraries. We have used the random module in order to generate a random array of numbers to be sorted. The matplotlib pyplot and animation modules will be used to animate the sorting algorithm.
import random
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import matplotlib.animation as anim
Below the given swap function will be used to swap the elements in the given array. Defining a separate function is useful as it will be used exhaustively throughout different algorithms.
def swap(A, i, j):
a = A[j]
A[j] = A[i]
A[i] = a
# also in python A[i],A[j]=A[j],A[i]
We have used Merge Sort to demonstrate this visualization because this is the most popular and one of the best sorting algorithms out there. Merge sort follows Divide and Conquer technique for sorting. It divides the array into two subarrays and each of these is sorted by calling the merge sort recursively on them. Our main focus is to visualize the algorithm hence I will not explain the working of it. The following code shows the merge sort. In order to get the intuition on how it works, one can follow this video on youtube jenny’s lecture.
def merge_sort(arr,lb,ub):
if(ub<=lb):
return
elif(lb<ub):
mid =(lb+ub)//2
yield from merge_sort(arr,lb,mid)
yield from merge_sort(arr,mid+1,ub)
yield from merge(arr,lb,mid,ub)
yield arr def merge(arr,lb,mid,ub):
new = []
i = lb
j = mid+1
while(i<=mid and j<=ub):
if(arr[i]<arr[j]):
new.append(arr[i])
i+=1
else:
new.append(arr[j])
j+=1
if(i>mid):
while(j<=ub):
new.append(arr[j])
j+=1
else:
while(i<=mid):
new.append(arr[i])
i+=1
for i,val in enumerate(new):
arr[lb+i] = val
yield arr
Now we will simply create the random list of numbers to be sorted and the length of the array will be decided by the user itself. After that, if condition is used to choose the algorithm.
n = int(input("Enter the number of elements:"))
al = int(input("Choose algorithm: 1.Bubble
2.Insertion
3.Quick
4.Selection
5.Merge Sort))
array = [i + 1 for i in range(n)]
random.shuffle(array) if(al==1):
title = "Bubble Sort"
algo = sort_buble(array)
elif(al==2):
title = "Insertion Sort"
algo = insertion_sort(array)
elif(al==3):
title = "Quick Sort"
algo = quick_Sort(array,0,n-1)
elif(al==4):
title="Selection Sort"
algo = selection_sort(array)
elif (al == 5):
title = "Merge Sort"
algo=merge_sort(array,0,n-1)
Now we will create a canvas for the animation using matplotlib figure and axis . Then we have created the bar plot in which each bar will represent one number of the array. Here text() is used to show the number of operations on the canvas. The first two arguments are the position of the label. transform=ax.transAxes tells that the first two arguments are the axis fractions, not data coordinates.
fig, ax = plt.subplots()
ax.set_title(title)
bar_rec = ax.bar(range(len(array)), array, align='edge')
text = ax.text(0.02, 0.95, "", transform=ax.transAxes)
The update_plot function is used to update the figure for each frame of our animation. Actually, this function will pass to anima.FuncAnimamtion() that uses it to update the plot. Here we have passed the input array, rec which is defined above, and the epochs that keep the track of number of operations performed. One may think that we can simply use integer value instead of a list in epochs but integer like epoch = 0 cannot be passed by reference but only by value, unlike a list, which is passed by reference. The set_height() is used to update the height of each bar.
epochs = [0]
def update_plot(array, rec, epochs):
for rec, val in zip(rec, array):
rec.set_height(val)
epochs[0]+= 1
text.set_text("No.of operations :{}".format(epochs[0]))
In the end, we create anima object in which we pass frames=algo that takes generator function(the algorithm is a generator function as it contains yield ) and after that, it passes the generated or updated array to the update_plot , fargs takes additional arguments i.e. epochs and bar_rec and interval is the delay between each frame in milliseconds.
And finally, we use plt.show() to plot the animated figure.
anima = anim.FuncAnimation(fig, func=update_plot, fargs=(bar_rec, epochs), frames=algo, interval=1, repeat=False)
plt.show()
Full code with all sorting algorithms is available in my Github repo. Check it out. And if you like this article, please let me know.
Check out my article on Convert Images to ASCII Art Images Using Python
Learn more about the animationFunction | https://medium.com/towards-artificial-intelligence/visualize-interesting-sorting-algorithms-with-python-bdd64bdd0713 | ['Pushkara Sharma'] | 2020-08-27 03:10:58.026000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Sorting Algorithms', 'Programming', 'Merge Sort', 'Visualization'] | Title Visualize Interesting Sorting Algorithms PythonContent NOTE article also compute number operation performed able see time complexity sorting algorithm purpose visualize sorting algorithm hence using merge sort demonstration implement rest order understand difference among start coding must python 33 installed used yield feature generator Let’s Start Firstly need import given library used random module order generate random array number sorted matplotlib pyplot animation module used animate sorting algorithm import random import matplotlibpyplot plt import matplotlibanimation anim given swap function used swap element given array Defining separate function useful used exhaustively throughout different algorithm def swapA j Aj Aj Ai Ai also python AiAjAjAi used Merge Sort demonstrate visualization popular one best sorting algorithm Merge sort follows Divide Conquer technique sorting divide array two subarrays sorted calling merge sort recursively main focus visualize algorithm hence explain working following code show merge sort order get intuition work one follow video youtube jenny’s lecture def mergesortarrlbub ifublb return eliflbub mid lbub2 yield mergesortarrlbmid yield mergesortarrmid1ub yield mergearrlbmidub yield arr def mergearrlbmidub new lb j mid1 whileimid jub ifarriarrj newappendarri i1 else newappendarrj j1 ifimid whilejub newappendarrj j1 else whileimid newappendarri i1 ival enumeratenew arrlbi val yield arr simply create random list number sorted length array decided user condition used choose algorithm n intinputEnter number element al intinputChoose algorithm 1Bubble 2Insertion 3Quick 4Selection 5Merge Sort array 1 rangen randomshufflearray ifal1 title Bubble Sort algo sortbublearray elifal2 title Insertion Sort algo insertionsortarray elifal3 title Quick Sort algo quickSortarray0n1 elifal4 titleSelection Sort algo selectionsortarray elif al 5 title Merge Sort algomergesortarray0n1 create canvas animation using matplotlib figure axis created bar plot bar represent one number array text used show number operation canvas first two argument position label transformaxtransAxes tell first two argument axis fraction data coordinate fig ax pltsubplots axsettitletitle barrec axbarrangelenarray array alignedge text axtext002 095 transformaxtransAxes updateplot function used update figure frame animation Actually function pas animaFuncAnimamtion us update plot passed input array rec defined epoch keep track number operation performed One may think simply use integer value instead list epoch integer like epoch 0 cannot passed reference value unlike list passed reference setheight used update height bar epoch 0 def updateplotarray rec epoch rec val ziprec array recsetheightval epochs0 1 textsettextNoof operation formatepochs0 end create anima object pas framesalgo take generator functionthe algorithm generator function contains yield pass generated updated array updateplot fargs take additional argument ie epoch barrec interval delay frame millisecond finally use pltshow plot animated figure anima animFuncAnimationfig funcupdateplot fargsbarrec epoch framesalgo interval1 repeatFalse pltshow Full code sorting algorithm available Github repo Check like article please let know Check article Convert Images ASCII Art Images Using Python Learn animationFunctionTags Python Sorting Algorithms Programming Merge Sort Visualization |
2,517 | The 3 Most Important Lessons I Learned From Writing A Book | The 3 Most Important Lessons I Learned From Writing A Book
#2 Don’t be afraid to start again
Image Source: Pixabay
Writing a book I was happy with took me a long time. I am still unsure if I am happy with the book I’ve just finished. It always feels like there’s something else that needs changing, redoing, fine-tuning — but despite the laborious editing process, I feel so proud that I finally finished a book that I believe in and beta readers love.
Finishing a book is most definitely the hardest thing about writing a novel. There are so many obstacles during the process where it’s so easy to become perturbed and incredibly difficult to push through your fears, self-doubt and feeling overwhelmed by the scale of your project. Even though I am still fine-tuning my own book, I am elated that I finished something. I am currently seeking representation for this book and whatever happens, writing this book has definitely given me some incredibly valuable lessons that I will carry with me throughout my writing career.
Just keep going
In order to just keep going, you need to have fun. Editing is not fun — so do not do this until you have FINISHED the first draft. I cannot stress this enough. I would still be redoing my beginning if I kept on editing and editing instead of getting the story down on paper. The best way to finish the first draft and make it to the end of your story is to just write. Do not worry about editing, fine-tuning or about writing the best beginning of a book ever. All of this will come later. Now, at the beginning of the process, it is time to get to know your story, get to know your characters and make a connection with everything you have created so that it becomes almost impossible to pull away from the thing you love and leave it unfinished. That’s how you will finish a book. You just need to keep going.
Don’t be afraid to start again
If it’s no good, or you have heavy doubts, get rid of it. Start again.
Yes. You absolutely have to do this if you want to do more than finish a book. Starting again when needed is how you finish a good book.
If you keep a dull chapter or a plot hole simply because you cannot face all the work you’ll have to do to fix it, then your book will never be finished. You will get bored. You will become unmotivated. Say goodbye to your work in progress if you can’t be bothered to make the changes necessary to make your novel great.
Producing something great is absolutely worth all the effort it takes to get there. It’s overwhelming at first but once you take the plunge, it feels incredibly satisfying. Writing is a labour of love — working through the hardest parts where you want to give up is what helps you to fall in love even more with your book and your characters. So don’t be afraid to start again if something isn’t working — the only way you’ll get to the place you want to be is if you keep writing.
Once the first draft is done, you don’t have to settle. If writing a second draft means that most of the first draft is changed, then so be it. It’s what must be done if you want to finish writing a book you’re proud of.
Be honest
I wouldn’t have been able to build a connection with my characters, my story, and finish the project if I wasn’t honest and didn’t open my heart to the story. Putting a piece of yourself into the book and your heart and soul into finishing it is what will help you accomplish the ultimate goal of finishing a book you love, and one that readers love and can identify with.
At the beginning, the love and connection to a story comes from you. If you, the creator, cannot see the book’s potential, then no one else will. If you want to stand a chance of connecting with your readers, then your book needs to be authentic and capture something universal so that readers can make an attachment and feel something after reading your work, long after they’ve finished reading the last page. The only way to do this is to be honest. If you want readers to care, then you need to care too. | https://medium.com/the-partnered-pen/the-3-most-important-lessons-i-learned-from-writing-a-book-70ad190f272d | ['Kat Morris'] | 2020-08-20 15:40:34.187000+00:00 | ['Writing Tips', 'Writing', 'Books', 'Self', 'Writers On Writing'] | Title 3 Important Lessons Learned Writing BookContent 3 Important Lessons Learned Writing Book 2 Don’t afraid start Image Source Pixabay Writing book happy took long time still unsure happy book I’ve finished always feel like there’s something else need changing redoing finetuning — despite laborious editing process feel proud finally finished book believe beta reader love Finishing book definitely hardest thing writing novel many obstacle process it’s easy become perturbed incredibly difficult push fear selfdoubt feeling overwhelmed scale project Even though still finetuning book elated finished something currently seeking representation book whatever happens writing book definitely given incredibly valuable lesson carry throughout writing career keep going order keep going need fun Editing fun — FINISHED first draft cannot stress enough would still redoing beginning kept editing editing instead getting story paper best way finish first draft make end story write worry editing finetuning writing best beginning book ever come later beginning process time get know story get know character make connection everything created becomes almost impossible pull away thing love leave unfinished That’s finish book need keep going Don’t afraid start it’s good heavy doubt get rid Start Yes absolutely want finish book Starting needed finish good book keep dull chapter plot hole simply cannot face work you’ll fix book never finished get bored become unmotivated Say goodbye work progress can’t bothered make change necessary make novel great Producing something great absolutely worth effort take get It’s overwhelming first take plunge feel incredibly satisfying Writing labour love — working hardest part want give help fall love even book character don’t afraid start something isn’t working — way you’ll get place want keep writing first draft done don’t settle writing second draft mean first draft changed It’s must done want finish writing book you’re proud honest wouldn’t able build connection character story finish project wasn’t honest didn’t open heart story Putting piece book heart soul finishing help accomplish ultimate goal finishing book love one reader love identify beginning love connection story come creator cannot see book’s potential one else want stand chance connecting reader book need authentic capture something universal reader make attachment feel something reading work long they’ve finished reading last page way honest want reader care need care tooTags Writing Tips Writing Books Self Writers Writing |
2,518 | An Introduction to Message Queues With RabbitMQ and Python | What Is a Message Queue in the First Place?
Message queues (MQ) are a fundamental concept in programming and software development. In a distributed system, a message queue is the backbone of the system. A message queue allows inter-process communication between services/applications in your system (eg. Service A can talk to Service B).
In MQ terminology, the service that emits the message is called the producer worker, while the service that listens and reacts to messages is called the consumer worker. This is how communication happens between the services.
You can scale up or down the number of producer and consumer workers running depending on their loads. For example, you may have two producers running in two VMs and ten consumers running CPU-intensive tasks across 10 VMs. You can also increase the number of workers during the day and shut down the workers at night (provided that your application traffic is a diurnal pattern). | https://medium.com/better-programming/introduction-to-message-queue-with-rabbitmq-python-639e397cb668 | ['Mohamad Fadhil'] | 2020-10-14 02:42:02.766000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Technology', 'Software Engineering', 'Programming', 'Python3'] | Title Introduction Message Queues RabbitMQ PythonContent Message Queue First Place Message queue MQ fundamental concept programming software development distributed system message queue backbone system message queue allows interprocess communication servicesapplications system eg Service talk Service B MQ terminology service emits message called producer worker service listens reacts message called consumer worker communication happens service scale number producer consumer worker running depending load example may two producer running two VMs ten consumer running CPUintensive task across 10 VMs also increase number worker day shut worker night provided application traffic diurnal patternTags Python Technology Software Engineering Programming Python3 |
2,519 | Getting Started with PySpark for Big Data Analytics using Jupyter Notebooks and Jupyter Docker Stacks | Introduction
There is little question, big data analytics, data science, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML), a subcategory of AI, have all experienced a tremendous surge in popularity over the last few years. Behind the hype curves and marketing buzz, these technologies are having a significant influence on many aspects of our modern lives. Due to their popularity and potential benefits, academic institutions and commercial enterprises are rushing to train large numbers of Data Scientists and ML and AI Engineers.
Search results courtesy GoogleTrends (https://trends.google.com)
Learning popular programming paradigms, such as Python, Scala, R, Apache Hadoop, Apache Spark, and Apache Kafka, requires the use of multiple complex technologies. Installing, configuring, and managing these technologies often demands an advanced level of familiarity with Linux, distributed systems, cloud- and container-based platforms, databases, and data-streaming applications. These barriers may prove a deterrent to Students, Mathematicians, Statisticians, and Data Scientists.
Search results courtesy GoogleTrends (https://trends.google.com)
Driven by the explosive growth of these technologies and the need to train individuals, many commercial enterprises are lowering the barriers to entry, making it easier to get started. The three major cloud providers, AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, all have multiple Big Data-, AI- and ML-as-a-Service offerings.
Similarly, many open-source projects are also lowering the barriers to entry into these technologies. An excellent example of an open-source project working on this challenge is Project Jupyter. Similar to the Spark Notebook and Apache Zeppelin projects, Jupyter Notebooks enables data-driven, interactive, and collaborative data analytics with Julia, Scala, Python, R, and SQL.
This post will demonstrate the creation of a containerized development environment, using Jupyter Docker Stacks. The environment will be suited for learning and developing applications for Apache Spark, using the Python, Scala, and R programming languages. This post is not intended to be a tutorial on Spark, PySpark, or Jupyter Notebooks.
Featured Technologies
The following technologies are featured prominently in this post.
Jupyter Notebooks
According to Project Jupyter, the Jupyter Notebook, formerly known as the IPython Notebook, is an open-source web application that allows users to create and share documents that contain live code, equations, visualizations, and narrative text. Uses include data cleaning and transformation, numerical simulation, statistical modeling, data visualization, machine learning, and much more. The word, Jupyter, is a loose acronym for Julia, Python, and R, but today, the Jupyter supports many programming languages. Interest in Jupyter Notebooks has grown dramatically.
Search results courtesy GoogleTrends (https://trends.google.com)
Jupyter Docker Stacks
To enable quick and easy access to Jupyter Notebooks, Project Jupyter has created Jupyter Docker Stacks. The stacks are ready-to-run Docker images containing Jupyter applications, along with accompanying technologies. Currently, eight different Jupyter Docker Stacks focus on a particular area of practice. They include SciPy (Python-based mathematics, science, and engineering), TensorFlow, R Project for statistical computing, Data Science with Julia, and the main subject of this post, PySpark. The stacks also include a rich variety of well-known packages to extend their functionality, such as scikit-learn, pandas, Matplotlib, Bokeh, ipywidgets (interactive HTML widgets), and Facets.
Apache Spark
According to Apache, Spark is a unified analytics engine for large-scale data processing, used by well-known, modern enterprises, such as Netflix, Yahoo, and eBay. With speeds up to 100x faster than Hadoop, Apache Spark achieves high performance for static, batch, and streaming data, using a state-of-the-art DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) scheduler, a query optimizer, and a physical execution engine.
Spark’s polyglot programming model allows users to write applications quickly in Scala, Java, Python, R, and SQL. Spark includes libraries for Spark SQL (DataFrames and Datasets), MLlib (Machine Learning), GraphX (Graph Processing), and DStreams (Spark Streaming). You can run Spark using its standalone cluster mode, on Amazon EC2, Apache Hadoop YARN, Mesos, or Kubernetes.
PySpark
The Spark Python API, PySpark, exposes the Spark programming model to Python. PySpark is built on top of Spark’s Java API. Data is processed in Python and cached and shuffled in the JVM. According to Apache, Py4J enables Python programs running in a Python interpreter to dynamically access Java objects in a JVM.
Docker
According to Docker, their technology developers and IT the freedom to build, manage and secure business-critical applications without the fear of technology or infrastructure lock-in. Although Kubernetes is now the leading open-source container orchestration platform, Docker is still the predominant underlying container engine technology. For this post, I am using Docker Desktop Community version for macOS.
Docker Swarm
Current versions of Docker include both a Kubernetes and Swarm orchestrator for deploying and managing containers. We will choose Swarm for this demonstration. According to Docker, Swarm is the cluster management and orchestration features embedded in the Docker Engine are built using swarmkit. Swarmkit is a separate project which implements Docker’s orchestration layer and is used directly within Docker.
PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL is a powerful, open-source object-relational database system. According to their website, PostgreSQL comes with many features aimed to help developers build applications, administrators to protect data integrity and build fault-tolerant environments, and help manage data no matter how big or small the dataset.
Demonstration
To show the capabilities of the Jupyter development environment, I will demonstrate a few typical use cases, such as executing Python scripts, submitting PySpark jobs, working with Jupyter Notebooks, and reading and writing data to and from different format files and to a database. We will be using the jupyter/all-spark-notebook Docker Image. This image includes Python, R, and Scala support for Apache Spark, using Apache Toree.
Architecture
As shown below, we will stand-up a Docker stack, consisting of Jupyter All-Spark-Notebook, PostgreSQL 10.5, and Adminer containers. The Docker stack will have local directories bind-mounted into the containers. Files from our GitHub project will be shared with the Jupyter application container through a bind-mounted directory. Our PostgreSQL data will also be persisted through a bind-mounted directory. This allows us to persist data external to the ephemeral containers.
Source Code
All open-sourced code for this post can be found on GitHub. Use the following command to clone the project. The post and project code was last updated on 9/28/2019.
--branch master --single-branch --depth 1 --no-tags \
https://github.com/garystafford/pyspark-setup-demo.git git clone \--branch master --single-branch --depth 1 --no-tags \
Source code samples are displayed as GitHub Gists, which may not display correctly on some mobile and social media browsers.
Deploy Docker Stack
To start, create the $HOME/data/postgres directory to store PostgreSQL data files. This directory will be bind-mounted into the PostgreSQL container on line 36 of the stack.yml file, $HOME/data/postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data . The HOME environment variable assumes you are working on Linux or macOS and is equivalent to HOMEPATH on Windows.
The Jupyter container’s working directory is set on line 10 of the stack.yml file, working_dir:/home/$USER/work . The local bind-mounted working directory is $PWD/work . This path is bind-mounted to the working directory in the Jupyter container, on line 24 of the stack.yml file, $PWD/work:/home/$USER/work . The PWD environment variable assumes you are working on Linux or macOS ( CD on Windows).
By default, the user within the Jupyter container is jovyan . Optionally, I have chosen to override that user with my own local host’s user account, as shown on line 16 of the stack.yml file, NB_USER: $USER . I have used the macOS host’s USER environment variable value (equivalent to USERNAME on Windows). There are many options for configuring the Jupyter container, detailed here. Several of those options are shown on lines 12-18 of the stack.yml file (gist).
Assuming you have a recent version of Docker installed on your local development machine, and running in swarm mode, standing up the stack is as easy as running the following command from the root directory of the project:
docker stack deploy -c stack.yml pyspark
The Docker stack consists of a new overlay network, pyspark-net , and three containers. To confirm the stack deployed, you can run the following command:
docker stack ps pyspark --no-trunc
Note the jupyter/all-spark-notebook container is quite large. Depending on your Internet connection, if this is the first time you have pulled this Docker image, the stack may take several minutes to enter a running state.
To access the Jupyter Notebook application, you need to obtain the Jupyter URL and access token (read more here). This information is output in the Jupyter container log, which can be accessed with the following command:
docker logs $(docker ps | grep pyspark_pyspark | awk '{print $NF}')
Using the URL and token shown in the log output, you will be able to access the Jupyter web-based user interface on localhost port 8888. Once there, from the Jupyter dashboard landing page, you should see all the files in the project’s work/ directory.
Also shown below, note the types of files you are able to create from the dashboard, including Python 3, R, Scala (using Toree or spylon-kernal), and text. You can also open a Jupyter Terminal or create a new Folder.
Running Python Scripts
Instead of worrying about installing and maintaining the latest version of Python and packages on your own development machine, we can run our Python scripts from the Jupyter container. At the time of this post, the latest jupyter/all-spark-notebook Docker Image runs Python 3.7.3 and Conda 4.6.14. Let’s start with a simple example of the Jupyter container’s capabilities by running a Python script. I’ve included a sample Python script, 01_simple_script.py.
Run the script from within the Jupyter container, from a Jupyter Terminal window:
python ./01_simple_script.py
You should observe the following output.
Kaggle Datasets
To explore the features of the Jupyter Notebook container and PySpark, we will use a publically-available dataset from Kaggle. Kaggle is a fantastic open-source resource for datasets used for big-data and ML applications. Their tagline is ‘Kaggle is the place to do data science projects’.
For this demonstration, I chose the ‘Transactions from a Bakery’ dataset from Kaggle.
The dataset contains 21,294 rows, each with four columns of data. Although certainly nowhere near ‘big data’, the dataset is large enough to test out the Jupyter container functionality (gist).
Submitting Spark Jobs
We are not limited to Jupyter Notebooks to interact with Spark, we can also submit scripts directly to Spark from a Jupyter Terminal, or from our IDE. I have included a simple Python script, 02_bakery_dataframes.py. The script loads the Kaggle Bakery dataset from the CSV file into a Spark DataFrame. The script then prints out the top ten rows of data, along with a count of the total number of rows in the DataFrame.
Run the script directly from a Jupyter Terminal window:
python ./02_bakery_dataframes.py
An example of the output of the Spark job is shown below. At the time of this post, the latest jupyter/all-spark-notebook Docker Image runs Spark 2.4.3, Scala 2.11.12, and Java 1.8.0_191 using the OpenJDK.
More typically, you would submit the Spark job, using the spark-submit command. Use a Jupyter Terminal window to run the following command:
$SPARK_HOME/bin/spark-submit 02_bakery_dataframes.py
Below, we see the beginning of the output from Spark, using the spark-submit command.
Below, we see the scheduled tasks executing and the output of the print statement, displaying the top 10 rows of bakery data.
Interacting with Databases
Often with Spark, you are loading data from one or more data sources (input). After performing operations and transformations on the data, the data is persisted or conveyed to another system for further processing (output).
To demonstrate the flexibility of the Jupyter Docker Stacks to work with databases, I have added PostgreSQL to the Docker Stack. We can read and write data from the Jupyter container to the PostgreSQL instance, running in a separate container.
To begin, we will run a SQL script, written in Python, to create our database schema and some test data in a new database table. To do so, we will need to install the psycopg2 package into our Jupyter container. You can use the docker exec command from your terminal. Alternatively, as a superuser, your user has administrative access to install Python packages within the Jupyter container using the Jupyter Terminal window. Both pip and conda are available to install packages, see details here.
Run the following command to install psycopg2 :
# using pip
docker exec -it \
$(docker ps | grep pyspark_pyspark | awk '{print $NF}') \
pip install psycopg2-binary
These packages give Python the ability to interact with PostgreSQL. The included Python script, 03_load_sql.py, will execute a set of SQL statements, contained in a SQL file, bakery_sample.sql, against the PostgreSQL container instance.
To execute the script, run the following command:
python ./03_load_sql.py
This should result in the following output, if successful.
To confirm the SQL script’s success, I have included Adminer. Adminer (formerly phpMinAdmin) is a full-featured database management tool written in PHP. Adminer natively recognizes PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, and MongoDB, among other database engines.
Adminer should be available on localhost port 8080. The password credentials, shown below, are available in the stack.yml file. The server name, postgres , is the name of the PostgreSQL container. This is the domain name the Jupyter container will use to communicate with the PostgreSQL container.
Connecting to the demo database with Adminer, we should see the bakery_basket table. The table should contain three rows of data, as shown below.
Developing Jupyter NoteBooks
The true power of the Jupyter Docker Stacks containers is Jupyter Notebooks. According to the Jupyter Project, the notebook extends the console-based approach to interactive computing in a qualitatively new direction, providing a web-based application suitable for capturing the whole computation process: developing, documenting, and executing code, as well as communicating the results. Notebook documents contain the inputs and outputs of an interactive session as well as additional text that accompanies the code but is not meant for execution.
To see the power of Jupyter Notebooks, I have written a basic notebook document, 04_pyspark_demo_notebook.ipynb. The document performs some typical PySpark functions, such as loading data from a CSV file and from the PostgreSQL database, performing some basic data analytics with Spark SQL, graphing the data using BokehJS, and finally, saving data back to the database, as well as to the popular Apache Parquet file format. Below we see the notebook document, using the Jupyter Notebook user interface.
PostgreSQL Driver
The only notebook document dependency, not natively part of the Jupyter Image, is the PostgreSQL JDBC driver. The driver, postgresql-42.2.8.jar , is included in the project and referenced in the configuration of the notebook’s Spark Session. The JAR is added to the spark.driver.extraClassPath runtime environment property. This ensures the JAR is available to Spark (written in Scala) when the job is run.
PyCharm
Since the working directory for the project is shared with the container, you can also edit files, including notebook documents, in your favorite IDE, such as JetBrains PyCharm. PyCharm has built-in language support for Jupyter Notebooks, as shown below.
As mentioned earlier, a key feature of Jupyter Notebooks is their ability to save the output from each Cell as part of the notebook document. Below, we see the notebook document on GitHub. The output is saved, as part of the notebook document. Not only can you distribute the notebook document, but you can also preserve and share the output from each cell.
Using Additional Packages
As mentioned in the Introduction, the Jupyter Docker Stacks come ready-to-run, with a rich variety of Python packages to extend their functionality. To demonstrate the use of these packages, I have created a second Jupyter notebook document, 05_pyspark_demo_notebook.ipynb. This notebook document uses SciPy (Python-based mathematics, science, and engineering), NumPy (Python-based scientific computing), and the Plotly Python Graphing Library. While NumPy and SciPy are included on the Jupyter Docker Image, the Notebook used pip to install Plotly. Similar to Bokeh, shown previously, we can combine these libraries to create rich, interactive data visualizations. To use Plotly, you will need to sign up for a free account and obtain a username and API key.
Shown below, we use Plotly to construct a bar chart of daily bakery items sold for the year 2017 based on the Kaggle dataset. The chart uses SciPy and NumPy to construct a linear fit (regression) and plot a line of best fit to the bakery data. The chart also uses SciPy’s Savitzky-Golay Filter to plot the second line, illustrating a smoothing of our bakery data.
Plotly also provides Chart Studio Online Chart Maker. Plotly describes Chart Studio as the world’s most sophisticated editor for creating D3.js and WebGL charts. Shown below, we have the ability to enhance, stylize, and share our bakery data visualization using the free version of Chart Studio Cloud.
nbviewer
Notebooks can also be viewed using Jupyter nbviewer, hosted on Rackspace. Below, we see the output of a cell from this project’s notebook document, showing a BokehJS chart, using nbviewer. You can view this project’s actual notebook document, using nbviewer, here.
Monitoring Spark Jobs
The Jupyter Docker container exposes Spark’s monitoring and instrumentation web user interface. We can observe each Spark Job in great detail.
We can review details of each stage of the Spark job, including a visualization of the DAG, which Spark constructs as part of the job execution plan, using the DAG Scheduler.
We can also review the timing of each event, occurring as part of the stages of the Spark job.
We can also use the Spark interface to review and confirm the runtime environment, including versions of Java, Scala, and Spark, as well as packages available on the Java classpath.
Spark Performance
Spark, running on a single node within the Jupyter container, on your development system, is not a substitute for a full Spark cluster, running on bare metal or robust virtualized hardware, with YARN, Mesos, or Kubernetes. In my opinion, you should adjust Docker to support an acceptable performance profile for the stack, running only a modest workload. You are not trying to replace the need to run real jobs on a Production Spark cluster.
We can use the docker stats command to examine the container’s CPU and memory metrics:
docker stats \
--format "table {{.Name}}\t{{.CPUPerc}}\t{{.MemUsage}}\t{{.MemPerc}}"
Below, we see the stats from the stack’s three containers immediately after being deployed, showing little or no activity. Here, Docker has been allocated 2 CPUs, 3GB of RAM, and 2 GB of swap space available, from the host machine.
Compare the stats above with the same three containers, while the example notebook document is running on Spark. The CPU shows a spike, but memory usage appears to be within acceptable ranges.
Linux top and htop
Another option to examine container performance metrics is with top. We can use the docker exec command to execute the top command within the Jupyter container, sorting processes by CPU usage:
docker exec -it \
$(docker ps | grep _pyspark | awk '{print $NF}') \
top -o %CPU
With top , we can observe the individual performance of each process running in the Jupyter container.
Lastly, htop, an interactive process viewer for Unix, can be installed into the container and ran with the following set of bash commands, from a Jupyter Terminal window or using docker exec :
docker exec -it \
$(docker ps | grep _pyspark | awk '{print $NF}') \
sh -c "apt-get update && apt-get install htop && htop --sort-key PERCENT_CPU"
With htop , we can observe individual CPU activity. The two CPUs at the top left of the htop window are the two CPUs assigned to Docker. We get insight into the way Docker is using each CPU, as well as other basic performance metrics, like memory and swap.
Assuming your development machine host has them available, it is easy to allocate more compute resources to Docker if required. However, in my opinion, this stack is optimized for development and learning, using reasonably sized datasets for data analysis and ML. It should not be necessary to allocate excessive resources to Docker, possibly starving your host machine’s own compute capabilities.
Conclusion
In this brief post, we have seen how easy it is to get started learning and developing applications for big data analytics, using Python, Spark, and PySpark, thanks to the Jupyter Docker Stacks. We could use the same stack to learn and develop for machine learning, using Python, Scala, and R. Extending the stack’s capabilities is as simple as swapping out this Jupyter image for another, with a different set of tools, as well as adding additional containers to the stack, such as Apache Kafka or Apache Cassandra.
Originally published at programmaticponderings.com on November 20, 2018. The post and project code was updated on September 28, 2019.
All opinions expressed in this post are my own and not necessarily the views of my current or past employers, their clients. | https://garystafford.medium.com/getting-started-with-pyspark-for-big-data-analytics-using-jupyter-notebooks-and-docker-ba39d2e3d6c7 | ['Gary A. Stafford'] | 2020-01-07 23:21:39.401000+00:00 | ['Apache Spark', 'Python', 'Jupyter Notebook', 'Docker', 'Pyspark'] | Title Getting Started PySpark Big Data Analytics using Jupyter Notebooks Jupyter Docker StacksContent Introduction little question big data analytics data science artificial intelligence AI machine learning ML subcategory AI experienced tremendous surge popularity last year Behind hype curve marketing buzz technology significant influence many aspect modern life Due popularity potential benefit academic institution commercial enterprise rushing train large number Data Scientists ML AI Engineers Search result courtesy GoogleTrends httpstrendsgooglecom Learning popular programming paradigm Python Scala R Apache Hadoop Apache Spark Apache Kafka requires use multiple complex technology Installing configuring managing technology often demand advanced level familiarity Linux distributed system cloud containerbased platform database datastreaming application barrier may prove deterrent Students Mathematicians Statisticians Data Scientists Search result courtesy GoogleTrends httpstrendsgooglecom Driven explosive growth technology need train individual many commercial enterprise lowering barrier entry making easier get started three major cloud provider AWS Azure Google Cloud multiple Big Data AI MLasaService offering Similarly many opensource project also lowering barrier entry technology excellent example opensource project working challenge Project Jupyter Similar Spark Notebook Apache Zeppelin project Jupyter Notebooks enables datadriven interactive collaborative data analytics Julia Scala Python R SQL post demonstrate creation containerized development environment using Jupyter Docker Stacks environment suited learning developing application Apache Spark using Python Scala R programming language post intended tutorial Spark PySpark Jupyter Notebooks Featured Technologies following technology featured prominently post Jupyter Notebooks According Project Jupyter Jupyter Notebook formerly known IPython Notebook opensource web application allows user create share document contain live code equation visualization narrative text Uses include data cleaning transformation numerical simulation statistical modeling data visualization machine learning much word Jupyter loose acronym Julia Python R today Jupyter support many programming language Interest Jupyter Notebooks grown dramatically Search result courtesy GoogleTrends httpstrendsgooglecom Jupyter Docker Stacks enable quick easy access Jupyter Notebooks Project Jupyter created Jupyter Docker Stacks stack readytorun Docker image containing Jupyter application along accompanying technology Currently eight different Jupyter Docker Stacks focus particular area practice include SciPy Pythonbased mathematics science engineering TensorFlow R Project statistical computing Data Science Julia main subject post PySpark stack also include rich variety wellknown package extend functionality scikitlearn panda Matplotlib Bokeh ipywidgets interactive HTML widget Facets Apache Spark According Apache Spark unified analytics engine largescale data processing used wellknown modern enterprise Netflix Yahoo eBay speed 100x faster Hadoop Apache Spark achieves high performance static batch streaming data using stateoftheart DAG Directed Acyclic Graph scheduler query optimizer physical execution engine Spark’s polyglot programming model allows user write application quickly Scala Java Python R SQL Spark includes library Spark SQL DataFrames Datasets MLlib Machine Learning GraphX Graph Processing DStreams Spark Streaming run Spark using standalone cluster mode Amazon EC2 Apache Hadoop YARN Mesos Kubernetes PySpark Spark Python API PySpark expose Spark programming model Python PySpark built top Spark’s Java API Data processed Python cached shuffled JVM According Apache Py4J enables Python program running Python interpreter dynamically access Java object JVM Docker According Docker technology developer freedom build manage secure businesscritical application without fear technology infrastructure lockin Although Kubernetes leading opensource container orchestration platform Docker still predominant underlying container engine technology post using Docker Desktop Community version macOS Docker Swarm Current version Docker include Kubernetes Swarm orchestrator deploying managing container choose Swarm demonstration According Docker Swarm cluster management orchestration feature embedded Docker Engine built using swarmkit Swarmkit separate project implement Docker’s orchestration layer used directly within Docker PostgreSQL PostgreSQL powerful opensource objectrelational database system According website PostgreSQL come many feature aimed help developer build application administrator protect data integrity build faulttolerant environment help manage data matter big small dataset Demonstration show capability Jupyter development environment demonstrate typical use case executing Python script submitting PySpark job working Jupyter Notebooks reading writing data different format file database using jupyterallsparknotebook Docker Image image includes Python R Scala support Apache Spark using Apache Toree Architecture shown standup Docker stack consisting Jupyter AllSparkNotebook PostgreSQL 105 Adminer container Docker stack local directory bindmounted container Files GitHub project shared Jupyter application container bindmounted directory PostgreSQL data also persisted bindmounted directory allows u persist data external ephemeral container Source Code opensourced code post found GitHub Use following command clone project post project code last updated 9282019 branch master singlebranch depth 1 notags httpsgithubcomgarystaffordpysparksetupdemogit git clone branch master singlebranch depth 1 notags Source code sample displayed GitHub Gists may display correctly mobile social medium browser Deploy Docker Stack start create HOMEdatapostgres directory store PostgreSQL data file directory bindmounted PostgreSQL container line 36 stackyml file HOMEdatapostgresvarlibpostgresqldata HOME environment variable assumes working Linux macOS equivalent HOMEPATH Windows Jupyter container’s working directory set line 10 stackyml file workingdirhomeUSERwork local bindmounted working directory PWDwork path bindmounted working directory Jupyter container line 24 stackyml file PWDworkhomeUSERwork PWD environment variable assumes working Linux macOS CD Windows default user within Jupyter container jovyan Optionally chosen override user local host’s user account shown line 16 stackyml file NBUSER USER used macOS host’s USER environment variable value equivalent USERNAME Windows many option configuring Jupyter container detailed Several option shown line 1218 stackyml file gist Assuming recent version Docker installed local development machine running swarm mode standing stack easy running following command root directory project docker stack deploy c stackyml pyspark Docker stack consists new overlay network pysparknet three container confirm stack deployed run following command docker stack p pyspark notrunc Note jupyterallsparknotebook container quite large Depending Internet connection first time pulled Docker image stack may take several minute enter running state access Jupyter Notebook application need obtain Jupyter URL access token read information output Jupyter container log accessed following command docker log docker p grep pysparkpyspark awk print NF Using URL token shown log output able access Jupyter webbased user interface localhost port 8888 Jupyter dashboard landing page see file project’s work directory Also shown note type file able create dashboard including Python 3 R Scala using Toree spylonkernal text also open Jupyter Terminal create new Folder Running Python Scripts Instead worrying installing maintaining latest version Python package development machine run Python script Jupyter container time post latest jupyterallsparknotebook Docker Image run Python 373 Conda 4614 Let’s start simple example Jupyter container’s capability running Python script I’ve included sample Python script 01simplescriptpy Run script within Jupyter container Jupyter Terminal window python 01simplescriptpy observe following output Kaggle Datasets explore feature Jupyter Notebook container PySpark use publicallyavailable dataset Kaggle Kaggle fantastic opensource resource datasets used bigdata ML application tagline ‘Kaggle place data science projects’ demonstration chose ‘Transactions Bakery’ dataset Kaggle dataset contains 21294 row four column data Although certainly nowhere near ‘big data’ dataset large enough test Jupyter container functionality gist Submitting Spark Jobs limited Jupyter Notebooks interact Spark also submit script directly Spark Jupyter Terminal IDE included simple Python script 02bakerydataframespy script load Kaggle Bakery dataset CSV file Spark DataFrame script print top ten row data along count total number row DataFrame Run script directly Jupyter Terminal window python 02bakerydataframespy example output Spark job shown time post latest jupyterallsparknotebook Docker Image run Spark 243 Scala 21112 Java 180191 using OpenJDK typically would submit Spark job using sparksubmit command Use Jupyter Terminal window run following command SPARKHOMEbinsparksubmit 02bakerydataframespy see beginning output Spark using sparksubmit command see scheduled task executing output print statement displaying top 10 row bakery data Interacting Databases Often Spark loading data one data source input performing operation transformation data data persisted conveyed another system processing output demonstrate flexibility Jupyter Docker Stacks work database added PostgreSQL Docker Stack read write data Jupyter container PostgreSQL instance running separate container begin run SQL script written Python create database schema test data new database table need install psycopg2 package Jupyter container use docker exec command terminal Alternatively superuser user administrative access install Python package within Jupyter container using Jupyter Terminal window pip conda available install package see detail Run following command install psycopg2 using pip docker exec docker p grep pysparkpyspark awk print NF pip install psycopg2binary package give Python ability interact PostgreSQL included Python script 03loadsqlpy execute set SQL statement contained SQL file bakerysamplesql PostgreSQL container instance execute script run following command python 03loadsqlpy result following output successful confirm SQL script’s success included Adminer Adminer formerly phpMinAdmin fullfeatured database management tool written PHP Adminer natively recognizes PostgreSQL MySQL SQLite MongoDB among database engine Adminer available localhost port 8080 password credential shown available stackyml file server name postgres name PostgreSQL container domain name Jupyter container use communicate PostgreSQL container Connecting demo database Adminer see bakerybasket table table contain three row data shown Developing Jupyter NoteBooks true power Jupyter Docker Stacks container Jupyter Notebooks According Jupyter Project notebook extends consolebased approach interactive computing qualitatively new direction providing webbased application suitable capturing whole computation process developing documenting executing code well communicating result Notebook document contain input output interactive session well additional text accompanies code meant execution see power Jupyter Notebooks written basic notebook document 04pysparkdemonotebookipynb document performs typical PySpark function loading data CSV file PostgreSQL database performing basic data analytics Spark SQL graphing data using BokehJS finally saving data back database well popular Apache Parquet file format see notebook document using Jupyter Notebook user interface PostgreSQL Driver notebook document dependency natively part Jupyter Image PostgreSQL JDBC driver driver postgresql4228jar included project referenced configuration notebook’s Spark Session JAR added sparkdriverextraClassPath runtime environment property ensures JAR available Spark written Scala job run PyCharm Since working directory project shared container also edit file including notebook document favorite IDE JetBrains PyCharm PyCharm builtin language support Jupyter Notebooks shown mentioned earlier key feature Jupyter Notebooks ability save output Cell part notebook document see notebook document GitHub output saved part notebook document distribute notebook document also preserve share output cell Using Additional Packages mentioned Introduction Jupyter Docker Stacks come readytorun rich variety Python package extend functionality demonstrate use package created second Jupyter notebook document 05pysparkdemonotebookipynb notebook document us SciPy Pythonbased mathematics science engineering NumPy Pythonbased scientific computing Plotly Python Graphing Library NumPy SciPy included Jupyter Docker Image Notebook used pip install Plotly Similar Bokeh shown previously combine library create rich interactive data visualization use Plotly need sign free account obtain username API key Shown use Plotly construct bar chart daily bakery item sold year 2017 based Kaggle dataset chart us SciPy NumPy construct linear fit regression plot line best fit bakery data chart also us SciPy’s SavitzkyGolay Filter plot second line illustrating smoothing bakery data Plotly also provides Chart Studio Online Chart Maker Plotly describes Chart Studio world’s sophisticated editor creating D3js WebGL chart Shown ability enhance stylize share bakery data visualization using free version Chart Studio Cloud nbviewer Notebooks also viewed using Jupyter nbviewer hosted Rackspace see output cell project’s notebook document showing BokehJS chart using nbviewer view project’s actual notebook document using nbviewer Monitoring Spark Jobs Jupyter Docker container expose Spark’s monitoring instrumentation web user interface observe Spark Job great detail review detail stage Spark job including visualization DAG Spark construct part job execution plan using DAG Scheduler also review timing event occurring part stage Spark job also use Spark interface review confirm runtime environment including version Java Scala Spark well package available Java classpath Spark Performance Spark running single node within Jupyter container development system substitute full Spark cluster running bare metal robust virtualized hardware YARN Mesos Kubernetes opinion adjust Docker support acceptable performance profile stack running modest workload trying replace need run real job Production Spark cluster use docker stats command examine container’s CPU memory metric docker stats format table NametCPUPerctMemUsagetMemPerc see stats stack’s three container immediately deployed showing little activity Docker allocated 2 CPUs 3GB RAM 2 GB swap space available host machine Compare stats three container example notebook document running Spark CPU show spike memory usage appears within acceptable range Linux top htop Another option examine container performance metric top use docker exec command execute top command within Jupyter container sorting process CPU usage docker exec docker p grep pyspark awk print NF top CPU top observe individual performance process running Jupyter container Lastly htop interactive process viewer Unix installed container ran following set bash command Jupyter Terminal window using docker exec docker exec docker p grep pyspark awk print NF sh c aptget update aptget install htop htop sortkey PERCENTCPU htop observe individual CPU activity two CPUs top left htop window two CPUs assigned Docker get insight way Docker using CPU well basic performance metric like memory swap Assuming development machine host available easy allocate compute resource Docker required However opinion stack optimized development learning using reasonably sized datasets data analysis ML necessary allocate excessive resource Docker possibly starving host machine’s compute capability Conclusion brief post seen easy get started learning developing application big data analytics using Python Spark PySpark thanks Jupyter Docker Stacks could use stack learn develop machine learning using Python Scala R Extending stack’s capability simple swapping Jupyter image another different set tool well adding additional container stack Apache Kafka Apache Cassandra Originally published programmaticponderingscom November 20 2018 post project code updated September 28 2019 opinion expressed post necessarily view current past employer clientsTags Apache Spark Python Jupyter Notebook Docker Pyspark |
2,520 | The 5 Marketing Benefits of Acquisitions | Recently, the idea of “acquisitions for marketing” has fascinated me. What does this mean? It refers to situations where companies acquire other businesses or assets as a way to grow their primary product(s) or improve their marketing.
Huge companies use acquisitions for marketing all of the time. Examples of this practice in large corporations include:
As these examples hopefully illustrate, big companies like to buy other businesses as a way to market their existing products and grow their overall value.
I see so many large businesses grow via M&A, but I often wonder why more startups don’t use the same strategy.
In response, a practical person might bring up the fact that startups don’t have the resources to practice M&A in a way that creates meaningful results. After all, Google, Facebook, Apple, and other titans can pay millions or billions of dollars to buy other companies without even breaking a sweat.
But, the benefits that businesses experience from acquisitions can translate to smaller startups. They just apply at a smaller scale.
In fact, the startup ecosystem is filled with companies that used acquisitions to accelerate their growth.
For that reason, in this article, I will share the specific growth and marketing benefits startups often receive after acquiring other companies.
Benefits Startups Can Experience When Acquiring Other Companies
Some of the positives of acquisitions for marketing for startups include:
1. Increased traffic at the top of the funnel.
Amazon provides an excellent case study of how acquisitions can increase top-of-funnel traffic. Tens of millions of people visit sites like IMDb, Box Office Mojo, Goodreads, and Twitch.tv (all acquired by Amazon over the past 20+ years) every month.
Many, if not most, of the people who visit these properties are looking to learn more about movies, books, or video games. Amazon, which is the world’s largest seller of movies, books, and video games, can efficiently use these properties to link to products on its website.
These content-heavy businesses may not account for most of Amazon’s traffic, but they definitely send lots of targeted visitors to Amazon.com.
There are plenty of other acquisitions that lead to more traffic for a company’s primary product or service.
For example, the company behind Fomo acquired a content-focused site called Built With Shopify.
Built With Shopify interviews Shopify entrepreneurs who publish the revenues generated by their stores. We can assume that the site’s viral, SEO-friendly, ecommerce-focused content likely creates substantial amounts of inbound traffic. Thanks to strategically placed ads throughout the site, this acquisition should have lead to a nice bump in visitors to Fomo.
As one final case study, consider the mattress review industry. With the rise of direct-to-consumer mattress brands like Casper and Tuft & Needle, several enterprising entrepreneurs started review sites focused on these new products.
By including affiliate links with the mattresses they reviewed, bloggers began to earn serious money. As this story indicates, the most-visited mattress review websites became a vital referral source for players in the industry.
In fact, in a controversial move, Casper ended up suing and then acquiring Sleepopolis, one of the sector’s prominent review sites. With the acquisition, Casper gained control of a website it could use to direct additional visitors to Casper.com.
Are there blogs, review websites, or content-focused assets (such as Instagram or Youtube accounts) with relevance to your product that you can acquire?
If so, you can consider purchasing one or more of these properties and using them to increase traffic to your primary product.
2. Significant PR and content marketing.
It’s no secret that the press loves to cover mergers and acquisitions. While acquisitions worth billions or hundreds of millions of dollars tend to get the most attention from journalists, smaller sales can get plenty of love as well.
Just search “Mergers and Acquisitions” in Google News or “acquisition” in Techcrunch, and you’ll see tens of thousands of articles about how this company bought that startup.
Whether it’s a $5M deal or a $16B deal, reporters like to write about acquisitions because they fascinate people. Why?
Although I can’t claim to understand the psychology behind why people love acquisitions, two potential reasons come to mind:
Acquisitions are very rare. Everyone knows plenty of entrepreneurs, but how many people do you know whose companies got acquired? Probably not too many. Even though entrepreneurship is pretty popular, it’s still somewhat rare. But, acquisitions are incredibly uncommon, which means people love to read about them when they happen. After all, we love to learn about what doesn’t often occur. People like to picture themselves as a part of an acquired company. Starting a successful company and selling it for millions of dollars is difficult. However, imagining that you’ve started a big company and sold it for millions of dollars is easy. Rather than put in the work required to achieve the former, most people are happy with the latter. This idea may explain why acquisition stories are so popular; they give people a chance to think about what it would be like to earn fabulous wealth.
Acquisitions of small products or websites in the range of $10,000 — $3/5M might not get much attention from the press. But, because of the reasons mentioned above, if you write about a small acquisition made by your company on its blog or Medium, many people will likely read about it.
This is one of the rare situations where the typically untrue cliche “If you build (or write about) it, they will come” actually rings true.
Just look at the following popular articles about very small acquisitions to get a sense of how well this type of content can do and how compelling it can be:
You shouldn’t acquire a product or website just for the PR or content marketing boost it might bring. But, keep in mind that this is a marketing benefit of acquisitions.
3. The opportunity to cross-sell your primary product and the one you’ve acquired.
If you acquire a product that’s relevant to some or all of your customers but has a different value proposition or focus than your core business, you can cross-sell it to them.
Similarly, you can potentially cross-sell your core business’s product to the customers of the company you’ve acquired.
In these situations, the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts. How?
If you combine two revenue-generating products under one company and leverage those products’ audiences to consistently cross-sell each service, both products will grow faster and be more valuable than before.
When it comes to this type of acquisitions as marketing, Microsoft has made several exciting purchases.
Microsoft’s acquisition of GitHub provides exciting cross-selling opportunities for its enterprise business. The company can now efficiently cross-sell its Azure hosting product to GitHub’s users and at the same time encourage its existing Azure users to become GitHub customers.
In its consumer business, Microsoft’s acquisition of Minecraft was another way to increase the value of two different companies through cross-selling. As the owner of Minecraft, Microsoft can encourage its existing Xbox users to check out the game. And, it can now market Xbox and its associated games to the vast Minecraft user base for free.
Microsoft acquired GitHub and Minecraft for $7.5B and $2.5B, respectively. However, not all successful acquisitions with cross-selling potential have to be billion or multi-million dollar deals.
4. The removal of a competitor from the market and the chance to onboard its customers to your product.
It’s common for companies to buy other products, startups, or IP to bring competitors’ customers to their product. A recent and now somewhat famous example of this is Slack’s acquisition of Hipchat.
Hipchat was one of Slack’s main competitors in the employee chat and communication market. Yet, as Slack’s dominance grew, Hipchat floundered.
With the acquisition of Hipchat, Slack plans to shut down the service and migrate its existing users over to its product.
In the end, this is advantageous for Slack because it now has to deal with one less competitor and it can quickly add a significant number of users to its platform. Also, I can’t forget to mention all of the PR Slack has gotten from the deal (see benefit 1 above).
Another company that has taken this approach is Fomo. In the past year, Fomo acquired a competitor called Refurther. Just like Slack’s acquisition of Hipchat, Fomo’s acquisition of Refurther helps with its marketing by removing a competitor and bringing that former competitor’s customers onto the platform.
When it comes to acquisitions as marketing, if your industry has many small competitors, it may make sense to acquire some of them as your company grows. The examples of Slack and Fomo show how effective strategy this can be.
5. A fresh infusion of new talent and processes.
Companies, especially large corporations, frequently acquire other businesses as a way to bring smart talent into their organizations. These acquisitions, typically referred to as acquihires, can help with marketing by bringing in the new skills, knowledge, or processes companies need to launch fresh products or grow existing ones.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of acquihire examples. A few include:
Facebook’s acquisition of FriendFeed in 2009 (Bret Taylor, one of the co-founders of FriendFeed, became Facebook’s CTO as a part of the deal).
Twitter’s acquisition of AdGrok, which added two talented engineers to its advertising team.
Google acquired Kevin Rose’s company Milk to add him to its team.
Large corporations recognize that even if they don’t see value in a startup’s product or underlying tech, teams at certain companies can add real value to their organizations.
While acquihires by Facebook, Twitter, and Google often range from $1M — $50+M, small startups can participate as well.
In his excellent book Lost and Founder, when describing the different acquihires Moz has made, Rand Fishkin writes:
Moz has completed six transactions to accomplish precisely this. One of those was a young man who’d just graduated college but had built a useful product in his spare time at school that proved to me, and to our team, that he could be incredibly valuable. We paid a small acquisition price ($18,000) and brought him on board at Moz at a salary, with stock options, and with influence greater than what we’d have offered a candidate who simply applied to a job posting. Another was a pair of SEO professionals who’d built a successful consulting practice and whose skills we wanted internally for our product and engineering teams. We paid $330,000 (plus stock options and retention bonuses) to get them here, a nice multiple on their business in addition to strong salaries and benefits.
As this example hopefully illustrates, small-scale acquihires, in the range of $X0,000 — $X00,000 can help nascent startups add the talent they need to grow.
If your startup requires talent with unique skills to hit new product or growth milestones, acquihires may help you get there. In these cases, acquisitions can help with marketing, just not in the most direct way.
Bringing It Together
Acquiring any company or asset involves some risk, and you should always do extensive due diligence before purchasing another business. After all, history is riddled with botched acquisitions like:
However, I hope this article has shown you that when done right, acquisitions can be a useful marketing tool. To learn more about M&A, we recommend checking out the following resources: | https://medium.com/hackernoon/the-5-marketing-benefits-of-acquisitions-1eeb6561549d | [] | 2018-08-13 16:25:33.216000+00:00 | ['Mergers And Acquisitions', 'Marketing', 'Acquisitions', 'Startup', 'Acquisitions Marketing'] | Title 5 Marketing Benefits AcquisitionsContent Recently idea “acquisitions marketing” fascinated mean refers situation company acquire business asset way grow primary product improve marketing Huge company use acquisition marketing time Examples practice large corporation include example hopefully illustrate big company like buy business way market existing product grow overall value see many large business grow via often wonder startup don’t use strategy response practical person might bring fact startup don’t resource practice way creates meaningful result Google Facebook Apple titan pay million billion dollar buy company without even breaking sweat benefit business experience acquisition translate smaller startup apply smaller scale fact startup ecosystem filled company used acquisition accelerate growth reason article share specific growth marketing benefit startup often receive acquiring company Benefits Startups Experience Acquiring Companies positive acquisition marketing startup include 1 Increased traffic top funnel Amazon provides excellent case study acquisition increase topoffunnel traffic Tens million people visit site like IMDb Box Office Mojo Goodreads Twitchtv acquired Amazon past 20 year every month Many people visit property looking learn movie book video game Amazon world’s largest seller movie book video game efficiently use property link product website contentheavy business may account Amazon’s traffic definitely send lot targeted visitor Amazoncom plenty acquisition lead traffic company’s primary product service example company behind Fomo acquired contentfocused site called Built Shopify Built Shopify interview Shopify entrepreneur publish revenue generated store assume site’s viral SEOfriendly ecommercefocused content likely creates substantial amount inbound traffic Thanks strategically placed ad throughout site acquisition lead nice bump visitor Fomo one final case study consider mattress review industry rise directtoconsumer mattress brand like Casper Tuft Needle several enterprising entrepreneur started review site focused new product including affiliate link mattress reviewed blogger began earn serious money story indicates mostvisited mattress review website became vital referral source player industry fact controversial move Casper ended suing acquiring Sleepopolis one sector’s prominent review site acquisition Casper gained control website could use direct additional visitor Caspercom blog review website contentfocused asset Instagram Youtube account relevance product acquire consider purchasing one property using increase traffic primary product 2 Significant PR content marketing It’s secret press love cover merger acquisition acquisition worth billion hundred million dollar tend get attention journalist smaller sale get plenty love well search “Mergers Acquisitions” Google News “acquisition” Techcrunch you’ll see ten thousand article company bought startup Whether it’s 5M deal 16B deal reporter like write acquisition fascinate people Although can’t claim understand psychology behind people love acquisition two potential reason come mind Acquisitions rare Everyone know plenty entrepreneur many people know whose company got acquired Probably many Even though entrepreneurship pretty popular it’s still somewhat rare acquisition incredibly uncommon mean people love read happen love learn doesn’t often occur People like picture part acquired company Starting successful company selling million dollar difficult However imagining you’ve started big company sold million dollar easy Rather put work required achieve former people happy latter idea may explain acquisition story popular give people chance think would like earn fabulous wealth Acquisitions small product website range 10000 — 35M might get much attention press reason mentioned write small acquisition made company blog Medium many people likely read one rare situation typically untrue cliche “If build write come” actually ring true look following popular article small acquisition get sense well type content compelling shouldn’t acquire product website PR content marketing boost might bring keep mind marketing benefit acquisition 3 opportunity crosssell primary product one you’ve acquired acquire product that’s relevant customer different value proposition focus core business crosssell Similarly potentially crosssell core business’s product customer company you’ve acquired situation whole becomes greater sum part combine two revenuegenerating product one company leverage products’ audience consistently crosssell service product grow faster valuable come type acquisition marketing Microsoft made several exciting purchase Microsoft’s acquisition GitHub provides exciting crossselling opportunity enterprise business company efficiently crosssell Azure hosting product GitHub’s user time encourage existing Azure user become GitHub customer consumer business Microsoft’s acquisition Minecraft another way increase value two different company crossselling owner Minecraft Microsoft encourage existing Xbox user check game market Xbox associated game vast Minecraft user base free Microsoft acquired GitHub Minecraft 75B 25B respectively However successful acquisition crossselling potential billion multimillion dollar deal 4 removal competitor market chance onboard customer product It’s common company buy product startup IP bring competitors’ customer product recent somewhat famous example Slack’s acquisition Hipchat Hipchat one Slack’s main competitor employee chat communication market Yet Slack’s dominance grew Hipchat floundered acquisition Hipchat Slack plan shut service migrate existing user product end advantageous Slack deal one le competitor quickly add significant number user platform Also can’t forget mention PR Slack gotten deal see benefit 1 Another company taken approach Fomo past year Fomo acquired competitor called Refurther like Slack’s acquisition Hipchat Fomo’s acquisition Refurther help marketing removing competitor bringing former competitor’s customer onto platform come acquisition marketing industry many small competitor may make sense acquire company grows example Slack Fomo show effective strategy 5 fresh infusion new talent process Companies especially large corporation frequently acquire business way bring smart talent organization acquisition typically referred acquihires help marketing bringing new skill knowledge process company need launch fresh product grow existing one hundred thousand acquihire example include Facebook’s acquisition FriendFeed 2009 Bret Taylor one cofounder FriendFeed became Facebook’s CTO part deal Twitter’s acquisition AdGrok added two talented engineer advertising team Google acquired Kevin Rose’s company Milk add team Large corporation recognize even don’t see value startup’s product underlying tech team certain company add real value organization acquihires Facebook Twitter Google often range 1M — 50M small startup participate well excellent book Lost Founder describing different acquihires Moz made Rand Fishkin writes Moz completed six transaction accomplish precisely One young man who’d graduated college built useful product spare time school proved team could incredibly valuable paid small acquisition price 18000 brought board Moz salary stock option influence greater we’d offered candidate simply applied job posting Another pair SEO professional who’d built successful consulting practice whose skill wanted internally product engineering team paid 330000 plus stock option retention bonus get nice multiple business addition strong salary benefit example hopefully illustrates smallscale acquihires range X0000 — X00000 help nascent startup add talent need grow startup requires talent unique skill hit new product growth milestone acquihires may help get case acquisition help marketing direct way Bringing Together Acquiring company asset involves risk always extensive due diligence purchasing another business history riddled botched acquisition like However hope article shown done right acquisition useful marketing tool learn recommend checking following resourcesTags Mergers Acquisitions Marketing Acquisitions Startup Acquisitions Marketing |
2,521 | Did Anyone Else Just Feel A Surge of, Like, Wellness? | Self-care hits different now
Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash
On Saturday afternoon, after a tall glass of Crémant and a great deal of screaming out the window, I did something a bit odd for such an enormous moment: I took a shower. One of those delicious, long, thorough showers where you come out feeling impossibly clean and fresh. I washed my hair! I shaved my legs! I did a special face scrub! And it didn’t end there: I blow-dried my hair, put on a cute outfit (a skirt!), applied lipstick. The next day, I drank utter gallons of water and did yoga and ate kale. I didn’t even touch a corkscrew.
It all felt so different: Sure, I’ve been keeping myself (and my children, thank you very much) alive and fairly healthy, but the actions I’ve been taking to do so have felt like self-care in spite of all the factors conspiring to bring me down. In spite of the whole world. As though my kettlebell swings are helping me not letting the terrorists (or the fascists, or the virus) win. But after the election was called on Saturday, I suddenly just wanted to feel and look and be at my best. Like there was hope again, and I wanted to rise to the occasion. I posted about this oddly healthy feeling on Instagram, and the “SAME!”s began to roll in. “I feel ready to get back to life,” one friend said. “I feel so refreshed,” another reported. And “I woke up this morning, ran 5 miles, and am currently wearing a hair and face mask.” And “I feel motivated to TRY again.”
As with so many strange feelings, there’s a brain-science explanation for this: “When we feel helpless and hopeless, there’s a neurobiological shift in our brain functioning. Specifically, the brain region of the frontal lobes becomes sluggish and dimmed, which reduces our ability to problem solve, reason, plan, have insight and feel motivated. This is why many people find it hard to self-care during times of stress,” Deborah Serani, PsyD, author and professor at Adelphi University, tells me. “However, when we feel hopeful or our mood brightens, these areas in the frontal lobe are reactivated, and that’s why you find yourself feeling renewed — able again to self-care.”
Of course, if you’re not in this boat, you’re not alone: Plenty of folks are experiencing an “emotional hangover,” feeling totally spent and nowhere near as celebratory as they may have expected. If that’s you — or if the reality that we’re still living in very dark times and grappling with an out-of-control pandemic is outweighing that little dose of optimism — focus on what you can control, Serani suggests. “Resilient people don’t ask why things are the way they are. The move into action mode. Studies show when we keep a scheduled routine, practice gratefulness, recognize strengths instead of weaknesses and reflect on simple daily meaningful experiences, we can move better through challenges,” she says.
As for me, I’m enjoying the surge of energy (and the delicious home-cooked meals I suddenly have the urge to make again), but also looking for ways to pump the brakes so I can keep taking care throughout what’s sure to be a very difficult winter. “Self-care can be used to plan for future stressors,” Serani says. “It’s a good idea to take into account how Covid is still a major health concern, and plan for challenges that may come with school, work, and personal issues.”
And as always, don’t forget that self-care can be small (which is good for me, because there’s not a hell of a lot of extra time around here for long indulgent showers, generally). “My go-to technique is to feed my senses each and every day,” Serani says. “A long glance at the sunset, savoring a cup of tea, listening to a beach soundscape as I drive home, cuddling with my beloved, lighting a scented candle or spraying some lavender on my pillowcase helps me feel centered and calm. Even if it’s for just a few moments, research says sensorial experiences can have a profound effect on your sense of well-being.” | https://anna.medium.com/did-anyone-else-just-feel-a-surge-of-like-wellness-a56ec54f2494 | ['Anna Maltby'] | 2020-11-11 20:13:48.786000+00:00 | ['Wellness', 'Election Stress Relief', 'Motivation', 'Self Care'] | Title Anyone Else Feel Surge Like WellnessContent Selfcare hit different Photo Jared Rice Unsplash Saturday afternoon tall glass Crémant great deal screaming window something bit odd enormous moment took shower One delicious long thorough shower come feeling impossibly clean fresh washed hair shaved leg special face scrub didn’t end blowdried hair put cute outfit skirt applied lipstick next day drank utter gallon water yoga ate kale didn’t even touch corkscrew felt different Sure I’ve keeping child thank much alive fairly healthy action I’ve taking felt like selfcare spite factor conspiring bring spite whole world though kettlebell swing helping letting terrorist fascist virus win election called Saturday suddenly wanted feel look best Like hope wanted rise occasion posted oddly healthy feeling Instagram “SAME”s began roll “I feel ready get back life” one friend said “I feel refreshed” another reported “I woke morning ran 5 mile currently wearing hair face mask” “I feel motivated TRY again” many strange feeling there’s brainscience explanation “When feel helpless hopeless there’s neurobiological shift brain functioning Specifically brain region frontal lobe becomes sluggish dimmed reduces ability problem solve reason plan insight feel motivated many people find hard selfcare time stress” Deborah Serani PsyD author professor Adelphi University tell “However feel hopeful mood brightens area frontal lobe reactivated that’s find feeling renewed — able selfcare” course you’re boat you’re alone Plenty folk experiencing “emotional hangover” feeling totally spent nowhere near celebratory may expected that’s — reality we’re still living dark time grappling outofcontrol pandemic outweighing little dose optimism — focus control Serani suggests “Resilient people don’t ask thing way move action mode Studies show keep scheduled routine practice gratefulness recognize strength instead weakness reflect simple daily meaningful experience move better challenges” say I’m enjoying surge energy delicious homecooked meal suddenly urge make also looking way pump brake keep taking care throughout what’s sure difficult winter “Selfcare used plan future stressors” Serani say “It’s good idea take account Covid still major health concern plan challenge may come school work personal issues” always don’t forget selfcare small good there’s hell lot extra time around long indulgent shower generally “My goto technique feed sens every day” Serani say “A long glance sunset savoring cup tea listening beach soundscape drive home cuddling beloved lighting scented candle spraying lavender pillowcase help feel centered calm Even it’s moment research say sensorial experience profound effect sense wellbeing”Tags Wellness Election Stress Relief Motivation Self Care |
2,522 | One Book Inspired Alexander The Great And “The Warriors” | One Book Inspired Alexander The Great And “The Warriors”
March Of The Ten Thousand
Greek Hoplites — Via Wikimedia [Public Domain]
“Let us not, in the name of the gods, wait for others to come to us and summon us to the noblest deeds, but let us take the lead ourselves and arouse the rest to valour. Show yourselves the best of the captains, and more worthy to be generals than the generals themselves. As for me, if you choose to set out upon this course, I am ready to follow you; but if you assign me the leadership, I do not plead my youth as an excuse; rather, I believe I am in the very prime of my power to ward off dangers from my own head.” — Xenophon’s speech to the Greek mercenaries, “Anabasis” (The Long March)
Often many larger than life events in history are built upon the skeleton of events which came before.
Similarly, events within our more reachable cultural history often borrow from these events as well. Most times we don’t even notice the pieces which were borrowed to construct the larger event and the smaller cultural creations afterwards.
One of these events occurred in 401 BC in the Persian Empire. A war of succession took place between two brothers vying for the throne at a small Babylonian village named Cunaxa. The upstart Cyrus the Younger would attempt to remove his brother Artaxerxes II from power. Cyrus would raise and army and hire an insurance policy to make sure this happened.
The insurance policy would be the greatest armed force gold could assemble. This force consisted of a group of 10,000 or so heavily armored Greek mercenaries from various city states.
The army would be led by a Spartan general to boot — Clearchus. The force would march in tight phalanx formations, forming a spear-wielding porcupine appearance.
These mercenaries would be made up of tough adventurers, seeking fortune and glory. Their armor reflected the brilliance of the sun and their phalanx formation inspired dread from lightly armed infantries who would face them. Cyrus beamed with confidence — it would only be a matter of time before he sat on the throne. Victory would be a forgone conclusion.
Within hours the tides would completely turn. The Greeks would blow the force they faced off the battlefield, chasing them into the distance. Cyrus would confidently charge into battle with his cavalry to deal with the rest and be cut to ribbons. The rest of his Persian army would be scattered.
The Greeks would figure out the results of the battle the next day. Their employer was dead, and they were trapped far from home in a foreign land with no way out. To make matters worse, their leaders would be tricked into a meeting with Artaxerxes and be slaughtered.
Without generals and without a plan, a leader would arise to organize the group. Xenophon would convince the troops surrender wasn’t an option. They’d walk home through the heart of enemy territory together and once again see Greece. His story would be told in the “March Of The Ten Thousand” or the “Anabasis”. | https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/one-book-inspired-alexander-the-great-and-the-warriors-9035ad965766 | ['Erik Brown'] | 2020-06-27 19:01:34.275000+00:00 | ['Movies', 'Culture', 'Books', 'History', 'Writing'] | Title One Book Inspired Alexander Great “The Warriors”Content One Book Inspired Alexander Great “The Warriors” March Ten Thousand Greek Hoplites — Via Wikimedia Public Domain “Let u name god wait others come u summon u noblest deed let u take lead arouse rest valour Show best captain worthy general general choose set upon course ready follow assign leadership plead youth excuse rather believe prime power ward danger head” — Xenophon’s speech Greek mercenary “Anabasis” Long March Often many larger life event history built upon skeleton event came Similarly event within reachable cultural history often borrow event well time don’t even notice piece borrowed construct larger event smaller cultural creation afterwards One event occurred 401 BC Persian Empire war succession took place two brother vying throne small Babylonian village named Cunaxa upstart Cyrus Younger would attempt remove brother Artaxerxes II power Cyrus would raise army hire insurance policy make sure happened insurance policy would greatest armed force gold could assemble force consisted group 10000 heavily armored Greek mercenary various city state army would led Spartan general boot — Clearchus force would march tight phalanx formation forming spearwielding porcupine appearance mercenary would made tough adventurer seeking fortune glory armor reflected brilliance sun phalanx formation inspired dread lightly armed infantry would face Cyrus beamed confidence — would matter time sat throne Victory would forgone conclusion Within hour tide would completely turn Greeks would blow force faced battlefield chasing distance Cyrus would confidently charge battle cavalry deal rest cut ribbon rest Persian army would scattered Greeks would figure result battle next day employer dead trapped far home foreign land way make matter worse leader would tricked meeting Artaxerxes slaughtered Without general without plan leader would arise organize group Xenophon would convince troop surrender wasn’t option They’d walk home heart enemy territory together see Greece story would told “March Ten Thousand” “Anabasis”Tags Movies Culture Books History Writing |
2,523 | 4 Ways to Turn Your Eco-Anxiety Into Action | 1. Take it easy, change your go-to font
Printer cartridges may seem like small beans, but they add up. Every year an estimated 300 million cartridges end up in landfills. As if that wasn’t enough, a single cartridge takes roughly one gallon of oil to produce and a thousand years to decompose.
According to Evolve Recycling,
In one year, if the world’s discarded cartridges were stacked end-to-end, they would circle the earth twice.
Considering the sheer amount of cartridges used in all walks of life, and that only 30% of cartridges are recycled this is a huge problem. However, with an easy change of font, we can cut back the number of ink cartridges used annually by 100–150 million. Century Gothic compared to Arial uses up to 30% less ink and can significantly lengthen the lifespan of your cartridge. If Century Gothic isn’t your vibe, then try the classic Times New Roman which uses 27% less ink than Arial. Other ink reducing fonts include Garamond, Calibri, Courier, and Baskerville Old Face.
However, if you’re looking for something truly unique and innovative consider downloading Ryman Eco or Ecofont. Both fonts were designed with sustainability in mind. What they do differently is that instead of filling in the letters with ink, they intentionally carve out tiny circles in the letters. This measure maintains readability while reducing ink usage by 20 - 50%.
Photo Credit: Kon Karampelas on Unsplash
2. Netflix and delete your junk email
Did you know that each email has a carbon footprint?
According to The Carbon Literacy Project,
An average spam email: 0.3 g CO2e
A standard email: 4 g CO2e
An email with “long and tiresome attachments”: 50 g CO2e
Scaled up, the average person’s inbox, outbox, and spam folders account for the usage of 1,652 grams of CO2e daily and 0.6 tonnes of CO2e annually.
Going paperless is the greenest option, but it may be not as green as we’d thought (unless powered by renewable energy). Have no fear, here are some tips to reduce the carbon footprint of your email:
Avoid sending attachments : instead, link to files that are stored online such as Google Drive or OneNote.
: instead, link to files that are stored online such as Google Drive or OneNote. Clean your subscription and mailing lists: by unsubscribing from a few unnecessary and left unread senders, you could cut 15g of CO2e per week.
by unsubscribing from a few unnecessary and left unread senders, you could cut 15g of CO2e per week. Opt for lower resolution images: this could save 50g of CO2e per email.
this could save 50g of CO2e per email. Triple check that email before sending: this small act can reduce the need to send follow up emails.
Take a moment when you’re not doing anything but basking in eco-anxiety to scour your overflowing inbox and do away with the emails and senders that don’t serve you. This simple action will save your sanity while saving some carbon emissions.
3. Take to the web
Activism in 2020 is a bit different than in 1920 — we are fortunate enough to have a world of knowledge, literature, and petitions at our fingertips. Unfortunately, sometimes the important stuff gets buried in our feed.
Petitions don’t guarantee change, but they do bring awareness. And, if there are thousands of people flooding social media with posts and Tweets on an issue which in turn brings about bad publicity for a brand or organization, they’re more likely to work to find a resolution to save face.
Some underrated topics and petitions include:
There are many other environmental topics to bring awareness to that go beyond typical green issues; topics such as the Environmental Justice COVID-19 Act that aims to tackle environmental racism and the Honest Ads Act that targets covert political ads.
What’s key to making these petitions count is sharing them. Signing petitions is a great start, but putting and maintaining pressure on offenders or voicing support for legislation goes a long way in raising their priority in the public sphere.
4. Send some (low-res) emails
As previously stated, action is crucial. Signing petitions is a great start, but creating your own movement is next level activism.
Photo Credit: Campaign Creators on Unsplash
Shoot an email to a local business or company that could improve its sustainability. Offer a simple fix they could implement that isn’t too costly or time-intensive. Depending on where they stand on acknowledging global warming, there could be push back so keeping it light and simple is the best route. With time, you can build up to bigger initiatives. This method of action can also work in your own office or workplace — although I highly caution keeping a neutral tone. I’ve found that overly passionate or (slightly) passive-aggressive works against the cause and only builds resistance.
Another idea is to create your own micro-campaign. Identify a cause or petition that energizes you and find ways to share it. Through websites like Canva you can easily create free graphics that highlight why you care about the cause and why others should, too. This might seem daunting and time-consuming, but in the long-run, they can spare direct involvement. Creative campaigns can make the outreach to smaller, local businesses quicker and even indirectly encourage others to change.
Pro tip: spread the word on alternative energy. In the US, there are tax incentives for implementing features that increase energy efficiency or create renewable energy. Bigger corporations looking to either off-set their carbon footprint, go neutral or negative or get that sweet tax cut will actually cover the cost for others to incorporate these elements in their building’s, structures, or communities. Simply pointing this out or sending some light information to brands or businesses you have rapport with could be enough to get them to seriously reconsider their sustainability model. | https://medium.com/the-innovation/4-ways-to-turn-your-eco-anxiety-into-action-432af7bf71b4 | ['Alexis Bondy'] | 2020-09-24 17:35:34.912000+00:00 | ['Ecoanxiety', 'Environment', 'Sustainability'] | Title 4 Ways Turn EcoAnxiety ActionContent 1 Take easy change goto font Printer cartridge may seem like small bean add Every year estimated 300 million cartridge end landfill wasn’t enough single cartridge take roughly one gallon oil produce thousand year decompose According Evolve Recycling one year world’s discarded cartridge stacked endtoend would circle earth twice Considering sheer amount cartridge used walk life 30 cartridge recycled huge problem However easy change font cut back number ink cartridge used annually 100–150 million Century Gothic compared Arial us 30 le ink significantly lengthen lifespan cartridge Century Gothic isn’t vibe try classic Times New Roman us 27 le ink Arial ink reducing font include Garamond Calibri Courier Baskerville Old Face However you’re looking something truly unique innovative consider downloading Ryman Eco Ecofont font designed sustainability mind differently instead filling letter ink intentionally carve tiny circle letter measure maintains readability reducing ink usage 20 50 Photo Credit Kon Karampelas Unsplash 2 Netflix delete junk email know email carbon footprint According Carbon Literacy Project average spam email 03 g CO2e standard email 4 g CO2e email “long tiresome attachments” 50 g CO2e Scaled average person’s inbox outbox spam folder account usage 1652 gram CO2e daily 06 tonne CO2e annually Going paperless greenest option may green we’d thought unless powered renewable energy fear tip reduce carbon footprint email Avoid sending attachment instead link file stored online Google Drive OneNote instead link file stored online Google Drive OneNote Clean subscription mailing list unsubscribing unnecessary left unread sender could cut 15g CO2e per week unsubscribing unnecessary left unread sender could cut 15g CO2e per week Opt lower resolution image could save 50g CO2e per email could save 50g CO2e per email Triple check email sending small act reduce need send follow email Take moment you’re anything basking ecoanxiety scour overflowing inbox away email sender don’t serve simple action save sanity saving carbon emission 3 Take web Activism 2020 bit different 1920 — fortunate enough world knowledge literature petition fingertip Unfortunately sometimes important stuff get buried feed Petitions don’t guarantee change bring awareness thousand people flooding social medium post Tweets issue turn brings bad publicity brand organization they’re likely work find resolution save face underrated topic petition include many environmental topic bring awareness go beyond typical green issue topic Environmental Justice COVID19 Act aim tackle environmental racism Honest Ads Act target covert political ad What’s key making petition count sharing Signing petition great start putting maintaining pressure offender voicing support legislation go long way raising priority public sphere 4 Send lowres email previously stated action crucial Signing petition great start creating movement next level activism Photo Credit Campaign Creators Unsplash Shoot email local business company could improve sustainability Offer simple fix could implement isn’t costly timeintensive Depending stand acknowledging global warming could push back keeping light simple best route time build bigger initiative method action also work office workplace — although highly caution keeping neutral tone I’ve found overly passionate slightly passiveaggressive work cause build resistance Another idea create microcampaign Identify cause petition energizes find way share website like Canva easily create free graphic highlight care cause others might seem daunting timeconsuming longrun spare direct involvement Creative campaign make outreach smaller local business quicker even indirectly encourage others change Pro tip spread word alternative energy US tax incentive implementing feature increase energy efficiency create renewable energy Bigger corporation looking either offset carbon footprint go neutral negative get sweet tax cut actually cover cost others incorporate element building’s structure community Simply pointing sending light information brand business rapport could enough get seriously reconsider sustainability modelTags Ecoanxiety Environment Sustainability |
2,524 | Empathy, the Most Powerful Design Tool | Artificial Intelligence is on everyone’s mind, it seems. It’s our savior. No wait, it’s an existential threat to humanity. No wait, it’s sort of both, as long as designers take an oath and run interference. Tune your ear to the tech industry, and you’ll hear AI buzzing beneath the cacophony, threatening the fabric of creativity while moving us into a simpler, automated future.
At least that’s the narrative being spun. And while it’s [very!] important to start thinking about the ramifications of AI to our future humanity, there’s another concern knocking at the door of creative minds — the proliferation of design tools and design systems.
You know the ones — Sketch, Zeplin, Proto.io, Figma, Origami, Framer, InVision, Principle, Marvel — the list grows as we speak. Not quite AI, but sophisticated as hell. If you can dream it, you can do it, with a small learning curve to get up to speed. Borrow an entire design system from the likes of Google, MailChimp, or Trello. Everything is open source and everything is awesome. Right?
Maybe. We’re at an interesting crossroads in 2018, building tools that simultaneously embolden and decommission creativity. If a designer’s job can be canned into a magical automated machine, do we need designers anymore? Visual language can now be lifted and pieced together brilliantly like so many Legos. Your artistry and inventiveness need not apply. The machines have got it from here, thank you very much.
This is a sad diagnosis, I know. The writer in me fears the little bots who will start composing the world’s poetry, excusing the humble wordsmith to the corners of oblivion. Designers are in the same awkward position. You want to innovate and inspire, you want to build great things that help people be more creative, you certainly want life to be easier for pixel-pushers around the world. But you also want to design. To feel artistic inspiration pour from your mind into your work. To create something meaningful, new, and original.
I believe it’s still possible to do all of that in this new Design Age. The role of designer is changing, but not in a bad way. Now more than ever, designers have become spirit guides in the tech world, affecting change with their best unicorn skill — empathy.
It’s become a buzz word, I know. But it really does make all the difference, and empathy’s hard to teach. A good designer will see the onslaught of automated creation tools and think: awesome. Now I can really focus on the customer. Rather than sensing a personal threat to individuality, they’ll bend their minds in new ways to reimagine customer journeys and the full arc of user experience. Having an at-the-ready design system isn’t suffocating, it’s freeing, and lays the groundwork for truly creative breakthroughs. That’s the challenge to designers in this new paradigm, and their greatest responsibility — to assert design authority in a provocative, world-changing way.
2017 was arguably The Year of the Designer — seats at the table were won. In 2018, it’s about delivering on that chutzpah and defending the very soul of humanity, to be perfectly dramatic about it. The whole AI thing may just be simmering now, but it’s already proving to be troublesome in some areas. Remember the Microsoft Tay debacle? Tay was sent bravely forth into the depths of Twitter to test natural language and machine learning capabilities. Poor Tay was corrupted by humans within hours and forced to fall on her sword. It was sort of an awful thing; but also a great learning moment. The entire industry could see it as an opportunity to bring mindful, fair design to digital assistants like Alexa and Cortana. And now, within the methods of Inclusive Design thinking, Microsoft is teaching others to combat those unintended biases that creep into AI and machine learning. The designer has become a guardian for social good.
This is the landscape and a call to arms. Use those rapid prototyping tools, those artistic chops, that right-brain/left-brain hybrid mind, that designer instinct that leads you to create ethical, inclusive experiences. The world is at your feet and asking for empathy.
To stay in-the-know with Microsoft Design, follow us on Dribbble, Twitter and Facebook, or join our Windows Insider program. And if you are interested in joining our team, head over to aka.ms/DesignCareers. | https://medium.com/microsoft-design/empathy-the-most-powerful-design-tool-5044525be92d | ['Danielle Mcclune'] | 2019-08-27 17:30:40.415000+00:00 | ['Artificial Intelligence', 'Microsoft', 'UX Design', 'Creators', 'Design'] | Title Empathy Powerful Design ToolContent Artificial Intelligence everyone’s mind seems It’s savior wait it’s existential threat humanity wait it’s sort long designer take oath run interference Tune ear tech industry you’ll hear AI buzzing beneath cacophony threatening fabric creativity moving u simpler automated future least that’s narrative spun it’s important start thinking ramification AI future humanity there’s another concern knocking door creative mind — proliferation design tool design system know one — Sketch Zeplin Protoio Figma Origami Framer InVision Principle Marvel — list grows speak quite AI sophisticated hell dream small learning curve get speed Borrow entire design system like Google MailChimp Trello Everything open source everything awesome Right Maybe We’re interesting crossroad 2018 building tool simultaneously embolden decommission creativity designer’s job canned magical automated machine need designer anymore Visual language lifted pieced together brilliantly like many Legos artistry inventiveness need apply machine got thank much sad diagnosis know writer fear little bot start composing world’s poetry excusing humble wordsmith corner oblivion Designers awkward position want innovate inspire want build great thing help people creative certainly want life easier pixelpushers around world also want design feel artistic inspiration pour mind work create something meaningful new original believe it’s still possible new Design Age role designer changing bad way ever designer become spirit guide tech world affecting change best unicorn skill — empathy It’s become buzz word know really make difference empathy’s hard teach good designer see onslaught automated creation tool think awesome really focus customer Rather sensing personal threat individuality they’ll bend mind new way reimagine customer journey full arc user experience attheready design system isn’t suffocating it’s freeing lay groundwork truly creative breakthrough That’s challenge designer new paradigm greatest responsibility — assert design authority provocative worldchanging way 2017 arguably Year Designer — seat table 2018 it’s delivering chutzpah defending soul humanity perfectly dramatic whole AI thing may simmering it’s already proving troublesome area Remember Microsoft Tay debacle Tay sent bravely forth depth Twitter test natural language machine learning capability Poor Tay corrupted human within hour forced fall sword sort awful thing also great learning moment entire industry could see opportunity bring mindful fair design digital assistant like Alexa Cortana within method Inclusive Design thinking Microsoft teaching others combat unintended bias creep AI machine learning designer become guardian social good landscape call arm Use rapid prototyping tool artistic chop rightbrainleftbrain hybrid mind designer instinct lead create ethical inclusive experience world foot asking empathy stay intheknow Microsoft Design follow u Dribbble Twitter Facebook join Windows Insider program interested joining team head akamsDesignCareersTags Artificial Intelligence Microsoft UX Design Creators Design |
2,525 | Artificial Intelligence Marketing | AI Marketing
Nowadays, we are hearing experts and professionals talking about the good sides of innovation. Robots helping humans rehabilitate from fatal diseases or machines predicting future consumers’ behaviors.
On the other hand, many are also talking about job replacement. For these ones, the robots will take everything and destroy the planet once and for all. No more jobs, the human destiny is to die burdened under the weight of the machines.
Thanks God, the future is better than many expect it to be ;-)
A couple of years ago, I was working in a robotic company based in Italy called @TelerobotLabs — later acquired by the larger group “Danieli Automation” as a new and stronger robotic department — and the idea of working with robots for the future of the humanity was extremely exciting.
Of course, the very preeminent mystery was: Is there a chance robots will take over the planet and destroy everything like in the movie “Terminator”?
There wasn’t a better answer than the one CEO, David Corsini, gave me at that time.
“Until the robots are plugged into the wall, we’ll simply unplug them.”
So, after this assumption, please sit down on your sofa and enjoy the article because no one is gonna take over your couch.
What is Artificial Intelligence?
In order to give you a better idea of what we are talking about, I’d love to start from the very scratch and clarify — once and for all — the doubts anyone might have by reading this article from the youngest to the oldest.
Since I am also still learning about this fascinating world I want to use other people’s experience to describe what artificial intelligence is and how it has developed in the previous years.
Bernard Marr, a Forbes writer, defined temporarily and etymologically: “Artificial Intelligence has been around for a long time — the Greek myths contain stories of mechanical men designed to mimic our own behavior. Very early European computers were conceived as “logical machines” and by reproducing capabilities such as basic arithmetic and memory, engineers saw their job, fundamentally, as attempting to create mechanical brains.
As technology, and, most importantly, our understanding of how our minds work, has progressed, our concept of what constitutes AI has changed. Rather than increasingly complex calculations, work in the field of AI concentrated on mimicking human decision-making processes and carrying out tasks in ever more human ways.”
John McCarthy, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at Stanford University, described Artificial Intelligence in a research as “the science and engineering of making intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs. It is related to the similar task of using computers to understand human intelligence, but AI does not have to confine itself to methods that are biologically observable. Intelligence is the computational part of the ability to achieve goals in the world. Varying kinds and degrees of intelligence occur in people, many animals, and some machines.”
After an in-depth research, I came up with an easy definition of what Artificial Intelligence means. AI is the ability of a machine (computer) to perform tasks in a way that will end up with meaningful solutions to the initial assignments, compared to the typical decisional process of a human.
Did you hear about Machine Learning and Deep Learning?
Easily, these are two applications of AI. Actually, machine learning incorporates deep learning to some extent. Somebody could also say the opposite, we will analyze the differences in a second.
What is Machine Learning? and Deep Learning?
To make it easier and faster for me ;-) I like to share the NVIDIA definition of Machine Learning:
Machine Learning at its most basic is the practice of using algorithms to parse data, learn from it, and then make a determination or prediction about something in the world. So rather than hand-coding software routines with a specific set of instructions to accomplish a particular task, the machine is “trained” using large amounts of data and algorithms that give it the ability to learn how to perform the task.
Deep Learning involves feeding a computer system a lot of data, which it can use to make decisions about other data which is fed through neural networks, as is the case in machine learning. These networks — logical constructions which ask a series of binary true/false questions, or extract a numerical value, of every bit of data which pass through them, and classify it according to the answers received.
As our teacher, Francesco Mosconi said: “Deep Learning is a Machine Learning that works really well with large amounts of unstructured data like images or text”.
Francesco is founder @DataWeekends, a Machine Learning and Deep Learning workshop program to teach basically anyone (I made it ;-) how to code an AI machine.
“Today, image recognition by machines trained via deep learning in some scenarios is better than humans, and that ranges from cats to identifying indicators for cancer in blood and tumors in MRI scans” — NVIDIA says.
So, why explaining in a such “deep” way how AI works and is composed?
The answer is that in order to fully understand how Artificial Intelligence Marketing works is also imperative to understand how AI itself operates. Then, understanding the AIM application is easier — nonetheless, I helped you to balance your knowledge with the topic.
Now, another important step.
What do we mean when we say Marketing?
I need you to understand what marketing means. I am giving you an easy definition. Marketing is the process and the action of promoting and selling products to consumers (a deeper analysis could be made on this definition but we will stick with an easy one since our objective isn’t based on this study).
..and we come to AIM — Artificial Intelligence Marketing !
I consider it obvious, but it couldn’t be, how these two — very different, apparently — fields are coming together.
The connection between Artificial Intelligence and Marketing is based on finding the perfect way of promoting and selling the perfect product to the right person at the right time.
You see how the definition is turning into something extremely specific and defined.
The perfect way…
The perfect product…
The right person…
The right time…
These “RIGHTs” remind me of the “Just-in-time” Japanese process, also known as TPS- Toyota Production System — as a “methodology aimed primarily at reducing flow times within production system as well as response times from suppliers and to customers” (Wikipedia, 2016).
Many believe that marketing will be one of the first disciplines disrupted by AI. But marketing and business relationships are human relationships, how will these ‘machines’ actually be sentient? Personal relationships … even if not reciprocated, that will feel very real to us. “
And where will AI affect day-to-day consumers the most? According to PHD, it will be with “information-access, entertainment-centric and social-connection platforms accessed across multiple devices”.
I personally decided to categorize these processes under what I called Artificial Intelligence Marketing. Meaning all the systems are using Artificial Intelligence in a way that can influence the marketing activities as we’ve never seen before, from the perfect customization of everything the customer will need to predicting his behavior and desires.
In this way, we will track and lead this conversation by suggesting and exposing the new trends/startups to the marketers community (and not just them) and deeply analyzing how this ecosystem will disrupt the previous scenario.
So what is Artificial Intelligence Marketing going to be? For me is going to be the perfect strategy. The word perfect is going to impact every product and service. We will have what we want right there.
There are some areas which will be more exposed and others less so.
I posted this question to the guys that are currently active on the Growth Hackers -GrowthHackes.com — platform (founded by Sean Ellis) and I got some very interesting answers, especially the one my friend Arsene gave me:
“It’s still in its infancy (see Persado for the copywriting aspect of it), we can envision an interesting wave of AI content creation apps since curation is just a limited first step. It’s very time consuming for marketers to develop content, and even more stay up to par with the latest in SEO algorithm (Hummingbird and what next?) to develop topical depth that favors SERP ranking. […]
There definitely is a clear trend in AI chatbot. A number of platforms make it extremely easy even for the nontech savvy marketer to create new AI-persona chatbots, content-aware chatbots and more. We are also going to see that AI permeates new forms of media in these new “channels” such as real-time video content analysis to create brand-new forms of must-have users engagement in both the B2C and B2B spaces. […]”
There is a phrase I believe is traveling behind all these big question marks and AI influencing marketing:
“If a Tesla can drive itself on autopilot at 70mph on the highway taking in all the surrounding environment inputs, we can help marketers do the same with all the data inputs they are analyzing.”
What are the Artificial Intelligence applications in the Marketing Activities?
I was just reading a few days ago an interesting article written by DemandBase saying that 80% of all Marketing Executives Predict Artificial Intelligence Will Revolutionize Marketing by 2020.
But actually, AI is already revolutionizing Marketing. There are dozens of applications already set up.
Here you have a breakdown I made from a personal research into what I thought were the main applications (I’ll try to put them in decreasing order of relevance):
Analytics. It’s extremely incredible how much data big companies have nowadays. What’s interesting? The point is that right now this data is not used in any way. AI will help to organize, select, prioritize and come up with the right data at the right moment for the right task. (Noodle.ai) Preventing fraud. Today one of the biggest challenges where AI already helped a lot is internet fraud detection. The relevance of AI is not just for card issuers, though. Data breaches is something retailers have been exposed to for a long time. AI will help to prevent fraud analyzing not just structured data but also unstructured data. (PayPal) Predictive Customer Service. Imagine you can give to your customer the right product at the right moment at the right price. With AI you can. (Intel, Saffron, Digital Genius, Assist.ai etc.). Product pricing. I have always been excited thinking that I could find a certain product at the price I was expecting. AI allows companies to predict the perfect price and generate a custom fare for the specific expectations of the different customers — it is a sort of dynamic price optimization based on the prospects. Forecasting. Clearly one of the biggest potentials that AI has is predicting, almost whatever we need for each business market. AI helps companies to foretell — almost perfectly optimized — how the sales will look like in 6 months/1 year from now. Of course, it is something businesses are already used to do, but today these forecasts are not very accurate and easy to do. AI will take the numbers directly from the companies’ financial statements, CRMs and all the useful documents a firm is producing.
These are the main applications where AI is influencing and will influence marketing. Here many others:
6. Image Recognition
7. Voice Recognition
8. Language Recognition
9. Virtual Assistants/Agents (Waston, IBM; Domino; Coca-Cola)
10. Website Designing Optimization (The Grid; etc.)
11. Recommendations — products, food, social platforms (Facebook; Amazon; Uber; Netflix; LinkedIn; Google Plus; etc.)
12. Content curation
13. Search engines (Rankbrain; Boomtrain; etc.)
14. Social semantic (Tay, Microsoft etc.)
15. Localization (Facebook drones; etc.)
16. Sentimental Analysis + location recommendation (Facebook; etc.) [Happy person in a fun place]
17. Customer segmentation
18. Color adaptation — websites changing color based on the customer preferences.
19. Content generation
20. Refine marketing.
Of course, the major number of AI applications in marketing are online-based processes. It is also considerable the offline world. AI will physically help people in the everyday things. Customer experience would be the very first application that comes up to my mind. Talking about something more important than marketing, Microsoft announced in 2016 its ambition to defeat cancer using Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyze research papers in close to real time.
However, we will start considering the online environment since at the moment it’s the most affected one.
NB you can be part of our Meetup group and start meeting with other professional discussing this topic. Here is the link to subscribe to the group
— — — — — — — — — — > http://bit.ly/2mt9iFk <— — — — — — — — — —
Please leave any comment you might have below, you will be considered part of the next wave of the Artificial Intelligence Marketing 😎
Originally posted on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/artificial-intelligence-marketing-association-manifesto-gobbi | https://medium.com/aimarketingassociation/artificial-intelligence-marketing-9c9bcbbacf8c | ['Federico Gobbi'] | 2017-03-31 03:11:30.046000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Marketing', 'Deep Learning', 'Digital Marketing'] | Title Artificial Intelligence MarketingContent AI Marketing Nowadays hearing expert professional talking good side innovation Robots helping human rehabilitate fatal disease machine predicting future consumers’ behavior hand many also talking job replacement one robot take everything destroy planet job human destiny die burdened weight machine Thanks God future better many expect couple year ago working robotic company based Italy called TelerobotLabs — later acquired larger group “Danieli Automation” new stronger robotic department — idea working robot future humanity extremely exciting course preeminent mystery chance robot take planet destroy everything like movie “Terminator” wasn’t better answer one CEO David Corsini gave time “Until robot plugged wall we’ll simply unplug them” assumption please sit sofa enjoy article one gonna take couch Artificial Intelligence order give better idea talking I’d love start scratch clarify — — doubt anyone might reading article youngest oldest Since also still learning fascinating world want use people’s experience describe artificial intelligence developed previous year Bernard Marr Forbes writer defined temporarily etymologically “Artificial Intelligence around long time — Greek myth contain story mechanical men designed mimic behavior early European computer conceived “logical machines” reproducing capability basic arithmetic memory engineer saw job fundamentally attempting create mechanical brain technology importantly understanding mind work progressed concept constitutes AI changed Rather increasingly complex calculation work field AI concentrated mimicking human decisionmaking process carrying task ever human ways” John McCarthy Professor Emeritus Computer Science Stanford University described Artificial Intelligence research “the science engineering making intelligent machine especially intelligent computer program related similar task using computer understand human intelligence AI confine method biologically observable Intelligence computational part ability achieve goal world Varying kind degree intelligence occur people many animal machines” indepth research came easy definition Artificial Intelligence mean AI ability machine computer perform task way end meaningful solution initial assignment compared typical decisional process human hear Machine Learning Deep Learning Easily two application AI Actually machine learning incorporates deep learning extent Somebody could also say opposite analyze difference second Machine Learning Deep Learning make easier faster like share NVIDIA definition Machine Learning Machine Learning basic practice using algorithm parse data learn make determination prediction something world rather handcoding software routine specific set instruction accomplish particular task machine “trained” using large amount data algorithm give ability learn perform task Deep Learning involves feeding computer system lot data use make decision data fed neural network case machine learning network — logical construction ask series binary truefalse question extract numerical value every bit data pas classify according answer received teacher Francesco Mosconi said “Deep Learning Machine Learning work really well large amount unstructured data like image text” Francesco founder DataWeekends Machine Learning Deep Learning workshop program teach basically anyone made code AI machine “Today image recognition machine trained via deep learning scenario better human range cat identifying indicator cancer blood tumor MRI scans” — NVIDIA say explaining “deep” way AI work composed answer order fully understand Artificial Intelligence Marketing work also imperative understand AI operates understanding AIM application easier — nonetheless helped balance knowledge topic another important step mean say Marketing need understand marketing mean giving easy definition Marketing process action promoting selling product consumer deeper analysis could made definition stick easy one since objective isn’t based study come AIM — Artificial Intelligence Marketing consider obvious couldn’t two — different apparently — field coming together connection Artificial Intelligence Marketing based finding perfect way promoting selling perfect product right person right time see definition turning something extremely specific defined perfect way… perfect product… right person… right time… “RIGHTs” remind “Justintime” Japanese process also known TPS Toyota Production System — “methodology aimed primarily reducing flow time within production system well response time supplier customers” Wikipedia 2016 Many believe marketing one first discipline disrupted AI marketing business relationship human relationship ‘machines’ actually sentient Personal relationship … even reciprocated feel real u “ AI affect daytoday consumer According PHD “informationaccess entertainmentcentric socialconnection platform accessed across multiple devices” personally decided categorize process called Artificial Intelligence Marketing Meaning system using Artificial Intelligence way influence marketing activity we’ve never seen perfect customization everything customer need predicting behavior desire way track lead conversation suggesting exposing new trendsstartups marketer community deeply analyzing ecosystem disrupt previous scenario Artificial Intelligence Marketing going going perfect strategy word perfect going impact every product service want right area exposed others le posted question guy currently active Growth Hackers GrowthHackescom — platform founded Sean Ellis got interesting answer especially one friend Arsene gave “It’s still infancy see Persado copywriting aspect envision interesting wave AI content creation apps since curation limited first step It’s time consuming marketer develop content even stay par latest SEO algorithm Hummingbird next develop topical depth favor SERP ranking … definitely clear trend AI chatbot number platform make extremely easy even nontech savvy marketer create new AIpersona chatbots contentaware chatbots also going see AI permeates new form medium new “channels” realtime video content analysis create brandnew form musthave user engagement B2C B2B space …” phrase believe traveling behind big question mark AI influencing marketing “If Tesla drive autopilot 70mph highway taking surrounding environment input help marketer data input analyzing” Artificial Intelligence application Marketing Activities reading day ago interesting article written DemandBase saying 80 Marketing Executives Predict Artificial Intelligence Revolutionize Marketing 2020 actually AI already revolutionizing Marketing dozen application already set breakdown made personal research thought main application I’ll try put decreasing order relevance Analytics It’s extremely incredible much data big company nowadays What’s interesting point right data used way AI help organize select prioritize come right data right moment right task Noodleai Preventing fraud Today one biggest challenge AI already helped lot internet fraud detection relevance AI card issuer though Data breach something retailer exposed long time AI help prevent fraud analyzing structured data also unstructured data PayPal Predictive Customer Service Imagine give customer right product right moment right price AI Intel Saffron Digital Genius Assistai etc Product pricing always excited thinking could find certain product price expecting AI allows company predict perfect price generate custom fare specific expectation different customer — sort dynamic price optimization based prospect Forecasting Clearly one biggest potential AI predicting almost whatever need business market AI help company foretell — almost perfectly optimized — sale look like 6 months1 year course something business already used today forecast accurate easy AI take number directly companies’ financial statement CRMs useful document firm producing main application AI influencing influence marketing many others 6 Image Recognition 7 Voice Recognition 8 Language Recognition 9 Virtual AssistantsAgents Waston IBM Domino CocaCola 10 Website Designing Optimization Grid etc 11 Recommendations — product food social platform Facebook Amazon Uber Netflix LinkedIn Google Plus etc 12 Content curation 13 Search engine Rankbrain Boomtrain etc 14 Social semantic Tay Microsoft etc 15 Localization Facebook drone etc 16 Sentimental Analysis location recommendation Facebook etc Happy person fun place 17 Customer segmentation 18 Color adaptation — website changing color based customer preference 19 Content generation 20 Refine marketing course major number AI application marketing onlinebased process also considerable offline world AI physically help people everyday thing Customer experience would first application come mind Talking something important marketing Microsoft announced 2016 ambition defeat cancer using Natural Language Processing NLP analyze research paper close real time However start considering online environment since moment it’s affected one NB part Meetup group start meeting professional discussing topic link subscribe group — — — — — — — — — — httpbitly2mt9iFk — — — — — — — — — — Please leave comment might considered part next wave Artificial Intelligence Marketing 😎 Originally posted LinkedIn httpswwwlinkedincompulseartificialintelligencemarketingassociationmanifestogobbiTags Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Marketing Deep Learning Digital Marketing |
2,526 | Quick Bookmark-able Prototyping with Vue.js and Visual Studio Code | Working on the Chewy Design System team generally involves switching between engineering new UI components and constructing prototypes made from existing shared components within our Chewy Design System.
While I won’t be discussing design systems in detail, there is certainly rewarding reading out there for those looking to get up to speed. In short, a design system and UI library share styling and/or component logic between the design, prototype and production code while letting each stage focus on what it does best. And when it comes to where you develop, I’ll be focusing on a couple of helpful shortcuts using Visual Studio Code. For brevity, this article assumes your familiarity with words like “components” or “prototypes” and that you have a reasonable grasp of frameworks like Vue.js and their respective tooling.
What makes a good prototype?
We want our prototypes to be fast to create, yet forward-thinking. They should enable teams to communicate and work through issues before production development, such as user flows, tricky new interactions, accessibility and basic content and data flow. Now, consider an app that features search results or displays specific resource information. In a recent project, we made the decision to reflect the user’s choices in the page URL. This gave teams an excellent way to share various states in a single-page application during the prototyping phase of the project.
When teams are able to share and bookmark multiple scenarios (inside the same test interface), prototypes excel as a tool for communicating. In the early phases of a project, it’s especially important to have practical discussions around a working example.
Various teams and stakeholders will have the opportunity to marshal critical input around a tangible application. We’re creating a simple search page in this article, but imagine how a prototype like this would be helpful for an interactive grade book, product comparison widget or an interface that helps customers conduct complex product searches.
In this post, we will generate a simple, bookmark-able prototype that relies on an external REST API using Vue.js. Afterwards, we’ll review how it fits into a general prototype workflow.
Route Params
Let’s preview what your application URL might look like when a user searches for certain terms with certain parameters.
Example 1:
/search?q=labrador&subject=dogs
Depending on the server configuration of your deployment environment (where you deploy your app and give others access), the request above may look a bit different:
Example 2:
/#/search?q=labrador&subject=dogs
Example 1, using URL params, may look more familiar than Example 2, which uses hash params (notice how everything comes after the hash). Hash params however, require no additional server configuration and may be easier to release in your organization. Thankfully, Vue.js handles most of the work for you so that you don’t have to change much code to take advantage of reading parameters from both configurations.
Get Your Data Early
Prototype work often begins when we receive technical requirements from stakeholders and design mockups that detail how the app should look and behave. In our example, we have been tasked with creating a pet-centric search tool using the Open Library Search API. We already save time by using a working endpoint, so we won’t even need to generate mock data or artificially force that data to conditionally show different information.
Our search query mentioned above looks like this when sent to the JSON API:
http://openlibrary.org/search.json?title=labrador&subject=dogs
Note: Another useful piece of information about Open Library is where to find images. If the cover_id attribute is present, we should be able to display a book cover by referencing this information. We will use this attribute for our thumbnail paths.
https://covers.openlibrary.org/w/id/9144885-L.jpg
For the purpose of initial testing, consider saving a static copy of the JSON response locally until you’re ready to interact with the UI you’re creating. This will cut down on how often you hit the API as you get started and protect you from quota limits. Or, if it’s an internal API, it will shield you from unexpected API deployments or build errors that could disrupt your development timeline.
In a typical Vue.js project, we can just save our test data here /public/assets/data/search_example.json and reach it with any XML Http Requests (XHRs) later.
Scaffolding Your App
From here, there are lots of options to quickly leap into a running app. We’ll use vue create via Vue CLI so that we’re up and running in seconds. If you see recurring patterns, consider creating custom templates for Vue CLI. You might also consider using third-party tools like Vetur, Yeoman or even Angular Schematics to quickly set up scaffolding through generators or templates that jumpstart your new prototypes via the command line.
For now, we’ll follow this basic sequence of commands. First, fire up VS Code and open the folder you intend to develop in. Launch the inline terminal and type:
$ vue create routing-demo-app
Choose “Manually”, select the “Routing” option and hit enter. Then, use “n” for history mode and the default for everything else. A “Y” for history mode would represent a project that conforms to that first example we discussed around routing. Next, change directories and add the following packages:
$ cd routing-demo-app
$ yarn add axios ant-design-vue
$ yarn add node-sass sass-loader
$ yarn
$ yarn serve
Using yarn serve should present you with a URL for visiting your running boilerplate application. Open `src/main.js` and add the following lines after `import router from ‘./router’`:
import axios from 'axios'; // http clientimport Antd from 'ant-design-vue'; // your ui library
import 'ant-design-vue/dist/antd.css'; // ui library styles
Vue.use(Antd); // setting up UI libraryVue.prototype.$http = axios; // setting up axios
These lines import the packages you added earlier from the command line and set us up to have access to Axios throughout any component in the application. As we’ll see, Axios helps to normalize the interface for http requests through the browser, making them dead simple to use.
Now, inside `router/index.js`, replace the routing:
const routes = [
{
path: '/',
name: 'home',
component: Home
}
]
Next, remove the “nav” div from `src/App.vue` (we won’t need it) and add a :key attribute to the router-view component. Make sure you add the colon, as it tells Vue to process the reference being passed. We want it to look like this:
<router-view :key="$route.fullPath"/>
That’s it for set-up!
While at Chewy we use our own internal UI library and design system, we will use “AntD ” in this example so you can follow along. With a good UI library, developers don’t have to worry about color palettes, UI styles or many concerns related to accessibility. Those features and solutions would already be baked into simple-to-use stylesheets and convenient reusable web components.
Templating
Let’s go to `src/views/Home.vue` and delete everything inside of the DIV tag with the “class” of “home”. Your template snippet should now look like this:
<div class="home"></div>
Now, change this into a form element by selecting “div” from the root template element and typing “form”. Notice how VS Code will automatically change the closing tag for you. Set your cursor inside this element and add the following inside the tag:
<form class="home">
<p>
<a-input-search name="q" v-model="q" class="searchbox"
@search="onSearch" enterButton="Search"></a-input-search>
</p>
<p>
<a-radio-group v-model="petType">
<a-radio-button
v-for="petType in getPetTypes"
:key="petType.value" :value="petType.value">
{{petType.label}}</a-radio-button>
</a-radio-group>
</p>
<hr>
<a-table :columns="columns" :dataSource="results"></a-table></form>
If you’re using Visual Studio Code, you may want to experiment with the power of Emmet, which comes enabled by default with this IDE. It allows you to use shortcuts (as shown below) to expand into full HTML.
p>a-input-search[enterButton=Search]
Wiring it Up
Inside the <script> tag, add your menu item data:
const petTypes = 'All,Dogs,Cats,Birds';
Next you’ll add the column descriptions for the table component. This array takes advantage of how the table component is structured by allowing developers to add both the name of the header and instructions on how to render the cells below them in one fell swoop. Here, we specify a template to use for the “title” cells (we will add this shortly) and join the array of values returned by “author_name” and “subject” in the response data:
const columns = [
{
title: 'Title',
key: 'title',
scopedSlots: { customRender: 'title' },
width: '20%'
},
{
title: 'Date',
dataIndex: 'first_publish_year',
width: '10%'
},
{
title: 'Author(s)',
dataIndex: 'author_name',
width: '20%',
customRender: row => `${row ? row.join(', '): ''}`
},
{
title: 'Subject',
key: 'subject',
customRender: row => `${row.subject ?
row.subject.join(' '): ''}`
},
];
Add the following attributes inside export default :
data: () => {
return {
dataSource: process.env.VUE_APP_DATA_SOURCE || 'remote',
results: [],
columns,
petType: 'all',
q: ''
};
},
created: {
// TBD
},
methods: {
onSearch: () => {
// TBD
}
},
computed: {
getPetTypes: () => {
const pts = petTypes.split(',');
return pts.map(pt => Object({
value: pt.toLowerCase(),
label: pt
})
)
}
}
Now, append these styles below your script tag and add the “lang” attribute so that you can take advantage of the scss support we added earlier.
<style lang="scss">
.home {
width: 80%;
margin: 30px auto;
.searchbox { width: 60%; }
.thumb { text-align: center; }
}
</style>
Personally, I really appreciate how simple it is to change and edit templates, code and styling in Vue’s signature (and entirely optional) “single file component” format.
That said, the final three steps are all located in this same document. We need to add our custom template for one of the table cells, add our code to perform the search action (the “onSearch” method), and add our code to retrieve the data from the API (which we will place in our “created” lifecycle hook).
Add the following slot content to the template inside the table component:
<a-table :columns="columns" :dataSource="results">
<div class="thumb" slot="title" slot-scope="row">
<img v-if="row['title']" :src="showThumb(row)" width="50" /><br />
<strong>{{ row.title }}</strong>
</div>
</a-table>
Our onSearch method is short and sweet, firing when the user hits the “search” button or “enter”. It takes the data bound to our form and updates the route based on the user’s choices. Meanwhile, we use a special method to render the thumbnail path for each item in our result set depending on whether an image is present (a custom “default” image was added to the assets directory for these cases).
methods: {
onSearch() {
const routeQuery = {};
routeQuery['q'] = this.q;
routeQuery['petType'] = this.petType;
this.$router.replace({
path: this.$route.path,
query: routeQuery
});
}
},
showThumb(row) {
return row['cover_i'] ?
`//covers.openlibrary.org/w/id/${row['cover_i']}-S.jpg`:
`/assets/default-S.jpg`;
}
Finally, what happens in the “created” life cycle hook makes it all work. Back when we set the “key” value of the router-view to the full path of the route, it ensures the component will be re-rendered each time the route changes (even just the parameters). In other words, each time the user’s search options are submitted, the “created” hook is called and the latest results are assigned to our results property.
created() {
if(this.$route.query['q'] || this.$route.query['petType']) {
this.q = this.$route.query['q'];
this.petType = this.$route.query['petType'];
this.$http
.get(this.dataSource === 'remote' ?
`http://openlibrary.org/search.json?title=${this.q}
&subject=${(this.petType==='all'?'pets':this.petType)}`:
'/assets/search_example.json')
.then(response => {
this.results = response.data.docs;
});
}
},
Also note that I’ve created a data property which pulls from an environment variable that determines whether the static JSON file should be called. This setting helps keep things stable as I work through how best to format the templates. It not only protects me from API related issues, but also means that I can develop while completely offline (if I find myself working on functionality that doesn’t require dynamic data). You can change this environment variable to “local” by placing an “.env” file at the root of your project directory and adding this line:
VUE_APP_DATA_SOURCE=local
You’ll need to re-run yarn serve to see this take effect. You can change environment variables by pointing to environment-specific .env files at build time during your project deployment or by passing override values directly via the build commands, allowing you to change key aspects of your app as needed.
And we are done! Try clicking around your new prototype. Test different keywords and pet types. Paste the resulting link in a different browser and see the same search results appear.
Try this entire process a few times from scratch using Vue CLI and different project names, and see how long it takes you to get an entirely new prototype up and running. As presented here, it should easily take less than ten minutes. Experiment with shaving off more steps and tuning the workflow to suit your own style.
Conclusion
Prototyping can often be a thankless task. At times it can even seem like a speed bump to releasing short iterative changes or completing time-sensitive launches. However, prototypes more often serve as a shield against wasted effort retooling production-ready code. They are also invaluable tools for conducting user research and provide ample opportunities for discovering hidden yet vital business requirements early on.
Basic prototyping workflow:
Requirements and Designs
Gather Your Data
Build and Test Your Prototype
Deployment
Discussion (rinse and repeat)
Done right, rapid, collaboration-friendly working examples are truly a welcome blueprint for success!
by Dudley Ablorh-Bryan
UX Developer @ Chewy | https://medium.com/chewy-innovation/quick-bookmark-able-prototyping-with-vue-js-and-visual-studio-code-17090b1b9189 | [] | 2020-02-12 20:01:29.085000+00:00 | ['Vscode', 'Design', 'Prototyping', 'Vuejs', 'Chewy'] | Title Quick Bookmarkable Prototyping Vuejs Visual Studio CodeContent Working Chewy Design System team generally involves switching engineering new UI component constructing prototype made existing shared component within Chewy Design System won’t discussing design system detail certainly rewarding reading looking get speed short design system UI library share styling andor component logic design prototype production code letting stage focus best come develop I’ll focusing couple helpful shortcut using Visual Studio Code brevity article assumes familiarity word like “components” “prototypes” reasonable grasp framework like Vuejs respective tooling make good prototype want prototype fast create yet forwardthinking enable team communicate work issue production development user flow tricky new interaction accessibility basic content data flow consider app feature search result display specific resource information recent project made decision reflect user’s choice page URL gave team excellent way share various state singlepage application prototyping phase project team able share bookmark multiple scenario inside test interface prototype excel tool communicating early phase project it’s especially important practical discussion around working example Various team stakeholder opportunity marshal critical input around tangible application We’re creating simple search page article imagine prototype like would helpful interactive grade book product comparison widget interface help customer conduct complex product search post generate simple bookmarkable prototype relies external REST API using Vuejs Afterwards we’ll review fit general prototype workflow Route Params Let’s preview application URL might look like user search certain term certain parameter Example 1 searchqlabradorsubjectdogs Depending server configuration deployment environment deploy app give others access request may look bit different Example 2 searchqlabradorsubjectdogs Example 1 using URL params may look familiar Example 2 us hash params notice everything come hash Hash params however require additional server configuration may easier release organization Thankfully Vuejs handle work don’t change much code take advantage reading parameter configuration Get Data Early Prototype work often begin receive technical requirement stakeholder design mockups detail app look behave example tasked creating petcentric search tool using Open Library Search API already save time using working endpoint won’t even need generate mock data artificially force data conditionally show different information search query mentioned look like sent JSON API httpopenlibraryorgsearchjsontitlelabradorsubjectdogs Note Another useful piece information Open Library find image coverid attribute present able display book cover referencing information use attribute thumbnail path httpscoversopenlibraryorgwid9144885Ljpg purpose initial testing consider saving static copy JSON response locally you’re ready interact UI you’re creating cut often hit API get started protect quota limit it’s internal API shield unexpected API deployment build error could disrupt development timeline typical Vuejs project save test data publicassetsdatasearchexamplejson reach XML Http Requests XHRs later Scaffolding App lot option quickly leap running app We’ll use vue create via Vue CLI we’re running second see recurring pattern consider creating custom template Vue CLI might also consider using thirdparty tool like Vetur Yeoman even Angular Schematics quickly set scaffolding generator template jumpstart new prototype via command line we’ll follow basic sequence command First fire VS Code open folder intend develop Launch inline terminal type vue create routingdemoapp Choose “Manually” select “Routing” option hit enter use “n” history mode default everything else “Y” history mode would represent project conforms first example discussed around routing Next change directory add following package cd routingdemoapp yarn add axios antdesignvue yarn add nodesass sassloader yarn yarn serve Using yarn serve present URL visiting running boilerplate application Open srcmainjs add following line import router ‘router’ import axios axios http clientimport Antd antdesignvue ui library import antdesignvuedistantdcss ui library style VueuseAntd setting UI libraryVueprototypehttp axios setting axios line import package added earlier command line set u access Axios throughout component application we’ll see Axios help normalize interface http request browser making dead simple use inside routerindexjs replace routing const route path name home component Home Next remove “nav” div srcAppvue won’t need add key attribute routerview component Make sure add colon tell Vue process reference passed want look like routerview keyroutefullPath That’s setup Chewy use internal UI library design system use “AntD ” example follow along good UI library developer don’t worry color palette UI style many concern related accessibility feature solution would already baked simpletouse stylesheets convenient reusable web component Templating Let’s go srcviewsHomevue delete everything inside DIV tag “class” “home” template snippet look like div classhomediv change form element selecting “div” root template element typing “form” Notice VS Code automatically change closing tag Set cursor inside element add following inside tag form classhome p ainputsearch nameq vmodelq classsearchbox searchonSearch enterButtonSearchainputsearch p p aradiogroup vmodelpetType aradiobutton vforpetType getPetTypes keypetTypevalue valuepetTypevalue petTypelabelaradiobutton aradiogroup p hr atable columnscolumns dataSourceresultsatableform you’re using Visual Studio Code may want experiment power Emmet come enabled default IDE allows use shortcut shown expand full HTML painputsearchenterButtonSearch Wiring Inside script tag add menu item data const petTypes AllDogsCatsBirds Next you’ll add column description table component array take advantage table component structured allowing developer add name header instruction render cell one fell swoop specify template use “title” cell add shortly join array value returned “authorname” “subject” response data const column title Title key title scopedSlots customRender title width 20 title Date dataIndex firstpublishyear width 10 title Authors dataIndex authorname width 20 customRender row row rowjoin title Subject key subject customRender row rowsubject rowsubjectjoin Add following attribute inside export default data return dataSource processenvVUEAPPDATASOURCE remote result column petType q created TBD method onSearch TBD computed getPetTypes const pt petTypessplit return ptsmappt Object value pttoLowerCase label pt append style script tag add “lang” attribute take advantage sc support added earlier style langscss home width 80 margin 30px auto searchbox width 60 thumb textalign center style Personally really appreciate simple change edit template code styling Vue’s signature entirely optional “single file component” format said final three step located document need add custom template one table cell add code perform search action “onSearch” method add code retrieve data API place “created” lifecycle hook Add following slot content template inside table component atable columnscolumns dataSourceresults div classthumb slottitle slotscoperow img vifrowtitle srcshowThumbrow width50 br strong rowtitle strong div atable onSearch method short sweet firing user hit “search” button “enter” take data bound form update route based user’s choice Meanwhile use special method render thumbnail path item result set depending whether image present custom “default” image added asset directory case method onSearch const routeQuery routeQueryq thisq routeQuerypetType thispetType thisrouterreplace path thisroutepath query routeQuery showThumbrow return rowcoveri coversopenlibraryorgwidrowcoveriSjpg assetsdefaultSjpg Finally happens “created” life cycle hook make work Back set “key” value routerview full path route ensures component rerendered time route change even parameter word time user’s search option submitted “created” hook called latest result assigned result property created ifthisroutequeryq thisroutequerypetType thisq thisroutequeryq thispetType thisroutequerypetType thishttp getthisdataSource remote httpopenlibraryorgsearchjsontitlethisq subjectthispetTypeallpetsthispetType assetssearchexamplejson thenresponse thisresults responsedatadocs Also note I’ve created data property pull environment variable determines whether static JSON file called setting help keep thing stable work best format template protects API related issue also mean develop completely offline find working functionality doesn’t require dynamic data change environment variable “local” placing “env” file root project directory adding line VUEAPPDATASOURCElocal You’ll need rerun yarn serve see take effect change environment variable pointing environmentspecific env file build time project deployment passing override value directly via build command allowing change key aspect app needed done Try clicking around new prototype Test different keywords pet type Paste resulting link different browser see search result appear Try entire process time scratch using Vue CLI different project name see long take get entirely new prototype running presented easily take le ten minute Experiment shaving step tuning workflow suit style Conclusion Prototyping often thankless task time even seem like speed bump releasing short iterative change completing timesensitive launch However prototype often serve shield wasted effort retooling productionready code also invaluable tool conducting user research provide ample opportunity discovering hidden yet vital business requirement early Basic prototyping workflow Requirements Designs Gather Data Build Test Prototype Deployment Discussion rinse repeat Done right rapid collaborationfriendly working example truly welcome blueprint success Dudley AblorhBryan UX Developer ChewyTags Vscode Design Prototyping Vuejs Chewy |
2,527 | Passing on a Legacy Without Reproducing | When I got married, I was 42 years old.
My wife was 38. One of the things we came to realize early on in our relationship was that we did not want to have children.
We both love kids. In addition to our nephews and niece by blood, we have a number of other kids in our lives which we are Aunty and Uncle to.
We also agreed that had we met ten years before we did, this might have been a very different story. Back then both of us would likely have wanted to produce kids. Now, though, we both determined that that ship had sailed.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people have opinions on this topic. My wife, more than I, has gotten the “but you’re so good with kids! You’d be such a great parent” speech. I have no doubt I’d have been a great dad…but I also know that, now, in my 40’s, I have become too selfish and too set in my ways to be a parent.
One of the main reasons to produce children is to pass on your DNA. You keep your family line going, create the next generation, and theoretically pass on what you have learned when you have kids.
It’s in our makeup as human beings to pass on a legacy.
Some legacies, however, are not so specific. Kids do not necessarily wind up like their parents in any way, shape, or form. That’s totally ok, because we are all unique individuals, and in some cases being other than our parents is better for us (and quite possibly the world).
As a writer, my DNA, my legacy, are my words. Hopefully, they’ll manage to outlive me.
A legacy in words
The books, the blogs, and even the journals I create contain who I am better than my DNA could, and likely will still be here after I am gone. These are the children I am producing and leaving to carry on after I am gone.
Cheesy? Maybe — but that doesn’t make it any less true. Whether words of wisdom, bad poetry, comedy, fiction, inspiration, self-help and mindfulness, or what-have-you, the words I write will outlive me.
Arrogant? No, because no matter whether you think my words are crap or helpful and inspiring, they are out there. This is not about my ego, because I don’t write for my own ego. I write because it is what I am inspired to do.
Yes, I desire to make my living off my words. But that’s not egotistical or arrogant, it’s following my passion. I love to write. When I sit in front of a blank screen, I may struggle for a time, but I always manage to find words to share.
Much of our history comes from words and art. One of the things that drives me the most nuts about how schools tend to cut funding for the arts and music, but support athletics, is the shortsightedness of it all. Do we remember who won Roman athletic competitions, or Roman art, words, and music?
This has nothing to do with becoming famous (though I’d love to have that level of success of course). It is all about my desire to inspire, educate, and help other people in this world, whether via my fiction or non-fiction. | https://mjblehart.medium.com/passing-on-a-legacy-without-reproducing-561fd606a832 | ['Mj Blehart'] | 2019-06-11 12:27:13.754000+00:00 | ['Self-awareness', 'Mindfulness', 'Writing', 'Inspiration', 'Life'] | Title Passing Legacy Without ReproducingContent got married 42 year old wife 38 One thing came realize early relationship want child love kid addition nephew niece blood number kid life Aunty Uncle also agreed met ten year might different story Back u would likely wanted produce kid though determined ship sailed never cease amaze many people opinion topic wife gotten “but you’re good kid You’d great parent” speech doubt I’d great dad…but also know 40’s become selfish set way parent One main reason produce child pas DNA keep family line going create next generation theoretically pas learned kid It’s makeup human being pas legacy legacy however specific Kids necessarily wind like parent way shape form That’s totally ok unique individual case parent better u quite possibly world writer DNA legacy word Hopefully they’ll manage outlive legacy word book blog even journal create contain better DNA could likely still gone child producing leaving carry gone Cheesy Maybe — doesn’t make le true Whether word wisdom bad poetry comedy fiction inspiration selfhelp mindfulness whathaveyou word write outlive Arrogant matter whether think word crap helpful inspiring ego don’t write ego write inspired Yes desire make living word that’s egotistical arrogant it’s following passion love write sit front blank screen may struggle time always manage find word share Much history come word art One thing drive nut school tend cut funding art music support athletics shortsightedness remember Roman athletic competition Roman art word music nothing becoming famous though I’d love level success course desire inspire educate help people world whether via fiction nonfictionTags Selfawareness Mindfulness Writing Inspiration Life |
2,528 | The Art of Difficult Conversations | “The questions that we don’t ask because of fear are framing the very stories that we create in the absence of truth.”
I have been been an avoider of difficult conversations for as long as I can remember. I’m always afraid of being wrong about my feelings (honestly, that alone deserves its own conversation). I’m always afraid of having my words misconstrued. And then, there are the countless “what ifs”. What if I look foolish? What if I’m overreacting? What if they won’t love me anymore? What if they leave?
The questions that we don’t ask because of fear are framing the very stories that we create in the absence of truth. For me, creating stories in my mind has always felt safer than searching for truths that can ground me in reality. That’s because the truth would potentially require me to sit with the discomfort of some of my fears being proven right. And who wants to sit with discomfort?
Obviously not me because the truth is that I am a 26 year old woman who has allowed a number of relationships and dreams to die because I couldn’t sit with discomfort. I didn’t want to confront myself and I didn’t want others to confront me with things that would potentially unsettle me. So like many of us do, I ran. I ran from myself for years until literally 6 months ago when I had no where else to run except my therapist’s couch. My lack of self-trust and my fear of sitting with the unsettling things of life has resulted in missed opportunities to go deeper. And by ‘deeper’, I’m talking about the act of tapping into the more meaningful parts of life that can only be reached by pushing past the tense and uncomfortable parts. Those parts of life are inevitable no matter how far we try to run or how much we try to disassociate ourselves from them, and to do anything but acknowledge this reality will cause us to suffer.
Running also prevents us from holding space for difficult conversations with ourselves and with others. That space is so desperately needed for progress in every area of our lives. I have this deep belief that we are all interconnected. There’s no getting around that. Your existence affects mine and mine, yours. So when even one of us is brave enough to hold space for difficult conversations that lead to a greater understanding and healing, that healing affects us all. And collective healing is truly powerful.
“I started to realize that facing the truth wasn’t as scary or painful as I’d built it up to be in my mind. I actually started to crave more of the truth. ”
My personal life during most of 2019 shined flood lights on the conversations that I’ve desperately needed for so long. Some with a handful of other people, but most importantly with myself. Who am I when I’m not trying to be what I think others want me to be? What is it that brings me joy and why have I not been doing more of that unapologetically? Why am I repeating the same actions and expecting different results? Why am allowing myself to be stuck in a marriage that I know neither of us is happy in? Hard, messy questions. All of which I’d pushed down until very much like an overstuffed suitcase, all of the messy, uncomfortable, even painful parts of my life exploded and I had no other choice, but to face it.
But you want to know what happened? I survived. Each day that I faced myself, I was fully convinced that the tightness in my chest was going to kill me, but it didn’t. In fact, I started to thrive in many ways because once I became aware, I found that I was actually more empowered to make choices that aligned with my core self. And alignment with my core self has radically impacted the way that I walk through this world and my relationship with others. I started to realize that facing the truth wasn’t as scary or painful as I’d built it up to be in my mind. I actually started to crave more of the truth.
Trust. Trust that you are ready and capable to have those difficult conversations. Know that your value is inherent and isn’t determined by the outcomes of those conversations. It is certainly easier said than done. In all honesty, sometimes I still find myself cowering with fear to confront myself — let alone others. But it’s possible and necessary. And what I have learned is that oftentimes the most beneficial things in our lives are not acquired with ease or with easy choices. | https://medium.com/swlh/the-art-of-difficult-conversations-7e54d7adf2a7 | ['Kashara Johnson'] | 2020-01-17 10:52:06.211000+00:00 | ['Self-awareness', 'Mental Health', 'Community', 'Life Lessons', 'Self Improvement'] | Title Art Difficult ConversationsContent “The question don’t ask fear framing story create absence truth” avoider difficult conversation long remember I’m always afraid wrong feeling honestly alone deserves conversation I’m always afraid word misconstrued countless “what ifs” look foolish I’m overreacting won’t love anymore leave question don’t ask fear framing story create absence truth creating story mind always felt safer searching truth ground reality That’s truth would potentially require sit discomfort fear proven right want sit discomfort Obviously truth 26 year old woman allowed number relationship dream die couldn’t sit discomfort didn’t want confront didn’t want others confront thing would potentially unsettle like many u ran ran year literally 6 month ago else run except therapist’s couch lack selftrust fear sitting unsettling thing life resulted missed opportunity go deeper ‘deeper’ I’m talking act tapping meaningful part life reached pushing past tense uncomfortable part part life inevitable matter far try run much try disassociate anything acknowledge reality cause u suffer Running also prevents u holding space difficult conversation others space desperately needed progress every area life deep belief interconnected There’s getting around existence affect mine mine even one u brave enough hold space difficult conversation lead greater understanding healing healing affect u collective healing truly powerful “I started realize facing truth wasn’t scary painful I’d built mind actually started crave truth ” personal life 2019 shined flood light conversation I’ve desperately needed long handful people importantly I’m trying think others want brings joy unapologetically repeating action expecting different result allowing stuck marriage know neither u happy Hard messy question I’d pushed much like overstuffed suitcase messy uncomfortable even painful part life exploded choice face want know happened survived day faced fully convinced tightness chest going kill didn’t fact started thrive many way became aware found actually empowered make choice aligned core self alignment core self radically impacted way walk world relationship others started realize facing truth wasn’t scary painful I’d built mind actually started crave truth Trust Trust ready capable difficult conversation Know value inherent isn’t determined outcome conversation certainly easier said done honesty sometimes still find cowering fear confront — let alone others it’s possible necessary learned oftentimes beneficial thing life acquired ease easy choicesTags Selfawareness Mental Health Community Life Lessons Self Improvement |
2,529 | Factory Design Pattern. Overview | Overview
The factory pattern is a popular design pattern in Java because it is one of the best way to create an object. The general idea is allowing the user to create objects without exposing the logic behind it. Instead an interface is provided for the user to know what method to be called to create the object.
Photo by Science in HD on Unsplash
Implementation
Interface
Animal.java
public interface Animal {
void species();
}
Implement Interface
Dog.java
public class Dog implements Animal {
@Override
public void species() {
System.out.println("It's a dog.");
}
}
Cat.java
public class Cat implements Animal {
@Override
public void species() {
System.out.println("It's a cat.");
}
}
Bird.java
public class Bird implements Animal {
@Override
public void species() {
System.out.println("It's a bird.");
}
}
Factory
public class AnimalFactory {
// use getAnimal method to get object of type animal
public Animal getAnimal(String animalSpecies){
switch(animalSpecies.toLowerCase()) {
case "dog":
return new Dog();
case "cat:
return new Cat();
case "bird":
return new Bird();
default:
return null;
}
}
}
Use Factory
public class FactoryPattern {
public static void main(String[] args) {
AnimalFactory animalFactory = new AnimalFactory(); // Get Dog object through factory
Animal dog = animalFactory.getAnimal("dog");
// Call species method of Dog
dog.species();
// Get Cat object through factory
Animal cat = animalFactory.getAnimal("cat");
// Call species of Cat
cat.species();
// Get Bird object through factory
Animal bird = animalFactory.getAnimal("bird");
// Call species of Bird
bird.species();
}
} >> It's a dog.
>> It's a cat.
>> It's a bird.
Conclusion
Factory design pattern contains the logic of how the object is created. It is can also be used to contain all logic for creating new objects. This makes it easier to locate code instead of searching through the entire application. This also makes it easier to add new classes to the factory. If the logic for creating a new object is fairly simple you probably do not need a factory. | https://medium.com/dev-genius/factory-pattern-839995462096 | ['Daniel Liu'] | 2020-11-04 18:57:20.141000+00:00 | ['Backend Development', 'Design Patterns', 'Factory Pattern', 'Java', 'Programming'] | Title Factory Design Pattern OverviewContent Overview factory pattern popular design pattern Java one best way create object general idea allowing user create object without exposing logic behind Instead interface provided user know method called create object Photo Science HD Unsplash Implementation Interface Animaljava public interface Animal void specie Implement Interface Dogjava public class Dog implement Animal Override public void specie SystemoutprintlnIts dog Catjava public class Cat implement Animal Override public void specie SystemoutprintlnIts cat Birdjava public class Bird implement Animal Override public void specie SystemoutprintlnIts bird Factory public class AnimalFactory use getAnimal method get object type animal public Animal getAnimalString animalSpecies switchanimalSpeciestoLowerCase case dog return new Dog case cat return new Cat case bird return new Bird default return null Use Factory public class FactoryPattern public static void mainString args AnimalFactory animalFactory new AnimalFactory Get Dog object factory Animal dog animalFactorygetAnimaldog Call specie method Dog dogspecies Get Cat object factory Animal cat animalFactorygetAnimalcat Call specie Cat catspecies Get Bird object factory Animal bird animalFactorygetAnimalbird Call specie Bird birdspecies dog cat bird Conclusion Factory design pattern contains logic object created also used contain logic creating new object make easier locate code instead searching entire application also make easier add new class factory logic creating new object fairly simple probably need factoryTags Backend Development Design Patterns Factory Pattern Java Programming |
2,530 | If you want to design effective ads, learn to play battleships | If you want to design effective ads, learn to play battleships
For a game that seemingly has nothing to do with advertising, Battleships can teach us a whole lot.
You’ve probably played Battleships. You know, the game where two players place a set of battleships on a grid, and take it in turns to sink one another’s ships by guessing their location.
For a game that ostensibly has nothing to do with ads or marketing, it can teach us a hell of a lot about both of them. To see why, let’s consider a simplified game of Battleships.
Hunting Battleships
Let’s say you’re playing a game of Battleships with a 10x10 grid, and (to keep things simple) we’ll say that each player has one ship that’s 5 grid squares long. You and the other player place your ship on the grid, and the game begins.
You go first. You reckon that your first guess doesn’t really matter much so you choose it at random: D3.
The guns fire and the shells start ringing, but it’s a miss. No hit. Your opponent plays their turn, they miss too.
It’s now your second go, and you have to choose where to take your next shot. You’ve got one key piece of information from round 1, that there’s no ship in D3. But why exactly is this useful?
It’s useful because it tells us that the opponent’s ship is less likely to be in one of the grid squares immediately adjacent to D3, than it is to be in a square far away.
In case it’s not obvious why, consider the range possible locations your opponent’s ship could be in before and after you found out that it wasn’t in D3. At the start of the game, their ship could’ve been anywhere on the board. Once you learned it didn’t have any part of it in D3, there were fewer possible locations near D3 that it could have been in.
For example, you now know that it couldn’t have been in grid squares D1 to D5, because if it would then your shot in D3 would’ve hit it.
There are a number of different possibilities in which the ship is in D3 that have been ruled out by the outcome of your first turn. Because we know the ship is five squares long, this decreases the probability that the ship is in any of the surrounding squares too.
So, what do you do?
If you’re clever about it, you won’t try D4 on your second go. Or D2, C3, or E3.
It’s not impossible that the opponent’s ship could be in these squares, but it’s less likely to be in any of them now you know it’s definitely not in D3.
The smart second move would be to try somewhere on the other side of the board, maybe an F6 for instance. Because this is sufficiently far away from D3, knowing that your opponent’s ship isn’t in D3 doesn’t decrease the likelihood that their ship is in F6.
And if their ship isn’t in F6? Maybe on your third go you try somewhere you haven’t explored yet; perhaps the top left or the bottom right of the board.
This process will keep going, where you continue to look for parts of the board you haven’t tested yet, until you get a hit. Once you get a hit, you know that their ship will be in at least one of the immediately adjacent squares to where you got the hit.
At this point, your strategy switches. Instead of looking for unexplored bits of the board, you look at the squares right next to where you’ve just explored. You keep doing this until you’ve found the grid squares that their ship occupies, and the game is over.
Where do ads come in?
Often when it comes to designing ads, newer brands are guilty of putting out a ton of ads all with only very minor differences. The idea seems to make sense; test small differences in the styling or the messaging on the ads, in order to learn what works best.
The problem though is that this approach only makes sense for well-established brands, who already know with a high degree of accuracy which of their ads resonate best. When you have heaps of historical data about what works, you can afford to go granular on what you test.
Newer brands, or brands launching new products, are staring at the equivalent of an empty Battleships board at the start of the game. They don’t have data on what resonates; they haven’t taken any shots yet.
Putting out batch after batch of creatives with a similar look and feel is like taking the opening moves A1, A2, A3, and so on.
You’d never do this in a game of Battleships. As we saw earlier, if your first shot misses you move to the other side of the board, and so on. And yet most brands do the complete opposite of this, churning out near-identical creatives in the hope that shifting one square at a time will get them their first hit.
Sure, this could work. You might find the best ad ever on your third narrow iteration, but it’s unlikely. You’re much more likely to find your best ad by casting your net wide initially, and only then narrowing down more and more on what works.
The space of possible ads is much more complex than a 2-dimensional Battleships grid. If you wanted to massively simplify it though you could imagine it as being 2-dimensional. You could label its axes as something like creative style and messaging style:
These labels are just examples, you can think of them however makes most sense to you.
What’s important when you’re producing creatives is to think how closely they all sit together in this space. If they’re all very close together, you’re unlikely to learn much from your test.
This is fine if you already know which area of the graph works for you; if you’re already well-established and know exactly what resonates with your target audience.
Realistically though, this isn’t true for most advertisers. Most advertisers should be casting their net much more broadly, and testing all around the space to find what works for them.
It’s only by really testing all areas of the graph that you can have the confidence to really start narrowing down your testing. If your shot at D3 was a miss, you shouldn’t try D4 until you’ve tried the rest of the board. | https://uxdesign.cc/if-you-want-to-design-effective-ads-learn-to-play-battleships-4e43d66206f5 | ['Mack Grenfell'] | 2020-06-14 07:57:41.954000+00:00 | ['Growth', 'Marketing', 'Design', 'Data Science', 'Advertising'] | Title want design effective ad learn play battleshipsContent want design effective ad learn play battleship game seemingly nothing advertising Battleships teach u whole lot You’ve probably played Battleships know game two player place set battleship grid take turn sink one another’s ship guessing location game ostensibly nothing ad marketing teach u hell lot see let’s consider simplified game Battleships Hunting Battleships Let’s say you’re playing game Battleships 10x10 grid keep thing simple we’ll say player one ship that’s 5 grid square long player place ship grid game begin go first reckon first guess doesn’t really matter much choose random D3 gun fire shell start ringing it’s miss hit opponent play turn miss It’s second go choose take next shot You’ve got one key piece information round 1 there’s ship D3 exactly useful It’s useful tell u opponent’s ship le likely one grid square immediately adjacent D3 square far away case it’s obvious consider range possible location opponent’s ship could found wasn’t D3 start game ship could’ve anywhere board learned didn’t part D3 fewer possible location near D3 could example know couldn’t grid square D1 D5 would shot D3 would’ve hit number different possibility ship D3 ruled outcome first turn know ship five square long decrease probability ship surrounding square you’re clever won’t try D4 second go D2 C3 E3 It’s impossible opponent’s ship could square it’s le likely know it’s definitely D3 smart second move would try somewhere side board maybe F6 instance sufficiently far away D3 knowing opponent’s ship isn’t D3 doesn’t decrease likelihood ship F6 ship isn’t F6 Maybe third go try somewhere haven’t explored yet perhaps top left bottom right board process keep going continue look part board haven’t tested yet get hit get hit know ship least one immediately adjacent square got hit point strategy switch Instead looking unexplored bit board look square right next you’ve explored keep you’ve found grid square ship occupies game ad come Often come designing ad newer brand guilty putting ton ad minor difference idea seems make sense test small difference styling messaging ad order learn work best problem though approach make sense wellestablished brand already know high degree accuracy ad resonate best heap historical data work afford go granular test Newer brand brand launching new product staring equivalent empty Battleships board start game don’t data resonates haven’t taken shot yet Putting batch batch creatives similar look feel like taking opening move A1 A2 A3 You’d never game Battleships saw earlier first shot miss move side board yet brand complete opposite churning nearidentical creatives hope shifting one square time get first hit Sure could work might find best ad ever third narrow iteration it’s unlikely You’re much likely find best ad casting net wide initially narrowing work space possible ad much complex 2dimensional Battleships grid wanted massively simplify though could imagine 2dimensional could label ax something like creative style messaging style label example think however make sense What’s important you’re producing creatives think closely sit together space they’re close together you’re unlikely learn much test fine already know area graph work you’re already wellestablished know exactly resonates target audience Realistically though isn’t true advertiser advertiser casting net much broadly testing around space find work It’s really testing area graph confidence really start narrowing testing shot D3 miss shouldn’t try D4 you’ve tried rest boardTags Growth Marketing Design Data Science Advertising |
2,531 | The Digital Liquid Lean Startup Methodology | The Digital Liquid Lean Startup Methodology
An approach to deliver relevant solutions to solve the right problems and scale at speed.
The digital liquid lean startup methodology augments the team with advanced digital tools to rapidly build solutions on a scalable architecture—providing an additional boost to the build, measure and learn feedback loop—to disrupt quickly in an uncertain environment.
A Modified Approach
There are two distinct components in the digital liquid lean startup method that contributes to the significant increase in velocity: 1) the use of advanced digital (DevOps) tools to scale solution quickly, and 2) adoption of the liquid assembly philosophy, e.g. reusable building blocks (APIs), to facilitate innovation and speed.
The four iterative stages of the approach are listed below:
Ideate: identify novel problems, business cases, new technologies, potential partnerships, new business models, etc. via workshops and formulate ideas and hypotheses to test. Show me: transform ideas into mock-ups and prototypes via the liquid assembly of reusable building blocks and templates to obtain initial stakeholder buy-in. Prove it: validate the prototype against hypotheses in a scaled-down live environment with users to obtain quantifiable proof of the solution’s viability. Scale it: deliver the solution to the masses at speed via easily scalable, API-driven IT architecture and DevOps tools.
By adopting the above approach coupled with proper governance, a lean team of approximately five could deliver impactful solutions over time.
The Benefits to the Table
The value increases because of a positive reinforcing feedback loop whereby the output of the loop (in stage #4), e.g. reusable building blocks, enhances the overall speed in the subsequent loops in the form of contributing more reusable blocks for innovation at speed (stage #2).
The digital lean startup method brings the following benefits to the table:
Addresses the right problems —through constant measurements, validated learning, and hypotheses testing to find out what the market needs.
—through constant measurements, validated learning, and hypotheses testing to find out what the market needs. Saves time and cost — fail fast and repivot quickly when solutions don’t work out; make multiple small investments rather than a single huge one.
— fail fast and repivot quickly when solutions don’t work out; make multiple small investments rather than a single huge one. Achieve speed to market—solutions are built to scale quickly upon proving of value.
In large organisations, especially in times of uncertainty, a separate lean startup team is set up to test innovative ideas that can potentially disrupt and improve existing processes without being constrained by existing workflows.
Set up for Success
A good team consist of a combination of roles and skill sets e.g. UI/UX, DevOps, Developers, Team Lead, Product Owner, Architect, etc. Some members can have a dual role setup as well – the team setup is largely based on the program objectives.
The environment plays a large role in the success of the methodology, and it can be broken down into two parts:
Innovative environment – frequent forum or pitch sessions to provide opportunities to share new ideas and innovation. Also, hire innovative minds from hackathons/events and include relevant case challenges in the hiring process to get good talent. Development environment – available tools and platforms to facilitate collaboration, e.g. developers’ portal, communication channels, innovation platforms, etc.
Another important element for success is inculcating the innovative mindset into the team by fostering governance, e.g. documentation, and adhering to the liquid lean philosophy, e.g. work smarter, not harder; don’t reinvent the wheel, etc.
Some of the potential pitfalls and things to look out for:
Lack of governance and documentation – resulting in confusion, increased overheads and eventual slow delivery.
– resulting in confusion, increased overheads and eventual slow delivery. Poor architecture design/foundation – resulting in monolithic services that are non-reusable and difficult to scale.
– resulting in monolithic services that are non-reusable and difficult to scale. Lack of user and market research – moving too fast into building a solution can result in excessive changes that leads to team burnout.
Takeaway
Overall, when the methodology is applied together with the right environment with proper governance in place, it bring wealth of benefits to your organisation. However, be sure to watch out for potential pitfalls that would disrupt the feedback loop. | https://medium.com/the-internal-startup/the-digital-liquid-lean-startup-methodology-6794376a10ef | ['Jimmy Soh'] | 2020-06-28 15:35:29.043000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Programming', 'Business Strategy', 'Startup', 'Entrepreneurship'] | Title Digital Liquid Lean Startup MethodologyContent Digital Liquid Lean Startup Methodology approach deliver relevant solution solve right problem scale speed digital liquid lean startup methodology augments team advanced digital tool rapidly build solution scalable architecture—providing additional boost build measure learn feedback loop—to disrupt quickly uncertain environment Modified Approach two distinct component digital liquid lean startup method contributes significant increase velocity 1 use advanced digital DevOps tool scale solution quickly 2 adoption liquid assembly philosophy eg reusable building block APIs facilitate innovation speed four iterative stage approach listed Ideate identify novel problem business case new technology potential partnership new business model etc via workshop formulate idea hypothesis test Show transform idea mockups prototype via liquid assembly reusable building block template obtain initial stakeholder buyin Prove validate prototype hypothesis scaleddown live environment user obtain quantifiable proof solution’s viability Scale deliver solution mass speed via easily scalable APIdriven architecture DevOps tool adopting approach coupled proper governance lean team approximately five could deliver impactful solution time Benefits Table value increase positive reinforcing feedback loop whereby output loop stage 4 eg reusable building block enhances overall speed subsequent loop form contributing reusable block innovation speed stage 2 digital lean startup method brings following benefit table Addresses right problem —through constant measurement validated learning hypothesis testing find market need —through constant measurement validated learning hypothesis testing find market need Saves time cost — fail fast repivot quickly solution don’t work make multiple small investment rather single huge one — fail fast repivot quickly solution don’t work make multiple small investment rather single huge one Achieve speed market—solutions built scale quickly upon proving value large organisation especially time uncertainty separate lean startup team set test innovative idea potentially disrupt improve existing process without constrained existing workflow Set Success good team consist combination role skill set eg UIUX DevOps Developers Team Lead Product Owner Architect etc member dual role setup well – team setup largely based program objective environment play large role success methodology broken two part Innovative environment – frequent forum pitch session provide opportunity share new idea innovation Also hire innovative mind hackathonsevents include relevant case challenge hiring process get good talent Development environment – available tool platform facilitate collaboration eg developers’ portal communication channel innovation platform etc Another important element success inculcating innovative mindset team fostering governance eg documentation adhering liquid lean philosophy eg work smarter harder don’t reinvent wheel etc potential pitfall thing look Lack governance documentation – resulting confusion increased overhead eventual slow delivery – resulting confusion increased overhead eventual slow delivery Poor architecture designfoundation – resulting monolithic service nonreusable difficult scale – resulting monolithic service nonreusable difficult scale Lack user market research – moving fast building solution result excessive change lead team burnout Takeaway Overall methodology applied together right environment proper governance place bring wealth benefit organisation However sure watch potential pitfall would disrupt feedback loopTags Technology Programming Business Strategy Startup Entrepreneurship |
2,532 | Finding Success On Medium | Success on Medium is having an audience.
I am a musician. One thing most musicians desire is an audience. Making music for yourself is fine, but nothing compares to performing for an audience. That instant feedback, that energy, that connection. It is powerful stuff. It is the main reason musicians practice for countless hours and put up with all the hassles that go with live performance. Those moments on stage.
I want my writing to have an audience.
I used to find an audience for my short humor on Facebook. My friends and I would post goofy things and have fun commenting on them. Then Facebook turned into an infuriating, meme-infested ranting soapbox and self-promotional pitstop. The fun was gone. I tried publishing my own website, but it was a lonely experience. The only interaction I got was an occasional question. I pretty much gave up on fun interaction online until I discovered Medium.
I wasn’t sure my humor would find an audience on Medium. Thankfully, it did — in time. I certainly don’t have as large a following as some self-help gurus. So what? I would rather have a handful of readers who genuinely like what I write than thousands who are indifferent or just trying to emulate me.
As a musician, I have played for small audiences and thousands of people. I will take a small audience who is excited, dancing, and really enjoying the music over a huge audience giving me polite applause any day.
I can honestly say, if no one was reading my writing, I wouldn’t be writing. I don’t write for myself. I don’t journal. I don’t write as therapy. I don’t “have to” write. None of those are bad things. They are good. But I write for an audience (feedback, claps, response.) I want my writing to entertain or move readers, and that requires an audience.
On Medium, I have found a small, loyal audience. That is success to me. | https://medium.com/mark-starlin-writes/finding-success-on-medium-2d6223e807c5 | ['Mark Starlin'] | 2019-12-08 20:46:47.391000+00:00 | ['Self-awareness', 'Medium', 'Money', 'Success', 'Writing'] | Title Finding Success MediumContent Success Medium audience musician One thing musician desire audience Making music fine nothing compare performing audience instant feedback energy connection powerful stuff main reason musician practice countless hour put hassle go live performance moment stage want writing audience used find audience short humor Facebook friend would post goofy thing fun commenting Facebook turned infuriating memeinfested ranting soapbox selfpromotional pitstop fun gone tried publishing website lonely experience interaction got occasional question pretty much gave fun interaction online discovered Medium wasn’t sure humor would find audience Medium Thankfully — time certainly don’t large following selfhelp guru would rather handful reader genuinely like write thousand indifferent trying emulate musician played small audience thousand people take small audience excited dancing really enjoying music huge audience giving polite applause day honestly say one reading writing wouldn’t writing don’t write don’t journal don’t write therapy don’t “have to” write None bad thing good write audience feedback clap response want writing entertain move reader requires audience Medium found small loyal audience success meTags Selfawareness Medium Money Success Writing |
2,533 | Data Journalism: redefining community awareness and decision making in Sudan | The concept of data journalism is allowing data to pave context and build in credibility to the story. Datasets can be found ready made in the internet, or created by extracting it from multimedia files (pdf, videos, audio) or from people through a series of interviews, analysis, research and any other means of discovery which will result in a wholesome set of information to be used as a point of reference for readers, communities, governments, etc.
Its process has a series of steps that anyone can learn and master.[ It has unlimited uses and benefits, and has a huge positive impact on the communities and readers. There are some essential tools for data journalism.
This field isn’t new, it’s just trendy. There’re a number of professionals in this field that you should follow where they could provide further insight on data journalism.
Alex Howard defined it as: “gathering, cleaning, organizing, analyzing, visualizing and publishing data to support the creation of acts of journalism.”
The Data
I’m not going to define what data is in this section , but I’ll be giving you brief case studies and demonstrate data in a more digestible light.
Not all official data sources are reliable, accurate, or correct. This can be solved by getting the officials’ people’s attention to this matter, so that they can fix it. You can do this by writing an article about it by the way!
As it will require a huge effort, a master plan, and a budge. However, institutions with a capability to satisfy these factors can change and improve data sources for a better and wider use.
To bring this to light on an individual level, one can use whatever at his/her disposal to resolve the facts such as blogging or social media.
The best way that you acquire data is to create your own datasets from scratch. Only then you’ll be sure that you got what want. You can create big datasets about the smallest things around the world.
Moreover, the most important thing is how will you visualize the data because it might be the most important aspect of all. The colors, the graph type, the scales and etc. It should be readable, understandable and digestible for your readers.
When discovering data, you should look at it from a wider angle and provide alternative stories to it. Be sceptic, but not cynic about the data. Do not interpret the data, but rather let it speak by itself. Uncertainty is good because you might not have the answer, or the best answer, and you get to ask more questions and discover more. The investigation in itself is a story.
“Data is not the whole story because the people are the main source. Interviews are still crucial . A clear example that emphasizes this claim is when there was a story about real estate deals made by investors in family houses. It was noticed that there was this one particular house in the dataset that was exchanged multiple times, and the people involved in these multiple transactions of this one house were interviewed, the story became richer and more amusing! Data helps journalists to verify claims, tackle bigger stories, find new stories, illuminate murky issues, report more efficiently.” Ben Casselman from the New York Times
What data isn’t:
According to the Guardian, data is not: a force unto itself, speak for itself, power by itself, a perfect reflection of the world, or easy to interpret .
R-Programming Language, Python Programming Language, Tableau Software, Power Bi Software, and Web Scrapping Tools are all useful software tools that you’ll need to learn in order to becomes a data journalist.
“I ask myself whether the numbers I’m looking at will start a new conversation that people aren’t having yet, or if they will add to an existing conversation in a valuable way. If the answer to both of those questions is no, then I don’t bother to write the piece.” Mona Chalabi
Data journalism process is 80% perspiration, 10% great ideas, and 10% output. It can be either a long investigative process, or a short one that covers only key data.[1]
History of Data Journalism
Data journalism is very old. You can take a look at Florence Nightingale (1858), and at John Snow’s Cholera Visualization. | https://ahmed-elaffendi.medium.com/data-journalism-redefining-community-awareness-and-decision-making-in-sudan-ef2eaff0d4f3 | ['Ahmed El-Affendi'] | 2020-10-28 02:47:18.083000+00:00 | ['Journalism', 'Sudan', 'Data Journalism', 'Data Science', 'Writing'] | Title Data Journalism redefining community awareness decision making SudanContent concept data journalism allowing data pave context build credibility story Datasets found ready made internet created extracting multimedia file pdf video audio people series interview analysis research mean discovery result wholesome set information used point reference reader community government etc process series step anyone learn master unlimited us benefit huge positive impact community reader essential tool data journalism field isn’t new it’s trendy There’re number professional field follow could provide insight data journalism Alex Howard defined “gathering cleaning organizing analyzing visualizing publishing data support creation act journalism” Data I’m going define data section I’ll giving brief case study demonstrate data digestible light official data source reliable accurate correct solved getting officials’ people’s attention matter fix writing article way require huge effort master plan budge However institution capability satisfy factor change improve data source better wider use bring light individual level one use whatever hisher disposal resolve fact blogging social medium best way acquire data create datasets scratch you’ll sure got want create big datasets smallest thing around world Moreover important thing visualize data might important aspect color graph type scale etc readable understandable digestible reader discovering data look wider angle provide alternative story sceptic cynic data interpret data rather let speak Uncertainty good might answer best answer get ask question discover investigation story “Data whole story people main source Interviews still crucial clear example emphasizes claim story real estate deal made investor family house noticed one particular house dataset exchanged multiple time people involved multiple transaction one house interviewed story became richer amusing Data help journalist verify claim tackle bigger story find new story illuminate murky issue report efficiently” Ben Casselman New York Times data isn’t According Guardian data force unto speak power perfect reflection world easy interpret RProgramming Language Python Programming Language Tableau Software Power Bi Software Web Scrapping Tools useful software tool you’ll need learn order becomes data journalist “I ask whether number I’m looking start new conversation people aren’t yet add existing conversation valuable way answer question don’t bother write piece” Mona Chalabi Data journalism process 80 perspiration 10 great idea 10 output either long investigative process short one cover key data1 History Data Journalism Data journalism old take look Florence Nightingale 1858 John Snow’s Cholera VisualizationTags Journalism Sudan Data Journalism Data Science Writing |
2,534 | Dynamic Pluggable Microservice Framework | Easily deploy RESTful Microservices using this pluggable microservice framework.
No more coding RESTful Interfaces. No more having to debug your RESTful Interfaces.
This is functional programming meets pluggability meets minimal code meets ease of use.
What could be easier than coding your microservices as Python functions in a single module and then drop your microservice module into a directory and then simply make RESTful AJAX Calls to run your microservices?
Oh, you have a complete Python Package for your microservices? Ok. No problem. You will want to expose some of them as endpoints and call them from some kind of a RESTful Interface, yes? So now you code your exposable functions that call your real functions from your real Packages and drop your exposed modules into a directory and now all those microservice functions are exposed as RESTful endpoints without having to restart the server.
Sounds too good to be true? Check it our for yourself. https://github.com/raychorn/microservices-framework
Need a Docker Container ready to run this framework? docker pull raychorn/microservices-framework:0.7.0 then do a “git clone https://github.com/raychorn/microservices-framework” followed by “git pull origin main” to get the latest code from the repo. Or check-out the Releases to pick the release you want to install. Requires Python 3.8.x and PIP and virtualenv all of which have been installed in the Docker Container along with MongoDB as a bonus. There is, of course, a requirements.txt file you can use to install all the required Python Packages for this framework. Need to see how the framework works? See the unit tests and the sample Modules.
Let’s talk about Dynamic RESTful URLs. Most of the time, when working with Django one end-up coding a bunch of urls in the urls.py file, one url spec for each endpoint and the list of urls can become quite complex and unwieldy. What if there was a better way to handle this complexity? What if you could code a single URL spec for Django that could handle every conceivable RESTful url you might wish to use? What if there were a way to configure this behavior using a config file? Some urls need 1 or 2 parameters and others require 3 or 4 parameters while some require 5 or 6 parameters. What if you wanted to add another url spec that for some reason required 10’s or 100’s of url parameters and this too was configurable. Does this sound too good to be true? Maybe so. Or maybe there’s working code that can do this. Point being now you can break free of having to code individual urls for Django.
Ok. So dynamic urls for Django. Cool. So how do you access all those url parameters at runtime? Ever hear about **kwargs? Yup, this allows you to ingest a Python dictionary into your function via kwargs (see the modules in the plugins directory for some examples of how this works). By default the first url parameter is accessed from kwargs as: kwargs.get(‘param1’) which says if the variable exists in the dictionary then give it to me or give me a default of None. What if you wanted to rename these parameters because you don’t like the defaults? See the file named “.env” where this can be done. What if you wanted to rename or remap the url parameters on the fly? This too is supported by the 1.0.0 Release. Now you can remap url parameter names on the fly for each RESTful Call and they all appear in your functions via **kwargs.
Ok. So what if you wanted to use Query Parameters for your GET calls? This is supported and they appear in the **kwargs. Nice, huh?
Which HTTP Methods are supported? GET, PUT, POST and DELETE.
Can I get a directory of my plugged-in modules? Yes, this is supported.
What about Module Aliasing? Yes, this too is supported along with API Versioning. Put your API versions into separate Python Modules and alias them as “v1”, “v2” and “v3” and now you can publish your API Versions that look like API Versions without having to expose the name of the actual modules or module names.
What about exposing a single microservice function using more than one HTTP Method? This too is supported. You can specify the list of HTTP Methods as a Python list or a pipe delimited list in a string or a single HTTP Method name. Again, see the example modules provided by the Release you want to use. The built-in directory function provides all these details as JSON so you can easily publish your endpoints.
Be sure to use unique function aliases, this too is supported, or bad things might happen.
Be sure to use unique module aliases or bad things might happen.
Do I need to restart the server every time I want to deploy a new module? Nope. Just drop the module into the plugins directory and issue the directory URL to see the newly plugged module’s information. This is all dynamic.
What if you wanted to deploy your Java microservices using this framework? This too is supported. Code a command line interface for your Java classes and use the appropriate Python code to issue each command line via separate Python functions and your Java or node.js or Go or whatever other Language or technology you may wish to use can be easily deployed all without having to restart the RESTful Server.
What if you wanted to deploy your Rust code using this framework? Well this too is supported. You can code Python extensions using Rust and then call your Rust functions from your Rust Python extensions and then deploy Python-based “.pyd” files from your Rust development environments. Slick, huh?
Stop coding Microservice RESTful Interfaces by hand and start doing this automatically using this framework. Automation frees us from the tediousness of common every day activities. This framework frees everyone from the most tedious part of publishing function as RESTful AJAX calls. Now you can focus all your efforts on producing Python Modules with easy to understand function decorators to “expose” endpoints. Be sure to notice how to code “private” functions in your modules; bad things might happen if you tried to “expose” a “private” function but you can learn all about this by doing it.
Welcome to the 21st Century. | https://raychorn.medium.com/dynamic-pluggable-microservice-framework-83ddc4b3d26e | [] | 2020-12-15 01:59:15.114000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Functional Programming', 'Dynamic Programming', 'Rest Api', 'Microservices'] | Title Dynamic Pluggable Microservice FrameworkContent Easily deploy RESTful Microservices using pluggable microservice framework coding RESTful Interfaces debug RESTful Interfaces functional programming meet pluggability meet minimal code meet ease use could easier coding microservices Python function single module drop microservice module directory simply make RESTful AJAX Calls run microservices Oh complete Python Package microservices Ok problem want expose endpoint call kind RESTful Interface yes code exposable function call real function real Packages drop exposed module directory microservice function exposed RESTful endpoint without restart server Sounds good true Check httpsgithubcomraychornmicroservicesframework Need Docker Container ready run framework docker pull raychornmicroservicesframework070 “git clone httpsgithubcomraychornmicroservicesframework” followed “git pull origin main” get latest code repo checkout Releases pick release want install Requires Python 38x PIP virtualenv installed Docker Container along MongoDB bonus course requirementstxt file use install required Python Packages framework Need see framework work See unit test sample Modules Let’s talk Dynamic RESTful URLs time working Django one endup coding bunch url urlspy file one url spec endpoint list url become quite complex unwieldy better way handle complexity could code single URL spec Django could handle every conceivable RESTful url might wish use way configure behavior using config file url need 1 2 parameter others require 3 4 parameter require 5 6 parameter wanted add another url spec reason required 10’s 100’s url parameter configurable sound good true Maybe maybe there’s working code Point break free code individual url Django Ok dynamic url Django Cool access url parameter runtime Ever hear kwargs Yup allows ingest Python dictionary function via kwargs see module plugins directory example work default first url parameter accessed kwargs kwargsget‘param1’ say variable exists dictionary give give default None wanted rename parameter don’t like default See file named “env” done wanted rename remap url parameter fly supported 100 Release remap url parameter name fly RESTful Call appear function via kwargs Ok wanted use Query Parameters GET call supported appear kwargs Nice huh HTTP Methods supported GET PUT POST DELETE get directory pluggedin module Yes supported Module Aliasing Yes supported along API Versioning Put API version separate Python Modules alias “v1” “v2” “v3” publish API Versions look like API Versions without expose name actual module module name exposing single microservice function using one HTTP Method supported specify list HTTP Methods Python list pipe delimited list string single HTTP Method name see example module provided Release want use builtin directory function provides detail JSON easily publish endpoint sure use unique function alias supported bad thing might happen sure use unique module alias bad thing might happen need restart server every time want deploy new module Nope drop module plugins directory issue directory URL see newly plugged module’s information dynamic wanted deploy Java microservices using framework supported Code command line interface Java class use appropriate Python code issue command line via separate Python function Java nodejs Go whatever Language technology may wish use easily deployed without restart RESTful Server wanted deploy Rust code using framework Well supported code Python extension using Rust call Rust function Rust Python extension deploy Pythonbased “pyd” file Rust development environment Slick huh Stop coding Microservice RESTful Interfaces hand start automatically using framework Automation free u tediousness common every day activity framework free everyone tedious part publishing function RESTful AJAX call focus effort producing Python Modules easy understand function decorator “expose” endpoint sure notice code “private” function module bad thing might happen tried “expose” “private” function learn Welcome 21st CenturyTags Python Functional Programming Dynamic Programming Rest Api Microservices |
2,535 | There Is No Lift to Success — You Have to Take the Stairs | There Is No Lift to Success — You Have to Take the Stairs
More effort is the fastest way to achieve better results.
Image by kinkate from Pixabay
We are always looking for shortcuts and easier ways to do things. We want to achieve more by doing less. People love to hear about hacks and tricks to get great results without much effort. Unfortunately, a lot of this advice is rubbish. Anyone who ever achieved outstanding performance, has put in a ton of effort.
For those of you who are waiting for the lift to success, I have news; it will not arrive. Although the stairs next to the lift may look long and scary, they are the only and the fastest way to the top. The sooner you start the climb, the faster you will reach your goals.
Building muscle
Few people disagree that lifting weights results in stronger muscles. By gradually increasing the weights, you can completely transform your body. We see direct results between how much effort we put in and how fast we improve.
In the gym, you see exactly how many kilos you lift and can count how many repetitions you do. If you were able to lift 20 kilos last week, and now you can lift 25, you have made progress.
The connection between effort and improvement is not always as evident in other areas of life. How do you know if you’ve become a better writer? How do you know if you’ve improved your business or communication skills? Are you a better salsa dancer than last week? Have you become a better friend, son, father, mother or spouse?
No precise measure of success
Since most activities don’t come with an exact measurement of success, there will be no number that tells you how good you are or if you are even moving in the right direction. This makes it easy to lose track of the connection between effort and improvement.
Just because we can’t see something, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. When we see progress, it’s easy to stay motivated. When the improvement is less noticeable, or we reach a plateau, it can be more challenging to keep going.
It’s crucial to remember that plateaus are an important part of the learning process. It takes time to incorporate a new skill we have learned. This takes much longer than performing a particular action correctly, in isolation. Although plateaus may feel frustrating, they are an essential part of the learning process, and by doing many quality repetitions, we move to the level of fluency that’s required to level up.
Make effort effortless
Making effort effortless is a key mindset that many top athletes and performers have, that makes challenging practice a lot easier. It’s about embracing the challenge and the path to reach your goals.
The reason why an activity seems effortful is usually because of the way we perceive it. Expending effort feels more tiresome in the moment than just relaxing. As you keep improving, you will start to associate effort with your best achievements. Although it’s effortful right then, you know it will lead to wins and great performances in the long run.
Embrace reality
‘Enduring means accepting. Accepting things as they are and not as you would wish them to be, and then looking ahead, not behind.’ -Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal was facing Roger Federer in the final of the Monte Carlo tennis tournament when he asked his coach and uncle, Toni Nadal: ‘How do you see the game today?’
Toni told him: ‘I see it as complicated. Federer has a better drive than yours. His backhand is better. The volley is better too.’ And when he was about to say: ‘Your serves are not even comparable,’ Rafael stopped him and said: ‘Whew! Stop, stop. Are you trying to support me or not?’
Toni: ‘I don’t want to lie to you. It’s better to know the truth. Then you can do something about it. It’s better to know what you have to deal with.’
Accepting reality is a crucial part on your path to progress. People always like to hear how good they are. That they are the best or better than others. That the road to the top will be easy. This will not help them to become better. If on the other hand, you know where you are lacking, you can do something about it and improve.
Toni Nadal ended the conversation with Rafa like this: ‘If you’re capable of playing every point as if it were the last one. If you’re capable of playing this match as if life depends on it. If you’re more excited than him and you’re ready to run faster than him. I think you’ll have lots of chances of victory.’
Nadal won the match.
Get a head start
The earlier you realise that there is no lift to success, the sooner you can start walking up those stairs. As you start climbing, your overview will become better, and you will realise that most people are standing at the bottom, hoping for the lift to arrive.
Instead of waiting, it’s better to embrace reality and start the climb. The longer you get up the stairs, the more your shape will improve, and you will most likely begin to enjoy the rise. As you get fit, going up the stairs is not as effortful as you feared.
Laziness
If you want to become great at what you do, laziness is not an option. It doesn’t matter if you’ve read somewhere that you can become great at a skill in 20 hours. It’s not true. This is the story you want to hear, and the person telling it may have a hidden agenda, like selling a product or increasing their book sales.
Even if you may think of yourself as a lazy person, there are probably areas in life where you are super engaged and excited. These are the areas/skills where you have the potential to reach excellence. Try to pursue those activities you are so excited about, that you don’t mind if you have to do a hundred or thousand hours of practice.
What about disabled people?
‘There is no lift to success; you have to take the stairs.’
This quote may seem unfair to disabled people or anyone who doesn’t enjoy physical activity. But, it’s crucial to remember that it’s only a metaphor, and does in no way imply that people with disabilities can’t be successful, because they can’t take the stairs.
Putting in effort may not involve physical exertion at all. Putting in mental effort is another way to improve. If you’re trying to learn a language or become a better chess player, it requires hours of mental effort, which can be just as challenging as going for a run or climbing a mountain.
If you’re in a wheelchair, you can instead imagine a slope to roll up or anything else that you find challenging. Indeed, you can create a completely different metaphor, if that better illustrates the situation. The takeaway message will be the same, that putting in more effort is the fastest way to achieve results. Best of luck with your learning.
Take home message
Putting in effort is the fastest way to improve and reach your goals.
We often look for shortcuts, but these are often false promises, that are delaying our progress.
Great performers tend to enjoy the process as they know it leads to results and better performance.
To improve, it’s essential to accept reality. Only then can we change it.
Thanks for reading! :) | https://medium.com/skilluped/there-is-no-lift-to-success-you-have-to-take-the-stairs-b9d02504cf80 | ['Erik Hamre'] | 2020-12-08 12:32:35.235000+00:00 | ['Inspiration', 'Life Lessons', 'Motivation', 'Success', 'Psychology'] | Title Lift Success — Take StairsContent Lift Success — Take Stairs effort fastest way achieve better result Image kinkate Pixabay always looking shortcut easier way thing want achieve le People love hear hack trick get great result without much effort Unfortunately lot advice rubbish Anyone ever achieved outstanding performance put ton effort waiting lift success news arrive Although stair next lift may look long scary fastest way top sooner start climb faster reach goal Building muscle people disagree lifting weight result stronger muscle gradually increasing weight completely transform body see direct result much effort put fast improve gym see exactly many kilo lift count many repetition able lift 20 kilo last week lift 25 made progress connection effort improvement always evident area life know you’ve become better writer know you’ve improved business communication skill better salsa dancer last week become better friend son father mother spouse precise measure success Since activity don’t come exact measurement success number tell good even moving right direction make easy lose track connection effort improvement can’t see something doesn’t mean doesn’t exist see progress it’s easy stay motivated improvement le noticeable reach plateau challenging keep going It’s crucial remember plateau important part learning process take time incorporate new skill learned take much longer performing particular action correctly isolation Although plateau may feel frustrating essential part learning process many quality repetition move level fluency that’s required level Make effort effortless Making effort effortless key mindset many top athlete performer make challenging practice lot easier It’s embracing challenge path reach goal reason activity seems effortful usually way perceive Expending effort feel tiresome moment relaxing keep improving start associate effort best achievement Although it’s effortful right know lead win great performance long run Embrace reality ‘Enduring mean accepting Accepting thing would wish looking ahead behind’ Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal facing Roger Federer final Monte Carlo tennis tournament asked coach uncle Toni Nadal ‘How see game today’ Toni told ‘I see complicated Federer better drive backhand better volley better too’ say ‘Your serf even comparable’ Rafael stopped said ‘Whew Stop stop trying support not’ Toni ‘I don’t want lie It’s better know truth something It’s better know deal with’ Accepting reality crucial part path progress People always like hear good best better others road top easy help become better hand know lacking something improve Toni Nadal ended conversation Rafa like ‘If you’re capable playing every point last one you’re capable playing match life depends you’re excited you’re ready run faster think you’ll lot chance victory’ Nadal match Get head start earlier realise lift success sooner start walking stair start climbing overview become better realise people standing bottom hoping lift arrive Instead waiting it’s better embrace reality start climb longer get stair shape improve likely begin enjoy rise get fit going stair effortful feared Laziness want become great laziness option doesn’t matter you’ve read somewhere become great skill 20 hour It’s true story want hear person telling may hidden agenda like selling product increasing book sale Even may think lazy person probably area life super engaged excited areasskills potential reach excellence Try pursue activity excited don’t mind hundred thousand hour practice disabled people ‘There lift success take stairs’ quote may seem unfair disabled people anyone doesn’t enjoy physical activity it’s crucial remember it’s metaphor way imply people disability can’t successful can’t take stair Putting effort may involve physical exertion Putting mental effort another way improve you’re trying learn language become better chess player requires hour mental effort challenging going run climbing mountain you’re wheelchair instead imagine slope roll anything else find challenging Indeed create completely different metaphor better illustrates situation takeaway message putting effort fastest way achieve result Best luck learning Take home message Putting effort fastest way improve reach goal often look shortcut often false promise delaying progress Great performer tend enjoy process know lead result better performance improve it’s essential accept reality change Thanks reading Tags Inspiration Life Lessons Motivation Success Psychology |
2,536 | 13 Digital Marketing Ebooks That Will Help You Achieve Your Online Marketing Goals | It pays to sharpen your skills.
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” — Benjamin Franklin.
If you are in digital marketing space, learning tips and tactics from experts can make a lot of things simpler for you. A lot depends upon you and your understanding of the mediums and strategies.
This week, we put on our reading glasses to bring to you the best digital marketing ebooks. We picked 13 of the best ebooks that can help you manage your strategies better. Check them out:
Influencer marketing, the best strategy for visibility and conversions, can be pretty confusing sometimes.
How can you do influencer marketing successfully? Should you focus on paid influencers or earned influencers?
This book by Jay Baer tries to answer those questions and more.
Jay touches on a lot of other aspects as well. Like the fact that brands need influencers. But influencers need brands so that they are able to develop and post interesting content for their followers.
He talks about the different kinds of influencers (mega, macro and micro), and their impact on marketing and more. Check it out.
This is a very useful ebook for marketers who want to improve their lead generation.
It talks about inbound content marketing. And teaches you how to use it correctly to attract targeted people. Peter discusses social media marketing, and other remarketing tactics for generating leads.
He also talks, in detail, about the internet sales funnel. He teaches you all about advertising on the internet so that you can drive targeted traffic to your website. You will also learn about using dedicated sales-based landing pages.
Kevan Lee and the Buffer team share 25 social media strategies you can use. A social media strategy is more than posting content. You need to work on achieving goals.
In this ebook, there are many actionable tips that can be useful to you as you work on social media.
One tip which Kevin and the team share is about choosing 1–3 areas of expertise to post your content on. Your followers should be able to figure you out easily.
There is also a tip on testing your posting frequency. Find out if posting more than specific times a day is costing you followers. Read it to learn more tips.
It is important that you achieve your marketing goals with the help of your content marketing strategies.
For that, you need to study your data and steer your content marketing efforts in a way that is guided by data.
You need to analyze what content is resulting in what kinds of results, and accordingly plan your strategy.
Hana Abaza explains it all very efficiently in the book. She makes sure you don’t approach content marketing as “hit or miss.”
Instead, use it as a tool to achieve your objectives.
She talks about using data for the content creation process. And she stresses the effectiveness of the process of content distribution.
A/B testing and optimization give marketers a better idea what works for their customers and what doesn’t. They aim at optimizing conversions, which isn’t easy.
There is a lot of experimentation involved.
This expert survival guide contains optimization tips from 30 experts which can guide your own processes as a marketer.
The experts give you tips on avoiding roadblocks and help you take your testing program to the next level.
They tell you what to expect when you plant your optimization strategy.
This book will help you create a smart experiment hypothesis. Which will help you build better testing processes.
Landing page copywriting is so much more than putting a headline and purposeful copy together.
The success of your marketing strategies depend on the success of your landing pages.
Are you able to attract visitors? Or is your copy driving them away?
Joanna Wiebe shares her tips on writing a good landing page. She talks about critical copy elements a landing page must have for conversions.
Read the book to find out about the right elements you must include, clickworthy calls-to-actions, and more.
Marketers who have been tip toeing around influencer marketing should read this ebook by Digital Marketing Consultant Shane Barker to learn all about influencer marketing.
Among other things, this ebook will help you find the right influencers. You need to focus on building long term relationships with your influencers. And Shane tells you how to do it.
He provides compelling pitches and templates that can help you connect for effective influencer outreach. This ebook also provides you a long list of tools that will help you optimize your influencer marketing efforts.
#8. Conversations Not Campaigns by Marketo
This digital marketing ebook talks about the finer nuances of email marketing. “Batch and blast” is not the ideal scenario for marketers. There needs to be personal connect.
You need to address the individual and talk directly to him or her in a personalized way. For success, you need to have conversations while marketing, with emails not blasting email campaigns.
Give your recipients reasons to engage with the messages of your emails, says Marketo. Marketers need to cultivate a relationship-oriented mindset. They need to build relationships on one-to-one basis over a period of time.
Among other things, the ebook tells you about behavioral filters and triggering messages based on behavior.
In this digital marketing ebook, international speaker and writer, Oli Gardner, talks about the, “Attention-Driven” design principle to design persuasive landing pages.
You must make the designs as clutter free as you can. Distractions dilute the main message. Which then hurts the ROI of the campaigns.
Oli Gardner discusses concepts like attention ratios, and how to use designs to prevent the loss of mental energy. Designs that cater to a psychology win. To find out how Interaction design can help you increase conversions, read the book.
#10. The Complete Guide to Social Media For B2B Marketers by Salesforce Pardot
Social media has changed the way we communicate.
The effects of social media has been tremendous on B2B marketers too. They are integrating social media strategies to communicate with both their clients and their prospects.
Navigating the world of social media can be challenging. But this ebook provides the e-marketers tips on leveraging social media.
It tells you all about the metrics that need to be tracked, the type of content best suited for different platforms, and how to drive conversions and engagements through social media.
#11. Successfully Generate Leads To Grow Your Business With Facebook Ads by Adespresso
When the world has latched on to social media platform like Facebook with gusto, it makes sense that you leverage thise platforms for leads.
The reach and targeting options available with Facebook are top notch. You can use Facebook ads to generate leads, and this ebook by Adespresso will help you do just that.
This ebook talks about the different types of lead magnets you can use. It provides tips on driving traffic through lead magnets.
You can learn how to nurture leads. And it will help you build impressive landing pages with the help of different landing page tools.
#12. Instagram For Business For Dummies by Jennifer Herman, Eric Butow, and Corey Walker
Instagram can be leveraged efficiently by businesses to improve brand visibility, lead generation, and conversions.
Businesses can benefit by developing brand narratives about their products and services. And sharing them on Instagram. It will help you connect to your audiences in new ways.
Brands can easily showcase your products and offer an insider’s view to your prospects and customers.
You can work on building your Instagram profile, increasing your reach and engagement, creating contests, and more.
The book provides your business many useful tips on leveraging this powerful platform.
#13. 50 Shades of Growth by Sid Bharath and Danny Halerwich
This is a very useful digital marketing ebook for marketers dealing in ecommerce.
This book provides 50 ecommerce growth hacks which can help you take your business to next level. The book is easy to read and the concepts are explained step-by-step.
This book includes growth hacks from experts who have successfully grown their ecommerce businesses. It includes plenty of useful tips to experiment with and use.
It has a comprehensive list of marketing and optimization tools. And readers can get exclusive deals on these tools too.
Conclusion
The ever-evolving space of digital marketing provides you with plenty of opportunities to learn and grow. There are helpful resources, forums, experts you can reach out to, and conferences that discuss the challenges (and their solutions).
I have brought you this valuable list of digital marketing ebooks which can help you understand the concepts and provide you tips and hacks to do your job as a marketer in a better way.
The best thing is that all these books are completely free. You simply click on the links given to download them so you can read at your convenience.
I hope you find the books useful. Please let us know about any other valuable resources you have found useful. We would love to hear from you.
Originally published at Shanebarker.com. | https://medium.com/the-mission/13-digital-marketing-ebooks-that-will-help-you-achieve-your-online-marketing-goals-5c741b4fb9b5 | ['Shane Barker'] | 2018-06-21 05:05:32.209000+00:00 | ['Marketing Strategies', 'Marketing', 'Digital Marketing', 'Free Ebook', 'Startup'] | Title 13 Digital Marketing Ebooks Help Achieve Online Marketing GoalsContent pay sharpen skill “An investment knowledge pay best interest” — Benjamin Franklin digital marketing space learning tip tactic expert make lot thing simpler lot depends upon understanding medium strategy week put reading glass bring best digital marketing ebooks picked 13 best ebooks help manage strategy better Check Influencer marketing best strategy visibility conversion pretty confusing sometimes influencer marketing successfully focus paid influencers earned influencers book Jay Baer try answer question Jay touch lot aspect well Like fact brand need influencers influencers need brand able develop post interesting content follower talk different kind influencers mega macro micro impact marketing Check useful ebook marketer want improve lead generation talk inbound content marketing teach use correctly attract targeted people Peter discus social medium marketing remarketing tactic generating lead also talk detail internet sale funnel teach advertising internet drive targeted traffic website also learn using dedicated salesbased landing page Kevan Lee Buffer team share 25 social medium strategy use social medium strategy posting content need work achieving goal ebook many actionable tip useful work social medium One tip Kevin team share choosing 1–3 area expertise post content follower able figure easily also tip testing posting frequency Find posting specific time day costing follower Read learn tip important achieve marketing goal help content marketing strategy need study data steer content marketing effort way guided data need analyze content resulting kind result accordingly plan strategy Hana Abaza explains efficiently book make sure don’t approach content marketing “hit miss” Instead use tool achieve objective talk using data content creation process stress effectiveness process content distribution AB testing optimization give marketer better idea work customer doesn’t aim optimizing conversion isn’t easy lot experimentation involved expert survival guide contains optimization tip 30 expert guide process marketer expert give tip avoiding roadblock help take testing program next level tell expect plant optimization strategy book help create smart experiment hypothesis help build better testing process Landing page copywriting much putting headline purposeful copy together success marketing strategy depend success landing page able attract visitor copy driving away Joanna Wiebe share tip writing good landing page talk critical copy element landing page must conversion Read book find right element must include clickworthy callstoactions Marketers tip toeing around influencer marketing read ebook Digital Marketing Consultant Shane Barker learn influencer marketing Among thing ebook help find right influencers need focus building long term relationship influencers Shane tell provides compelling pitch template help connect effective influencer outreach ebook also provides long list tool help optimize influencer marketing effort 8 Conversations Campaigns Marketo digital marketing ebook talk finer nuance email marketing “Batch blast” ideal scenario marketer need personal connect need address individual talk directly personalized way success need conversation marketing email blasting email campaign Give recipient reason engage message email say Marketo Marketers need cultivate relationshiporiented mindset need build relationship onetoone basis period time Among thing ebook tell behavioral filter triggering message based behavior digital marketing ebook international speaker writer Oli Gardner talk “AttentionDriven” design principle design persuasive landing page must make design clutter free Distractions dilute main message hurt ROI campaign Oli Gardner discus concept like attention ratio use design prevent loss mental energy Designs cater psychology win find Interaction design help increase conversion read book 10 Complete Guide Social Media B2B Marketers Salesforce Pardot Social medium changed way communicate effect social medium tremendous B2B marketer integrating social medium strategy communicate client prospect Navigating world social medium challenging ebook provides emarketers tip leveraging social medium tell metric need tracked type content best suited different platform drive conversion engagement social medium 11 Successfully Generate Leads Grow Business Facebook Ads Adespresso world latched social medium platform like Facebook gusto make sense leverage thise platform lead reach targeting option available Facebook top notch use Facebook ad generate lead ebook Adespresso help ebook talk different type lead magnet use provides tip driving traffic lead magnet learn nurture lead help build impressive landing page help different landing page tool 12 Instagram Business Dummies Jennifer Herman Eric Butow Corey Walker Instagram leveraged efficiently business improve brand visibility lead generation conversion Businesses benefit developing brand narrative product service sharing Instagram help connect audience new way Brands easily showcase product offer insider’s view prospect customer work building Instagram profile increasing reach engagement creating contest book provides business many useful tip leveraging powerful platform 13 50 Shades Growth Sid Bharath Danny Halerwich useful digital marketing ebook marketer dealing ecommerce book provides 50 ecommerce growth hack help take business next level book easy read concept explained stepbystep book includes growth hack expert successfully grown ecommerce business includes plenty useful tip experiment use comprehensive list marketing optimization tool reader get exclusive deal tool Conclusion everevolving space digital marketing provides plenty opportunity learn grow helpful resource forum expert reach conference discus challenge solution brought valuable list digital marketing ebooks help understand concept provide tip hack job marketer better way best thing book completely free simply click link given download read convenience hope find book useful Please let u know valuable resource found useful would love hear Originally published ShanebarkercomTags Marketing Strategies Marketing Digital Marketing Free Ebook Startup |
2,537 | About Me — Greyson Alman. American Football Coach/Personal… | Bio
Background
I’m a 30 something-year-old Filipino-American who was born and raised in Southern California.
I got my B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Redlands. (A small liberal arts college in Southern California)
My plan was to become a High School Math Teacher after graduation. Like most of my plans, things did not work out like I originally planned.
American Football
Instead of becoming a teacher immediately after university, I decided to play American Football in Europe for one year first.
As usual, things did not go according to plan.
I ended up playing for three seasons in Europe (2 in Serbia, 1 in Poland)
Then I started coaching after my playing career ended. ( 2 seasons in Poland so far)
Since I have no plans to stop coaching anytime soon, it is safe to say my math teaching career is not likely.
ESL Teacher
In 2016 I was playing American Football in Poland. A language school approached me with an opportunity to teach English as a Second Language.
I immediately fell in love with teaching and have been doing it ever since. (in addition to my playing/coaching career)
Personal Trainer
My borderline obsession with self-improvement led me to become a Certified Personal Trainer.
The overachiever in me did not allow me to stop at one certification.
I have three certifications from the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA): | https://medium.com/about-me-stories/about-me-greyson-alman-8d33d3a15ace | ['Greyson Alman'] | 2020-12-04 01:02:41.672000+00:00 | ['About Me', 'Self', 'Nonfiction', 'Introduction', 'Writing'] | Title — Greyson Alman American Football CoachPersonal…Content Bio Background I’m 30 somethingyearold FilipinoAmerican born raised Southern California got BS Mathematics University Redlands small liberal art college Southern California plan become High School Math Teacher graduation Like plan thing work like originally planned American Football Instead becoming teacher immediately university decided play American Football Europe one year first usual thing go according plan ended playing three season Europe 2 Serbia 1 Poland started coaching playing career ended 2 season Poland far Since plan stop coaching anytime soon safe say math teaching career likely ESL Teacher 2016 playing American Football Poland language school approached opportunity teach English Second Language immediately fell love teaching ever since addition playingcoaching career Personal Trainer borderline obsession selfimprovement led become Certified Personal Trainer overachiever allow stop one certification three certification International Sports Sciences Association ISSATags Self Nonfiction Introduction Writing |
2,538 | 11: Post-traumatic urbanism and radical indigenism | This simple notion — that all your basic everyday needs, from education to commerce to healthcare to culture and so on, are located within 15 minutes walk or bike of your front door — requires a way of thinking, planning, designing, and acting that I was first introduced to in Sydney, almost 15 years ago, by Adrian Lahoud when we were both involved in University of Technology, Sydney (Adrian is now at the Royal College of Art).
Lahoud’s concept of post-traumatic urbanism was based on research into cities like Beirut and Berlin, exploring the super-local infrastructures of everyday life, and the purposeful redundancy built into cities that cannot promise that a bridge, say, will be there from one day to the next. This means not just one large pharmacy or baker or police station, for example, but many small ones, a more dispersed distribution pattern mimicking what network designers would call ‘redundancy’ (if one goes down, there’s another within reach.) In the context of cities, that kind of effectiveness also generates community, health, diversity, and local economy.
This is counter to much of the efficiency logic of recent decades; witness the growth of super-hospitals, versus more distributed patterns of healthcare. This, despite exemplary work like Stroke Pathways demonstrating the folly of that centralised, efficiency-led thinking.
The smart city agenda, somehow still going despite everything, has always been easy to skewer for its efficiency mantra. Cities are not about efficiency, and never have been. The most meaningful urban experiences are generally the most inefficient. But this lack of efficiency is also why they are naturally resilient, if their design patterns follow the purposeful redundancy described above.
Our food systems have been made overly-efficient, via ‘just-in-time’ practices, as the unnecessary panic buying has quickly revealed (just as the Queensland floods did.)
“Think of efficiency as a high-performance engine. Under perfect conditions, it delivers maximum power and minimum waste. However, that very efficiency makes it less robust. Highly efficient systems have no slack, no redundancy, and therefore no resilience and no spare capacity.” — Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 26 March 2020
A post-virus edition of post-traumatic urbanism will be a topic to revive imminently. And yet, well outside of such immediate urban trauma, I’ve used the concept on numerous urban development and city strategy projects, due partly to its simple, graspable common sense, as well as the broader forms of value it can generate. Some version of the idea underpins the recent contribution to the Mayor of London’s strategy for high streets, as well as current projects here in Sweden. It certainly informed the Non-Grid ‘network urbanism’ concepts which worked their way into strategies for major urban developments in Amsterdam and Melbourne.
Again, these are urban patterns we needed to reinforce and reiterate anyway; the virus may force us to move more quickly in that direction.
Cities remain fundamentally resilient, including dense cities. Assuming we move past social distancing, and even the present fear of touch of shared surfaces, we can bring back our sense of cities as threads and knots of social urban spaces, with all the tactility and texture that implies. Perhaps the virus will give us pause to consider how to ensure they are even more resilient, aligning the distributed network urbanism patterns of post-traumatic cities with the post-systems thinking, nature-based infrastructures touched on below. In the post-trauma redesign, if we motivate for it, we may be able head off the much greater urban trauma likely from the climate crisis.
Contrary to some positions that could emerge from a bacteria-centred redesign, this means the very opposite of the concentrated, centralised, securitised, privatised, overly-sanitised places that at least one strain of urban planning and development has been creating over the last few decades. The shorthand for that pattern would be malls, big box retail parks, and global-finance-theme parks like Hudson Yards and the like. This is not a resilient structure; it is not “the green reed which bends in the wind” but “the mighty oak which breaks in a storm”, if you like. Such ‘places’ are horribly exposed at times like this—and thus emptied fairly quickly, and valueless, a stranded asset.
Whereas, outside of their dwellings, many people are currently inhabiting the smaller pockets of space in and around their neighbourhoods: local parks, even just copses or patches of grass or playgrounds; the street corners (talking at a safe distance) of diverse, scaled-well high streets, that can actually speak to and articulate the local communities they sit in; the little knots of interaction that make up a genuine neighbourhood; “a labyrinth of small, intimate territories, a random constellation of stars”, as Aldo Van Eyck wrote about his distributed playground systems for healing the scars of post-WWII-traumatic Amsterdam.
A key text, particularly if we extend the idea to a social life beyond humans
If we built on these themes of open, distributed, decentralised, networked, ‘small pieces loosely joined’, multiplied-many-times with massive diversity and purposeful redundancy, and pivoting around the social life of small urban spaces—organised into Baran webs rather than the Legrand star—we would likely find a far more resilient pattern for city life, and urban growth. If we then fundamentally reorient that around a hugely increased emphasis on biodiversity i.e. not just human-centred design, stretching from the street corners out to the distant fields of agriculture and landscape that support them, we solve for climate, health, social justice, and pandemic simultaneously. That extends the ideas of social life to include the many other natural elements that ‘socialise’ in our cities.
(These patterns, in pre-virus mode, were the essence of the plans and sketches my old team did for Amsterdam districts, which I’ll share in more detail one day.) | https://medium.com/slowdown-papers/11-post-traumatic-urbanism-and-radical-indigenism-c2a21dc7ba69 | ['Dan Hill'] | 2020-04-22 15:32:08.940000+00:00 | ['Cities', 'Design', 'Indigenous', 'Coronavirus', 'Covid 19'] | Title 11 Posttraumatic urbanism radical indigenismContent simple notion — basic everyday need education commerce healthcare culture located within 15 minute walk bike front door — requires way thinking planning designing acting first introduced Sydney almost 15 year ago Adrian Lahoud involved University Technology Sydney Adrian Royal College Art Lahoud’s concept posttraumatic urbanism based research city like Beirut Berlin exploring superlocal infrastructure everyday life purposeful redundancy built city cannot promise bridge say one day next mean one large pharmacy baker police station example many small one dispersed distribution pattern mimicking network designer would call ‘redundancy’ one go there’s another within reach context city kind effectiveness also generates community health diversity local economy counter much efficiency logic recent decade witness growth superhospitals versus distributed pattern healthcare despite exemplary work like Stroke Pathways demonstrating folly centralised efficiencyled thinking smart city agenda somehow still going despite everything always easy skewer efficiency mantra Cities efficiency never meaningful urban experience generally inefficient lack efficiency also naturally resilient design pattern follow purposeful redundancy described food system made overlyefficient via ‘justintime’ practice unnecessary panic buying quickly revealed Queensland flood “Think efficiency highperformance engine perfect condition delivers maximum power minimum waste However efficiency make le robust Highly efficient system slack redundancy therefore resilience spare capacity” — Helen Lewis Atlantic 26 March 2020 postvirus edition posttraumatic urbanism topic revive imminently yet well outside immediate urban trauma I’ve used concept numerous urban development city strategy project due partly simple graspable common sense well broader form value generate version idea underpins recent contribution Mayor London’s strategy high street well current project Sweden certainly informed NonGrid ‘network urbanism’ concept worked way strategy major urban development Amsterdam Melbourne urban pattern needed reinforce reiterate anyway virus may force u move quickly direction Cities remain fundamentally resilient including dense city Assuming move past social distancing even present fear touch shared surface bring back sense city thread knot social urban space tactility texture implies Perhaps virus give u pause consider ensure even resilient aligning distributed network urbanism pattern posttraumatic city postsystems thinking naturebased infrastructure touched posttrauma redesign motivate may able head much greater urban trauma likely climate crisis Contrary position could emerge bacteriacentred redesign mean opposite concentrated centralised securitised privatised overlysanitised place least one strain urban planning development creating last decade shorthand pattern would mall big box retail park globalfinancetheme park like Hudson Yards like resilient structure “the green reed bend wind” “the mighty oak break storm” like ‘places’ horribly exposed time like this—and thus emptied fairly quickly valueless stranded asset Whereas outside dwelling many people currently inhabiting smaller pocket space around neighbourhood local park even copse patch grass playground street corner talking safe distance diverse scaledwell high street actually speak articulate local community sit little knot interaction make genuine neighbourhood “a labyrinth small intimate territory random constellation stars” Aldo Van Eyck wrote distributed playground system healing scar postWWIItraumatic Amsterdam key text particularly extend idea social life beyond human built theme open distributed decentralised networked ‘small piece loosely joined’ multipliedmanytimes massive diversity purposeful redundancy pivoting around social life small urban spaces—organised Baran web rather Legrand star—we would likely find far resilient pattern city life urban growth fundamentally reorient around hugely increased emphasis biodiversity ie humancentred design stretching street corner distant field agriculture landscape support solve climate health social justice pandemic simultaneously extends idea social life include many natural element ‘socialise’ city pattern previrus mode essence plan sketch old team Amsterdam district I’ll share detail one dayTags Cities Design Indigenous Coronavirus Covid 19 |
2,539 | I’m Sad About Animals All The Time | I’m Sad About Animals All The Time
I am a committed animal rights activist, but the feeling of hopelessness I have about this cause is starting to get to me…
Photo by Elmira Gokoryan on Unsplash
Dear Nice Vegan,
I’m a committed animal rights activist. I stopped eating meat when I was seven — moments after my mom explained that chicken was actually, well, chickens — and never looked back, going fully vegan when I was 16. I have attended protests, vigils, and I have an Instagram account devoted to vegan activism (and occasionally a delicious vegan donut). I don’t work full-time for animal rights, but I spend many nights and weekends volunteering for animal-rights organizations, and my social life is dominated by mingling with other activists (usually at protests and vegan events).
My problem is that… I’m really sad. All the time.
I think constantly about the people around me who still eat meat and seemingly approve of the torture and cruelty inflicted on animals by the industrial animal farming industry. I want to scream every time one of my few remaining non-vegan friends posts something about homeless dogs or a petition to stop someone from shooting tigers when they still eat meat every single day. I know I’m alienating people I love (because they’ve told me that I am), but it’s not because I feel like I’m better than them. I just want to help the animals, and I can’t stand that they don’t care.
When I think too much about the scale of the cruelty — billions and billions of animals — I just break down in tears. I’ve been considering therapy, but I’m honestly terrified that they might make fun of me for being so sensitive or just not understand where I’m coming from at all. Do you have any advice for me?
Signed,
Debbie Downer
Dear Debbie,
I really wish I could give you a hug! I want to say first that I can tell from your letter that you are incredibly brave, compassionate, and thoughtful — and I know you’re going to get through this. The feelings you’re having are totally valid, and you’re probably not as alone as you think. Many activists of all types experience this kind of burnout and depression.
I want to start with your last thought first. I do think you should consider seeing a therapist, but I also don’t think your fear about them is unreasonable. Not all doctors are great at understanding outside-of-the-box thinking, and if you make an appointment with the closest therapist on Google, you may indeed find yourself with someone who really doesn’t understand your ethical vegan mindset. What you need is a real human recommendation from someone who’s seen a therapist who might be a good fit for you. This could ideally come from someone in your animal rights circles — I don’t think you necessarily need a vegan therapist specifically, but they do exist and might be even more helpful to you specifically. I know it’s kind of scary to ask people for a therapist recommendation, but it’s way more common than you might think — and anyone worth being friends with is never going to judge you for it. Depending on how shy you’re feeling, you could ask people one on one or just make a post on a local vegan facebook group asking for recommendations.
Don’t be afraid to shop for a therapist that works for you —if you see someone you don’t like, don’t go back! Your therapist should be able to make you feel fairly at ease on your first visit, and sometimes the chemistry is just not right. I know it’s daunting, but I think it will be incredibly worthwhile for you to have a structured way to start working through this with a person you feel you can really truly trust. I definitely know I can’t solve it for you here, but I do have some more ideas.
In general, I think you can and should think about how to look to your existing community for more emotional support. A lot of folks who do the kind of activism and believe in the things you believe in are definitely experiencing similar feelings. Y’all may not be talking about it when you’re on the picket line, but if you have some closer friends who are also involved in activism, I think it’s time to confide in them. My prediction is that you’ll find that many of them are experiencing very similar emotions.
That said, I also think that something which might be key for you here is to figure out how to take real breaks and expand your hobbies to some things that have nothing to do with animal activism at all. If you’re operating an Instagram account and looking at activists’ photos of hurt animals all day and attending protests and volunteering nights and weekend, you’re not leaving a lot of time outside of work to think about anything BUT the animals. And as you’ve realized, that kind of buildup is not actually making you a better advocate — it’s making you feel bitter, resentful, and sad. Before you explode, you need outlets to give your brain and your big, big heart a break from this work so you can come back to it refreshed and renewed when you’re ready.
Think about something you like, or have always been interested in, that truly has nothing to do with animals — seeing live music? Comedy? A pottery class? Whatever it is, try to dedicate at least one night every week to just that. No browsing activist Instagram or participating in discussions on vegan Facebook that night. No trying to convince your new classmates to go vegan or obsessing over the band’s politics. Just let yourself completely enjoy something that isn’t “for the animals,” but is for you. You’re an animal too, after all — live your life enjoying the freedom you think we all deserve. I know you’re a passionate activist who wants to do as much as you can, but you’ll truly be able to do more and better things for animals if you’re balanced.
I don’t have one magical method for making the sadness of caring about animals in a world that doesn’t go away. We all experience it, sometimes in crashing waves or sometimes in small passing moments. What helps me is realizing that I’m not alone (thanks to people like you!), realizing that there are thousands of people dedicated to helping reduce the cruelty we inflict on other species — whether it’s with activism or cooking delicious vegan food or making a place in their home for a rescued pig. Take care of yourself, I need you!
Love,
Summer Anne (A Nice Vegan)
P.S. More tips on self-care for activists at Bitch. | https://medium.com/tenderlymag/ask-a-nice-vegan-im-sad-about-animals-all-the-time-7612ad6b01f0 | ['Summer Anne Burton'] | 2019-10-02 16:01:01.588000+00:00 | ['Mental Health', 'Advice', 'Vegan', 'Equality', 'Burnout'] | Title I’m Sad Animals TimeContent I’m Sad Animals Time committed animal right activist feeling hopelessness cause starting get me… Photo Elmira Gokoryan Unsplash Dear Nice Vegan I’m committed animal right activist stopped eating meat seven — moment mom explained chicken actually well chicken — never looked back going fully vegan 16 attended protest vigil Instagram account devoted vegan activism occasionally delicious vegan donut don’t work fulltime animal right spend many night weekend volunteering animalrights organization social life dominated mingling activist usually protest vegan event problem that… I’m really sad time think constantly people around still eat meat seemingly approve torture cruelty inflicted animal industrial animal farming industry want scream every time one remaining nonvegan friend post something homeless dog petition stop someone shooting tiger still eat meat every single day know I’m alienating people love they’ve told it’s feel like I’m better want help animal can’t stand don’t care think much scale cruelty — billion billion animal — break tear I’ve considering therapy I’m honestly terrified might make fun sensitive understand I’m coming advice Signed Debbie Downer Dear Debbie really wish could give hug want say first tell letter incredibly brave compassionate thoughtful — know you’re going get feeling you’re totally valid you’re probably alone think Many activist type experience kind burnout depression want start last thought first think consider seeing therapist also don’t think fear unreasonable doctor great understanding outsideofthebox thinking make appointment closest therapist Google may indeed find someone really doesn’t understand ethical vegan mindset need real human recommendation someone who’s seen therapist might good fit could ideally come someone animal right circle — don’t think necessarily need vegan therapist specifically exist might even helpful specifically know it’s kind scary ask people therapist recommendation it’s way common might think — anyone worth friend never going judge Depending shy you’re feeling could ask people one one make post local vegan facebook group asking recommendation Don’t afraid shop therapist work —if see someone don’t like don’t go back therapist able make feel fairly ease first visit sometimes chemistry right know it’s daunting think incredibly worthwhile structured way start working person feel really truly trust definitely know can’t solve idea general think think look existing community emotional support lot folk kind activism believe thing believe definitely experiencing similar feeling Y’all may talking you’re picket line closer friend also involved activism think it’s time confide prediction you’ll find many experiencing similar emotion said also think something might key figure take real break expand hobby thing nothing animal activism you’re operating Instagram account looking activists’ photo hurt animal day attending protest volunteering night weekend you’re leaving lot time outside work think anything animal you’ve realized kind buildup actually making better advocate — it’s making feel bitter resentful sad explode need outlet give brain big big heart break work come back refreshed renewed you’re ready Think something like always interested truly nothing animal — seeing live music Comedy pottery class Whatever try dedicate least one night every week browsing activist Instagram participating discussion vegan Facebook night trying convince new classmate go vegan obsessing band’s politics let completely enjoy something isn’t “for animals” You’re animal — live life enjoying freedom think deserve know you’re passionate activist want much you’ll truly able better thing animal you’re balanced don’t one magical method making sadness caring animal world doesn’t go away experience sometimes crashing wave sometimes small passing moment help realizing I’m alone thanks people like realizing thousand people dedicated helping reduce cruelty inflict specie — whether it’s activism cooking delicious vegan food making place home rescued pig Take care need Love Summer Anne Nice Vegan PS tip selfcare activist BitchTags Mental Health Advice Vegan Equality Burnout |
2,540 | The Seven Stages of Writing Grief | More from Susan Orlean Follow
Staff writer, The New Yorker. Author of The Library Book, The Orchid Thief, and more…Head of my very own Literati.com book club (join me!) | https://susanorlean.medium.com/the-seven-stages-of-writing-grief-7cdc9d26ad9 | ['Susan Orlean'] | 2020-12-29 22:25:54.359000+00:00 | ['Writing Tips', 'Journalism', 'First Person', 'Writing'] | Title Seven Stages Writing GriefContent Susan Orlean Follow Staff writer New Yorker Author Library Book Orchid Thief more…Head Literaticom book club join meTags Writing Tips Journalism First Person Writing |
2,541 | Extra Time During the Age of the Virus | Extra Time During the Age of the Virus
Ideas for those who have extra time in these virus times
Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash
First, to those who have no extra time, or who are working as always, thank you! Thank you to the health care workers, grocery store workers, Walmart and Target workers, farmers, distribution center workers, and anyone else who has to work normally or even more than usual.
To those of us who have extra time because of a missing commute, or because we’re laid off, what should we do with the free time?
Maybe it’s not free time because you now have the added duties of homeschooling your kids, or something else. But if you do have more free time, here are some ideas:
What’s the meaning of life? Perhaps try reading straight through the New Testament of the Bible, starting with Matthew, if you haven’t already. Find a job at one of the many places that are hiring! Learn something new! This could be an immediate skill that could be very marketable such as something related to artificial intelligence or software development. There are tons of free places to learn, but you could start with edX where you can audit a course from an Ivy League institution for free! Check it out here. You could also use a site like that to learn (or to learn about) software development, architecture, flying drones, engineering, or robotics. Really anything that could be immediately marketable in the workplace today, or something like AI (artificial intelligence) that could also be valuable in the workplace of tomorrow. What can you be learning that could be make the world a better place as we come out of this pandemic or ever have another one? edX is just one site, there are tons like this. Consider Coursera (free to audit classes), Udacity (free to audit classes), Codecademy (learn programming — coding — for free or pay for it), Udemy, LinkedIn Learning (get a free month), Khan Academy (always free), Pluralsight (free for April), Blinkist (non-fiction book summaries — free for 7 days for new customers, old customers might be free until April 25th: I am), and FutureLearn. Some of these places have discounts, or, better yet, are entirely free! Sometimes you have to look a little to see that things are free (like Coursera) up to the point that you want a certificate or to be graded, and then it would cost money. In many cases you can get all of the skills and knowledge without any cost, or pay a little and opt for the certificate. Take up something old! We still need fun, too. Reach out to an old friend, re-pick up an old hobby, or learn a new hobby. Play games, have fun. Learn or do art, music, history, philosophy, or whatever it might be.
This virus has a horrible cost, and I’m sorry to everyone who is struggling with their health, with worsened health, or with loved ones they’ve lost or who are impacted by the virus. But what if we come out of this much stronger, much smarter, with a greater sense of truth, goodness, the meaning of life, and with a better ability to handle a crisis like this should it ever happen again? What if everyone who is furloughed or laid off either gets back to work right away in essential jobs or learns how to be creative and skills up to learn what they’ve always wanted to learn, or to learn what’s needed to be learned (like machine learning, datascience, deep learning, robotics, and self-driving car technology) in the future of the economy?
Should we make it our goal to hit the ground running when we come out of this? I see this virus as a great reset, and perhaps at the end of it a ton of us will be in a better place than where we once were. Maybe not in terms of economics, or in terms of the people who are no longer with us, but in terms of ourselves. Let’s improve ourselves, somehow. | https://medium.com/predict/extra-time-during-the-age-of-the-virus-39b67154f649 | ['Eric Martin'] | 2020-04-05 16:42:43.152000+00:00 | ['Artificial Intelligence', 'Learning', 'Free Time', 'Coronavirus', 'Extra Time'] | Title Extra Time Age VirusContent Extra Time Age Virus Ideas extra time virus time Photo Aron Visuals Unsplash First extra time working always thank Thank health care worker grocery store worker Walmart Target worker farmer distribution center worker anyone else work normally even usual u extra time missing commute we’re laid free time Maybe it’s free time added duty homeschooling kid something else free time idea What’s meaning life Perhaps try reading straight New Testament Bible starting Matthew haven’t already Find job one many place hiring Learn something new could immediate skill could marketable something related artificial intelligence software development ton free place learn could start edX audit course Ivy League institution free Check could also use site like learn learn software development architecture flying drone engineering robotics Really anything could immediately marketable workplace today something like AI artificial intelligence could also valuable workplace tomorrow learning could make world better place come pandemic ever another one edX one site ton like Consider Coursera free audit class Udacity free audit class Codecademy learn programming — coding — free pay Udemy LinkedIn Learning get free month Khan Academy always free Pluralsight free April Blinkist nonfiction book summary — free 7 day new customer old customer might free April 25th FutureLearn place discount better yet entirely free Sometimes look little see thing free like Coursera point want certificate graded would cost money many case get skill knowledge without cost pay little opt certificate Take something old still need fun Reach old friend repick old hobby learn new hobby Play game fun Learn art music history philosophy whatever might virus horrible cost I’m sorry everyone struggling health worsened health loved one they’ve lost impacted virus come much stronger much smarter greater sense truth goodness meaning life better ability handle crisis like ever happen everyone furloughed laid either get back work right away essential job learns creative skill learn they’ve always wanted learn learn what’s needed learned like machine learning datascience deep learning robotics selfdriving car technology future economy make goal hit ground running come see virus great reset perhaps end ton u better place Maybe term economics term people longer u term Let’s improve somehowTags Artificial Intelligence Learning Free Time Coronavirus Extra Time |
2,542 | There Are 1,385,000 New Articles Posted on Medium Every Month | I kind of stole this title...
I mean, not really. But credit where it’s due. Earlier this week, J.J. Pryor wrote a post about Medium statistics and how much people earn. But in the article, I came across this line…
— There are 1,385,000 new articles posted on Medium every month
What the…?
Seriously? 1,385,000 posts every month? That’s 47,000 posts every day. 1,958 new posts every hour. Tick tock. Another couple thousand posts.
And you wonder why there’s a curation queue? Omg, the poor curators! Can you even imagine having to wade through that amount of content to pick the shiny bright ones from the stinking piles of hot steaming garbage?
How do you even get seen?
A lot of it is crap. And short reads.
Sorry to be so blunt. There’s a lot of content that goes up that no one is ever going to read. I don’t know if people are using content spinners or robots to churn out content but there’s a lot of bad content.
I’m not talking about decent writers who haven’t found their audience yet.
I’m talking about content that’s not readable.
There’s a writer “out there” who pastes in excerpts from public domain works taken off Gutenberg. It never gets any reads. He keeps doing it.
I’m sure there’s a reason people do stuff like that, but I don’t have the mental hijinks to understand why. I shake my head and move on. Don’t even ask me how I know about those people. If you know, don’t say it. Thanks.
Also? Short reads.
There’s a guy who pumps out half a dozen haiku every day. I guess he likes them. I’m not sure that volume makes up for lack of read time. Those 5 line verses aren’t really a one minute read. It’s just that Medium doesn’t log read time under a minute. Know what I mean?
Here’s the thing. Now that Medium brought in “short form content” we might as well use some of that to stay in the feed. But if all you DO is short form? I’m not sure that’s going to go so well.
Point is, most of the competition — isn’t. Know what I mean? It’s just not. But still. 47,000 posts per day. It’s a lot going into the publication feeds.
How do you even get seen?
We writers aren’t writing for ourselves.
I mean, I know we “say” we are. But no. It only starts there, in that we choose what we want to write about. But after that — once we hit publish ?
No one wants to publish to the sound of crickets.
If we really didn’t care if anyone read our writing, we’d be writing in a paper notebook. Or on our computer. For ourselves. Hitting publish means we want readers.
So I started thinking about it. Really. How do people get seen?
7 ways to up the odds of getting seen…
It made me think about how to stand out of the crowd. So I came up with a few ideas. If you have more, feel welcome to add them in the comments.
1. Frequency really helps
Here’s the thing. All those 47,000 posts every day aren’t in one giant feed. What a nightmare that would be.
But no. They’re going up in publication feeds. And they’re going into the feeds of your followers. So that gives you a couple of shots at getting seen.
You can up the odds of visibility through frequency. Tim Denning posted 66 posts in the past month. Many of the top writers post every day.
Some people think that sounds crazy. And it kind of does. But think about it. If you have a job, doesn’t your boss expect you to show up and do some work every day? Yeah. Mine too.
It might mean you do some writing on the weekend. Might mean you need to come up with a system that works for you. But frequency helps.
If you can’t write daily, at least be consistent. Tell your readers when you post. Tell them you’ll be there every Monday and Friday, or whatever.
Caveat — because there’s always one of those. Writing a big volume of crap won’t help. It will do the opposite. People will unfollow and dismiss. Doesn’t matter if a buffet is all you can eat if nothing there is worth eating.
2. You’ve got to be interesting, dammit.
I wish I could say it’s about good writing. But nope. It’s really not.
It’s not about excellent writing. It’s about excellent topics. You can write about your sister in law’s baby shower if you want to, but really, how many people are going to be interested?
The internet isn’t really your diary. Unless your life is really that juicy. The people writing personal experience posts know how to spin it into a story with an actual take away for the reader.
Because it’s not about you. It’s about the reader.
Unless you’re Kim Kardashian. Then nevermind.
But if you’re not a celebrity with millions of snoopy McGee fans that want to know the minutiae of your life? You’re going to have to grab their interest with the topics you pick to write about.
Caveat — don’t lean on meta posts. People don’t go to Business Insider to read articles about how to succeed on Business Insider. That meta thing is big on Medium, and I get it. Like bringing candy to the playground. But it won’t ever get curated, and the curated articles tend to live longer. In my experience.
3. Your title has to kick. serious. butt.
So many writers have lame, lame titles. So weak. If you can figure out how to write great titles, you’re halfway home.
First of all, don’t use titles that read like they belong on a book cover. Think newspaper headlines. Roughly half the people who click the title will read the entire article. So work on titles. The more clicks you get, the more reads.
Also? You have 100 characters with title and subtitle combined. Use them. You can check the character count at: https://charactercounttool.com/
If you really suck at titles, you need to come up with something that work to help you do better.
Here’s one idea. Go grab a list of the titles in the popular reads. Then modify them for your topic.
For example, the #3 article right now is:
The Overwhelming Racism Of COVID Coverage
Make that into a formula. Like so…
The Overwhelming ___________ of __________
You can do the same using titles off news feeds. Or newspapers. Or magazines, or even other content sites.
Here’s another idea. Do what I did. If you’re reading a post and you see a line marked “top highlight” see if you can use that as a title to write about. But give credit for heaven’s sakes. Writers need to give credit when due.
As your titles get better, your views will increase.
4. You need to open strong.
It sucks when you nail the title— but once the reader clicks, you lose them. Poof. Instantly. Because the opening was weak and boring.
Stephen King once said he can spend months or even years figuring out the opening for a new book. If you’re writing online, it’s even more important.
Everyone says headline, headline, headline — but a weak opening can undo all the work you put into crafting the best headline.
The best openings often start with a person the reader can relate to, or a fact they didn’t know and want to know more about.
I was not sorry when my brother died.
That’s the first sentence in Nervous Conditions. You can’t read a sentence like that and not read the next one. See what I mean?
Start strong.
Caveat — use formatting. Please. It doesn’t matter how strong your opening is if you don’t use the enter key (like, ever) and your writing is a wall of text. People bail on that. Too hard to read.
5. You’ve got to be smarter about publications
I wrote an entire post about this so I won’t drone on. I’ll link it at the bottom.
Here’s the reader’s digest version. People click on familiar faces.
If you’re jumping around looking for the magic publication that will give you a whack of views — that’s the recipe for failure. Because you’re not posting to any one publication often enough to become a familiar face.
Think about going to a concert or some place there’s 20,000 people in the audience. You’re not going to recognize someone you’ve only seen once. But magically, you can scan the crowd and spot your co-worker.
Same concept. You need to build familiarity with an audience. More in the article linked at the bottom.
6. Comment. Lots.
How many comments can you write in the time it would take you to write another article? A lot, I bet. Comments are a great way to make an impression on people. When you do that, they often check out your work.
But don’t be trite. Don’t post crap like “nice post” — that’s Facebook junk. You’ll just be ignored. Have conversations. Add something to a discussion.
And don’t be a jerk, running around disagreeing with all the people who have different opinions than you. That will make an impression on people, for sure, but probably not the impression you were hoping to make.
Also? Don’t paste links to your stories into other people’s comments. That’s just tacky and gauche. People see right through that. Might as well just put on your invisibility cloak, because that’s what the end result will be.
Think of Medium as a place for conversations. If people like what you have to say in comments, if you come across as helpful or insightful, they’ll come check out your work.
7. You need to build your own list!
If you’re not building a list, most people will never see your posts. They can’t. It’s not humanly possible. 47,000 posts per day.
I mean, how many people do YOU follow? Do you see all their posts? No.
Reader loyalty is part of the new algorithm, here. You know that, right? When readers “loyally” read your writing, that increases your earnings.
By calculating a share of member reading time, we support authors who write about unique topics and connect with loyal readers. [more info here]
Doesn’t matter how much your readers love your writing, if you don’t show up in their feed and you’re not curated, you might as well be invisible.
It can be a fancy list with opt in and such if you want. But even a digest of your posts sent once a week for people who like your work is helpful. For you and them. I hate when I “miss” posts by my favorite writers.
If you have your own publication, you can send newsletters. But if you’re publishing to other publications — start a list. In the beginning, it will be a lot of work for little result. Count on that. (Ask me how I know)
But as it grows? You’ll start to see that when you send out that digest, you get a real nice bump in traffic. It’s enough to make you truly appreciate those readers. Which is kind of the point, know what I mean?
And it doesn’t even have to cost money. Here’s 5 places to build a list free.
Is it worth the bother?
That’s what I’ve heard people ask. There’s so much competition here, is it even worth the bother to try to get some visibility.
2 years ago, Medium was getting 90 million unique visitors per month.
Today? Medium gets around 416 million visits per month. You know anywhere else that draws that many readers? I mean sure — instagram has a ton of traffic. Facebook, too.
But here, they’re all self identified readers.
What more could a writer ask for?
Yes, it’s hard work. Hard, hard work. You’re going to have to work your butt off. Learn to write more compelling. Create stronger titles.
That which is “easy” and that which is “worth it” are seldom the same.
The numbers boggle my mind. 47,000 posts a day is a lot of competition. A lot. Staggering. But still — 416 million visits per month.
Even a small piece of that pie would taste so lovely. Right? | https://medium.com/linda-caroll/there-are-1-385-000-new-articles-posted-on-medium-every-month-37f988c31b64 | ['Linda Caroll'] | 2020-09-18 14:46:12.964000+00:00 | ['Self', 'Self Growth', 'Inspiration', 'Marketing', 'Writing'] | Title 1385000 New Articles Posted Medium Every MonthContent kind stole title mean really credit it’s due Earlier week JJ Pryor wrote post Medium statistic much people earn article came across line… — 1385000 new article posted Medium every month the… Seriously 1385000 post every month That’s 47000 post every day 1958 new post every hour Tick tock Another couple thousand post wonder there’s curation queue Omg poor curator even imagine wade amount content pick shiny bright one stinking pile hot steaming garbage even get seen lot crap short read Sorry blunt There’s lot content go one ever going read don’t know people using content spinner robot churn content there’s lot bad content I’m talking decent writer haven’t found audience yet I’m talking content that’s readable There’s writer “out there” paste excerpt public domain work taken Gutenberg never get read keep I’m sure there’s reason people stuff like don’t mental hijinks understand shake head move Don’t even ask know people know don’t say Thanks Also Short read There’s guy pump half dozen haiku every day guess like I’m sure volume make lack read time 5 line verse aren’t really one minute read It’s Medium doesn’t log read time minute Know mean Here’s thing Medium brought “short form content” might well use stay feed short form I’m sure that’s going go well Point competition — isn’t Know mean It’s still 47000 post per day It’s lot going publication feed even get seen writer aren’t writing mean know “say” start choose want write — hit publish one want publish sound cricket really didn’t care anyone read writing we’d writing paper notebook computer Hitting publish mean want reader started thinking Really people get seen 7 way odds getting seen… made think stand crowd came idea feel welcome add comment 1 Frequency really help Here’s thing 47000 post every day aren’t one giant feed nightmare would They’re going publication feed they’re going feed follower give couple shot getting seen odds visibility frequency Tim Denning posted 66 post past month Many top writer post every day people think sound crazy kind think job doesn’t bos expect show work every day Yeah Mine might mean writing weekend Might mean need come system work frequency help can’t write daily least consistent Tell reader post Tell you’ll every Monday Friday whatever Caveat — there’s always one Writing big volume crap won’t help opposite People unfollow dismiss Doesn’t matter buffet eat nothing worth eating 2 You’ve got interesting dammit wish could say it’s good writing nope It’s really It’s excellent writing It’s excellent topic write sister law’s baby shower want really many people going interested internet isn’t really diary Unless life really juicy people writing personal experience post know spin story actual take away reader it’s It’s reader Unless you’re Kim Kardashian nevermind you’re celebrity million snoopy McGee fan want know minutia life You’re going grab interest topic pick write Caveat — don’t lean meta post People don’t go Business Insider read article succeed Business Insider meta thing big Medium get Like bringing candy playground won’t ever get curated curated article tend live longer experience 3 title kick serious butt many writer lame lame title weak figure write great title you’re halfway home First don’t use title read like belong book cover Think newspaper headline Roughly half people click title read entire article work title click get read Also 100 character title subtitle combined Use check character count httpscharactercounttoolcom really suck title need come something work help better Here’s one idea Go grab list title popular read modify topic example 3 article right Overwhelming Racism COVID Coverage Make formula Like so… Overwhelming using title news feed newspaper magazine even content site Here’s another idea you’re reading post see line marked “top highlight” see use title write give credit heaven’s sake Writers need give credit due title get better view increase 4 need open strong suck nail title— reader click lose Poof Instantly opening weak boring Stephen King said spend month even year figuring opening new book you’re writing online it’s even important Everyone say headline headline headline — weak opening undo work put crafting best headline best opening often start person reader relate fact didn’t know want know sorry brother died That’s first sentence Nervous Conditions can’t read sentence like read next one See mean Start strong Caveat — use formatting Please doesn’t matter strong opening don’t use enter key like ever writing wall text People bail hard read 5 You’ve got smarter publication wrote entire post won’t drone I’ll link bottom Here’s reader’s digest version People click familiar face you’re jumping around looking magic publication give whack view — that’s recipe failure you’re posting one publication often enough become familiar face Think going concert place there’s 20000 people audience You’re going recognize someone you’ve seen magically scan crowd spot coworker concept need build familiarity audience article linked bottom 6 Comment Lots many comment write time would take write another article lot bet Comments great way make impression people often check work don’t trite Don’t post crap like “nice post” — that’s Facebook junk You’ll ignored conversation Add something discussion don’t jerk running around disagreeing people different opinion make impression people sure probably impression hoping make Also Don’t paste link story people’s comment That’s tacky gauche People see right Might well put invisibility cloak that’s end result Think Medium place conversation people like say comment come across helpful insightful they’ll come check work 7 need build list you’re building list people never see post can’t It’s humanly possible 47000 post per day mean many people follow see post Reader loyalty part new algorithm know right reader “loyally” read writing increase earnings calculating share member reading time support author write unique topic connect loyal reader info Doesn’t matter much reader love writing don’t show feed you’re curated might well invisible fancy list opt want even digest post sent week people like work helpful hate “miss” post favorite writer publication send newsletter you’re publishing publication — start list beginning lot work little result Count Ask know grows You’ll start see send digest get real nice bump traffic It’s enough make truly appreciate reader kind point know mean doesn’t even cost money Here’s 5 place build list free worth bother That’s I’ve heard people ask There’s much competition even worth bother try get visibility 2 year ago Medium getting 90 million unique visitor per month Today Medium get around 416 million visit per month know anywhere else draw many reader mean sure — instagram ton traffic Facebook they’re self identified reader could writer ask Yes it’s hard work Hard hard work You’re going work butt Learn write compelling Create stronger title “easy” “worth it” seldom number boggle mind 47000 post day lot competition lot Staggering still — 416 million visit per month Even small piece pie would taste lovely RightTags Self Self Growth Inspiration Marketing Writing |
2,543 | The 3 Realizations That Happen During A Spiritual Awakening | The beginning of a spiritual awakening is often a crude ending.
Though we imagine it to be a serene process through which we become acquainted with our innermost selves, it is often the opposite. This process does not comfort you to rest, it awakens you with a fire.
Most people embark on their awakening journey in the aftermath of what is referred to as a catalyst event: a breakup, job loss, or the passing of a beloved family member. It’s at this moment that our discomfort reaches a tipping point, and we are forced to reconcile the fact that we can no longer go on as we are.
It’s at this point that we often start searching: for truth, for dogma, for information, for knowledge, but mostly, for ourselves. What do we want, and what will it take to get it? Must we live like this forever? Is there a better, easier way to approach the world and our role in it?
A true spiritual awakening typically happens in three parts, and the realizations usually occur in the following order.
1. Something needs to change and I must be the one to change it.
The first and most formidable step is really a wake-up call. It’s the moment at which we realize that something in our lives needs to be amended, shifted or eliminated, and we are the ones responsible for making sure that happens.
The very first step of an awakening is the assumption of responsibility. When we recognize that nobody else will change our lives, nor is it their job to, we begin the important (albeit humbling) work of doing it on our own.
2. My habits, beliefs and behaviors are creating my life experience.
Once we do take responsibility for our lives and begin to make positive changes, another truth becomes clear: our habits, beliefs and behaviors are creating if not at minimum influencing our life experience more than any external circumstance is.
When we start to reclaim our power, we recognize that our potential is truly limitless, and we can create precisely the type of life we dream of having. The process of waking up is akin to realizing that we fell asleep in the driver’s seat, but we’re still behind the wheel.
3. I can use my power for the greater good.
When we recognize just how much power we have to create what we want to experience in life, we often use it to solve our own problems first.
However, the final step of a spiritual awakening is when we recognize that we want to use our newfound power for the sake of the greater good. When we only want to help ourselves, we have found our egos. When we want to help others, we have found our souls.
The way we may go about doing this varies. We may simply want to share information that will help others heal and improve themselves. We may want to show others greater compassion, or even embark on philanthropic work. In other cases, we may simply shift our careers or our spare time to get involved in activities and practices that promote wellbeing.
Regardless, it’s this three step process that leads people from lives of deep frustration and regret to empowerment and fulfillment. | https://briaeliza.medium.com/the-3-realizations-that-happen-during-a-spiritual-awakening-654793e94c41 | ['Brianna Wiest'] | 2020-01-08 14:56:41.503000+00:00 | ['Spirituality', 'Life Lessons', 'Motivation', 'Psychology', 'Self Improvement'] | Title 3 Realizations Happen Spiritual AwakeningContent beginning spiritual awakening often crude ending Though imagine serene process become acquainted innermost self often opposite process comfort rest awakens fire people embark awakening journey aftermath referred catalyst event breakup job loss passing beloved family member It’s moment discomfort reach tipping point forced reconcile fact longer go It’s point often start searching truth dogma information knowledge mostly want take get Must live like forever better easier way approach world role true spiritual awakening typically happens three part realization usually occur following order 1 Something need change must one change first formidable step really wakeup call It’s moment realize something life need amended shifted eliminated one responsible making sure happens first step awakening assumption responsibility recognize nobody else change life job begin important albeit humbling work 2 habit belief behavior creating life experience take responsibility life begin make positive change another truth becomes clear habit belief behavior creating minimum influencing life experience external circumstance start reclaim power recognize potential truly limitless create precisely type life dream process waking akin realizing fell asleep driver’s seat we’re still behind wheel 3 use power greater good recognize much power create want experience life often use solve problem first However final step spiritual awakening recognize want use newfound power sake greater good want help found ego want help others found soul way may go varies may simply want share information help others heal improve may want show others greater compassion even embark philanthropic work case may simply shift career spare time get involved activity practice promote wellbeing Regardless it’s three step process lead people life deep frustration regret empowerment fulfillmentTags Spirituality Life Lessons Motivation Psychology Self Improvement |
2,544 | Wow, I Reached 7,000 Followers on Medium! | One thing I don’t often pay much attention to on Medium is my number of followers.
Because there’s something kind of strange about the number of followers you have on Medium: at the end of the day… it doesn’t matter a whole lot.
When you have a few thousand followers on Twitter, theoretically up to a few thousand people who follow you might see your latest tweet you send into the universe. Sure, most of them won’t, but at least the thought is there. I mean, if you have a couple million followers and you tweet something, people are definitely going to see it!
Medium works a little differently. If you create a publication and people follow it, then yes, that makes a difference because you can e-mail Newsletters to those followers and keep them up to date about your latest Medium stories.
A follower to your publication is a huge deal. Lots more important, I think, than a follower of just you. A follower of just you is basically a nod saying you’re doing good work, I like what you’re writing, you have been helpful to me, keep it up!
When I follow another writer, it’s for no other reason than to say, I like what you’re doing here on Medium. | https://medium.com/the-partnered-pen/wow-i-reached-7-000-followers-on-medium-952f2fd0d0f9 | ['Brian Rowe'] | 2020-10-06 16:27:09.091000+00:00 | ['Medium', 'Success', 'Followers', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Writing'] | Title Wow Reached 7000 Followers MediumContent One thing don’t often pay much attention Medium number follower there’s something kind strange number follower Medium end day… doesn’t matter whole lot thousand follower Twitter theoretically thousand people follow might see latest tweet send universe Sure won’t least thought mean couple million follower tweet something people definitely going see Medium work little differently create publication people follow yes make difference email Newsletters follower keep date latest Medium story follower publication huge deal Lots important think follower follower basically nod saying you’re good work like you’re writing helpful keep follow another writer it’s reason say like you’re MediumTags Medium Success Followers Entrepreneurship Writing |
2,545 | Why is Blockchain NOT the challenge but the SOLUTION to sustainable energy | 1. Decentralized energy supply system and household participation
One of the most special opportunities that Blockchain brings to the energy sector is that it encourages the growth of electricity ‘prosumers’. Prosumers refers to households that are able to generate electricity or become the supplier of electricity, for example, by having a solar panel installed in their buildings. By putting consumers at the heart of the system, both renewable energy consumption and production can be enhanced, creating a positive feedback loop that accelerates the transformation of society from non-renewable to renewable energy in a self-sustaining way. In order to bring such a system to reality, there need to be an incentive mechanism, for instance, prosumers should expect to be rewarded with positive return from investing in installing a solar panel. However, in the current electricity supply system, the challenge is not only that there isn’t a trusted platform to facilitate household electricity transactions, but also the fact that multiple intermediaries and complexity in regulatory compliance cuts the potential income for households from engaging in electricity trades. Many governors and scholars in this field have recognized the need for changes, in 2017 the European Union’s Clean Energy Package was implemented, with a set of rules on household energy producing, storage and trading, aiming to encourage consumers to actively participate in electricity trading. Academic literature has extensively focused on improving the market design by establishing local storage systems into national operations of power systems, nevertheless, progress is slow and we haven’t seen significant changes in the past few years.
This is where a decentralized Blockchain system could come into play.
Firstly and most importantly, Blockchain Technology could create a trustless network to encourage Peer to Peer (P2P) electricity transactions. In any P2P transaction, trust between parties are extremely important. If we think about how Uber, Airbnb have built up their P2P exchange system, parties involved in the transaction have trust in the paring and verification mechanisms of the platform, for example, the registration process to become a Uber driver. Blockchain technology provides an even stronger ‘trustless’ system, where you don’t have to trust the counterparty, but only the technology. By offering cryptographic ways of tracking transactions, the transparency in terms of transaction records and anonymity in terms of personal information are both enhanced. Without a centralized control, identical databases that records each and every transaction ( in an encrypted form) are stored in the device of every player involved, and in order for a transaction to be recorded, all parties need to reach consensus and validate the transaction.
image source: unsplash
“Historically, although there are some exceptions, people tended not to share with strangers or those outside their social networks. Sharing was confined to trusted individuals such as family, friends and neighbours. Today’s sharing platforms facilitate sharing among people who do not know each other, and who lack friends or connections in common.” (Frenken and Schor, 2017).
Furthermore, through the use of a distributed ledger system, many intermediaries are removed from the transaction, a pure peer to peer transaction is possible to achieve. This reduces cost and time of transaction, increasing the “profit margin” and incentive for households to engage in energy trading activities.
We have already seen practical implementations in many countries around the globe, both startups and traditional large energy suppliers are actively pushing for such a revolution. For instance, in 2018, Centrica- the owner of British Gas worked with a American startup to initiate an energy sharing project for their Local Energy Market. The project aims to enable trading of energy between local businesses, consumers, the national grid and other participants in the UK.
Another well-known case is the Australian startup “Power Ledger”. It uses a blockchain-based network to establish a peer to peer energy trading platform. Some of its key benefits include real-time payment, automated low cost settlement, neighborhoods trading, transparent trading information and much more. One of the most interesting features of Power Ledger is that it comprises of both a permissioned and a permissionless blockchain infrastructure. The permissionless blockchain operates on a global scale to allow international market trading, whereas the permissioned blockchain operates among local trusted peers. The platform also uses two tokens as assets: one called “POWR” — which is used to access the global P2P trading market, while the other one — “Sparkz” usually functions in the local network as the trading currency, representing the electricity price and the local “real-world” currency. In combination, the system ensures value via “POWR” tokens and facilitates exchange through “Sparkz” .
Other P2P electricity trading startups and projects you could explore include:
Apart from solar panels, another active field is electric vehicle charging. Sales of electricity vehicles is increasing dramatically year on year. Overall sales of Tesla’s Electric vehicle is expected to surpass 10 million by 2025, and responding to such a trend, the demand for charging stations will scale up exponentially. This puts pressure on the national electricity grid as millions of drivers demand for energy flows to charge their cars at the same time. The idea of ‘distributed’ charging stations matches well with blockchain’s characteristics, it could play a key role in improving the coordination of a distributed charging network by allowing any owner of EV charger to be a supplier. The use of blockchain smart contract enables trusted payment and transaction to be made between individual EV owners and EV charger providers who are unknown to each other.
image source: unsplash
The Share & Charge project initiated by Slock.it is an example of P2P EV charging station project, allowing households owning charging stations to provide charging services to drivers. It could benefit the ‘suppliers’ by recouping the cost of their investment, while broadening the geographical coverage of EV charging stations to benefit the drivers. The app has been available since the 28th of April for charging stations located in Germany. | https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/why-is-blockchain-not-the-challenge-but-the-solution-to-sustainable-energy-e3265a42a61a | ['Americana Chen'] | 2020-12-28 12:47:21.101000+00:00 | ['Energy', 'Blockchain', 'Technology', 'Sustainability', 'Renewable Energy'] | Title Blockchain challenge SOLUTION sustainable energyContent 1 Decentralized energy supply system household participation One special opportunity Blockchain brings energy sector encourages growth electricity ‘prosumers’ Prosumers refers household able generate electricity become supplier electricity example solar panel installed building putting consumer heart system renewable energy consumption production enhanced creating positive feedback loop accelerates transformation society nonrenewable renewable energy selfsustaining way order bring system reality need incentive mechanism instance prosumers expect rewarded positive return investing installing solar panel However current electricity supply system challenge isn’t trusted platform facilitate household electricity transaction also fact multiple intermediary complexity regulatory compliance cut potential income household engaging electricity trade Many governor scholar field recognized need change 2017 European Union’s Clean Energy Package implemented set rule household energy producing storage trading aiming encourage consumer actively participate electricity trading Academic literature extensively focused improving market design establishing local storage system national operation power system nevertheless progress slow haven’t seen significant change past year decentralized Blockchain system could come play Firstly importantly Blockchain Technology could create trustless network encourage Peer Peer P2P electricity transaction P2P transaction trust party extremely important think Uber Airbnb built P2P exchange system party involved transaction trust paring verification mechanism platform example registration process become Uber driver Blockchain technology provides even stronger ‘trustless’ system don’t trust counterparty technology offering cryptographic way tracking transaction transparency term transaction record anonymity term personal information enhanced Without centralized control identical database record every transaction encrypted form stored device every player involved order transaction recorded party need reach consensus validate transaction image source unsplash “Historically although exception people tended share stranger outside social network Sharing confined trusted individual family friend neighbour Today’s sharing platform facilitate sharing among people know lack friend connection common” Frenken Schor 2017 Furthermore use distributed ledger system many intermediary removed transaction pure peer peer transaction possible achieve reduces cost time transaction increasing “profit margin” incentive household engage energy trading activity already seen practical implementation many country around globe startup traditional large energy supplier actively pushing revolution instance 2018 Centrica owner British Gas worked American startup initiate energy sharing project Local Energy Market project aim enable trading energy local business consumer national grid participant UK Another wellknown case Australian startup “Power Ledger” us blockchainbased network establish peer peer energy trading platform key benefit include realtime payment automated low cost settlement neighborhood trading transparent trading information much One interesting feature Power Ledger comprises permissioned permissionless blockchain infrastructure permissionless blockchain operates global scale allow international market trading whereas permissioned blockchain operates among local trusted peer platform also us two token asset one called “POWR” — used access global P2P trading market one — “Sparkz” usually function local network trading currency representing electricity price local “realworld” currency combination system ensures value via “POWR” token facilitates exchange “Sparkz” P2P electricity trading startup project could explore include Apart solar panel another active field electric vehicle charging Sales electricity vehicle increasing dramatically year year Overall sale Tesla’s Electric vehicle expected surpass 10 million 2025 responding trend demand charging station scale exponentially put pressure national electricity grid million driver demand energy flow charge car time idea ‘distributed’ charging station match well blockchain’s characteristic could play key role improving coordination distributed charging network allowing owner EV charger supplier use blockchain smart contract enables trusted payment transaction made individual EV owner EV charger provider unknown image source unsplash Share Charge project initiated Slockit example P2P EV charging station project allowing household owning charging station provide charging service driver could benefit ‘suppliers’ recouping cost investment broadening geographical coverage EV charging station benefit driver app available since 28th April charging station located GermanyTags Energy Blockchain Technology Sustainability Renewable Energy |
2,546 | Project: Quick & dirty | Project: Quick & dirty
Dijkstra would not like it
“I mean, if 10 years from now, when you are doing something quick and dirty, you suddenly visualize that I am looking over your shoulders and say to yourself “Dijkstra would not have liked this”, well, that would be enough immortality for me.” — Edsger W. Dijkstra, both leader in the pursuit of simplicity and the abolition of the GOTO statement from programming.
Nine times out of ten, when you ask managers to pick among different implementation options, they answer:
The simpler.
which is a shy way to say:
The quicker.
which sounds frustrating as if they didn’t pick attention to the pros and cons you just described, as if the only criterion was speed. All they have in mind at this time is the next delivery date and they just compare two short-term costs:
cost (quick) < cost (clean)
Which is usually true. However this is using the “quick” part of the equation only. The full equation goes like this:
cost (quickAndDirty)
= cost (quick)
+ cost (dirty)
What is cost (dirty) exactly? It is the time developers will spend to re-write or refactor the quick code in a way that it is maintainable, so that further developments will not slow down.
However, as that cleanup operation implies re-writing (i.e. dumping the quick code and replacing it by the clean version), we can state that:
cost (quickAndDirty)
= cost (quick)
+ cost (clean)
and so that:
cost (quickAndDirty) > cost (clean)
Impact over time
To illustrate this approach and alternatives, we built a model to simulate:
the cost (time spent) of development ;
(time spent) of development ; the technical debt , which is the sum of all quick code ;
, which is the sum of all quick code ; the codebase maintainability , i.e. the ability to read/understand it and change it.
, i.e. the ability to read/understand it and change it. the delivery pace as the amount of features shipped without regressions.
Even when coded “cleanly” (debt is zero here), the complexity of the built software increases over time along with the code size (accumulation of new features delivered). Without regular refactoring, the maintainability decreases as the code gets more and more complex and the cost of adding new features in such a poor code increases. The curve of delivery flattens and in the end you cannot deliver anymore (logarithmic scales are used here to better show evolutions over time).
Now let’s look at the worse-case scenario of doing only quick & dirty development instead of clean ones:
As the technical debt increases, maintainability decreases half earlier, down to a level where no delivery can be done anymore (flatline of shipping) as the code got too hard to maintain without breaking things. The cost of development curve steepens for the same reasons: because of the poor quality code, it takes longer and longer to produce new features without breaking existing ones.
So even with speed as the single criterion, we can see that repeated local speed (the “quick” part with “dirty” effects) impairs global speed (delivery pace).
When to handle technical debt?
Actually the cost of a technical debt can only be accounted to a subsequent development iteration (which makes it even less noticeable at start). This can be the immediate next one:
cost (quickNDirt1)
= cost (quick1) cost (cleanDev2)
= cost (dirty1)
+ cost (dev2)
In that scenario systematic immediate cleanup of the dirty code make things better:
With systematic cleanup the debt never increases more than one iteration. Maintainability gets jagged (because of each dirty-then-cleanup cycle) but keeps an acceptable level longer, allowing to deliver longer as well. Cost is sometimes higher tough, as cleaning is more costly (=2) than dirtying (=1).
However cleanup phases (accounted as the “cost of dirty”) can also be delayed (they are often), and occur to some later iteration:
cost (quickNDirt1)
= cost (quick1) cost (dev2)
= cost (dev2) cost (cleanDev3)
= cost (dirty1)
+ cost (dev3)
But each new quick & dirty code in the interim will add up to the debt:
cost (quickNDirt1)
= cost (quick1) cost (quickNDirt2)
= cost (quick2) cost (cleanDev3)
= cost (dirty1)
+ cost (dirty2)
+ cost (dev3)
Now let’s test a fool hypothesis: could letting the debt increase be beneficial in any way?
Not resolving all the debt makes it increase progressively. The cost saved by not cleaning up all the debt (quick dev) is actually increased by the bad consequences on maintainability, which falls earlier, thus impairing the delivery capability more quickly.
This doesn’t seem to be a good solution as increasing letting the debt grow costs you more in the end (as any debt does). One could say that you pay maintainability “interests” in this case.
Even clean code requires refactoring
But that is not enough. As we saw in the first graph, writing only “clean” code warrants a good delivery but still at an increasing cost, because even clean code requires periodic refactoring so that new features can be integrated, not just as additions (thus adding complexity), but merged into concepts shared by the whole codebase. You can see that as keeping a room clean but, as new furnitures are added in, wanting to move or replace some of them to make the whole thing more practicable.
Once again, even if refactoring is costly, it should be seen as beneficial to the whole project’s maintainability (and so lifespan). Thus, on the long run, the cost of refactoring will be balanced by the increased maintainability:
Avoiding quick & dirty to avoid debt is not enough: another kind of “implicit” debt with the increasing complexity of the product, and adding periodic refactorings allow to mitigate the loss of maintainability while keeping a good delivery pace, while not making costs worse.
Now, what if the quick & dirty + cleanup (the other “no debt” approach) would include such periodic refactoring as well?
Quick & dirty, if cleaned up, look similar to the clean code approach when including refactorings, but is a bit more costly and fails in maintainability earlier, because of the time lost in a subsequent cleaning up iteration (instead of writing clean version directly). As a result, delivery is less optimal.
Conclusion
Maintainability is a key factor of project development as it impacts both delivery capability and cost. Poor maintainability also have more unacknowledged effects such as bad stability (i.e. more regressions as the code is getting obscure) and developers productivity (coding is getting harder and more stressful).
In real life, quick & dirty iterations cannot be avoided for both business reasons (deliver a feature to sign a contract typically) and developers laziness (“but it works” attitude) but their effect is detrimental on maintainability.
The only way to mitigate the maintainability damage of quick & dirty iterations is to compensate them by “cleanup” iterations. However, because those cleanup additional iterations result in time loss, cleaned-up quick & dirty code can be summed up as “clean code in twice iterations”.
However, another dimension of maintainability loss is the “natural” tendency of any code to get more complex (and so less maintainable) as it gets bigger and bigger (as a result of features additions). That means that any “no debt” approach (either “quick & dirty + cleanup” or “clean”) require periodic refactoring to keep a reasonable maintainability rate.
In the end, both the amount of quick & dirty and refactoring iterations will dictate the product life expectancy, that is, the time when the code base will be deemed not maintainable anymore and will stop the delivery capability. At this point the only options will be either product freeze/discontinuation or full rewrite. As the old saying goes:
— Why refactor it, since we’ll rewrite it from scratch in two years? — To avoid rewriting it from scratch in two years.
The approach of your choice will dictate how long your product is expected to live. | https://javarome.medium.com/project-quick-dirty-6d2ca4a8eddb | ['Jérôme Beau'] | 2020-10-13 09:22:53.730000+00:00 | ['Development', 'Project Management', 'Programming', 'Design', 'Quality'] | Title Project Quick dirtyContent Project Quick dirty Dijkstra would like “I mean 10 year something quick dirty suddenly visualize looking shoulder say “Dijkstra would liked this” well would enough immortality me” — Edsger W Dijkstra leader pursuit simplicity abolition GOTO statement programming Nine time ten ask manager pick among different implementation option answer simpler shy way say quicker sound frustrating didn’t pick attention pro con described criterion speed mind time next delivery date compare two shortterm cost cost quick cost clean usually true However using “quick” part equation full equation go like cost quickAndDirty cost quick cost dirty cost dirty exactly time developer spend rewrite refactor quick code way maintainable development slow However cleanup operation implies rewriting ie dumping quick code replacing clean version state cost quickAndDirty cost quick cost clean cost quickAndDirty cost clean Impact time illustrate approach alternative built model simulate cost time spent development time spent development technical debt sum quick code sum quick code codebase maintainability ie ability readunderstand change ie ability readunderstand change delivery pace amount feature shipped without regression Even coded “cleanly” debt zero complexity built software increase time along code size accumulation new feature delivered Without regular refactoring maintainability decrease code get complex cost adding new feature poor code increase curve delivery flattens end cannot deliver anymore logarithmic scale used better show evolution time let’s look worsecase scenario quick dirty development instead clean one technical debt increase maintainability decrease half earlier level delivery done anymore flatline shipping code got hard maintain without breaking thing cost development curve steepens reason poor quality code take longer longer produce new feature without breaking existing one even speed single criterion see repeated local speed “quick” part “dirty” effect impairs global speed delivery pace handle technical debt Actually cost technical debt accounted subsequent development iteration make even le noticeable start immediate next one cost quickNDirt1 cost quick1 cost cleanDev2 cost dirty1 cost dev2 scenario systematic immediate cleanup dirty code make thing better systematic cleanup debt never increase one iteration Maintainability get jagged dirtythencleanup cycle keep acceptable level longer allowing deliver longer well Cost sometimes higher tough cleaning costly 2 dirtying 1 However cleanup phase accounted “cost dirty” also delayed often occur later iteration cost quickNDirt1 cost quick1 cost dev2 cost dev2 cost cleanDev3 cost dirty1 cost dev3 new quick dirty code interim add debt cost quickNDirt1 cost quick1 cost quickNDirt2 cost quick2 cost cleanDev3 cost dirty1 cost dirty2 cost dev3 let’s test fool hypothesis could letting debt increase beneficial way resolving debt make increase progressively cost saved cleaning debt quick dev actually increased bad consequence maintainability fall earlier thus impairing delivery capability quickly doesn’t seem good solution increasing letting debt grow cost end debt One could say pay maintainability “interests” case Even clean code requires refactoring enough saw first graph writing “clean” code warrant good delivery still increasing cost even clean code requires periodic refactoring new feature integrated addition thus adding complexity merged concept shared whole codebase see keeping room clean new furniture added wanting move replace make whole thing practicable even refactoring costly seen beneficial whole project’s maintainability lifespan Thus long run cost refactoring balanced increased maintainability Avoiding quick dirty avoid debt enough another kind “implicit” debt increasing complexity product adding periodic refactorings allow mitigate loss maintainability keeping good delivery pace making cost worse quick dirty cleanup “no debt” approach would include periodic refactoring well Quick dirty cleaned look similar clean code approach including refactorings bit costly fails maintainability earlier time lost subsequent cleaning iteration instead writing clean version directly result delivery le optimal Conclusion Maintainability key factor project development impact delivery capability cost Poor maintainability also unacknowledged effect bad stability ie regression code getting obscure developer productivity coding getting harder stressful real life quick dirty iteration cannot avoided business reason deliver feature sign contract typically developer laziness “but works” attitude effect detrimental maintainability way mitigate maintainability damage quick dirty iteration compensate “cleanup” iteration However cleanup additional iteration result time loss cleanedup quick dirty code summed “clean code twice iterations” However another dimension maintainability loss “natural” tendency code get complex le maintainable get bigger bigger result feature addition mean “no debt” approach either “quick dirty cleanup” “clean” require periodic refactoring keep reasonable maintainability rate end amount quick dirty refactoring iteration dictate product life expectancy time code base deemed maintainable anymore stop delivery capability point option either product freezediscontinuation full rewrite old saying go — refactor since we’ll rewrite scratch two year — avoid rewriting scratch two year approach choice dictate long product expected liveTags Development Project Management Programming Design Quality |
2,547 | How And When To Write In Layers | Every writer faces that difficult scene.
You know the one I’m talking about. You know what needs to happen in that scene, how it should play out, but when it comes to getting it down on paper, you sit staring at the screen.
For me, this often happens during action scenes.
I always worry that I’m not going to give enough detail, or the sequence will be muddy and the reader won’t be able to follow along.
One of the tricks I have found when facing this situation is to write in layers.
Writing in layers
Every scene consists of three main components. Dialogue, action, and description.
Now, think about what your strengths and weaknesses are.
For me, dialogue comes easy. I am always at a loss as to what I should add in for description.
Start with your strength.
Write out the entire scene using what ever you are strong at. For example (a bad short example):
“Put the knife down, and step away from the body.”
“This isn’t what it looks like.”
“I’m not going to tell you again.”
I can hear the voices speak clearly in my head, and can see what is going on. Now, I still hate description, so I’ll add in a little action.
Craig whipped his gun out of it’s holster and leveled it at the young woman, his hands steady.
“Put the knife down, and step away from the body.”
“This isn’t what it looks like.” Her entire body trembled as she raised her eyes to meet his.
“I’m not going to tell you again.” Different scenarios played through Craig’s mind as he stood at a standstill, waiting to see what happened.
When you’ve completed the second layer, you’ve come to the last step, and the hardest step. Now you face your weakness. For me, trying to describe things is a struggle. I’m worried there won’t be enough description, or I’ll put in too much. Or maybe I won’t use the right words. But, now is the time to face that.
The woman hadn’t heard him as he’d turned the corner into the alley and she stood motionless. Craig whipped his gun out of it’s holster and leveled it at the young woman, his hands steady. What the hell had he walked into?
“Put the knife down, and step away from the body.”
She jerked her head and looked at him, her teary eyes wide. Blood trailed from her hairline and down the side of her face. One strap of her blue silk nightie was ripped and hung limply, her breast barely remaining covered.
“This isn’t what it looks like.” Her entire body trembled as she raised her eyes to meet his. Blood from the crumpled form of the man on the ground pooled around her bare feet, forming a shallow puddle.
“I’m not going to tell you again.” Different scenarios played through Craig’s mind as he stood at a standstill, waiting to see what happened. A cool breeze shifted the thin material and she shivered.
She lifted her hands in front of her and stared down at her bloody hand still gripping the handle of the large kitchen knife. It fell to a clatter on the asphalt as she stumbled back, attempting to wipe the blood from her palms.
By writing in layers, I was able to take three simple sentences of dialogue, and turn it into a scene. The more I read through it now, the more I see places that I can add in some description or some action. I can imagine how the scene ends, and what will happen in the next one.
When I am at a complete standstill, writing in layers helps to unblock me.
It is more time consuming than just writing out a scene the normal way, so it is not something I would recommend doing every single time. But when you are stuck? You know what the scene is about and have an idea of what is going to be said, what needs to happen, that’s when this method helps to get it down on the page.
Try it out.
Don’t just sit there staring at a blank white screen, watching the cursor blink at you. Pick one of the three components and start there. Before you know it, that scene will be written and ready to be edited.
Good luck, and happy writing! | https://stefanivader.medium.com/how-and-when-to-write-in-layers-6daa84b3fe09 | ['Stefani Vader'] | 2019-03-22 13:26:30.274000+00:00 | ['Writing Tips', 'Writers Block', 'Motivation', 'How To', 'Writing'] | Title Write LayersContent Every writer face difficult scene know one I’m talking know need happen scene play come getting paper sit staring screen often happens action scene always worry I’m going give enough detail sequence muddy reader won’t able follow along One trick found facing situation write layer Writing layer Every scene consists three main component Dialogue action description think strength weakness dialogue come easy always loss add description Start strength Write entire scene using ever strong example bad short example “Put knife step away body” “This isn’t look like” “I’m going tell again” hear voice speak clearly head see going still hate description I’ll add little action Craig whipped gun it’s holster leveled young woman hand steady “Put knife step away body” “This isn’t look like” entire body trembled raised eye meet “I’m going tell again” Different scenario played Craig’s mind stood standstill waiting see happened you’ve completed second layer you’ve come last step hardest step face weakness trying describe thing struggle I’m worried won’t enough description I’ll put much maybe won’t use right word time face woman hadn’t heard he’d turned corner alley stood motionless Craig whipped gun it’s holster leveled young woman hand steady hell walked “Put knife step away body” jerked head looked teary eye wide Blood trailed hairline side face One strap blue silk nightie ripped hung limply breast barely remaining covered “This isn’t look like” entire body trembled raised eye meet Blood crumpled form man ground pooled around bare foot forming shallow puddle “I’m going tell again” Different scenario played Craig’s mind stood standstill waiting see happened cool breeze shifted thin material shivered lifted hand front stared bloody hand still gripping handle large kitchen knife fell clatter asphalt stumbled back attempting wipe blood palm writing layer able take three simple sentence dialogue turn scene read see place add description action imagine scene end happen next one complete standstill writing layer help unblock time consuming writing scene normal way something would recommend every single time stuck know scene idea going said need happen that’s method help get page Try Don’t sit staring blank white screen watching cursor blink Pick one three component start know scene written ready edited Good luck happy writingTags Writing Tips Writers Block Motivation Writing |
2,548 | How to get your product noticed | How to get your product noticed
Offer value in exchange for your customers’ attention
Photo by Riccardo Annandale on Unsplash
Recently I launched a new business. It’s based around a little software plugin that I made. I spent lots of time testing it, perfecting the code and packaging it up in a nice looking website with great documentation and plenty of examples. The initial product development was done. All that was left to do is sell.
But how do I drive people to my website? I could post on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, with links back to my site, but what sort of content will build engagement and interest? Then I had a realisation which answers this question. And it’s not limited to the internet and online sales — it applies to any product sold in any way.
To get your customers’ attention you need to give them value in addition to the value they will get from the product itself. In other words, you need to give them value in exchange for their attention.
I’ll explain what I mean, but first a brief story about lunch.
What’s lunch got to do with it?
Yesterday I went to lunch with the CEO of a technology vendor. She has been trying to sell her company’s product to me and my employer for some time. This is the fourth lunch we’ve had over the last two years and at no stage has it appeared that I’m close to making a purchase. It’s not that the product lacks interest or potential value to my organisation, it’s that my organisation is not ready, internally, to adopt the new way of working that would be required to use the product.
So why do the CEO and I continue to meet for lunch every few months? For the CEO, in part she sees the possibility of a sale, even though it is uncertain and still some time away. But that’s not all. She is very well connected in the industry and is able to provide real value by connecting people and identifying trends. This is value that she provides to me when we meet and, I imagine, to others when she meets with them. And it’s only possible because she cultivates and maintains broad connections, including with me.
This is why I am willing to spend time with her every few months — I get real value from the meetings. I give her my time and attention, she gives me value in the form of connections and industry observations. And I am more likely to buy her company’s product than if we didn’t meet. The meetings ensure that I don’t forget about her company, and that I consider its product if and when the time is right.
What about other types of products, like those not sold by sales people?
The principal of “value in exchange for attention” applies to other types of products as well, even those not sold by sales people.
Consider a loaf of bread you buy in the supermarket. Does the baker of the bread give value in exchange for your attention? They do. It takes the form of convenience, which the baker buys from the supermarket and gives to you.
Supermarkets sell lots of products but the main value they provide is convenience. They aggregate products and bring them physically close to consumers, creating shops where space is valuable and scarce. Manufacturers and wholesalers compete for that space by paying to get their product on the supermarket’s shelves. Sometimes they pay money, sometimes they sell their product at discounted rates. Either way, they pay.
Ultimately they are buying a little piece of the “convenience pie” owned by the supermarket. The baker gives you value in the form of convenience delivered to you via the supermarket, you give the baker your attention when you’re in the supermarket perusing the bread isle. | https://medium.com/hackernoon/how-to-get-your-product-noticed-b7ff6d1c7dd6 | ['Elliot Leibu'] | 2019-06-08 12:00:03.916000+00:00 | ['Sales', 'Marketing', 'Production Adoption', 'Online', 'Entrepreneurship'] | Title get product noticedContent get product noticed Offer value exchange customers’ attention Photo Riccardo Annandale Unsplash Recently launched new business It’s based around little software plugin made spent lot time testing perfecting code packaging nice looking website great documentation plenty example initial product development done left sell drive people website could post Twitter Facebook social network link back site sort content build engagement interest realisation answer question it’s limited internet online sale — applies product sold way get customers’ attention need give value addition value get product word need give value exchange attention I’ll explain mean first brief story lunch What’s lunch got Yesterday went lunch CEO technology vendor trying sell company’s product employer time fourth lunch we’ve last two year stage appeared I’m close making purchase It’s product lack interest potential value organisation it’s organisation ready internally adopt new way working would required use product CEO continue meet lunch every month CEO part see possibility sale even though uncertain still time away that’s well connected industry able provide real value connecting people identifying trend value provides meet imagine others meet it’s possible cultivates maintains broad connection including willing spend time every month — get real value meeting give time attention give value form connection industry observation likely buy company’s product didn’t meet meeting ensure don’t forget company consider product time right type product like sold sale people principal “value exchange attention” applies type product well even sold sale people Consider loaf bread buy supermarket baker bread give value exchange attention take form convenience baker buy supermarket give Supermarkets sell lot product main value provide convenience aggregate product bring physically close consumer creating shop space valuable scarce Manufacturers wholesaler compete space paying get product supermarket’s shelf Sometimes pay money sometimes sell product discounted rate Either way pay Ultimately buying little piece “convenience pie” owned supermarket baker give value form convenience delivered via supermarket give baker attention you’re supermarket perusing bread isleTags Sales Marketing Production Adoption Online Entrepreneurship |
2,549 | How to Figure Out What You Should Do as an Entrepreneur | I’ve always been a writer. More specifically, a blogger. While maintaining an award winning travel blog for ten years, I thought I might be able to replicate that sense of community and notoriety around a personal blog as well. But it only took me one year to realize I couldn’t replicate it through a personal blog because it’s just too personal.
I abandoned the idea in exchange for writing on a platform that already had it’s own community — this platform. It’s like a vacation home here, all I had to do was show up with my suitcase and move in.
While on “vacation” I never let go of my two blog properties. I’ve kept the travel one alive online because it’s still a valuable resource for thousands of readers. And I kept the personal web space because it’s a great custom domain name for me as a writer, even if it’s just been sitting around collecting dust for a couple of years.
Recently, I revisited the dust and tumbleweeds of my writer web space, trying to come up with ideas to revamp it. Having abandoned it long ago, I never gave up on the idea that one day it might have a new purpose, a business purpose.
After spending more than a year marinating in ideas about exactly who I would like to be as a writer, I have finally figured it out. All I had to do was look at my lonely web page — a spectacular photo of myself overlooking a never ending vista of the Caribbean sea.
The idea of who I used to be and who I could be, came flooding into my mind.
Go with what you know
It’s crazy that it took more than a year to figure this one out. It really is as simple as “go with what you know.” The challenge lies in figuring out what you do know well enough to build a business around.
Each of us knows how to do something that no one else knows as intrinsically as we do. Once you identify that particular chunk of knowledge, you can begin the task of dissecting it into bite-sized, deliverable pieces.
In my case, abandoning my blogging career for a long time was the only way to decipher what my saleable knowledge actually was.
Not only was I a travel writer for a long, long time, I now have the elemental skills needed to build effective communities around the trade. I have fundamental expertise in how to execute the craft. And I have inside information gained solely from my own trial and error. Nobody else knows what I know because no one experienced it the way I did.
My knowledge is so much more than those just starting out on the same path.
I learned what I didn’t want
It’s funny how you can figure out what you don’t want by doing what you thought you wanted.
Throughout my career I adored the writing and traveling aspects, but as my reputation morphed into its own beast I realized that I did not want to be everyone’s ticket to free advice. It’s overwhelming, as I previously wrote in this piece.
I could have never figured out that I didn’t want the influencer life unless I had lived through it. This is one aspect of writing that newbies starting out may not consider, which is another teachable component.
Each little stumbling block from the past turns into a foundation to build on for the future. No matter what piece of knowledge you have acquired in your area of expertise, it is something that not everyone is privy to.
The people will show you what they want
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of letting go were my observations after the fact. If you were any good at what you used to do, the people will keep letting you know.
Having left my web space intact, I have and still do receive regular emails from those who stumble onto my site. They still ask questions, they still want answers. I call it research, only I don’t have to actively do it because they’re serving it up to me on a silver platter.
Are you catching on yet? I’ve been taking notes. Lots and lots of notes. This is a buildable tool and another teachable component.
I learned what I actually wanted
This is perhaps the most important slice of the pie. After retiring from what I thought I loved doing, and letting it turn to dust and tumbleweeds, there was a gaping hole in my life that had always been filled by “doing.”
I came to a point where I had a bit of regret. I wished I’d known everything I now know, when I started out so many years ago. I wished I’d had systems in place from the start because it would have made the journey so much more practical and fruitful.
As I have learned, there’s no way to figure anything out until you put in the time doing it. It is only in doing that you begin to see patterns and figure out ways to streamline your work.
Another key point I learned was that I did want the travel part of my job, but I did not want the commitment part. In the last few years of my career I found myself resenting the obligation aspects of my work, because that took the pleasure out of the enjoyable parts.
When this happens in any job, it’s a clear sign that it’s time to move on.
What do you do after you’ve decided to move on?
The answer is simple. You fill the gaping hole of “not doing” by changing gears. You gather the pieces you loved most about your past work and build them into a complete new structure to move forward with.
Letting go of the old and latching on to the new and improved is something that can only be achieved through time and distance away from it.
When you leave any career, the whole thing doesn’t have to go down the tube. By allowing yourself the space and time away from it, you’re eventually able to realize what you loved most about it and why.
And that? It’s the sweet spot we should be aiming for when considering any new business venture. | https://medium.com/narrative/how-to-figure-out-what-you-should-do-as-an-entrepreneur-bf7a690ac8f0 | ['Kristi Keller'] | 2020-02-04 16:56:07.741000+00:00 | ['This Happened To Me', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Career Advice', 'Work', 'Writing'] | Title Figure EntrepreneurContent I’ve always writer specifically blogger maintaining award winning travel blog ten year thought might able replicate sense community notoriety around personal blog well took one year realize couldn’t replicate personal blog it’s personal abandoned idea exchange writing platform already it’s community — platform It’s like vacation home show suitcase move “vacation” never let go two blog property I’ve kept travel one alive online it’s still valuable resource thousand reader kept personal web space it’s great custom domain name writer even it’s sitting around collecting dust couple year Recently revisited dust tumbleweed writer web space trying come idea revamp abandoned long ago never gave idea one day might new purpose business purpose spending year marinating idea exactly would like writer finally figured look lonely web page — spectacular photo overlooking never ending vista Caribbean sea idea used could came flooding mind Go know It’s crazy took year figure one really simple “go know” challenge lie figuring know well enough build business around u know something one else know intrinsically identify particular chunk knowledge begin task dissecting bitesized deliverable piece case abandoning blogging career long time way decipher saleable knowledge actually travel writer long long time elemental skill needed build effective community around trade fundamental expertise execute craft inside information gained solely trial error Nobody else know know one experienced way knowledge much starting path learned didn’t want It’s funny figure don’t want thought wanted Throughout career adored writing traveling aspect reputation morphed beast realized want everyone’s ticket free advice It’s overwhelming previously wrote piece could never figured didn’t want influencer life unless lived one aspect writing newbie starting may consider another teachable component little stumbling block past turn foundation build future matter piece knowledge acquired area expertise something everyone privy people show want Perhaps interesting aspect letting go observation fact good used people keep letting know left web space intact still receive regular email stumble onto site still ask question still want answer call research don’t actively they’re serving silver platter catching yet I’ve taking note Lots lot note buildable tool another teachable component learned actually wanted perhaps important slice pie retiring thought loved letting turn dust tumbleweed gaping hole life always filled “doing” came point bit regret wished I’d known everything know started many year ago wished I’d system place start would made journey much practical fruitful learned there’s way figure anything put time begin see pattern figure way streamline work Another key point learned want travel part job want commitment part last year career found resenting obligation aspect work took pleasure enjoyable part happens job it’s clear sign it’s time move you’ve decided move answer simple fill gaping hole “not doing” changing gear gather piece loved past work build complete new structure move forward Letting go old latching new improved something achieved time distance away leave career whole thing doesn’t go tube allowing space time away you’re eventually able realize loved It’s sweet spot aiming considering new business ventureTags Happened Entrepreneurship Career Advice Work Writing |
2,550 | Are You Wasting Your Life? | Short Life Lessons:
Are You Wasting Your Life?
We spend most of our time working in dead-end jobs and numb ourselves in front of screens when we are home. Are we wasting our lives?
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My father once told me an anecdote that stuck with me ever since:
Two friends went out for a walk to the local graveyard. During their walk, they passed dozens of tombstones. One of the friends noticed the numbers on the tombstones and asked the other: “What’s going on with these numbers? They don’t add up!”
He points at the tombstone next to him. “It says 1902 to1975. And below it says, he lived 8 years.” Then he points at another tombstone. “ There it says, 1933–1990, but the note says that she lived only 5 years.”
The other friend replied: “Ah, yes. The note below determines the number of years this person really lived his or her life to the fullest.” The first friend started laughing and told the other: “When I die … please write on my tombstone: Born Dead.”
We all laughed at this joke back then, but I still think about this story all the time. Especially whenever I waste time with senseless things.
Whenever I binge-watch another season of another show on Netflix, I think of this story. Whenever I do a stupid and senseless job, I think of this story. Whenever I play another hour of another stupid mobile game, I think of this story.
Whenever I do anything really, I think to myself: “Does this add value to my life? Does this add numbers to my tombstone? Does this thing have a purpose? Am I going anywhere with it? Can I get it to the bank and cash out (figuratively and literally)?”
I admit this creates a sense of stress sometimes. I am not able to chill out and enjoy my free time after work at times. I often feel like I have to be more productive.
I feel like I have to create more, experience more, achieve more, and move my life-count further up before I go to bed again and the whole cycle repeats itself the next day. But when I finally do something valuable, it feels just so much more satisfying.
However, I frequently watch some of my friends, who still have the same soul-destroying jobs, still live with their parents, still play the same games and they just seem to stay frozen in time in general. They seem to be stuck in the comfort of their own lives, immune or unwilling to change.
For me, this sounds like pure horror but I can’t quite tell if they are happy or unhappy with their lives. They seem more chilled out than me at least. Are they moving their life-counter up by doing another stupid quest in World of Warcraft? I really can’t say. But I guess everyone has to decide for themselves what makes their counter go up.
“Does this add value to my life? Does this add numbers to my tombstone? Does this thing have purpose? Am I going anywhere with it? Can I get it to the bank and cash out (figuratively and literally)?”
Are you already adding numbers to your counter or are you still just wasting time? Think about what number would be written on your tombstone! Tell me in the comments. What are your guilty pleasures when it comes to wasting time? I guarantee you will think about this story the next time you watch another episode of “Dancing Stars.” | https://medium.com/live-your-life-on-purpose/are-you-wasting-your-life-effe345a6748 | [] | 2020-11-02 18:02:36.617000+00:00 | ['Personal Growth', 'Mental Health', 'Productivity', 'Life Lessons', 'Success'] | Title Wasting LifeContent Short Life Lessons Wasting Life spend time working deadend job numb front screen home wasting life Made Canva father told anecdote stuck ever since Two friend went walk local graveyard walk passed dozen tombstone One friend noticed number tombstone asked “What’s going number don’t add up” point tombstone next “It say 1902 to1975 say lived 8 years” point another tombstone “ say 1933–1990 note say lived 5 years” friend replied “Ah yes note determines number year person really lived life fullest” first friend started laughing told “When die … please write tombstone Born Dead” laughed joke back still think story time Especially whenever waste time senseless thing Whenever bingewatch another season another show Netflix think story Whenever stupid senseless job think story Whenever play another hour another stupid mobile game think story Whenever anything really think “Does add value life add number tombstone thing purpose going anywhere get bank cash figuratively literally” admit creates sense stress sometimes able chill enjoy free time work time often feel like productive feel like create experience achieve move lifecount go bed whole cycle repeat next day finally something valuable feel much satisfying However frequently watch friend still souldestroying job still live parent still play game seem stay frozen time general seem stuck comfort life immune unwilling change sound like pure horror can’t quite tell happy unhappy life seem chilled least moving lifecounter another stupid quest World Warcraft really can’t say guess everyone decide make counter go “Does add value life add number tombstone thing purpose going anywhere get bank cash figuratively literally” already adding number counter still wasting time Think number would written tombstone Tell comment guilty pleasure come wasting time guarantee think story next time watch another episode “Dancing Stars”Tags Personal Growth Mental Health Productivity Life Lessons Success |
2,551 | Cultivating Attention in the Classroom | Cultivating Attention in the Classroom
A review of James Lang’s *Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It*
When you were in high school, how much did you see people disciplined for being distracted in class?
One of my teachers used to (by his own admission) throws a chalkboard eraser at distracted students in the back of the room. You could see the eraser marks on the back wall sometimes. You might notice by the “chalkboard eraser” reference: this was pre-iPhone days. Are classroom distractions a new thing?
While distractions have proved easier to come by since 2007 (the year the iPhone came out and my senior year of high school), to say that pre-2007 students weren’t similarly distracted in class is almost laughable. I didn’t have a smartphone until after I graduated from college, but I was still frequently distracted in class. When the thing you’re supposed to be paying attention to seems unworthy of your attention, the brain finds other things to do. Smartphones have diverted that attention mostly to one place for a majority of people, but take away student phones and I promise you they would find other distractions on which to shift their attention.
That is why it was so refreshing to read James Lang’s new book, Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It. Lang is clear that distraction is a natural state of the human brain, but is not simply defeatist. It’s right there in the title: what you can do about it. So what is the answer? Lang writes:
(We) need to turn our heads away from distraction and toward attention. Our challenge is not to wall off distractions; our challenge is to cultivate attention, and help students use it in the service of meaningful learning.
So how do teachers cultivate attention in the classroom? That is what Lang explores for the rest of the book. From student buy-in on device policies to the teacher circulating the room or strategically placing oneself at the back of the room, Lang gives some simple advice that is commonly given in good teaching training. However, some of his advice is less simple and more philosophical, shifting the paradigm of your entire classroom and your relationship to your students.
One of Lang’s more philosophical ideas that will shift how I teach: transparent talk. He suggests letting students in on not only the “how” but the “why” behind everything you do. Proactively explaining why each building block of learning in the classroom is important will keep students’ attention when you might otherwise lose them. Lang gives examples:
• “Today I am lecturing because this material is incredibly complex and I’d like to boil it down to a few essentials for you. You’re very welcome to follow along or take notes on your laptop; you’ll find the slides in the course web pages.” • “We’re going to spend the last fifteen minutes of class thinking and talking about why we should still read poems like this one: Why do they still matter to us today, two hundred years after they were composed? You don’t need to take notes for the next part of class, so I want devices closed, so we can give our full attention to one another.” • “We use groups in this context because I want to help you connect with the peers you’ll be working with on your final projects. You don’t need your devices here; I want you to focus on working with each other, and you will only need one person to record your work on the whiteboards around the room. Afterward you can take pictures of the board if you want to preserve the ideas for yourself.” Such transparent talk articulates whether they will need their devices, but that’s really a side issue. More importantly, it clarifies the purposes of all of our work. It makes the classroom more like a communal learning experience than like a magician performing for his mystified audience.
This will shift and already has shifted my entire teaching strategy in large and small ways, especially as I am teaching virtually and in-person at the same time right now. Ensuring that students understand the learning objective for the day is one thing. It can often be like someone saying “Here, this is what we’re going to learn today” and then 45 minutes later you come back and say “Hey, remember this? Look, we actually learned it!” and students are to be shocked and awed. Deconstructing every step and making it clear why that step is so important, that process is something that so many teachers miss but will help students immensely in staying attentive. Why? Because they understand the immediate purpose. As Lang says, learning isn’t a magic trick anymore. It’s something that each student has control over by focusing his or her attention on a specific purpose.
Other principles of Lang’s that were especially helpful include employing 1) student curiosity and 2) what Lang calls “signature attention activities”. Curiosity is another aspect teachers often miss because we assume that students should be interested in our material because it’s interesting to us or because they should know it’s important. (Then we get frustrated when they say things like “We talk about China SO much. Why do we have to learn about China?” Or is that just me?) But Lang conveys a sort of manifesto in his chapter on cultivating curiosity in the classroom, urging teachers to think about what questions first interested them in their chosen field. For me, I started college with a curiosity about what the rest of the world is like, what makes people different, and how your past or your nation’s past affects who you are today. Is it surprising, then, that I am teaching world history and psychology? If I share this curiosity with my students on the first day rather than bore them with specifics about the syllabus, how much more likely is it that they will be interested in the content? So, what is it for you? What first made you interested in your chosen content area? And how can you translate that to students?
While curiosity is important in cultivating student attention, sustaining that attention takes work. Lang shares some surprising research on student attention that essentially shows attention flagging every few minutes and sometimes more often than that, so Lang argues that teachers should be keenly aware of when attention is flagging and be ready with a quick change of pace. That doesn’t mean it has to be something big or even something that takes more than a minute, but teachers should have “signature attention activities” in the back pocket such as an engaging question you can tailor to the day’s lesson easily, or an image that relates to the content in some way that students can analyze. These activities and many more don’t take very long and don’t take a lot of planning, but they can have tremendous effects on student attention. Lang gives a lot more examples of these types of activities in Distracted.
Since Distracted was mostly written pre-pandemic, there is a lot of specific advice in Lang’s book that won’t work under COVID restrictions. (For example, I can’t circulate the room right now even for those few students who are in-person.) However, the vast majority of the book is full of advice that can be implemented in big and small ways no matter where you are or what you are teaching. It is honestly the most applicable book on the art of teaching that I have read since good old Harry Wong’s The First Days of School. So if you are a teacher, especially one interested in educational psychology or how to cultivate attention, please read Distracted. Our students will be better for it.
I received a review copy of Distracted courtesy of Basic Books and NetGalley, but my opinions are my own. | https://medium.com/park-recommendations/cultivating-attention-in-the-classroom-c78364235fae | ['Jason Park'] | 2020-10-20 12:48:40.991000+00:00 | ['Education', 'Books', 'Reading', 'Psychology', 'Teaching'] | Title Cultivating Attention ClassroomContent Cultivating Attention Classroom review James Lang’s Distracted Students Can’t Focus high school much see people disciplined distracted class One teacher used admission throw chalkboard eraser distracted student back room could see eraser mark back wall sometimes might notice “chalkboard eraser” reference preiPhone day classroom distraction new thing distraction proved easier come since 2007 year iPhone came senior year high school say pre2007 student weren’t similarly distracted class almost laughable didn’t smartphone graduated college still frequently distracted class thing you’re supposed paying attention seems unworthy attention brain find thing Smartphones diverted attention mostly one place majority people take away student phone promise would find distraction shift attention refreshing read James Lang’s new book Distracted Students Can’t Focus Lang clear distraction natural state human brain simply defeatist It’s right title answer Lang writes need turn head away distraction toward attention challenge wall distraction challenge cultivate attention help student use service meaningful learning teacher cultivate attention classroom Lang explores rest book student buyin device policy teacher circulating room strategically placing oneself back room Lang give simple advice commonly given good teaching training However advice le simple philosophical shifting paradigm entire classroom relationship student One Lang’s philosophical idea shift teach transparent talk suggests letting student “how” “why” behind everything Proactively explaining building block learning classroom important keep students’ attention might otherwise lose Lang give example • “Today lecturing material incredibly complex I’d like boil essential You’re welcome follow along take note laptop you’ll find slide course web pages” • “We’re going spend last fifteen minute class thinking talking still read poem like one still matter u today two hundred year composed don’t need take note next part class want device closed give full attention one another” • “We use group context want help connect peer you’ll working final project don’t need device want focus working need one person record work whiteboards around room Afterward take picture board want preserve idea yourself” transparent talk articulates whether need device that’s really side issue importantly clarifies purpose work make classroom like communal learning experience like magician performing mystified audience shift already shifted entire teaching strategy large small way especially teaching virtually inperson time right Ensuring student understand learning objective day one thing often like someone saying “Here we’re going learn today” 45 minute later come back say “Hey remember Look actually learned it” student shocked awed Deconstructing every step making clear step important process something many teacher miss help student immensely staying attentive understand immediate purpose Lang say learning isn’t magic trick anymore It’s something student control focusing attention specific purpose principle Lang’s especially helpful include employing 1 student curiosity 2 Lang call “signature attention activities” Curiosity another aspect teacher often miss assume student interested material it’s interesting u know it’s important get frustrated say thing like “We talk China much learn China” Lang conveys sort manifesto chapter cultivating curiosity classroom urging teacher think question first interested chosen field started college curiosity rest world like make people different past nation’s past affect today surprising teaching world history psychology share curiosity student first day rather bore specific syllabus much likely interested content first made interested chosen content area translate student curiosity important cultivating student attention sustaining attention take work Lang share surprising research student attention essentially show attention flagging every minute sometimes often Lang argues teacher keenly aware attention flagging ready quick change pace doesn’t mean something big even something take minute teacher “signature attention activities” back pocket engaging question tailor day’s lesson easily image relates content way student analyze activity many don’t take long don’t take lot planning tremendous effect student attention Lang give lot example type activity Distracted Since Distracted mostly written prepandemic lot specific advice Lang’s book won’t work COVID restriction example can’t circulate room right even student inperson However vast majority book full advice implemented big small way matter teaching honestly applicable book art teaching read since good old Harry Wong’s First Days School teacher especially one interested educational psychology cultivate attention please read Distracted student better received review copy Distracted courtesy Basic Books NetGalley opinion ownTags Education Books Reading Psychology Teaching |
2,552 | The Science of How Things Backfire | The Science of How Things Backfire
Or, Why Would Anything Ever Go Right?
Urizen shows his book of laws. Image: William Blake Archive
When human endeavors so often go wrongly, we blame people for making bad decisions, whether from a moral, or political, or scientific point of view. This only raises our emotional temperature without fixing problems or heading off future catastrophes. However, there are recent theories that explain that many failures stem from general dynamical patterns. Let’s look at two of these patterns. They might someday be part of a science of how to get things done, a kind of moral philosophy of the practical.
How the Deck Is Stacked
First, let’s consider what we’re up against. As in, what are the given background conditions for any human project, the constraints that we simply have to accommodate?
Murphy. The first is commonly called Murphy’s Law: what can go wrong will go wrong. This is really the second law of thermodynamics. It says there are many ways for disorder to increase and very few for it to decrease. We ourselves are temporary thrusts against the gradient of disorder. Things we do to provide ourselves a safe environment are therefore also temporary.
This can happen at a low level of abstraction, as when things that we make wear themselves out, when our food rots, our bodies degrade, or when weather tears up our habitations. But it also applies at a higher level of abstraction. Case in point being software. It is hard-to-impossible to make a useful program that does not have ways to fail. Likewise, our social and cultural arrangements are subject to decay.
Unintention. Economists speak about a “law” of unintended consequences. We do something to solve a problem, but as a result, some other problem arises, something that we could not or did not predict. Examples are innumerable, but for now, remember that every drug has unwanted (so-called) “side” effects. The underlying core principle of unintended consequences is the familiar chaos theory, the butterfly wing effect.
Human Nature. The third thing we are stuck with is human nature, a conglomeration that includes some real downers. We have sociopaths. We have tribalism. Selfishness and free-riders cause problems directly and indirectly by causing trust issues. We find it hard to agree on basic facts because we are ruled by unconscious cognitive biases.
One bias (that I have covered elsewhere) happens when we try to understand others’ motivations, a process called Theory of Mind. We over-generalize this, thus attributing agency to parts of nature that don’t have it. We then manufacture belief in supernatural forces whose whims we need to appease. The resulting behavior may be benign (nature worship), or harmless (folk tales), or horribly wrong (crusades, crucifixions, cleansings).
Another major “human nature” issue is in the scope of how many other people that a person cares about. This sets up conflicts between those who care only about family or tribe versus those who also care about larger groups or even humanity as a whole.
So, we exist in a background of threats from: entropy, inability to foresee the consequences of our actions, and everyone’s often unconscious cognitive biases. There are also higher principles involved, dynamics that lead good intentions astray.
Moloch, AKA the Multipolar Trap
Moloch: by John Singer Sargent @ Boston Public Library
An anonymous blogger, pseudonym-ed Scott Alexander, gave us a catchy name for the most destructive dynamic in the world. Moloch was an ancient Carthaginian god of human sacrifice. In Allen Ginsburg’s famous poem, Howl, Moloch was identified with all the myriad horrors and miseries of civilization. Alexander, impressed by the analogy, used Moloch as the nickname for what he termed multipolar traps.
These are situations that can arise whenever multiple parties are pursuing some valuable goal, G. Nearly always the end in itself or some resource leading to it will be in short supply, and thus competition will arise. The bad dynamic occurs when someone decides to sacrifice some other value, V, in order to get ahead. Any other parties will be out-competed unless they also sacrifice V. Soon everyone who survives the competition will find themselves without V and possibly have less of the original goal G.
There can instead emerge a monopoly or oligopoly when one player or a few players sacrifice enough V’s to get all the G.
The Two-Income Multipolar Trap
The more interesting cases are those where there are many players. Consider the story documented in Elizabeth Warren’s 2004 book, The Two-Income Trap. Suppose the Goal is to live in a safe neighborhood with good schools. The game players are families raising children. To buy a home in an expensive school district, both parents have to work. The Values sacrificed include time with children, cultural opportunity and diversity, as well as the money that is used for child care, higher taxes (because higher joint income), mortgage increases, a second car, convenience foods, and tranquilizers.
Also sacrificed are the aspirations of people who can’t get good enough jobs to compete. These folks are not even in the original game; they are collateral damage. Meanwhile, the price of desirable houses goes up and up, taking the Goal out of reach for many. Without anyone making a decision to do so, other values are sacrificed as household stress, debt, divorce, and bankruptcy increase.
Of course, as we know, it went further than that. Even back then Warren mentioned subprime mortgages as a dangerous development. Libertarian, greed-is-good schemes are Moloch’s favorite food. Now, in the continuing aftermath of the last crash, it’s Jurassic Park for the middle class, bunkers for the rich, and fascism for the rest. Moloch, indeed.
So the first Failure (note capital F) dynamic is Moloch of the Multipolar Traps. ‘Multipolar’ because it is a competition of multiple parties. ‘Traps’ because once you are in the downward spiral, you are stuck until something gives, some limit is reached. In our two-income example, perhaps the limit is a pandemic with widespread unemployment, or… pick your own favorite show-stopper.
Surrogation Traps
The story above, of course, has a lot more going on than a multipolar trap. It has the basic background conditions mentioned earlier, and several doses of our second major type of Failure dynamic. That dynamic has several technical names from game theory, economics and even from artificial intelligence theory. But the name I like is a new-ish one, Surrogation. It simply means the substitution of a surrogate goal for an actual goal. It sounds innocent enough. However, there are plenty of times when we get together and agree on totally admirable goals, and it still ends in tears.
Take a moment and remember the Phrygian king King Midas. Dionysus offered Midas anything he wanted as payment for a favor. What he wanted was riches, but his surrogate for that (“let everything that I touch turn to gold”), awarded literally by Dionysus, was a curse.
Surrogation is the basis of legal systems. A prescriptive law is said to have a spirit (its goal), which is to encourage some better state of affairs or to eliminate some problem. On the other hand, the letter of the law (its surrogate) specifies rules for bringing the spirit to fruition. Rules for shaping human behavior are often tricky, and so laws are imperfect. William Blake’s mythical being, Urizen (”your reason”), tried to constrain the universe by creating laws but made chaos and misery instead.
We engage in projects whose ideal outcome might be easily stated and agreed upon, but whose execution has to be guided by a substitute. The surrogate is that which can be measured, or tracked, or is simply feasible for the situation. Effort can only be applied to the surrogate, not to the actual goal. Wise observers tell us that an enterprise based on surrogation very often misses its mark.
The ill effect of surrogation is so reliable that there’s a version known as Goodhart’s Law. Economist Charles Goodhart said: when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. So we can design a project (private or public, it doesn’t matter), and say (oh, so smugly) that we’ll know we’re getting there because we will measure X, Y, and Z. The measures are chosen because they make sense, they logically connect somehow with our project’s true goal. Often they are measures of the direct effects of particular policies that we think will help lead us towards our real goal. Perhaps in the past, they even occurred at times when we seemed closer to achieving the goal.
So, we’re set, all happy because we have a good goal and good measures to lead us to it. We change our policies to set the project in motion and sit back to watch our success. In what way could anything go wrong?
Let us count the ways, as explained by Scott Garrabrant, one of those people who tries to imagine how we might get super AIs to behave admirably.
(1) Goal Drift. People who have incentives to do things that change the Surrogate measures start to think of the Surogate as an end in itself. The Surrogate mentally becomes the new Goal. But optimizing for the Surrogate does not optimize for the Goal.
(2) Causal Disconnect. The Surrogate and the Goal have been correlated in the past because they both are affected by other causes. But changing the Surrogate has no causal effect on the Goal at all. Or maybe you failed to realize that the Goal actually causes changes in the Surrogate, but not vice versa. You can’t make yourself taller by practicing basketball skills.
Sometimes the project itself changes the causal effect. We decide to place a wind farm in an area where there is a lot of wind. We calculate how many windmills to use and what our power output (the Goal) should be. But the presence of many windmills in an area actually decreases the Surrogate measure, wind speed.
(3) Statistical Regression. The correlation of the Surrogate with the Goal is causal, but imperfect, because random other unknown causes are involved. When your actions increase the Surrogate measure, there might be no corresponding effect on the Goal.
Sometimes you look at multiple Surrogate measures and pick the one that correlates best with the Goal. But (says basic statistical theory) that correlation, because it is high, is most likely to be high due partly to random factors. So when you start to use the Surrogate, its actual correlation with the Goal becomes less, i.e., it “regresses towards the mean”.
Height is correlated with basketball ability, but unless you are the coach in a tiny town, you don’t just pick players based on height.
(4) Gaming. Perhaps the most powerful way that Surrogates fail to lead to Goals is also the one that is easiest to understand. People are getting rewarded for changing the value of the Surrogate. So, they find the easiest way to do that, which might have no effect on the Goal, or may even work against it.
Here are some classic real examples of surrogate gaming. Many more can be found in attempts to regulate the financial industry.
The Cobra Effect. Offer a bounty in India for dead cobras, and people start raising cobras to turn in for the bounty. When the government wises up, the unused cobras get released, increasing the population that everyone wanted to decrease.
Central Planning Confounded. Soviet factories that are rewarded for the Surrogate, number of nails, produce a lot of tiny useless nails.
Moloch Eats College Loans
I was tempted to write the TL;DR about college loans, which involves interlocking hierarchies of surrogation and the two levels of multipolar traps. Instead, readers can try to puzzle that out for themselves. The top-level goals are American national competitiveness in a knowledge economy, and rewarding careers for individuals. The surrogate policy was to have government guarantees of student loans, making them easy to obtain. The unintended results were rampant college cost inflation, the rise of fraudulent educational enterprises (even a disreputable real estate developer could start one), staggering student debt, adjunct professors living out of their cars, and higher unemployment for graduates.
There’s probably also a multipolar/surrogate story for the U.S.’s absurdly expensive health care, or any <unfavorable adjective> <tragic societal circumstance>.
Can We Do Better Than Muddling Through?
We need people to understand that there are dynamics to how things go wrong. Partly that is a problem of education. Most people prefer simple slogans to complicated (’blah blah, blah blah blah’) explanations.
Another barrier is the pervasive, eternal multipolar and surrogate trap of power politics, which also is subject to the corrosive influence of sociopaths and narcissists. In fact, power politics might be a selective pressure for the elevation of bad characters.
What we need from political and business leadership is not competitive gamesmanship. They should help develop and then make use of a science of the possible; to use factual evidence, obtained by transparent processes; to acknowledge traps and weigh trade-offs, crafting better incentives, and making clear priorities.
We desperately need to realize that there are too many of us, interdependent and chewing up planetary resources that took enormous, deep time to create. We are stuck in the biggest multipolar trap of them all, our own tar pit of hubris, myopia, and fear. And half the United States’ electorate still denies all of this. | https://medium.com/science-and-philosophy/the-science-of-how-things-backfire-e9c6a9d2560e | ['Ted Wade'] | 2020-11-14 18:17:43.389000+00:00 | ['Philosophy', 'Science', 'Psychology', 'Economics', 'Politics'] | Title Science Things BackfireContent Science Things Backfire Would Anything Ever Go Right Urizen show book law Image William Blake Archive human endeavor often go wrongly blame people making bad decision whether moral political scientific point view raise emotional temperature without fixing problem heading future catastrophe However recent theory explain many failure stem general dynamical pattern Let’s look two pattern might someday part science get thing done kind moral philosophy practical Deck Stacked First let’s consider we’re given background condition human project constraint simply accommodate Murphy first commonly called Murphy’s Law go wrong go wrong really second law thermodynamics say many way disorder increase decrease temporary thrust gradient disorder Things provide safe environment therefore also temporary happen low level abstraction thing make wear food rot body degrade weather tear habitation also applies higher level abstraction Case point software hardtoimpossible make useful program way fail Likewise social cultural arrangement subject decay Unintention Economists speak “law” unintended consequence something solve problem result problem arises something could predict Examples innumerable remember every drug unwanted socalled “side” effect underlying core principle unintended consequence familiar chaos theory butterfly wing effect Human Nature third thing stuck human nature conglomeration includes real downer sociopath tribalism Selfishness freeriders cause problem directly indirectly causing trust issue find hard agree basic fact ruled unconscious cognitive bias One bias covered elsewhere happens try understand others’ motivation process called Theory Mind overgeneralize thus attributing agency part nature don’t manufacture belief supernatural force whose whim need appease resulting behavior may benign nature worship harmless folk tale horribly wrong crusade crucifixion cleansing Another major “human nature” issue scope many people person care set conflict care family tribe versus also care larger group even humanity whole exist background threat entropy inability foresee consequence action everyone’s often unconscious cognitive bias also higher principle involved dynamic lead good intention astray Moloch AKA Multipolar Trap Moloch John Singer Sargent Boston Public Library anonymous blogger pseudonymed Scott Alexander gave u catchy name destructive dynamic world Moloch ancient Carthaginian god human sacrifice Allen Ginsburg’s famous poem Howl Moloch identified myriad horror misery civilization Alexander impressed analogy used Moloch nickname termed multipolar trap situation arise whenever multiple party pursuing valuable goal G Nearly always end resource leading short supply thus competition arise bad dynamic occurs someone decides sacrifice value V order get ahead party outcompeted unless also sacrifice V Soon everyone survives competition find without V possibly le original goal G instead emerge monopoly oligopoly one player player sacrifice enough V’s get G TwoIncome Multipolar Trap interesting case many player Consider story documented Elizabeth Warren’s 2004 book TwoIncome Trap Suppose Goal live safe neighborhood good school game player family raising child buy home expensive school district parent work Values sacrificed include time child cultural opportunity diversity well money used child care higher tax higher joint income mortgage increase second car convenience food tranquilizer Also sacrificed aspiration people can’t get good enough job compete folk even original game collateral damage Meanwhile price desirable house go taking Goal reach many Without anyone making decision value sacrificed household stress debt divorce bankruptcy increase course know went Even back Warren mentioned subprime mortgage dangerous development Libertarian greedisgood scheme Moloch’s favorite food continuing aftermath last crash it’s Jurassic Park middle class bunker rich fascism rest Moloch indeed first Failure note capital F dynamic Moloch Multipolar Traps ‘Multipolar’ competition multiple party ‘Traps’ downward spiral stuck something give limit reached twoincome example perhaps limit pandemic widespread unemployment or… pick favorite showstopper Surrogation Traps story course lot going multipolar trap basic background condition mentioned earlier several dos second major type Failure dynamic dynamic several technical name game theory economics even artificial intelligence theory name like newish one Surrogation simply mean substitution surrogate goal actual goal sound innocent enough However plenty time get together agree totally admirable goal still end tear Take moment remember Phrygian king King Midas Dionysus offered Midas anything wanted payment favor wanted rich surrogate “let everything touch turn gold” awarded literally Dionysus curse Surrogation basis legal system prescriptive law said spirit goal encourage better state affair eliminate problem hand letter law surrogate specifies rule bringing spirit fruition Rules shaping human behavior often tricky law imperfect William Blake’s mythical Urizen ”your reason” tried constrain universe creating law made chaos misery instead engage project whose ideal outcome might easily stated agreed upon whose execution guided substitute surrogate measured tracked simply feasible situation Effort applied surrogate actual goal Wise observer tell u enterprise based surrogation often miss mark ill effect surrogation reliable there’s version known Goodhart’s Law Economist Charles Goodhart said measure becomes target cease good measure design project private public doesn’t matter say oh smugly we’ll know we’re getting measure X Z measure chosen make sense logically connect somehow project’s true goal Often measure direct effect particular policy think help lead u towards real goal Perhaps past even occurred time seemed closer achieving goal we’re set happy good goal good measure lead u change policy set project motion sit back watch success way could anything go wrong Let u count way explained Scott Garrabrant one people try imagine might get super AIs behave admirably 1 Goal Drift People incentive thing change Surrogate measure start think Surogate end Surrogate mentally becomes new Goal optimizing Surrogate optimize Goal 2 Causal Disconnect Surrogate Goal correlated past affected cause changing Surrogate causal effect Goal maybe failed realize Goal actually cause change Surrogate vice versa can’t make taller practicing basketball skill Sometimes project change causal effect decide place wind farm area lot wind calculate many windmill use power output Goal presence many windmill area actually decrease Surrogate measure wind speed 3 Statistical Regression correlation Surrogate Goal causal imperfect random unknown cause involved action increase Surrogate measure might corresponding effect Goal Sometimes look multiple Surrogate measure pick one correlate best Goal say basic statistical theory correlation high likely high due partly random factor start use Surrogate actual correlation Goal becomes le ie “regresses towards mean” Height correlated basketball ability unless coach tiny town don’t pick player based height 4 Gaming Perhaps powerful way Surrogates fail lead Goals also one easiest understand People getting rewarded changing value Surrogate find easiest way might effect Goal may even work classic real example surrogate gaming Many found attempt regulate financial industry Cobra Effect Offer bounty India dead cobra people start raising cobra turn bounty government wise unused cobra get released increasing population everyone wanted decrease Central Planning Confounded Soviet factory rewarded Surrogate number nail produce lot tiny useless nail Moloch Eats College Loans tempted write TLDR college loan involves interlocking hierarchy surrogation two level multipolar trap Instead reader try puzzle toplevel goal American national competitiveness knowledge economy rewarding career individual surrogate policy government guarantee student loan making easy obtain unintended result rampant college cost inflation rise fraudulent educational enterprise even disreputable real estate developer could start one staggering student debt adjunct professor living car higher unemployment graduate There’s probably also multipolarsurrogate story US’s absurdly expensive health care unfavorable adjective tragic societal circumstance Better Muddling need people understand dynamic thing go wrong Partly problem education people prefer simple slogan complicated ’blah blah blah blah blah’ explanation Another barrier pervasive eternal multipolar surrogate trap power politics also subject corrosive influence sociopath narcissist fact power politics might selective pressure elevation bad character need political business leadership competitive gamesmanship help develop make use science possible use factual evidence obtained transparent process acknowledge trap weigh tradeoff crafting better incentive making clear priority desperately need realize many u interdependent chewing planetary resource took enormous deep time create stuck biggest multipolar trap tar pit hubris myopia fear half United States’ electorate still denies thisTags Philosophy Science Psychology Economics Politics |
2,553 | A Visual Approach to Scientific Communication | Process
On the technical side, my workflow can be broken down into four main components—narrative building, scene construction (in Illustrator), animation (in After Effects), packaging (in PowerPoint).
A brief summary of each follows: | https://medium.com/hh-design/a-visual-approach-to-scientific-communication-68c868b69d6b | ['Chen Ye'] | 2016-01-04 06:45:21.938000+00:00 | ['Biology', 'Visualization', 'Design'] | Title Visual Approach Scientific CommunicationContent Process technical side workflow broken four main components—narrative building scene construction Illustrator animation Effects packaging PowerPoint brief summary followsTags Biology Visualization Design |
2,554 | How to upload my own notebook to Kaggle | Kaggle, a subsidiary of Google LLC, is an online community of data scientists and machine learning practitioners. Kaggle allows users to find and publish data sets, explore and build models in a web-based data-science environment, work with other data scientists and machine learning engineers, and enter competitions to solve data science challenges.
This article let we know how to uploads our own notebook and dataset on Kaggle. There are some basic steps that all are given below with screenshot representation.
Step 1:- Login your account
Step 2:- Click on “Notebooks”
Step 3:- Click on “New Notebook”
Step 4:- Click on “Create” after selecting the relevant options
Step 5:- Click on “File”, below the title of the notebook
Step 6:- Click on “Upload Notebook”
The notebook has been uploaded. If you want, you can save your notebook without data set otherwise you can upload the data set that is related to this Notebook.
Step 7:- Click on “Add data”
Step 8:- Click on “Upload a Dataset”
Step 9:- Click on “Select Files to Upload”
Step 10:- Click on “Skip duplicate”
This is the success popup of the dataset that has been uploaded.
Step 11:- Click on “Save Version”
Save the notebook version with details.
Adding collaborators is easy: just go to the Options page and search for another user by name. You can even choose who gets View or Edit permissions using the dropdown. | https://rajputankit22.medium.com/how-to-upload-my-own-notebook-to-kaggle-2b0dedbb5a6b | ['Ankit Kumar Rajpoot'] | 2020-06-07 16:47:13.314000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Dataset', 'Kaggle', 'Notebook'] | Title upload notebook KaggleContent Kaggle subsidiary Google LLC online community data scientist machine learning practitioner Kaggle allows user find publish data set explore build model webbased datascience environment work data scientist machine learning engineer enter competition solve data science challenge article let know uploads notebook dataset Kaggle basic step given screenshot representation Step 1 Login account Step 2 Click “Notebooks” Step 3 Click “New Notebook” Step 4 Click “Create” selecting relevant option Step 5 Click “File” title notebook Step 6 Click “Upload Notebook” notebook uploaded want save notebook without data set otherwise upload data set related Notebook Step 7 Click “Add data” Step 8 Click “Upload Dataset” Step 9 Click “Select Files Upload” Step 10 Click “Skip duplicate” success popup dataset uploaded Step 11 Click “Save Version” Save notebook version detail Adding collaborator easy go Options page search another user name even choose get View Edit permission using dropdownTags Python Dataset Kaggle Notebook |
2,555 | Why I’m leaving Silicon Valley | Here’s something I never thought I’d say: this is my last week in Silicon Valley.
This post is a personal one. Rather than sharing insights on Blockchain or Javascript, I’d like to walk through my inner journey the past few years.
It’s a journey that’s left me itching for change — and driving down to Los Angeles to set up a new home base is a big one!
How I landed in Silicon Valley
I moved to Silicon Valley during the summer of 2012, a little over five years ago. I had just graduated college and serendipitously landed here because of a new job offer. I was eager and anxious to start my career out here and frankly had no idea what to expect.
As it turned out, I lucked out — Silicon Valley is one of the best places in the world for entrepreneurs, engineers, and anyone bold enough to try and change the world through technology.
…This was a stark contrast to life in my New Jersey hometown, where most people went to the community college, pursued 9-to-5 jobs, and settled into comfortable lives by their mid-20s. There was very little space there for thinking big, or taking risks, or creating your own career path.
So, landing in San Francisco was the best kind of culture shock imaginable. Suddenly, I was surrounded by technology and innovation and immersed in a community where challenging yourself was actually encouraged.
The next three years of living in San Francisco had a path-altering impact on my life, as I began to learn that crazy ideas aren’t “crazy” for those of us willing to put in the work and take a few risks.
First challenge: Goldman Sachs
That first post-college job was as an analyst at Goldman Sachs, where I was able to learn how tech company financials work at a fundamental level through working with CEOs and CFOs preparing for IPO rounds and acquisitions. This was hugely beneficial when I later moved on to working with some of those tech companies directly, and planted the seeds of my interest in solving problems with software.
After a year at Goldman Sachs, however, I realized that a career in banking was not what I wanted long term. I wanted to go back to being an engineer as I had been in college. So I decided to go against the grain and say goodbye to a “successful” position. Where was I off to next?
Second challenge: Andreessen Horowitz
Well, I was on the brink of leaving to join as a systems engineer for a small industrial startup in the middle of the country. But after a random cold email followed by a long series of unexpected events, I got an offer to join Andreessen Horowitz on the deal team. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up — and thank God I didn’t.
I spent the next two years at Andreessen Horowitz, where I worked with and learned from the pioneers of the web, like Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Chris Dixon, and many others. I saw thousands of companies come through the doors — I saw their ideas, their teams, their challenges and their strengths. I learned the ins and outs of building a successful technology startup, and on the flip side, learned the common mistakes that lead to failure. Most importantly, I met incredible entrepreneurs who inspired me to also become like them one day.
Third challenge: returning to engineering
When I left a16z, I made the transition to software engineering. I was young and wanted to go out and just build stuff for the world. You could say that I had “entrepreneur envy” — I was eager to build products day to day, and eventually start my own company. I’ve written about my experience extensively in the past.
This transition was nothing short of amazing. I was learning and growing at a break-neck pace. I was passionate and excited by my work. Frankly, I was having so much fun being an engineer that not a single day felt like “work”.
But beyond just loving my work, I also felt empowered. Empowered to do things I never thought were possible before. Because being an engineer gave me freedom. Freedom to build anything I want, whenever I want and wherever I want. The freedom to learn how everything works at a fundamental level. The freedom to teach and empower new developers. And most importantly, the freedom to be a creator and literally, create something from nothing.
When things started to feel different
It was only after I left Andreessen Horowitz to return to an engineering track that my feelings about life in Silicon Valley started to change.
Thanks to the freedoms of the developer lifestyle, I started to travel more and meet engineers from all around the world — Paris, London, India, Vienna, Australia, Berlin, Tel Aviv, South Africa, Argentina, South Korea — and I started to see that Silicon Valley wasn’t the only place where world-changing engineering, technology, and innovation was happening.
What I once thought was only something I could find in Silicon Valley, was starting to appear in every city I visited. Early seeds of technology and innovation were being planted in places like New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Berlin, Tel Aviv, India, Switzerland and even South Africa.
This isn’t exactly a surprise, since one of the Internet’s core functions is to make access to knowledge available everywhere. I personally taught myself almost everything I know about programming on the internet (outside some fundamentals from Hack Reactor), for free. And I’m just one of thousands of learners using the Internet to access information that used to be limited to elite colleges like Stanford, Berkeley, or MIT.
These days, techies aren’t limited to Silicon Valley if they want to find funding and a community. Many other cities with active and relevant tech scenes have their own unique cultures, art, cuisines, and activities to offer.
The group think issue in Silicon Valley
Despite it being the center of tech and innovation for decades, I’m not the only engineer to notice a degree of homogeny in Silicon Valley culture lately.
What made it homogenous was that everyone seemed to have a similar story — whether they were software engineers, product managers, venture capitalists or entrepreneurs. The career paths and goals may have been different from what my home town in New Jersey offered… but within the Valley, you’d hear the same stories over and over.
Every coffee shop I went to or restaurant I ate at, I’d overhear people talking about their $20M rounds, $200M exits or their 200% YoY growth. What was once a beautiful thing — the like-mindedness — was no longer beautiful to me. I started to notice a lot of similar thinking — group think as they call it.
Silicon Valley is paradoxically a predictable place founded on the idea of being unpredictable.
My first Silicon Valley lesson: say “yes” to your desires and create your own path
This isn’t to say Silicon Valley hasn’t taught me anything important.
It’s been a perfect place to learn to take risks. A place to learn the value of creating your own path, and to prove to myself that I can do it.
While living here, I’ve made a deliberate effort to say yes to my dreams. I wanted the freedom to build anything I want, and I earned that. I wanted to learn and grow as quickly as possible, and I’ve proven that. I wanted to meet people from around the world and learn from them, and I got that. I wanted to find my purpose instead of following a “successful” path, and I did that.
Most importantly, I wanted to pave a path that is unique to me, and I’m doing exactly that. I’m only a couple years into it, and the future feels unlimited.
Looking back, when I left Andreessen Horowitz to pursue this path, I set out a three-part roadmap for myself:
Figure out what I like developing the most. Get really good at it. Use those skills to have a positive impact on the world.
I spent the past two years learning many different areas of programming (e.g. web development, mobile development, distributed systems, etc.) and various application areas (e.g. machine learning, blockchain, etc.). I purposely stayed broad and exposed myself to as much as possible, and learned to code things that interested me most. Eventually, I fell in love with blockchain development.
My fascination with blockchains started when we first made the investment in Coinbase at a16z, and ever since, I’ve been keeping up with the technology and eventually joined Coinbase as a software engineer, which helped me further dive deeper into the space. After Coinbase, I continued to tinker and teach myself various aspects of blockchain, and now I’m at phase two, where I’m focusing on getting really good at it. The next step is to use my skills to “build a world-changing company or something else entirely”.
Leading the path I want to lead doesn’t require me to be in Silicon valley anymore. I don’t need to be here to follow my personal roadmap. Having the freedom of an engineer to learn and grow as an entrepreneur, writer, and speaker has opened me up to a whole new world. It made me realize that I can be an engineer, entrepreneur, writer and speaker from anywhere in the world.
“If you set goals and go after them with all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you.” — Les Brown
My second Silicon Valley lesson: You don’t have to be in Silicon Valley to change the world
The world is becoming increasingly global. Silicon Valley is just one way of living. One way of thinking. One way of viewing the world. But there’s so many other ways. Because after all, technology is global, engineering is global, innovation is global and entrepreneurship is global.
It’s evident by the fact that we now see countries like India and China leap frog generations of western technology and even inventing their own ways — take mPesa in Kenya, Paytm in India, or WeChat in China.
Moreover, it’s become easier than ever to connect with anyone thousands of miles away. Being physically present is no longer a requirement. I can code from South Africa and still ship a product to someone in Silicon Valley.
Beyond this, what really nudged me was when I realized that the blockchain revolution is global. I’ve spent the past year doing research and development in blockchain technologies, and noticed that many cities outside of the valley, like New York, Berlin, Toronto, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Bangkok, are making immense strides in pushing blockchains forward. Many well known projects and efforts to bring blockchain to the masses are being started from places outside of Silicon Valley. For once, I noticed that Silicon Valley isn’t the center of it.
So then a crazy idea came to my head. Can I leave Silicon Valley and still pursue my dreams? Can I still build a massive and world-changing company? Can I still make a big impact in this world?
The answer to that increasingly became a clear yes.
Of course, there’s a strong argument for staying in Silicon Valley. After all, this place has a massive network of entrepreneurs and people who “get it”. This place knows how to breed amazing startups. Moreover, I’ve personally built up a great network in Silicon Valley over the past five years. I could easily stay and lead a very successful life here, financially at least.
But frankly, I don’t want to. That feels a bit too easy. I’m young, passionate, and driven — I can’t let inertia, familiarity, comfort or money hold me back from going on to to doing bigger and harder things. I’m going to challenge myself. I’m going to fight for my goals. To work day and night for them. And money isn’t going to get me any of these things.
Money has never been my main motivator. I left Goldman Sachs before my first-year bonus because I was too eager to sit back for two months hating my life, instead of starting my new career at a16z. Then I left an amazing career at a16z to go become a developer. Challenge and impact are what gets me out of bed in the morning.
I have this burning desire to do even more, see more and experience more, outside of Silicon Valley. When the opportunity exists to experience a whole new city and still do what I love, why not just go out there and try? Why not try to expose myself to ideas in a place where the opportunities are wide open? Why not meet other types of people, learn other skills, and live on the edge a little?
Here I am: ready to do exactly that!
Onwards to the next city
Perhaps my feeling and frustrations towards Silicon Valley and San Francisco are merely a fact of being here for too long. Perhaps they’re just from me needing a change. Perhaps they’re just from finding my true calling as an engineer, builder, writer and entrepreneur and realizing that I can do that from anywhere.
I’m ready to pick up my bags and embark onto the next adventure in Los Angeles.
Am I scared?
Hell yeah I’m scared.
I know practically no one in Los Angeles except for a few college friends who I haven’t spoken to in years. While on one hand, this sounds scary, on the other hand, I’ll admit that I’m beyond ecstatic to get out there and build up my network from ground up, just like I have done for the past five years in Silicon Valley.
And the best part is, I can always come back here — for a day, a week or a month. Silicon Valley is where my entire network is, and they aren’t going anywhere. If I come back a year, or two years, or even five years from now, most of them will still be here.
Why Los Angeles | https://preethikasireddy.medium.com/why-im-leaving-silicon-valley-72919edb3297 | ['Preethi Kasireddy'] | 2020-12-12 00:06:48.187000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Silicon Valley', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Blockchain', 'Cryptocurrency'] | Title I’m leaving Silicon ValleyContent Here’s something never thought I’d say last week Silicon Valley post personal one Rather sharing insight Blockchain Javascript I’d like walk inner journey past year It’s journey that’s left itching change — driving Los Angeles set new home base big one landed Silicon Valley moved Silicon Valley summer 2012 little five year ago graduated college serendipitously landed new job offer eager anxious start career frankly idea expect turned lucked — Silicon Valley one best place world entrepreneur engineer anyone bold enough try change world technology …This stark contrast life New Jersey hometown people went community college pursued 9to5 job settled comfortable life mid20s little space thinking big taking risk creating career path landing San Francisco best kind culture shock imaginable Suddenly surrounded technology innovation immersed community challenging actually encouraged next three year living San Francisco pathaltering impact life began learn crazy idea aren’t “crazy” u willing put work take risk First challenge Goldman Sachs first postcollege job analyst Goldman Sachs able learn tech company financials work fundamental level working CEOs CFOs preparing IPO round acquisition hugely beneficial later moved working tech company directly planted seed interest solving problem software year Goldman Sachs however realized career banking wanted long term wanted go back engineer college decided go grain say goodbye “successful” position next Second challenge Andreessen Horowitz Well brink leaving join system engineer small industrial startup middle country random cold email followed long series unexpected event got offer join Andreessen Horowitz deal team opportunity couldn’t pas — thank God didn’t spent next two year Andreessen Horowitz worked learned pioneer web like Marc Andreessen Ben Horowitz Chris Dixon many others saw thousand company come door — saw idea team challenge strength learned in out building successful technology startup flip side learned common mistake lead failure importantly met incredible entrepreneur inspired also become like one day Third challenge returning engineering left a16z made transition software engineering young wanted go build stuff world could say “entrepreneur envy” — eager build product day day eventually start company I’ve written experience extensively past transition nothing short amazing learning growing breakneck pace passionate excited work Frankly much fun engineer single day felt like “work” beyond loving work also felt empowered Empowered thing never thought possible engineer gave freedom Freedom build anything want whenever want wherever want freedom learn everything work fundamental level freedom teach empower new developer importantly freedom creator literally create something nothing thing started feel different left Andreessen Horowitz return engineering track feeling life Silicon Valley started change Thanks freedom developer lifestyle started travel meet engineer around world — Paris London India Vienna Australia Berlin Tel Aviv South Africa Argentina South Korea — started see Silicon Valley wasn’t place worldchanging engineering technology innovation happening thought something could find Silicon Valley starting appear every city visited Early seed technology innovation planted place like New York Los Angeles Toronto Berlin Tel Aviv India Switzerland even South Africa isn’t exactly surprise since one Internet’s core function make access knowledge available everywhere personally taught almost everything know programming internet outside fundamental Hack Reactor free I’m one thousand learner using Internet access information used limited elite college like Stanford Berkeley MIT day techie aren’t limited Silicon Valley want find funding community Many city active relevant tech scene unique culture art cuisine activity offer group think issue Silicon Valley Despite center tech innovation decade I’m engineer notice degree homogeny Silicon Valley culture lately made homogenous everyone seemed similar story — whether software engineer product manager venture capitalist entrepreneur career path goal may different home town New Jersey offered… within Valley you’d hear story Every coffee shop went restaurant ate I’d overhear people talking 20M round 200M exit 200 YoY growth beautiful thing — likemindedness — longer beautiful started notice lot similar thinking — group think call Silicon Valley paradoxically predictable place founded idea unpredictable first Silicon Valley lesson say “yes” desire create path isn’t say Silicon Valley hasn’t taught anything important It’s perfect place learn take risk place learn value creating path prove living I’ve made deliberate effort say yes dream wanted freedom build anything want earned wanted learn grow quickly possible I’ve proven wanted meet people around world learn got wanted find purpose instead following “successful” path importantly wanted pave path unique I’m exactly I’m couple year future feel unlimited Looking back left Andreessen Horowitz pursue path set threepart roadmap Figure like developing Get really good Use skill positive impact world spent past two year learning many different area programming eg web development mobile development distributed system etc various application area eg machine learning blockchain etc purposely stayed broad exposed much possible learned code thing interested Eventually fell love blockchain development fascination blockchains started first made investment Coinbase a16z ever since I’ve keeping technology eventually joined Coinbase software engineer helped dive deeper space Coinbase continued tinker teach various aspect blockchain I’m phase two I’m focusing getting really good next step use skill “build worldchanging company something else entirely” Leading path want lead doesn’t require Silicon valley anymore don’t need follow personal roadmap freedom engineer learn grow entrepreneur writer speaker opened whole new world made realize engineer entrepreneur writer speaker anywhere world “If set goal go determination muster gift take place amaze you” — Les Brown second Silicon Valley lesson don’t Silicon Valley change world world becoming increasingly global Silicon Valley one way living One way thinking One way viewing world there’s many way technology global engineering global innovation global entrepreneurship global It’s evident fact see country like India China leap frog generation western technology even inventing way — take mPesa Kenya Paytm India WeChat China Moreover it’s become easier ever connect anyone thousand mile away physically present longer requirement code South Africa still ship product someone Silicon Valley Beyond really nudged realized blockchain revolution global I’ve spent past year research development blockchain technology noticed many city outside valley like New York Berlin Toronto Hong Kong China South Korea Bangkok making immense stride pushing blockchains forward Many well known project effort bring blockchain mass started place outside Silicon Valley noticed Silicon Valley isn’t center crazy idea came head leave Silicon Valley still pursue dream still build massive worldchanging company still make big impact world answer increasingly became clear yes course there’s strong argument staying Silicon Valley place massive network entrepreneur people “get it” place know breed amazing startup Moreover I’ve personally built great network Silicon Valley past five year could easily stay lead successful life financially least frankly don’t want feel bit easy I’m young passionate driven — can’t let inertia familiarity comfort money hold back going bigger harder thing I’m going challenge I’m going fight goal work day night money isn’t going get thing Money never main motivator left Goldman Sachs firstyear bonus eager sit back two month hating life instead starting new career a16z left amazing career a16z go become developer Challenge impact get bed morning burning desire even see experience outside Silicon Valley opportunity exists experience whole new city still love go try try expose idea place opportunity wide open meet type people learn skill live edge little ready exactly Onwards next city Perhaps feeling frustration towards Silicon Valley San Francisco merely fact long Perhaps they’re needing change Perhaps they’re finding true calling engineer builder writer entrepreneur realizing anywhere I’m ready pick bag embark onto next adventure Los Angeles scared Hell yeah I’m scared know practically one Los Angeles except college friend haven’t spoken year one hand sound scary hand I’ll admit I’m beyond ecstatic get build network ground like done past five year Silicon Valley best part always come back — day week month Silicon Valley entire network aren’t going anywhere come back year two year even five year still Los AngelesTags Startup Silicon Valley Entrepreneurship Blockchain Cryptocurrency |
2,556 | Leave Stress Behind Home is for Relaxation | Leave Stress Behind Home is for Relaxation
Three tips on how you can relax while at home.
Going home should be a calming time, but the simple truth is that you’re most likely going to get more stressed out when you finally arrive. Dishes to do, a home to clean, kids to worry about, and a spouse that may just want to sit with you. It’s hard to do everything and it is not always a fun thing to do, going home, but we can relax a little while we are doing everything.
Listen to something. If you ever find yourself doing a task that doesn’t require your full attention you should be listening to something. Dishes, laundry, cleaning, or anything of this nature requires only a little percent of your attention span. Don’t waste that time, instead destress your mind and travel to another world. Put on a book, a song, or something that will challenge your mind to think of something new instead of just, “does this shirt needing ironing?” It’s called parent time. Ok this idea is one that can work if done right. Here’s how it works you tell you kids that they have 30 mins to do something, they can’t talk to you about it, and have to focus on getting it done for 30 mins. If you are able to get it to work you train your child to be productive and learn to focus, and you get 30 minutes of peace. Otherwise, put on an educational app and say play, you have about 22–32 minutes before they get bored or have a question. Don’t bring work home with you. This is a tough idea for a lot of people to understand. Work happens when you are at work, and just because you have your work on the go now does not mean you need to get it done at home. If you can’t get what you need to get done at work either you aren’t being productive and selective with your time, you have to much work being given to you, or you need to ask for a raise. That being said though find ways to block out your time, and remember that work should not intrude on your life. Turn your home office into a gym, into a play room for the kids, or a home theater, and don’t spend all your free time at home doing your work.
Okay, these things are obviously a little easier said than done, but if you devote some time to not taking your work home with you, to teaching your kids to focus, and invest in your well being than you are going to live a much less stressed out life. | https://medium.com/thrive-global/leave-stress-behind-home-is-for-relaxation-4986ff43d3a4 | ['Saliba Faddoul'] | 2019-04-10 21:38:51.273000+00:00 | ['Wellbeing', 'Productivity', 'Life Lessons', 'Wellness', 'Lifestyle'] | Title Leave Stress Behind Home RelaxationContent Leave Stress Behind Home Relaxation Three tip relax home Going home calming time simple truth you’re likely going get stressed finally arrive Dishes home clean kid worry spouse may want sit It’s hard everything always fun thing going home relax little everything Listen something ever find task doesn’t require full attention listening something Dishes laundry cleaning anything nature requires little percent attention span Don’t waste time instead destress mind travel another world Put book song something challenge mind think something new instead “does shirt needing ironing” It’s called parent time Ok idea one work done right Here’s work tell kid 30 min something can’t talk focus getting done 30 min able get work train child productive learn focus get 30 minute peace Otherwise put educational app say play 22–32 minute get bored question Don’t bring work home tough idea lot people understand Work happens work work go mean need get done home can’t get need get done work either aren’t productive selective time much work given need ask raise said though find way block time remember work intrude life Turn home office gym play room kid home theater don’t spend free time home work Okay thing obviously little easier said done devote time taking work home teaching kid focus invest well going live much le stressed lifeTags Wellbeing Productivity Life Lessons Wellness Lifestyle |
2,557 | 7 Golden Rules for Not Taking Things Too Personally | Do you take things personally?
Of course you do — we all do. It’s almost impossible to float through life immune to the judgments of others, unless you interact with no-one, ever.
But the difficulty comes when we take things too personally, when we let the opinions of others pierce our emotional skins, superficially or right to the core of who we are.
But here’s the thing. No matter who we are, or what we do, we’ll be judged. The more we try, the more risks we take, the louder we sing, the more crap we’ll get.
And, even if we do nothing but lie on the sofa every night with a king-size block of chocolate, we’ll be judged on that too.
The point is, we can’t stop the onslaught of others’ opinions about us. It’s futile to try. But we can master the way we deal with them.
Here’s how.
7 Golden Rules for Not Taking Things Too Personally
“If you are impeccable with your word, if you don’t take anything personally, if you don’t make assumptions, if you always do your best, then you are going to have a beautiful life. — Miguel Ruiz
Taking things personally just means you’re a person with a healthy emotional radar. You Feel Stuff, which is a good thing. So you don’t need to develop a “thick skin”. But you do have to understand that taking everything personally will put you at the mercy of life’s slings and arrows. It will make you play small. Is that what you really want?
Before you take things (deeply) to heart, run this checklist.
1. Do you know who they are?
Who has judged/hurt you? Do you even know who they are? The harshest critics are often anonymous voices on social media. Immediately dismiss the criticism of anyone who hides behind a mask, an unfathomable user name or weird avatar.
Freedom of speech is important. People should be allowed to have and express opinions. Anonymous constructive comments are okay. Anonymous mean comments are cowardly. Why would you let a coward hiding behind a keyboard hurt you? Why would you allow anyone who doesn’t know you to hurt you?
2. Do they (really) matter to you?
So many people are affected by the words, actions, opinions of people who don’t really matter. That mother in the school playground. That friend who left you out who won’t be a friend in the end. That obnoxious guy in the next cubicle at work. That micro-managing boss you will eventually move on from. The toxic ex you never have to see again. Some slick politician you’ll never have to meet. Yes, they’ve hurt or annoyed you but, when you step back and see the big picture, they’re not truly important to you. So keep them in their place; don’t make them bigger than they are.
And, if they do matter to you, don’t be too quick to react. Listen — and try to understand their perspective.
3. Are they Going Low?
“When they go low, we go high.” — Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama popularised this slogan, offering restraint as an antidote to criticism. She later explained it was not about banishing hurt feelings, but about not allowing yourself to stoop to an angry or low level response, to maintain your dignity in the face of challenge.
Ignore anyone who judges you based on your looks, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, any points of difference, personality and relationships. That’s none of their business. Smile and think this: if they’re making it personal, they can’t have anything substantial to say.
4. Know this is about them.
There is great power in realising the way a person speaks about or acts towards about others is utterly revealing of who they are. In their comments, posts, tweets, behaviour — or acts of meanness — they are telling you about their history, their belief systems, their character, their emotional game, the often narrow way they view the world. They’re standing before you — Naked.
Any poisonous judgments they make are a product of who they are. It’s helpful to understand that. It’s helpful to know that’s NOT who you want to be. It’s probably even more helpful to stay away from them.
5. Don’t make assumptions.
The number one rule of psychology is “make no assumptions”. When you are upset or angry it’s easy to assume you know what the other person meant. It’s also possible you have it completely wrong. Stay neutral: allow another person’s opinions to be theirs — and theirs alone. You don’t have to do anything with them.
6. Figure out how they can help you.
Often the reason we’re hurt by criticism is because it “hits a nerve”, we believe it contains a kernel of truth. Feedback is not always negative. And, even if it is, it can contain things that can help us, particularly around our work. If you’ve had some feedback that’s hard to take, sit with it a while and — when you’re ready — unpack it and see what you can learn. There are always better, or alternative, ways to do things. Stay open to them.
7. Don’t let them limit your life.
The great danger in taking things too personally is that you get defensive and it begins to dictate your life. Your critics can keep you in a box, closing your heart and mind to new experiences, to possibility. Don’t let them trap you. Don’t let turn you into a victim. Don’t let them own your life. If you are going to do anything worthwhile at all, the critics will come for you. But they’ll only win if you hand them the power to do so. | https://karennimmo.medium.com/7-golden-rules-for-not-taking-things-too-personally-581efcae02f4 | ['Karen Nimmo'] | 2020-11-24 11:07:28.285000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Life Lessons', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology', 'Inspiration'] | Title 7 Golden Rules Taking Things PersonallyContent take thing personally course — It’s almost impossible float life immune judgment others unless interact noone ever difficulty come take thing personally let opinion others pierce emotional skin superficially right core here’s thing matter we’ll judged try risk take louder sing crap we’ll get even nothing lie sofa every night kingsize block chocolate we’ll judged point can’t stop onslaught others’ opinion u It’s futile try master way deal Here’s 7 Golden Rules Taking Things Personally “If impeccable word don’t take anything personally don’t make assumption always best going beautiful life — Miguel Ruiz Taking thing personally mean you’re person healthy emotional radar Feel Stuff good thing don’t need develop “thick skin” understand taking everything personally put mercy life’s sling arrow make play small really want take thing deeply heart run checklist 1 know judgedhurt even know harshest critic often anonymous voice social medium Immediately dismiss criticism anyone hide behind mask unfathomable user name weird avatar Freedom speech important People allowed express opinion Anonymous constructive comment okay Anonymous mean comment cowardly would let coward hiding behind keyboard hurt would allow anyone doesn’t know hurt 2 really matter many people affected word action opinion people don’t really matter mother school playground friend left won’t friend end obnoxious guy next cubicle work micromanaging bos eventually move toxic ex never see slick politician you’ll never meet Yes they’ve hurt annoyed step back see big picture they’re truly important keep place don’t make bigger matter don’t quick react Listen — try understand perspective 3 Going Low “When go low go high” — Michelle Obama Michelle Obama popularised slogan offering restraint antidote criticism later explained banishing hurt feeling allowing stoop angry low level response maintain dignity face challenge Ignore anyone judge based look ethnicity gender sexuality point difference personality relationship That’s none business Smile think they’re making personal can’t anything substantial say 4 Know great power realising way person speaks act towards others utterly revealing comment post tweet behaviour — act meanness — telling history belief system character emotional game often narrow way view world They’re standing — Naked poisonous judgment make product It’s helpful understand It’s helpful know that’s want It’s probably even helpful stay away 5 Don’t make assumption number one rule psychology “make assumptions” upset angry it’s easy assume know person meant It’s also possible completely wrong Stay neutral allow another person’s opinion — alone don’t anything 6 Figure help Often reason we’re hurt criticism “hits nerve” believe contains kernel truth Feedback always negative even contain thing help u particularly around work you’ve feedback that’s hard take sit — you’re ready — unpack see learn always better alternative way thing Stay open 7 Don’t let limit life great danger taking thing personally get defensive begin dictate life critic keep box closing heart mind new experience possibility Don’t let trap Don’t let turn victim Don’t let life going anything worthwhile critic come they’ll win hand power soTags Self Improvement Life Lessons Mental Health Psychology Inspiration |
2,558 | I used Instagram captions to earn $10,000 a month as a writer | Two years ago, I quit my job at a Fortune 100 company to pursue my passion as a nutritionist. I went back to school to do a master's degree and very quickly went from being a financially stable, got-my-life-together 24-year-old to just another directionless, penniless millennial.
I now earn $10,000+ a month as a full-time freelancer writer because of Instagram (no, I’m not Instagram famous). I used Instagram to market myself to work with some of the biggest brands in the health and fitness industry, and here’s how.
It all started with a lil vanity.
I’ll be totally transparent: This whole journey started with a lil vanity.
I went to Thailand just before I quit my job (a classic tale), and I met a photographer. We became friends and she took some pictures of me. Prior to Thailand, I had been painfully insecure in front of a camera, but the Thai air just really brought it out of me (see below). I posted the pictures on Instagram and I started to gain a little baby following.
Photo by author
I worked hard at the gym and was physically fit, which led to me receiving some messages regarding my workout routine and diet, which to me was wild, why would anyone care, right? But I was an avid gym junkie and prospective nutritionist, plus I had a bachelor’s in science — I knew what I was talking about, so I decided to answer the questions in my Instagram captions.
Lesson 1: Add value — By posting free, useful, and well-thought out information on social media — without asking for anything in return or advertising any paid service — you add value in a distinct and trustworthy way. If you start your social media journey with advertising your service BEFORE adding value, how will your audience know that you’re legitimate? Many marketers traditionally add value via customer service, inspirational visual content, blog posts, infographics, video content, etc., but Instagram captions are widely underutilized as a way to effectively add value for writers. In the beginning, no one wants to read your 2,000 word blog post. Prospective clients want snippets of your writing skills, like a quick 300 word Instagram caption.
Photo by Georgia de Lotz on Unsplash
After quitting my job, going back to university, and qualifying as a fitness coach, I continued snapping selfies and posting captions about my fitness and diet hacks. I never had more than around 10,000 followers, and in the grand scheme of Instagram, that is miniscule.
However, as per Kevin Kelly’s 1,000 true fans theory, all you really need to be a successful creator is 1,000 true fans. Or, in my case, Instagram followers.
I was approached online by a popular boxing gym who explained that they had read my Instagram captions and wondered if I would write a full-length article for them. Of course, I obliged and was paid £25 to write a 500-word article — which to me was awesome because I had been writing 350 words (roughly the limit for Instagram) for free, just for fun. | https://medium.com/better-marketing/i-used-instagram-captions-to-earn-10-000-a-month-as-a-writer-e7ce00bcfd4e | ['Emilina Lomas'] | 2020-10-21 20:30:00.683000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Digital Marketing', 'Writing', 'Instagram', 'Social Media'] | Title used Instagram caption earn 10000 month writerContent Two year ago quit job Fortune 100 company pursue passion nutritionist went back school master degree quickly went financially stable gotmylifetogether 24yearold another directionless penniless millennial earn 10000 month fulltime freelancer writer Instagram I’m Instagram famous used Instagram market work biggest brand health fitness industry here’s started lil vanity I’ll totally transparent whole journey started lil vanity went Thailand quit job classic tale met photographer became friend took picture Prior Thailand painfully insecure front camera Thai air really brought see posted picture Instagram started gain little baby following Photo author worked hard gym physically fit led receiving message regarding workout routine diet wild would anyone care right avid gym junkie prospective nutritionist plus bachelor’s science — knew talking decided answer question Instagram caption Lesson 1 Add value — posting free useful wellthought information social medium — without asking anything return advertising paid service — add value distinct trustworthy way start social medium journey advertising service adding value audience know you’re legitimate Many marketer traditionally add value via customer service inspirational visual content blog post infographics video content etc Instagram caption widely underutilized way effectively add value writer beginning one want read 2000 word blog post Prospective client want snippet writing skill like quick 300 word Instagram caption Photo Georgia de Lotz Unsplash quitting job going back university qualifying fitness coach continued snapping selfies posting caption fitness diet hack never around 10000 follower grand scheme Instagram miniscule However per Kevin Kelly’s 1000 true fan theory really need successful creator 1000 true fan case Instagram follower approached online popular boxing gym explained read Instagram caption wondered would write fulllength article course obliged paid £25 write 500word article — awesome writing 350 word roughly limit Instagram free funTags Marketing Digital Marketing Writing Instagram Social Media |
2,559 | Designing a chatbot with IBM Watson Assistant | Chatbot, also known as “conversational agent”, is a trending technology. Chatbots are changing the business landscape. Its emergence in the enterprise has several implications that require some thought. Building a bot is not a hard task; with the rise of many platforms, it’s now easier than ever to develop and deploy one. The challenge with chatbots lies in delivering a good user experience, and they only present opportunities if done right. But, designing a conversation that meets consumer needs and returns real business value requires a nuanced strategy and in-depth considerations. The experience you are creating for your clients is paramount. Before moving quickly to development, figure out the problem areas that you, your users, and your employees are struggling with, and if a chatbot is the best fit to meet everyone’s needs. *
Deploying chatbots in the enterprise raises a host of potential issues that inevitably affect the deployment of enterprise software, including performance, scalability, and especially security. Enterprise chatbots may require access to user credentials, profile information, and enterprise data to perform useful functions. Any chatbot initiative must comply with enterprise cybersecurity standards. *
In this post, we’ll be taking a look at addressing some of these concerns and show how to design a chatbot using IBM Watson Assistant.
Figure 1: IBM Watson Assistant meet IBM Enterprise Design Thinking
What is exactly a chatbot?
In general terms, a chatbot is an artificial intelligence (AI) conversational agent, which conducts conversations via text or voice commands in a natural language conversation. It communicates and performs basic tasks such as answering questions or placing product orders. Chatbots’ primary purpose is to streamline interactions between people and services through messaging applications, websites, mobile apps, or through the telephone and interactive voice response (IVR). Other options include:
Used for service or as a marketing tool for engagement
Provide content, facilitate a purchase, or connect with consumers
Combine the ability to scale and personalization
Provide support
Suggest product recommendations
Leveraged for conversational marketing campaigns
The goal is to have chatbots written in a way to mimic spoken human speech to simulate a conversation with a real person performing any task. Chatbots can learn. Should you feed it a large number of conversation logs, the bot could be trained in a way to understand what type of question needed and what kind of answers to answer. Eventually the bot can be trained enough where you could not tell it is a bot.
“A computer would deserve to be called intelligent if it could deceive a human into believing that it was a human” — Alan Turing
These conversational bots are getting smarter. They are less prone to errors based on how they are trained. Hence, they can provide better customer experience and can help establish a better brand. There are tons of services to help you build chatbots, each with varying degrees of control, and these services have also become increasingly sophisticated. Unlike as seen in countless movies with “science fiction” depicted as awkward speech with robotic cadence, chatbots have come a long way! It’s safe to say that chatbots are still growing. Bots are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and are capable of answering customers’ questions much quicker than human agents can.
Is chatbot the right solution?
Don’t build a conversation for building’s sake. Stall the idea of a conversation agent as a solution before clearly identifying what is it that you’re trying to achieve. First, ask yourself a few of these questions:
What is the focus area of the business that needs improvement now?
Who are all the users and stakeholders involved in this area, and how are they interacting with each other?
What’s not working for them? Why are they struggling?
What is the desired business outcome if we can change that?
If you already have a chatbot/conversation agent operating today, ask yourself:
Are they performing up to expectations? Are they meeting your KPIs?
Are users getting helpful answers?
Is the conversation designed well to serve the users needs?
Also think about potential pitfalls of chatbot:
Can bots put people at risk?
How are the bots trained and do they contain biased information?
Align together towards the vision
Once you have a clear business fit for a chatbot, then invite the stakeholders and sponsor users to a design thinking workshop. In this workshop, have the participants go through convergent and divergent activities to understand, explore, and define how chatbot fits into improving user experience. Use activities like Empathy Map and As-Is Scenario to understand the pain points experienced today. Identify areas where a conversational agent can help to improve the experience; look for areas where the user is asking the most questions and are the most confused and frustrated. These areas will be good candidates for where a chatbot can help. Then, prioritize with the team on which of the identified pain points will be the most important and feasible. Using the prioritized pain points as a guide, discuss and identify content, information, questions, and answers that could alleviate the pain points. Identify top priority areas that are the most import to your personas.
Dialogue design
In this blog, we will use IBM Watson Assistant to design a conversation. The archetypal chatbot consists of 3 specific concepts: intents, entities, dialog, as described in detail below. Let’s design a chatbot for your business and understand what it takes to create a purpose-built one that also delivers a superior conversational experience.
Figure 2: A typical approach used when deploying Watson Assistant
Intents
An intent is a purpose or goal expressed in a customer’s input, such as answering a question or a pressing a bill payment. By recognizing the intent expressed in a customer’s input, the Assistance service chooses the correct dialog flow for responding to it.
An intent is a category that defines a user’s goal or purpose
or These categories are trained using representative examples
Recognizing the intents does not require knowing the specifics of the user request — it is a way to guide the dialog flow in the appropriate direction
Entities
An entity represents a class of object or a data type that is relevant to a user’s purpose. By recognizing the entities that are mentioned in the user’s input, the Assistance service can choose the specific actions to take to fulfill an intent. It’s also Watson’s way of handling significant parts of an input that should be used to alter the way it responds to the intent.
Entities are the subjects of intents
Entities are specific values that clarify user intent and trigger fine-tuned actions and responses
and trigger fine-tuned actions and responses For each value, you can include a list of synonyms to capture the possible varieties in user expression
to capture the possible varieties in user expression Entities represent information in the user input that is relevant to the user’s purpose.
System entities
System entities are common entities created by IBM that could be used across any use case. They are ready to be used as soon as you add them, such as:
@sys-date
@sys-time
@sys-number
Dialog
The dialog component of the Assistance service uses the intents and entities that are identified in the user’s input, plus context from the application, to interact with the user and ultimately provide a useful response. The dialog is represented graphically as a tree, so create a branch to process each intent that you define.
The dialog node is made of a trigger and a response, where the trigger is the condition
Dialog matches intents (what users say) to responses (what the bot says back)
Each dialog node contains, at a minimum, a condition and a response
The dialog response defines how to reply to the user
Figure 3: Depiction of a simple dialog
Slots
Add slots to a dialog node to gather multiple pieces of information from a user within that node. Slots collect data at the user’s pace. Details the user provides upfront are saved, and the service asks only for the details they do not. Slots…
Reduce development time
Get the information you need before you can respond accurately to the user
Answer follow-up questions without having to reestablish the user’s goal
Identify the type of information you want to extract from the user’s response
Our experience designing a chatbot
For a delightful user experience, you can’t run away from asking these core questions at the heart of your design, and each question needs to be carefully and meticulously considered with the different facets:
Is my product well-suited to be a bot?
How to design a meaningful conversation?
Will the chatbot understand the messages it receives?
How to create a simple design for an immediate and direct solution to a person’s problem?
Will the design solve the problem reliably?
What are the logical conversation path(s) for users to follow?
What are the integration points?
Can the bot handle more complex queries and tasks?
What user pain point does it solve?
What type of friction will it remove from the current process?
How to prevent the chatbot from asking the wrong questions and collecting unnecessary information?
When to override the bot (and allow for a graceful failover)?
Figure 4: Steve Jobs’ quote
Chatbot conversational flow
A chatbot conversational flow works like a decision tree, which gives you a comprehensive list of decisions, events, and outcomes as depicted below:
Figure 5: Basic transactions for a banking use case.
Prerequisites
To follow along, you are required to have these accounts and tools in place:
Start with an account on IBM Cloud. It’s free of cost to start with.
Setup Watson Assistance
If you want to follow along, the full solution can be found at the link: Create a banking chatbot with FAQ discovery, anger detection, and natural language understanding.
Figure 6: Watson banking chatbot
Steps to creating successful chatbots
Identify the problem to be solved and use case
Choose the channel for your bot (e.g. Facebook Messenger, Skype, Slack)
Choose the right use case for your bot
Choose the services you will use to build your chatbot (in this case we are planning to use IBM Watson)
Emulate conversations to train and retrain bot.
Test
Launch and learn
Included components:
IBM Watson Assistant: Build, test, and deploy a bot or virtual agent across mobile devices, messaging platforms, or even on a physical robot
IBM Watson Discovery: A cognitive search and content analytics engine for applications to identify patterns, trends, and actionable insights
IBM Watson Natural Language Understanding: Analyze text to extract meta-data from content such as concepts, entities, keywords, categories, sentiment, emotion, relations, and semantic roles, using natural language understanding
IBM Watson Tone Analyzer: Uses linguistic analysis to detect communication tones in written text
Node.js: An asynchronous event driven JavaScript runtime, designed to build scalable applications
Conclusion
In recent years, AI and machine learning have changed the way we go about our day-to-day business. Chatbots have conquered the market. No longer a nascent technology, chatbots are now mainstream. Its business impacts include breakthrough across different industries, such as financial services, retail, oilfield services, hospitals, and insurance companies. The chatbots market was worth USD 1274.428 million in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 7591.82 million by 2024, registering a CAGR of 34.75% over the period (2019–2024). According to IBM in 2017, 265 billion customer requests are recorded per year and businesses spend nearly $1.3 trillion to service these requests. Using chatbots can help them save up to 30% of this.
On a closing note, if you asked me the question, “Are chatbots a must-have?”, you can extrapolate and figure out on which side of the track that I’m seating! Chatbots are here to stay!
Food for thought: Intelligence of Chatbot
Can bots communicate intelligent insights?
Is Human Intelligence underrated? Is Artificial Intelligence overrated, an actual breakthrough, or still in its infancy?
Will bots eventually be equipped to deal with complex issues such as geoeconomic and geopolitical problems?
Attribution
Special thank you to the IBM Garage Singapore team: Oliver Senti, Practice Manager; Eunice Shin, Sr UX Designer; Ma Li, Architect / Data Scientist; Iris Tan, UX Designer and Thanh Son Le from the Cognitive Solutions Engineer, IBM Watson and Cloud Platform Expert & Delivery Services.
References
For more details on designing and building chatbots, please refer to the links below where you can find many read up on AI-powered chatbots: | https://medium.com/ibm-garage/designing-a-chatbot-with-ibm-watson-assistant-7e11b94c2b3d | ['Ernese Norelus'] | 2019-09-30 22:58:06.041000+00:00 | ['Design Thinking', 'Design', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Chatbots', 'Bots'] | Title Designing chatbot IBM Watson AssistantContent Chatbot also known “conversational agent” trending technology Chatbots changing business landscape emergence enterprise several implication require thought Building bot hard task rise many platform it’s easier ever develop deploy one challenge chatbots lie delivering good user experience present opportunity done right designing conversation meet consumer need return real business value requires nuanced strategy indepth consideration experience creating client paramount moving quickly development figure problem area user employee struggling chatbot best fit meet everyone’s need Deploying chatbots enterprise raise host potential issue inevitably affect deployment enterprise software including performance scalability especially security Enterprise chatbots may require access user credential profile information enterprise data perform useful function chatbot initiative must comply enterprise cybersecurity standard post we’ll taking look addressing concern show design chatbot using IBM Watson Assistant Figure 1 IBM Watson Assistant meet IBM Enterprise Design Thinking exactly chatbot general term chatbot artificial intelligence AI conversational agent conduct conversation via text voice command natural language conversation communicates performs basic task answering question placing product order Chatbots’ primary purpose streamline interaction people service messaging application website mobile apps telephone interactive voice response IVR option include Used service marketing tool engagement Provide content facilitate purchase connect consumer Combine ability scale personalization Provide support Suggest product recommendation Leveraged conversational marketing campaign goal chatbots written way mimic spoken human speech simulate conversation real person performing task Chatbots learn feed large number conversation log bot could trained way understand type question needed kind answer answer Eventually bot trained enough could tell bot “A computer would deserve called intelligent could deceive human believing human” — Alan Turing conversational bot getting smarter le prone error based trained Hence provide better customer experience help establish better brand ton service help build chatbots varying degree control service also become increasingly sophisticated Unlike seen countless movie “science fiction” depicted awkward speech robotic cadence chatbots come long way It’s safe say chatbots still growing Bots available 24 hour day 7 day week 365 day year capable answering customers’ question much quicker human agent chatbot right solution Don’t build conversation building’s sake Stall idea conversation agent solution clearly identifying you’re trying achieve First ask question focus area business need improvement user stakeholder involved area interacting What’s working struggling desired business outcome change already chatbotconversation agent operating today ask performing expectation meeting KPIs user getting helpful answer conversation designed well serve user need Also think potential pitfall chatbot bot put people risk bot trained contain biased information Align together towards vision clear business fit chatbot invite stakeholder sponsor user design thinking workshop workshop participant go convergent divergent activity understand explore define chatbot fit improving user experience Use activity like Empathy Map AsIs Scenario understand pain point experienced today Identify area conversational agent help improve experience look area user asking question confused frustrated area good candidate chatbot help prioritize team identified pain point important feasible Using prioritized pain point guide discus identify content information question answer could alleviate pain point Identify top priority area import persona Dialogue design blog use IBM Watson Assistant design conversation archetypal chatbot consists 3 specific concept intent entity dialog described detail Let’s design chatbot business understand take create purposebuilt one also delivers superior conversational experience Figure 2 typical approach used deploying Watson Assistant Intents intent purpose goal expressed customer’s input answering question pressing bill payment recognizing intent expressed customer’s input Assistance service chooses correct dialog flow responding intent category defines user’s goal purpose category trained using representative example Recognizing intent require knowing specific user request — way guide dialog flow appropriate direction Entities entity represents class object data type relevant user’s purpose recognizing entity mentioned user’s input Assistance service choose specific action take fulfill intent It’s also Watson’s way handling significant part input used alter way responds intent Entities subject intent Entities specific value clarify user intent trigger finetuned action response trigger finetuned action response value include list synonym capture possible variety user expression capture possible variety user expression Entities represent information user input relevant user’s purpose System entity System entity common entity created IBM could used across use case ready used soon add sysdate systime sysnumber Dialog dialog component Assistance service us intent entity identified user’s input plus context application interact user ultimately provide useful response dialog represented graphically tree create branch process intent define dialog node made trigger response trigger condition Dialog match intent user say response bot say back dialog node contains minimum condition response dialog response defines reply user Figure 3 Depiction simple dialog Slots Add slot dialog node gather multiple piece information user within node Slots collect data user’s pace Details user provides upfront saved service asks detail Slots… Reduce development time Get information need respond accurately user Answer followup question without reestablish user’s goal Identify type information want extract user’s response experience designing chatbot delightful user experience can’t run away asking core question heart design question need carefully meticulously considered different facet product wellsuited bot design meaningful conversation chatbot understand message receives create simple design immediate direct solution person’s problem design solve problem reliably logical conversation path user follow integration point bot handle complex query task user pain point solve type friction remove current process prevent chatbot asking wrong question collecting unnecessary information override bot allow graceful failover Figure 4 Steve Jobs’ quote Chatbot conversational flow chatbot conversational flow work like decision tree give comprehensive list decision event outcome depicted Figure 5 Basic transaction banking use case Prerequisites follow along required account tool place Start account IBM Cloud It’s free cost start Setup Watson Assistance want follow along full solution found link Create banking chatbot FAQ discovery anger detection natural language understanding Figure 6 Watson banking chatbot Steps creating successful chatbots Identify problem solved use case Choose channel bot eg Facebook Messenger Skype Slack Choose right use case bot Choose service use build chatbot case planning use IBM Watson Emulate conversation train retrain bot Test Launch learn Included component IBM Watson Assistant Build test deploy bot virtual agent across mobile device messaging platform even physical robot IBM Watson Discovery cognitive search content analytics engine application identify pattern trend actionable insight IBM Watson Natural Language Understanding Analyze text extract metadata content concept entity keywords category sentiment emotion relation semantic role using natural language understanding IBM Watson Tone Analyzer Uses linguistic analysis detect communication tone written text Nodejs asynchronous event driven JavaScript runtime designed build scalable application Conclusion recent year AI machine learning changed way go daytoday business Chatbots conquered market longer nascent technology chatbots mainstream business impact include breakthrough across different industry financial service retail oilfield service hospital insurance company chatbots market worth USD 1274428 million 2018 projected reach USD 759182 million 2024 registering CAGR 3475 period 2019–2024 According IBM 2017 265 billion customer request recorded per year business spend nearly 13 trillion service request Using chatbots help save 30 closing note asked question “Are chatbots musthave” extrapolate figure side track I’m seating Chatbots stay Food thought Intelligence Chatbot bot communicate intelligent insight Human Intelligence underrated Artificial Intelligence overrated actual breakthrough still infancy bot eventually equipped deal complex issue geoeconomic geopolitical problem Attribution Special thank IBM Garage Singapore team Oliver Senti Practice Manager Eunice Shin Sr UX Designer Li Architect Data Scientist Iris Tan UX Designer Thanh Son Le Cognitive Solutions Engineer IBM Watson Cloud Platform Expert Delivery Services References detail designing building chatbots please refer link find many read AIpowered chatbotsTags Design Thinking Design Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Bots |
2,560 | No longer alone, no longer invisible | No longer alone, no longer invisible
A love letter to a love story
‘Heartstopper’ is a love story — between friends, between lovers, between family.
Written and illustrated by Alice Oseman, Heartstopper follows the lives of Nick and Charlie, two teenage boys who meet at school and fall in love — the full synopsis is available on Oseman’s website. Heartstopper’s ability to address serious issues (such as mental illness and bullying) while telling an uplifting and adorkable love story is integral to its appeal.
Before writing this review, I sought to gain more insight into how others feel about this comic, especially LGBTQ+ and neurodiverse readers. Going through the survey responses was incredible. I read comments that expressed exactly how I felt, and I confess that I cried reading some of the answers.
“We exist and we deserve to have stories about us and be more than just the best friend of the protagonist.” — smile__hoya
Content warning: References to eating disorders.
Representation matters
When I asked readers why minority representation was important in YA fiction, responses overwhelmingly cited the need to show people that they aren’t alone, abnormal or a burden. Sometimes we don’t even realise how necessary this is until we see ourselves within the pages (@bookdragonbrew). Seeing LGBTQ+ characters (like us) who struggle with mental health (like us), managing to find such happiness in life, gives us hope and comfort that though the road may be long, things will get better (@steeviekate).
“Reading [‘Heartstopper’] is like my antidepressant, it helps me to see how maybe I could meet someone who can understand me and care about me as Nick cares about Charlie.” — Lucci
Heartstopper’s realistic yet positive focus “on support, healing and recovery” (Vol. 3, Author’s Note) is particularly helpful for those who feel unable to discuss these issues with the people around them. I was lucky that I could share with my friends and family, and not everyone is in this position.
‘Heartstopper’ stars the characters Nick Nelson (left) and Charlie Spring (right).
An oft-cited example of Heartstopper’s relatability is Nick’s journey towards recognising his bisexuality, and the reassurance that it’s okay not to have it all figured out immediately. In a world where it can feel like everyone’s supposed to already know their sexuality from the get-go, Nick’s slow, dawning realisation is intensely meaningful for those of us who came relatively ‘late’ into our queer identities (@areadersworld; @jayjo-reads).
I wish I’d had Heartstopper when I myself, at eighteen, was going through exactly the same confusion as Nick. The fear he feels about coming out to his mum, even though he knows she loves him, is near identical to my own and others’ experiences.
Eating disorders are not an exclusively female experience
Several readers relate specifically to how Charlie’s eating disorder (ED) is portrayed, in that it stems more from anxiety rather than body image issues, as well as the simple fact that Charlie is male.
Male characters struggling with EDs aren’t commonly depicted — only two out of a list of 50 recommended books about ED feature a male protagonist with an ED, despite 25% of people with anorexia being male (NEDA, 2018). This kindred understanding given to us by Heartstopper recalls the song ‘You Will Be Found’ from Dear Evan Hansen: “There’s a place where we don’t have to feel unknown…And every time that you call out, you’re a little less alone.”
“Reading books about LGBT+ characters and mental illness…felt like a hug to me…A story to tell you “hey, it’s okay, other people feel like this too. And they got [through] it. So will you.” — solitairians
Diversity doesn’t have to make a point, it’s a fact of life
Heartstopper’s supporting characters are also casually diverse, well-written and never come across as tokenised. Some readers identify with Elle, who is trans (cin_toazt; Anon.), while others relate to Tao’s efforts to be a good friend (Anon.). Still others connect to Aled, an asexual/demisexual character (Anon.; lostmindbooks; sascha.w5), Tara and Darcy’s lesbian relationship (iseultslibrary; iammadeofporcelain; Anon.), and also their hijabi classmate in Vol.3 (Anon.).
“A hijabi character just chilling out with everyone else at a party and joining in with the games felt…refreshing to see…even when Muslim side characters are included, there’s [often] some kind of focus on them being different in some way.” — Anonymous
Supporting characters Tara (left) and Darcy (right) featured in a mini-comic (‘Heartstopper’, Volume 1).
Heartstopper has been a source of guidance and solace for many LGBTQ+ and/or neurodiverse readers, inspiring some to come out to their parents, and helping others realise that they are not obliged to forgive the people who have hurt and tormented them (@littlemel0dies). Additionally, Heartstopper offers valuable lessons for people who want to gain greater understanding of their neurodiverse, LGBTQ+ friends and neighbours, so they can better support them (@jake.m.williams). Readers relate to Nick trying to help Charlie with his ED (@wckedlittletown), also reflected in the comments of Heartstopper’s recent Tapas update (April 11th 2020) where readers discussed how to support friends struggling with an ED.
“[In school, we] don’t really learn about mental health or sexuality… so seeing someone representing that in a comic [is] great.” — confaix “Seeing this representation in media is so helpful and informative, especially since [I] have friends with mental health problems and…want to understand them and be there for them as much as possible.” — Anonymous
Diverse reads like Heartstopper challenge stigmas, “[bringing] more acceptance and understanding to society” (@reenaofpashadunes). Yet it is only recently that mainstream media seems to have woken up to this. As YA fiction is so widely read, it ought to more accurately reflect the diversity the world holds (Eléonore), especially experiences (both the beautiful and the challenging) that were previously drowned out by dominant narratives in history (@thereal_jdneal).
“Many past portrayals of LGBTQIA+ people…either focused on the drama of coming out or traumas caused by their sexuality, or…a throwaway singular side character that had little impact on the story…Mental health often played either too much or too little of a role in many YA fictions until recently. It was either the one thing that characterised a character or…‘X was morbidly depressed until Y came along and immediately their life was all better’.” — AnxiousAtlas
Heartstopper is not just a novel for LGBTQ+ audiences — yes, it stars several LGBTQ+ characters, but it also depicts a wide range of life experiences with both its teen and adult characters, such as teachers, giving it a huge scope of appeal for everyone (@sascha.w5).
“I love that [Heartstopper] is out there for kids seeking representation and for others who just want to read a great story.” — Anonymous “[Heartstopper] helped with my anxiety about growing up...[I’m] still pretty young and…often scared about stuff like drinking, parties, relationships…this helps me stop worrying sometimes by showing what it’s actually like.” — Anonymous
We came for the story, but stayed for the characters
It’s unsurprising that ‘characters’ was referenced so many times as a favourite aspect of Heartstopper. If I love a character, I will happily read about them doing the most mundane things, because this is real life, and in real life I’m always interested in the people I love. I don’t think the romance would be half as emotionally tangible if readers didn’t feel like we were rooting for people that we know and love. Nick and Charlie feel particularly real because Heartstopper isn’t only about their queerness — we get to see all the other sides of them too (@ladysmallsteps).
Key words commonly used by readers to describe their favourite things about Heartstopper (created using WordItOut).
Heartstopper focuses on the hopeful and the everyday, and the drama never feel contrived, showing readers that queer relationships and queer lives don’t need to be riddled with high-stakes miscommunications to be interesting or real. Nick’s realisation that he’s made bad friends is never a fun discovery, but unfortunately it seems many of us can relate. On the bright side, Heartstopper does vividly illustrate key features of a strong, trusting friendship (@Orphea Solace), and how such support networks can help us overcome difficult situations (Fred Cronin).
“Nick and Charlie’s story is made up of…episodes of their lives…There’s no overarching drama — because it’s just real life. Just one normal, loving relationship between two people.” — Oseman, 2016
I really appreciated Heartstopper’s emphasis on open dialogue, consent and healthy relationships. Oseman sought to write the type of story she’d have loved to read as a teen, and this sentiment is certainly echoed amongst Heartstopper’s readers, myself included.
“‘Heartstopper’ is everything I wish my teenage years had been. When I came out, it wasn’t by choice, and it wasn’t pleasant. There were no LGBTQ+ positive books, and any depiction on TV was considered “dirty” or uncouth. ‘Heartstopper’ is the thing that so many young people can see themselves in, in a way that’s accessible for them, without any of the old, seedy connotations that used to accompany queer literature.” — Tsam (A Boy with a Book)
Heartstopper is very accessible, as its free availability online makes it a safe space for readers who aren’t out and can’t risk ordering the physical books. Its episodic plot line also increases readability for those who have trouble focusing for extensive periods of time (Richard O'Keeffe).
Common words respondents used to characterise what impact Heartstopper had on them (created using WordItOut).
Heartstopper has had a markedly positive impact on most readers — over 91% — and it’s profoundly moving to see how it’s become such a beacon in the dark. Another beautiful thing is the blossoming of friendships within the fandom (@the-arktic; @locklyle; @thatgaypotterhead) — I myself met @wyaakk through supporting each other’s fan-art.
“I [struggle] with anxiety and depression. I read Heartstopper during a very rough time and they were the only thing that made me feel and granted me escapism.” — The Reading Witch “I’m just prouder of myself, I’m much happier with who I am [after reading ‘Heartstopper’]…The characters…became my friends when I thought I didn’t have any.” — cin_toazt “[I]t’s like the characters taught me to stand up for myself and love myself for who I am no matter what.” — Anonymous
Representation matters, but so does artistic inspiration
I would be remiss not to mention how brilliantly emotive Oseman’s art is. I love how she does facial expressions, light and shadow. It’s deceptively simple but astonishingly expressive, imbued with so much detail, down to even the panel shapes themselves (The Reading Witch). Oseman has even inspired readers to start drawing again (@jayjo-reads) — I certainly never considered creating my own graphic novel before reading Heartstopper.
A collection of Oseman’s novels: ‘Solitaire’ (2014), ‘Radio Silence’ (2016), ‘I Was Born For This’ (2018), ‘Heartstopper’ (2016-present).
None of Oseman’s books had been on a bestseller list before ‘Heartstopper’ Vol. 3 entered the UK Children’s Book Chart. Honestly, I was shocked. In my little bookstagram bubble of Heartstopper hype, I’d somehow already assumed Oseman was a nationally bestselling author! While Heartstopper is relatively well-known, Oseman’s other works haven’t received half the attention that they deserve (@locklyle).
“YA fiction…has a history of being whitewashed and romanticizing mental illness…[Oseman] does a great job of [getting] her novels sensitivity read in order to not write anything misleading.” — seaweedsoda
I look forward to Oseman’s Loveless (July 9th), an own-voices novel featuring a university student coming to terms with her aro/ace sexuality, and her novella Nick and Charlie (Aug 6th).
If Heartstopper has taught me anything, it’s that no one should have to feel isolated. So reach out to a relative, a lover, a friend— because we are no longer alone. | https://medium.com/the-open-bookshelf/no-longer-alone-no-longer-invisible-7ecac90ba0a8 | ['Sabrina Ki'] | 2020-04-24 08:42:55.662000+00:00 | ['Book Review', 'Books', 'Mental Health', 'LGBTQ', 'Culture'] | Title longer alone longer invisibleContent longer alone longer invisible love letter love story ‘Heartstopper’ love story — friend lover family Written illustrated Alice Oseman Heartstopper follows life Nick Charlie two teenage boy meet school fall love — full synopsis available Oseman’s website Heartstopper’s ability address serious issue mental illness bullying telling uplifting adorkable love story integral appeal writing review sought gain insight others feel comic especially LGBTQ neurodiverse reader Going survey response incredible read comment expressed exactly felt confess cried reading answer “We exist deserve story u best friend protagonist” — smilehoya Content warning References eating disorder Representation matter asked reader minority representation important YA fiction response overwhelmingly cited need show people aren’t alone abnormal burden Sometimes don’t even realise necessary see within page bookdragonbrew Seeing LGBTQ character like u struggle mental health like u managing find happiness life give u hope comfort though road may long thing get better steeviekate “Reading ‘Heartstopper’ like antidepressant help see maybe could meet someone understand care Nick care Charlie” — Lucci Heartstopper’s realistic yet positive focus “on support healing recovery” Vol 3 Author’s Note particularly helpful feel unable discus issue people around lucky could share friend family everyone position ‘Heartstopper’ star character Nick Nelson left Charlie Spring right oftcited example Heartstopper’s relatability Nick’s journey towards recognising bisexuality reassurance it’s okay figured immediately world feel like everyone’s supposed already know sexuality getgo Nick’s slow dawning realisation intensely meaningful u came relatively ‘late’ queer identity areadersworld jayjoreads wish I’d Heartstopper eighteen going exactly confusion Nick fear feel coming mum even though know love near identical others’ experience Eating disorder exclusively female experience Several reader relate specifically Charlie’s eating disorder ED portrayed stem anxiety rather body image issue well simple fact Charlie male Male character struggling EDs aren’t commonly depicted — two list 50 recommended book ED feature male protagonist ED despite 25 people anorexia male NEDA 2018 kindred understanding given u Heartstopper recall song ‘You Found’ Dear Evan Hansen “There’s place don’t feel unknown…And every time call you’re little le alone” “Reading book LGBT character mental illness…felt like hug me…A story tell “hey it’s okay people feel like got you” — solitairians Diversity doesn’t make point it’s fact life Heartstopper’s supporting character also casually diverse wellwritten never come across tokenised reader identify Elle trans cintoazt Anon others relate Tao’s effort good friend Anon Still others connect Aled asexualdemisexual character Anon lostmindbooks saschaw5 Tara Darcy’s lesbian relationship iseultslibrary iammadeofporcelain Anon also hijabi classmate Vol3 Anon “A hijabi character chilling everyone else party joining game felt…refreshing see…even Muslim side character included there’s often kind focus different way” — Anonymous Supporting character Tara left Darcy right featured minicomic ‘Heartstopper’ Volume 1 Heartstopper source guidance solace many LGBTQ andor neurodiverse reader inspiring come parent helping others realise obliged forgive people hurt tormented littlemel0dies Additionally Heartstopper offer valuable lesson people want gain greater understanding neurodiverse LGBTQ friend neighbour better support jakemwilliams Readers relate Nick trying help Charlie ED wckedlittletown also reflected comment Heartstopper’s recent Tapas update April 11th 2020 reader discussed support friend struggling ED “In school don’t really learn mental health sexuality… seeing someone representing comic great” — confaix “Seeing representation medium helpful informative especially since friend mental health problem and…want understand much possible” — Anonymous Diverse read like Heartstopper challenge stigma “bringing acceptance understanding society” reenaofpashadunes Yet recently mainstream medium seems woken YA fiction widely read ought accurately reflect diversity world hold Eléonore especially experience beautiful challenging previously drowned dominant narrative history therealjdneal “Many past portrayal LGBTQIA people…either focused drama coming trauma caused sexuality or…a throwaway singular side character little impact story…Mental health often played either much little role many YA fiction recently either one thing characterised character or…‘X morbidly depressed came along immediately life better’” — AnxiousAtlas Heartstopper novel LGBTQ audience — yes star several LGBTQ character also depicts wide range life experience teen adult character teacher giving huge scope appeal everyone saschaw5 “I love Heartstopper kid seeking representation others want read great story” — Anonymous “Heartstopper helped anxiety growing upI’m still pretty young and…often scared stuff like drinking party relationships…this help stop worrying sometimes showing it’s actually like” — Anonymous came story stayed character It’s unsurprising ‘characters’ referenced many time favourite aspect Heartstopper love character happily read mundane thing real life real life I’m always interested people love don’t think romance would half emotionally tangible reader didn’t feel like rooting people know love Nick Charlie feel particularly real Heartstopper isn’t queerness — get see side ladysmallsteps Key word commonly used reader describe favourite thing Heartstopper created using WordItOut Heartstopper focus hopeful everyday drama never feel contrived showing reader queer relationship queer life don’t need riddled highstakes miscommunications interesting real Nick’s realisation he’s made bad friend never fun discovery unfortunately seems many u relate bright side Heartstopper vividly illustrate key feature strong trusting friendship Orphea Solace support network help u overcome difficult situation Fred Cronin “Nick Charlie’s story made of…episodes lives…There’s overarching drama — it’s real life one normal loving relationship two people” — Oseman 2016 really appreciated Heartstopper’s emphasis open dialogue consent healthy relationship Oseman sought write type story she’d loved read teen sentiment certainly echoed amongst Heartstopper’s reader included “‘Heartstopper’ everything wish teenage year came wasn’t choice wasn’t pleasant LGBTQ positive book depiction TV considered “dirty” uncouth ‘Heartstopper’ thing many young people see way that’s accessible without old seedy connotation used accompany queer literature” — Tsam Boy Book Heartstopper accessible free availability online make safe space reader aren’t can’t risk ordering physical book episodic plot line also increase readability trouble focusing extensive period time Richard OKeeffe Common word respondent used characterise impact Heartstopper created using WordItOut Heartstopper markedly positive impact reader — 91 — it’s profoundly moving see it’s become beacon dark Another beautiful thing blossoming friendship within fandom thearktic locklyle thatgaypotterhead — met wyaakk supporting other’s fanart “I struggle anxiety depression read Heartstopper rough time thing made feel granted escapism” — Reading Witch “I’m prouder I’m much happier reading ‘Heartstopper’…The characters…became friend thought didn’t any” — cintoazt “It’s like character taught stand love matter what” — Anonymous Representation matter artistic inspiration would remiss mention brilliantly emotive Oseman’s art love facial expression light shadow It’s deceptively simple astonishingly expressive imbued much detail even panel shape Reading Witch Oseman even inspired reader start drawing jayjoreads — certainly never considered creating graphic novel reading Heartstopper collection Oseman’s novel ‘Solitaire’ 2014 ‘Radio Silence’ 2016 ‘I Born This’ 2018 ‘Heartstopper’ 2016present None Oseman’s book bestseller list ‘Heartstopper’ Vol 3 entered UK Children’s Book Chart Honestly shocked little bookstagram bubble Heartstopper hype I’d somehow already assumed Oseman nationally bestselling author Heartstopper relatively wellknown Oseman’s work haven’t received half attention deserve locklyle “YA fiction…has history whitewashed romanticizing mental illness…Oseman great job getting novel sensitivity read order write anything misleading” — seaweedsoda look forward Oseman’s Loveless July 9th ownvoices novel featuring university student coming term aroace sexuality novella Nick Charlie Aug 6th Heartstopper taught anything it’s one feel isolated reach relative lover friend— longer aloneTags Book Review Books Mental Health LGBTQ Culture |
2,561 | Designing Multi-Faceted Lives | “With our society’s ever-growing emphasis on self-care and self-improvement, maybe what we could all use is a whole-hearted commitment to designing multi-faceted lives for ourselves. ”
Our world seems to be an increasingly scary place to live. There’s so much fear and anger bubbling up from deep below the surface. Thich Nhat Hahn says that fear and anger stem from a lack of understanding. That idea has been on my mind for a couple of months now and has been reshaping the way that I interact with others as I navigate through this world.
With all of the natural disasters, political turmoil, and social injustices against marginalized individuals and communities, I often forget that this is an unprecedented time to be alive. As a collective group that for so long has been left out of conversations and blocked from seats at the table, we have entered into an era where we have the opportunity to build our own tables and seats. People are watching and listening. Our influence and stories are being more widely acknowledged and embraced. And while we don’t need the gaze of the dominant culture to validate our existence or our stories, I have to admit that it is still encouraging to witness.
Many times I think about opportunities — both the kinds given and the kinds created by oneself. To be honest, I frequently take both for granted. Speaking as a woman of color, feeling empowered to revel in my Blackness is a privilege that was not, and for many is still not afforded. It’s a privilege to be able to leverage and share our stories and experiences, and it’s also a privilege to have a sense agency over our lives given what many who came before us had to sacrifice to make this possible in the first place.
With that being said, I think it’s an important reminder that there’s no time to be shy about our strengths, gifts, and abilities. There’s a time to be humble, but not self-deprecating. Imposter syndrome and shame can be easily disguised or mistaken as humility. We have to learn to distinguish. Even still, I regularly feel uncomfortable acknowledging my talents and abilities. I’m sure some of you reading this struggle, too. It feels like I’m constantly walking on a tight rope calculating the exact balance between being proud, but not too proud and yet never so proud that I make another person uncomfortable. It’s quite frankly exhausting and I’ve come to wonder if maybe there is no balance at all. Maybe it’s just you and me and us — simply existing while allowing ourselves to be proud of how far we’ve journeyed to get to this exact moment in time.
With our society’s ever-growing emphasis on self-care and self-improvement, maybe what we could all use is a whole-hearted commitment to designing multi-faceted lives for ourselves. Lives that encompass and integrate more of who we are in all areas. Lives that are not pieced and boxed according to societal pressures, but that are fluid, intentional, and fully ours. It’s cool in theory, but how exactly do we do that?
“…on the other side of letting ourselves off the hook is freedom.”
Let Yourself Off the Hook
Following a series of therapy sessions, I’ve come to realize that it begins with letting ourselves off the hook. Growing up as a little Black girl living in the Deep South, I quickly came to understand the meaning of “working twice as hard to get half as much”. It’s a phrase that many of us from a variety of marginalized community groups have heard. And I think that for a while, I truly believed that living out that notion was helpful and would compel me to try my best in everything that I did. But that was only true up to a certain point.
It wasn’t until recently that I began to see the long-term ramifications of such a phrase and how a lack of grace and no room for error leads to creative paralysis. I couldn’t be vulnerable with myself about my strengths and weaknesses because of my intense fear of failure and unwillingness to forgive myself. To be completely honest, I still struggle with this — hence the reason I faithfully attend weekly therapy sessions.
So while I’m still working to grasp more concrete answers to my never-ending list of questions, one thing I have come to understand is that on the other side of letting ourselves off the hook is freedom. Yet we oftentimes don’t know what to do with freedom. With freedom comes choices and with choices comes a need for grace when we stumble. However, if we don’t have space for grace or room for error, then how can we move forward in freedom? The “not knowing” is scary and the path of least resistance is forever tempting us to stay with what we’ve always known for comfort’s sake. And so for those reasons — comfort and fear — we keep ourselves on our hooks and we accept less than what we deserve, and we do less than we are capable of doing.
But in spite of our fears, we have to do it. We have to let ourselves off the hook. To help me move forward, I had to create a language that encompassed grace and margin of error. Maybe it will also help you.
“I did the best that I could with what I knew and with the tools that I had at the time. I cannot hold my past self to the standards that I now have because I didn’t know any better at the time. If I am free to revel in my abilities and knowledge at this moment, then I am also able to forgive myself for the mistakes that I have made in the past.”
“Designing a multi-faceted life requires the flexibility, willingness, and courage to change.”
Be Willing to Challenge Your Beliefs
In addition to letting ourselves off the hook, we also need a willingness to re-evaluate our beliefs. Stay with me here. If we took the time to consider what we believe and why we believe it, we’d probably find that many of those beliefs are simply narratives that we’ve created to explain our own cultural experiences. Beliefs, aside from ones that uphold human rights and those rooted in scientific evidence, are not necessarily fact, and a belief that may be true when applied to one culture may certainly not be true when applied to another. If this is the case, then what would happen if we traded our ethics, beliefs, and ways of viewing the world for another’s? How might communities and spaces exist? How would this serve our greater purpose in this life?
Designing a multi-faceted life requires the flexibility, willingness, and courage to change. But change, in my opinion, can only really happen when we’re willing to challenge our beliefs. Our beliefs shape our lives. They dictate how we will treat others and ourselves. They inform our views of the world and the imprints that we place on our Earth. Our future depends on our awareness of our connection to one another. And for that reason we must continually question our narratives. Determine which hold true and which should be discarded. Our capacity to build integrated, multi-faceted lives for ourselves is directly proportionate to our capacity to use empathy in order to challenge our beliefs.
“And with healing comes this desire to no longer compartmentalize pieces of ourselves, but to show up and integrate.”
This truly is an unprecedented time to be alive. Being intentional about designing multi-faceted lives for ourselves means that we can create space for impact and change and healing. Our gifts, abilities, stories and ideas are not given merely for our individual benefit. They are meant to be shared freely. The turmoil we see brewing in our world shows us the places where healing and emotional justice needs to take place. It’s our responsibility to bring a little bit of healing to our lives. And with healing comes this desire to no longer compartmentalize pieces of ourselves, but to show up and integrate. We are all connected and that means that our healing doesn’t just impact us, but it impacts those around us. | https://medium.com/swlh/designing-multi-faceted-lives-ba2b900372c6 | ['Kashara Johnson'] | 2019-09-09 11:59:18.068000+00:00 | ['Self-awareness', 'Self Improvement', 'Life Lessons', 'Personal Development', 'Mental Health'] | Title Designing MultiFaceted LivesContent “With society’s evergrowing emphasis selfcare selfimprovement maybe could use wholehearted commitment designing multifaceted life ” world seems increasingly scary place live There’s much fear anger bubbling deep surface Thich Nhat Hahn say fear anger stem lack understanding idea mind couple month reshaping way interact others navigate world natural disaster political turmoil social injustice marginalized individual community often forget unprecedented time alive collective group long left conversation blocked seat table entered era opportunity build table seat People watching listening influence story widely acknowledged embraced don’t need gaze dominant culture validate existence story admit still encouraging witness Many time think opportunity — kind given kind created oneself honest frequently take granted Speaking woman color feeling empowered revel Blackness privilege many still afforded It’s privilege able leverage share story experience it’s also privilege sense agency life given many came u sacrifice make possible first place said think it’s important reminder there’s time shy strength gift ability There’s time humble selfdeprecating Imposter syndrome shame easily disguised mistaken humility learn distinguish Even still regularly feel uncomfortable acknowledging talent ability I’m sure reading struggle feel like I’m constantly walking tight rope calculating exact balance proud proud yet never proud make another person uncomfortable It’s quite frankly exhausting I’ve come wonder maybe balance Maybe it’s u — simply existing allowing proud far we’ve journeyed get exact moment time society’s evergrowing emphasis selfcare selfimprovement maybe could use wholehearted commitment designing multifaceted life Lives encompass integrate area Lives pieced boxed according societal pressure fluid intentional fully It’s cool theory exactly “…on side letting hook freedom” Let Hook Following series therapy session I’ve come realize begin letting hook Growing little Black girl living Deep South quickly came understand meaning “working twice hard get half much” It’s phrase many u variety marginalized community group heard think truly believed living notion helpful would compel try best everything true certain point wasn’t recently began see longterm ramification phrase lack grace room error lead creative paralysis couldn’t vulnerable strength weakness intense fear failure unwillingness forgive completely honest still struggle — hence reason faithfully attend weekly therapy session I’m still working grasp concrete answer neverending list question one thing come understand side letting hook freedom Yet oftentimes don’t know freedom freedom come choice choice come need grace stumble However don’t space grace room error move forward freedom “not knowing” scary path least resistance forever tempting u stay we’ve always known comfort’s sake reason — comfort fear — keep hook accept le deserve le capable spite fear let hook help move forward create language encompassed grace margin error Maybe also help “I best could knew tool time cannot hold past self standard didn’t know better time free revel ability knowledge moment also able forgive mistake made past” “Designing multifaceted life requires flexibility willingness courage change” Willing Challenge Beliefs addition letting hook also need willingness reevaluate belief Stay took time consider believe believe we’d probably find many belief simply narrative we’ve created explain cultural experience Beliefs aside one uphold human right rooted scientific evidence necessarily fact belief may true applied one culture may certainly true applied another case would happen traded ethic belief way viewing world another’s might community space exist would serve greater purpose life Designing multifaceted life requires flexibility willingness courage change change opinion really happen we’re willing challenge belief belief shape life dictate treat others inform view world imprint place Earth future depends awareness connection one another reason must continually question narrative Determine hold true discarded capacity build integrated multifaceted life directly proportionate capacity use empathy order challenge belief “And healing come desire longer compartmentalize piece show integrate” truly unprecedented time alive intentional designing multifaceted life mean create space impact change healing gift ability story idea given merely individual benefit meant shared freely turmoil see brewing world show u place healing emotional justice need take place It’s responsibility bring little bit healing life healing come desire longer compartmentalize piece show integrate connected mean healing doesn’t impact u impact around usTags Selfawareness Self Improvement Life Lessons Personal Development Mental Health |
2,562 | “Anxiety is a body event.” | As a clinician in private practice, one of the phrases that I hear myself saying over and over, often in this way is this: “Remember, anxiety is a body event.”
So what does this mean?
First, this statement, “anxiety is a body event”, reminds us that when we feel anxiety, it is made up of physical sensations. While you may not have all of the symptoms, people often describe an increased heart rate, sweating, tingling fingers, chest tightening, chest pain, nausea or pain in their stomach, feeling hot, and changes in breathing that usually show up like quick, short breaths.
These symptoms are often followed along by a deep sense of fear, of feeling closed in and needing to get out. You may feel as if you are about to die. This can also show up like an overwhelming irritability that may lead you to lash out at people around you. Anxiety is about “fight or flight”, so some of us are likely to want to run . . . and some of us get ready for a fight.
And all of this is NORMAL and NATURAL; we need this system! The problem is that this system has been triggered by some internal or external event that has bypassed your “thinking” brain and is talking directly to your body first. This reaction is about survival, and correct or not, your lower brain has decided to pull the switch to help you live through whatever is happening.
Emphasizing the body is important because that is where we need to first target our interventions.
Photo by Leisy Vidal on Unsplash
Depending on who the client is, sometimes we will take crayons or a pen and draw our nervous system together, linking our anxious brain with our lungs, our heart, our muscles, making a stop by the adrenal glands sitting on top of the kidneys, all the way down to our feet, since running is something that anxiety will often lead us to want to do.
So with that understanding of how anxiety, something that starts in our brain, affects our body, that leads me to the perhaps more important place.
Second, this statement, “anxiety is a body event”, reminds us that we need to talk to our body first before we talk to our “thinking” brain.
It is a common mistake. I see lots of parents who try to reason with their child that “No, there is a not a monster under the bed.” The child remains scared, so the parent thinks that saying this LOUDER and THREATENING some punishment will surely make this situation go away. At that point, the child has probably gone into “freeze” mode due to the anxiety getting worse, not better.
The quiet of “freeze” mode may look like calm, but actually this child is more scared, more worried about what you as the “big scary adult” are going to do next.
And even though I have used the example of child and adult, you can easily see where this happens between two adults, especially adults in a relationship. I will often have the spouse come in with a patient to learn about what anxiety is so that they can respond in a way that helps the situation be better, not worse.
This is why interventions with anxiety are often activities like focusing on the breath in your belly, taking a warm bath or shower, taking a walk, petting the dog, getting or receiving a hug.
In order to calm a “body” event, you have to talk to the body.
The body only understands soothing and calming, not communication filled with words like “But that isn’t real!” or “For the last time, you are not about to die!” Even though anxiety sometimes starts in the thoughts, most often the future-oriented, “what if” variety, it proceeds to the physical very quickly. The physical body is where the intervention must first be targeted.
So with all that “in mind”, remember that anxiety is a body event. We feel it physically, but that also means that the key to working through it in therapy and at home is physical too. | https://medium.com/whenanxietystrikes/anxiety-is-a-body-event-52dcbd73c381 | ['Jason B. Hobbs Lcsw'] | 2019-03-20 14:06:20.356000+00:00 | ['Mental Health', 'Psychology', 'Anxiety', 'Parenting', 'Therapy'] | Title “Anxiety body event”Content clinician private practice one phrase hear saying often way “Remember anxiety body event” mean First statement “anxiety body event” reminds u feel anxiety made physical sensation may symptom people often describe increased heart rate sweating tingling finger chest tightening chest pain nausea pain stomach feeling hot change breathing usually show like quick short breath symptom often followed along deep sense fear feeling closed needing get may feel die also show like overwhelming irritability may lead lash people around Anxiety “fight flight” u likely want run u get ready fight NORMAL NATURAL need system problem system triggered internal external event bypassed “thinking” brain talking directly body first reaction survival correct lower brain decided pull switch help live whatever happening Emphasizing body important need first target intervention Photo Leisy Vidal Unsplash Depending client sometimes take crayon pen draw nervous system together linking anxious brain lung heart muscle making stop adrenal gland sitting top kidney way foot since running something anxiety often lead u want understanding anxiety something start brain affect body lead perhaps important place Second statement “anxiety body event” reminds u need talk body first talk “thinking” brain common mistake see lot parent try reason child “No monster bed” child remains scared parent think saying LOUDER THREATENING punishment surely make situation go away point child probably gone “freeze” mode due anxiety getting worse better quiet “freeze” mode may look like calm actually child scared worried “big scary adult” going next even though used example child adult easily see happens two adult especially adult relationship often spouse come patient learn anxiety respond way help situation better worse intervention anxiety often activity like focusing breath belly taking warm bath shower taking walk petting dog getting receiving hug order calm “body” event talk body body understands soothing calming communication filled word like “But isn’t real” “For last time die” Even though anxiety sometimes start thought often futureoriented “what if” variety proceeds physical quickly physical body intervention must first targeted “in mind” remember anxiety body event feel physically also mean key working therapy home physical tooTags Mental Health Psychology Anxiety Parenting Therapy |
2,563 | Ten Considerations Before You Create Another Chart About COVID-19 | 3. Aggregations and calculations that can be done with the case data are not necessarily what should be done with the case data.
Tableau and other tools make it easy to quickly create charts, graphs, and maps, as well as to run calculations with those numbers. It’s also common practice in data visualization to create benchmarks or comparisons between groups and countries in our work. However, when visualizing COVID-19 data these calculations need to reflect the basic principles of epidemiology.
There are nuances in the definitions of different kinds of cases (including COVID-19 definitions) which affect whether they can be aggregated or not. In public health, there are calculated metrics — such as case fatality rate — with very specific definitions that are used to understand and monitor disease spread and human impact. Just because you can perform a mathematical function on a set of health statistics doesn’t mean you should.
For example, one chart shared about COVID-19 summed the total deaths to date and divided it by the known days in the epidemic to create a special disease deaths per day aggregation. Then, that number was calculated for other major diseases for comparison. At best, this is an inaccurate comparison due to major differences in our knowledge of and resources for testing and treatment of COVID-19 compared to other diseases. At worst, it significantly understates the seriousness of COVID-19 and causes people to ignore the advice of public health professionals on social distancing and other individual actions that can slow the spread of the virus.
Finally, determining the share of the population infected or the share of infected persons who die from the disease are incredibly challenging calculations due to uncertainty in the denominator. Proceed with extreme caution when calculating any rates, and, better yet, please leave the rate calculations to the epidemiologists.
4. Be cautious when making generalized predictions or comparisons based on regionally specific data.
Many factors affect the spread and impact of the virus — such as the measures taken by a government to combat the spread and underlying population demographics.
Because of these differences, consider what is implied when making comparisons between countries with very different population sizes, political environments, and public health systems.
For example, the population of Italy skews older than that of China or the US. Because elderly populations have been identified at higher risk and are more likely to require hospital care, the percentage of cases requiring hospitalization may be higher in Italy than in countries with a younger population. (More on the ways demographics are influencing outcomes in Italy.)
5. Visualizations should inform and be honest about what isn’t represented.
There is much uncertainty in the data we have, particularly when trying to extrapolate to a general population. With an emerging disease, disaggregating and looking at cases and rates in sub-populations can help us to better understand the disease.
The number of confirmed cases is only a subset of infected persons in the population, and the number is impacted by health seeking behavior (if I’m sick, do I go to the doctor?), test kit availability (if I go to the doctor, can I get a test?), health systems factors, and other considerations.
COVID-19 is not a death sentence, and our visualizations need to reflect that. Including ‘recovered cases’ is an essential piece of context in visualizing case numbers.
Reiterating here: calculating rates — like the case fatality rate — is challenging without an accurate denominator. Leave the rate calculations to the epidemiologists.
6. Epidemiologists and public health agencies create complex models to understand how the disease may progress.
These data are likely not going to feed into a dashboard, but sometimes get cited and sourced in static charts and graphs. The benefit of using results from models from WHO, CDC, and other public health experts is that they typically go through some level of peer-review before being published.
Proceed with caution if incorporating these numbers in a visualization though: models are complex, as they try to account for the behavior of the virus, human behavior, and systems factors. As a result, models will change. If you use data from a model, document the inputs and sources thoroughly.
7. Data scientists and statisticians have also been publishing their own models and related conclusions about disease projections.
Use these with caution in framing your visualization and analysis unless they are well sourced, documented, and explained. **Preferably validated by an epidemiologist or someone else with related expertise.**
Modeling disease is complex (see #6). Rough, “back of the envelope” calculations can be more fear-inducing than helpful.
Instead, rely on well-sourced models from public health agencies and experts.
8. Make thoughtful design decisions.
Still committed to creating a visualization about COVID-19? Read existing resources on responsible visualization approaches in this context before publishing any charts or maps.
Datawrapper has an excellent set of responsible visualizations of COVID-19 with notes on the design decisions they made.
“What we considered when making these visualizations” from the awesome team at Datawrapper (Source)
You can also read this excellent thread of recommendations and critiques on visualizing COVID-19 from Evan Peck.
9. Consider the human side of what you create.
Reference terms correctly (see WHO definitions for COVID-19 cases, an explainer on R0, and the CDC Glossary as resources) and clearly define each metric for your audience somewhere in the visualization — that can be a footnote, title, subtitle, annotation, explainer text…just make sure it’s there.
Be considerate of the language you use in your visualization.
Remember that behind every data point is a person in a COVID-19 dataset. If you wouldn’t feel comfortable having someone from a high risk group read what you wrote, please revise.
10. Consider how visualizations can impact (and encourage) social responsibility as we see COVID-19 in our respective communities.
Self quarantine where appropriate. Ensure we’re not stigmatizing people who are from countries and regions that have had a lot of cases. Understand what additional steps you can take to flatten the curve and slow the spread of the virus in your community.
Esther Kim and Carl Bergstrom (Source)
And finally, consider visualizing other relevant data about impacted communities if you don’t feel you have the public health knowledge to add to the conversation around COVID-19 cases. Epidemic data isn’t a dataset to play with just to have something to show off on Twitter. | https://medium.com/nightingale/ten-considerations-before-you-create-another-chart-about-covid-19-27d3bd691be8 | ['Amanda Makulec'] | 2020-04-27 18:54:22.572000+00:00 | ['Public Health', 'Dataviz', 'Covid 19', 'Coronavirus', 'Topicsindv'] | Title Ten Considerations Create Another Chart COVID19Content 3 Aggregations calculation done case data necessarily done case data Tableau tool make easy quickly create chart graph map well run calculation number It’s also common practice data visualization create benchmark comparison group country work However visualizing COVID19 data calculation need reflect basic principle epidemiology nuance definition different kind case including COVID19 definition affect whether aggregated public health calculated metric — case fatality rate — specific definition used understand monitor disease spread human impact perform mathematical function set health statistic doesn’t mean example one chart shared COVID19 summed total death date divided known day epidemic create special disease death per day aggregation number calculated major disease comparison best inaccurate comparison due major difference knowledge resource testing treatment COVID19 compared disease worst significantly understates seriousness COVID19 cause people ignore advice public health professional social distancing individual action slow spread virus Finally determining share population infected share infected person die disease incredibly challenging calculation due uncertainty denominator Proceed extreme caution calculating rate better yet please leave rate calculation epidemiologist 4 cautious making generalized prediction comparison based regionally specific data Many factor affect spread impact virus — measure taken government combat spread underlying population demographic difference consider implied making comparison country different population size political environment public health system example population Italy skews older China US elderly population identified higher risk likely require hospital care percentage case requiring hospitalization may higher Italy country younger population way demographic influencing outcome Italy 5 Visualizations inform honest isn’t represented much uncertainty data particularly trying extrapolate general population emerging disease disaggregating looking case rate subpopulation help u better understand disease number confirmed case subset infected person population number impacted health seeking behavior I’m sick go doctor test kit availability go doctor get test health system factor consideration COVID19 death sentence visualization need reflect Including ‘recovered cases’ essential piece context visualizing case number Reiterating calculating rate — like case fatality rate — challenging without accurate denominator Leave rate calculation epidemiologist 6 Epidemiologists public health agency create complex model understand disease may progress data likely going feed dashboard sometimes get cited sourced static chart graph benefit using result model CDC public health expert typically go level peerreview published Proceed caution incorporating number visualization though model complex try account behavior virus human behavior system factor result model change use data model document input source thoroughly 7 Data scientist statistician also publishing model related conclusion disease projection Use caution framing visualization analysis unless well sourced documented explained Preferably validated epidemiologist someone else related expertise Modeling disease complex see 6 Rough “back envelope” calculation fearinducing helpful Instead rely wellsourced model public health agency expert 8 Make thoughtful design decision Still committed creating visualization COVID19 Read existing resource responsible visualization approach context publishing chart map Datawrapper excellent set responsible visualization COVID19 note design decision made “What considered making visualizations” awesome team Datawrapper Source also read excellent thread recommendation critique visualizing COVID19 Evan Peck 9 Consider human side create Reference term correctly see definition COVID19 case explainer R0 CDC Glossary resource clearly define metric audience somewhere visualization — footnote title subtitle annotation explainer text…just make sure it’s considerate language use visualization Remember behind every data point person COVID19 dataset wouldn’t feel comfortable someone high risk group read wrote please revise 10 Consider visualization impact encourage social responsibility see COVID19 respective community Self quarantine appropriate Ensure we’re stigmatizing people country region lot case Understand additional step take flatten curve slow spread virus community Esther Kim Carl Bergstrom Source finally consider visualizing relevant data impacted community don’t feel public health knowledge add conversation around COVID19 case Epidemic data isn’t dataset play something show TwitterTags Public Health Dataviz Covid 19 Coronavirus Topicsindv |
2,564 | The Trick to Early Morning Productivity Hacks | We all want to find ways to be more productive and maximize our days. We hunt for lifehacks on how to improve our performance and find article upon article advising us to wake up at 3, 4, or 5 am to work out, meditate, do yoga, hit the gym, etc. before actually “starting” the day (going to work?).
We’re inundated with people telling us how they wake up at unspeakable times in the morning and go to sleep running on fumes, convincing us to do the same over and over again until we see similar results. We’re bombarded with people, like Gary Vaynerchuk telling us to hustle, hustle, and hustle some more! Here’s the thing too many people get wrong about these supposed lifehacks — the message isn’t the problem. What you’re taking from it is.
As the old saying goes, take advice with a grain of salt (or skepticism, if you’ve never heard that term).
Why We Should Wake Up Early
Waking up early isn’t about beating sunrise or being able to brag to your friends — who, by the way, probably couldn’t be paid to care any less — about how maximized your days and work schedule are.
Waking up early with the intent of maximizing your day isn’t actually about the day, your work, or your schedule. It’s about you!
Once we get our “real” day started — which is the time when we go to work — our entire process becomes about everything and everyone but ourselves. We have to think about our bosses, our employees, our coworkers, our customers, and our families.
In a world where many of us define our existence on who we know, what we do, and what we’ve accomplished, we fail to remind ourselves that what makes our contributions so eye-opening, the work so valuable, and the ways we process so original, is the unique perspective we lend to the world around us.
Waking up early and doing all of these activities isn’t about the activities at all. It’s about making time for and reclaiming control of the most valuable asset we have — our imaginative minds. Sometimes to do that, we find clarity by activating our bodies with physical activity.
Taking time to start the day with our own interests in mind — the point of all this stuff, anyway — helps set our minds free, recentering ourselves, and subsequently giving ourselves a platform of clarity to launch the rest of the day from.
Maybe you’ll use that time for yoga. Maybe you’ll go to the gym to work on the summer body you’ve put off for the past six summers. Maybe you’ll start up your Xbox and play a game. But you should if you want to because that time is yours to use in any way you please. It’s not for your boss or your followers, and definitely not for the project you’re a little behind on.
So while the idea of getting up early might seemingly be about maximizing your day by accomplishing a bunch of things before others even wake up, it’s really about giving yourself the permission to reclaim valuable time for yourself and no one else.
That’s pretty hard to do when your alarm clock is set for a time that only allows you to possibly make breakfast but ultimately just get ready for work and head out of the door.
Photo by Andy Beales on Unsplash
You’re More Than Just the Work You Do
Consumerism has encouraged us to believe that who we are is defined by which job title we have, which car we drive, how large our home is, and a ton of other vanity metrics we subconsciously compete for.
You only have one life to live. So while we do need to work to pay bills, public recognition for our work is fantastically flattering, and fancy cars (but really, the attention and favorable assumptions about us that come with them) might be great, focusing on these things might not be the best way to attain them and, even more so, using them as the basis of our merits might actually only send us further down the rabbit hole of emptiness or faux fulfillment in vanity appraisals.
That’s why a lot of the same people who will peddle these types of productivity hacks will also tell you that work (or your thing) isn’t about the money. On one hand, it’s easy for them to say because for many of them the comfort level they have, wise money management practices, and sometimes generational wealth (don’t believe everyone’s definition of broke is the same as yours), make money a non-factor for them.
On the other hand, you could make the argument that money is such a non-factor for them because they understand that with unique work, disruptive perspective, and a dynamic process comes compensation. Regardless of where they work, the product will always be them and, therefore, will recreate itself as they grow.
That has nothing to do with a job title or what car you drive. It has everything to do with having full agency over who you are and allowing yourself the luxury of not depending on the vanity of things to define yourself like so many of us do.
Photo by Icons8 team on Unsplash
Don’t Blame Gary Vee (or any other “motivational” characters)
Gary — like many others who produce content to inspire their followers — has an immense library of videos and articles in which he tells people that if they want something, they have to hustle for it harder than they’ve ever hustled, every single day, no excuses. For him, that means working (last I checked) 18-hour days. People see his content and while some admire his tenacity and use him as inspiration to do the same, there’s a sizable chunk of his audience who admonish him at times because they feel that what he is encouraging is glamorized burnout.
The important thing to remember when seeing and hearing these things is this — they aren’t telling you what to do. They’re not promising equal or similar success by doing what they do. They’re simply telling you their story, process, or vision. It’s up to you to decide how much of that you want to use in your own life. What motivates them might not motivate you.
The path to success is not a solid line with solid rules that lead to solid results. If that were the case, we would all be successful because we decided to do sun salutations in work clothes at 3 am in front of our local bodegas and coffee shops before the sun rose to salute back.
Photo by Icons8 team on Unsplash
Time is a Construct of Limitation and Freedom
This brings me to my last point — not everyone is a morning person and it’s perfectly fine to not be.
While I definitely get a jolt of clarity from waking up at 6 or 7 am and getting in a quick run, I have also put down some of my best work at between 1 am and 4 am while in the dark, blasting death metal and smashing away at my keyboard.
You have to find the balance for yourself and give yourself permission to jump out of the box. We spend so much time trying to fit in so people can easily define us based on their limited imaginations that we undervalue our own definitions of self.
There is no right time for productivity. In my opinion, there is only time taken to not be distracted from self.
Not a morning person? Cool! Use your peak imaginative hours to put in work, even if that means you don’t have time for 5 am runs through the South Bronx all winter. Instead of waking up super early, use the time at night to create and give yourself a template to start the following day strong with (which I would advise you do even if you are a morning person).
I’m not about to tell someone who is currently a bartender with aspirations for more who is working from 5 pm to 2 am and gets home at 4 am to change and go to the gym because, you know, early. For them, maybe 10 or 11 am is that time.
Taking time to be selfish has a bad rap. But like anything else, moderation is key. So before you go ahead and read a ton of articles filled hacks to help you maximize your productivity by doing activities you’ll probably fall asleep doing, take 10 minutes, a half-hour, or an entire hour to dedicate some time to yourself because all the work you do is not who you are, but that work is derived from fostering imagination and embracing your unique additions to the process. | https://andrewofnewyork.medium.com/early-morning-productivity-hacks-have-nothing-to-do-with-waking-up-a-zombie-373d649ec1bd | ['Andrew Rowley'] | 2020-03-26 14:07:20.872000+00:00 | ['Work Life Balance', 'Motivation', 'Work', 'Productivity', 'Life'] | Title Trick Early Morning Productivity HacksContent want find way productive maximize day hunt lifehacks improve performance find article upon article advising u wake 3 4 5 work meditate yoga hit gym etc actually “starting” day going work We’re inundated people telling u wake unspeakable time morning go sleep running fume convincing u see similar result We’re bombarded people like Gary Vaynerchuk telling u hustle hustle hustle Here’s thing many people get wrong supposed lifehacks — message isn’t problem you’re taking old saying go take advice grain salt skepticism you’ve never heard term Wake Early Waking early isn’t beating sunrise able brag friend — way probably couldn’t paid care le — maximized day work schedule Waking early intent maximizing day isn’t actually day work schedule It’s get “real” day started — time go work — entire process becomes everything everyone think boss employee coworkers customer family world many u define existence know we’ve accomplished fail remind make contribution eyeopening work valuable way process original unique perspective lend world around u Waking early activity isn’t activity It’s making time reclaiming control valuable asset — imaginative mind Sometimes find clarity activating body physical activity Taking time start day interest mind — point stuff anyway — help set mind free recentering subsequently giving platform clarity launch rest day Maybe you’ll use time yoga Maybe you’ll go gym work summer body you’ve put past six summer Maybe you’ll start Xbox play game want time use way please It’s bos follower definitely project you’re little behind idea getting early might seemingly maximizing day accomplishing bunch thing others even wake it’s really giving permission reclaim valuable time one else That’s pretty hard alarm clock set time allows possibly make breakfast ultimately get ready work head door Photo Andy Beales Unsplash You’re Work Consumerism encouraged u believe defined job title car drive large home ton vanity metric subconsciously compete one life live need work pay bill public recognition work fantastically flattering fancy car really attention favorable assumption u come might great focusing thing might best way attain even using basis merit might actually send u rabbit hole emptiness faux fulfillment vanity appraisal That’s lot people peddle type productivity hack also tell work thing isn’t money one hand it’s easy say many comfort level wise money management practice sometimes generational wealth don’t believe everyone’s definition broke make money nonfactor hand could make argument money nonfactor understand unique work disruptive perspective dynamic process come compensation Regardless work product always therefore recreate grow nothing job title car drive everything full agency allowing luxury depending vanity thing define like many u Photo Icons8 team Unsplash Don’t Blame Gary Vee “motivational” character Gary — like many others produce content inspire follower — immense library video article tell people want something hustle harder they’ve ever hustled every single day excuse mean working last checked 18hour day People see content admire tenacity use inspiration there’s sizable chunk audience admonish time feel encouraging glamorized burnout important thing remember seeing hearing thing — aren’t telling They’re promising equal similar success They’re simply telling story process vision It’s decide much want use life motivates might motivate path success solid line solid rule lead solid result case would successful decided sun salutation work clothes 3 front local bodega coffee shop sun rose salute back Photo Icons8 team Unsplash Time Construct Limitation Freedom brings last point — everyone morning person it’s perfectly fine definitely get jolt clarity waking 6 7 getting quick run also put best work 1 4 dark blasting death metal smashing away keyboard find balance give permission jump box spend much time trying fit people easily define u based limited imagination undervalue definition self right time productivity opinion time taken distracted self morning person Cool Use peak imaginative hour put work even mean don’t time 5 run South Bronx winter Instead waking super early use time night create give template start following day strong would advise even morning person I’m tell someone currently bartender aspiration working 5 pm 2 get home 4 change go gym know early maybe 10 11 time Taking time selfish bad rap like anything else moderation key go ahead read ton article filled hack help maximize productivity activity you’ll probably fall asleep take 10 minute halfhour entire hour dedicate time work work derived fostering imagination embracing unique addition processTags Work Life Balance Motivation Work Productivity Life |
2,565 | 10 Reasons to Edit After You Publish | It may drive your publisher crazy, but its the best way to increase your metrics
Photo by Icons8 Team on Unsplash
100 years ago, writers had to wait until they were dead to gain fame and fortune, and only ten years ago, the idea that your words could be read by thousands without even knowing the name of your editor was nonsense.
Oh how the world has changed.
Welcome to Medium, the Netflix of words, where you are the product and as a reward, you get to keep a few pennies of the profit.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read “Your Medium Ecosystem” and consider which level of the platform you currently can access, based on your successes here to date.
There are pros and cons to working as a writer on Medium. In order to enjoy the benefits of the platform, it’s essential that you understand what it is and how it works.
Before the digital age, writing was essentially an act of faith. I had faith in myself and my skill as a writer, and if a publisher chose to put their faith in my ability to sell books, then I’d have the chance to get my words into the hands of my readers. Once that happened, as a writer, all I’d be left with is the faith that my words would serve my reader well. But, I had no way of knowing.
Medium changes all of that.
Thanks to Medium, as a writer, I can know in real time how my words are impacting my readers. Some feedback mechanisms are obvious. But, it’s the less obvious ones that are more important.
Reader/Writer Feedback Loop
Impressions Read Time Claps Comment Quoting and tagging my story Reposting the link to my story
I’m a Publisher’s Nightmare…
My heart goes out to Medium publishers, those altruistic folks who work tirelessly for no compensation, polishing the product that is their publication. Some set clear and strict style guides and all beg that we writers refrain from being generally hateful, and follow laws, of governments and Medium alike.
But, the platform has pit the poor fools at our mercy entirely, as we writers retain the rights to our work (yes, even with the new 2020 terms of service!), and the rights to edit our stories, even long after they’re published.
I’m a good girl. I don’t like being anyone’s nightmare, but here’s the thing…
If you’re not using the real-time feedback loop offered to you by Medium to improve your work after its published, you’re missing out on all of the benefits of the platform.
It’s only once you get your words out into the world that the real fun begins.
Medium is the Netflix of Publishing
How is it possible that Netflix went from being a service that mails you DVDs to one of the largest producers of original content, investing $17 billion in 2020, in such a short time-frame?
It goes back to faith. And big data.
Unlike the old world, where the only way to know what folks liked and disliked was to ask them and to track their spending habits, Netflix knows exactly what you binge watch in the middle of the night. They track your curiosities and cravings in real time, and translate that into dollars, used to produce original content that speaks directly to your interests.
Medium is no different, except that we writers are paid far less for our words than the folks hired by Netflix to produce the next blockbuster.
How To Use Your Stats
Though Medium pays fractions of pennies for seconds of read time, they let writers in on the fun of the feedback loop by sharing stats with us in real time.
If you don’t analyze your stats, you’re handicapping yourself and signaling that you’re content to be writing in an echo chamber.
(If you have less than 100 followers, the tips below only apply to those stories you publish with a big publication. Read “Your Medium Ecosystem” for details.)
How To Analyze Your Stats
Use these 10 metrics to improve your work
Views:
High = Good image and headline!
= Good image and headline! Low = Does your image depict something people want? Does your headline answer a burning questions?
Views vs Reads
High = Good introductory paragraph!
= Good introductory paragraph! Low = Are you burying your lead? Say your most interesting idea in the most interesting way possible in your first paragraph.
Reads vs Read Ratio
High = Good writing!
Good writing! Low = Is your story readable? Is it edited? Have you told reader’s (literally) that you are not an expert in your subject?
Fans
After 2019, tracking fans became a mixed bag because Medium has made it clear that claps do not impact compensation. Lazy users do not clap, and social media support group users (from your trusted FB community, and the like) do. But, if we exclude those two groups, claps can indicate that your message has really hit home.
High = You have fan loyalty or have shared a powerful message!
= You have fan loyalty or have shared a powerful message! Low = Find the most concise and impactful sentence in your piece and turn it into a pull quote. If you can’t find one, add one ASAP.
Going Viral
Viral = 1K reads in less than 24 hrs. Whoo Hoo!!
1K reads in less than 24 hrs. Whoo Hoo!! Not Viral = Viral stories make use of lists, fear and sometimes humor. And luck. So, good luck!
The best time to consider these metrics is during the first 24 hours after you publish, when your story is displaying on the homepage of your selected publication and has just been pushed out to your readers.
By polishing my work in this way, I’ve succeeded in increasing Read Ratios from 25% to 66% within hours, transforming articles that may have flopped into profitable pieces.
The real-time feedback loop allows me to take my readers into account in my work, offering them content that is readable and compelling. It makes me a better writer and my work more worthwhile to my readers.
Here are the stories I referenced above: | https://medium.com/suggestion-box/i-m-a-publishers-nightmare-444ba9bf84c3 | ['Sarene B. Arias'] | 2020-09-30 19:18:13.573000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Self Improvement', 'Writing', 'Blogging', 'Innovation'] | Title 10 Reasons Edit PublishContent may drive publisher crazy best way increase metric Photo Icons8 Team Unsplash 100 year ago writer wait dead gain fame fortune ten year ago idea word could read thousand without even knowing name editor nonsense Oh world changed Welcome Medium Netflix word product reward get keep penny profit don’t know I’m talking read “Your Medium Ecosystem” consider level platform currently access based success date pro con working writer Medium order enjoy benefit platform it’s essential understand work digital age writing essentially act faith faith skill writer publisher chose put faith ability sell book I’d chance get word hand reader happened writer I’d left faith word would serve reader well way knowing Medium change Thanks Medium writer know real time word impacting reader feedback mechanism obvious it’s le obvious one important ReaderWriter Feedback Loop Impressions Read Time Claps Comment Quoting tagging story Reposting link story I’m Publisher’s Nightmare… heart go Medium publisher altruistic folk work tirelessly compensation polishing product publication set clear strict style guide beg writer refrain generally hateful follow law government Medium alike platform pit poor fool mercy entirely writer retain right work yes even new 2020 term service right edit story even long they’re published I’m good girl don’t like anyone’s nightmare here’s thing… you’re using realtime feedback loop offered Medium improve work published you’re missing benefit platform It’s get word world real fun begin Medium Netflix Publishing possible Netflix went service mail DVDs one largest producer original content investing 17 billion 2020 short timeframe go back faith big data Unlike old world way know folk liked disliked ask track spending habit Netflix know exactly binge watch middle night track curiosity craving real time translate dollar used produce original content speaks directly interest Medium different except writer paid far le word folk hired Netflix produce next blockbuster Use Stats Though Medium pay fraction penny second read time let writer fun feedback loop sharing stats u real time don’t analyze stats you’re handicapping signaling you’re content writing echo chamber le 100 follower tip apply story publish big publication Read “Your Medium Ecosystem” detail Analyze Stats Use 10 metric improve work Views High Good image headline Good image headline Low image depict something people want headline answer burning question Views v Reads High Good introductory paragraph Good introductory paragraph Low burying lead Say interesting idea interesting way possible first paragraph Reads v Read Ratio High Good writing Good writing Low story readable edited told reader’s literally expert subject Fans 2019 tracking fan became mixed bag Medium made clear clap impact compensation Lazy user clap social medium support group user trusted FB community like exclude two group clap indicate message really hit home High fan loyalty shared powerful message fan loyalty shared powerful message Low Find concise impactful sentence piece turn pull quote can’t find one add one ASAP Going Viral Viral 1K read le 24 hr Whoo Hoo 1K read le 24 hr Whoo Hoo Viral Viral story make use list fear sometimes humor luck good luck best time consider metric first 24 hour publish story displaying homepage selected publication pushed reader polishing work way I’ve succeeded increasing Read Ratios 25 66 within hour transforming article may flopped profitable piece realtime feedback loop allows take reader account work offering content readable compelling make better writer work worthwhile reader story referenced aboveTags Marketing Self Improvement Writing Blogging Innovation |
2,566 | PandasGUI: Analyzing Pandas dataframes with a Graphical User Interface | Today the pandas library has become the defacto tool for doing any exploratory data analysis in Python. Its versatility, flexibility, and ease of use makes it the library of choice for many data scientists today. The pandas' library also enjoys excellent community support and thus is always under active development and improvement. Due to this indispensable nature of pandas, various tools have been created from time to time to enhance its effectiveness or improve upon it. There are two specific sets of tools that I have encountered when it comes to pandas:
Tools that can perform basic EDA in two or three lines of code. These libraries essentially use pandas’ functions under the hood. Examples are SweetViz and Pandas profiling library.
GUI-based alternatives to pandas, for example, Bamboolib.
Recently, I came across another GUI based alternative to pandas called PandasGUI. One thing that struck was that it offered capabilities of plotting as well as reframing the dataframe. Also, the user has the freedom to perform custom operations too. This article will try and explain its various features and functionalities and how you could use it for your data. | https://towardsdatascience.com/pandasgui-analyzing-pandas-dataframes-with-a-graphical-user-interface-36f5c1357b1d | ['Parul Pandey'] | 2020-10-23 13:35:14.189000+00:00 | ['Pandas Dataframe', 'Pandas', 'GUI', 'Python', 'Exploratory Data Analysis'] | Title PandasGUI Analyzing Pandas dataframes Graphical User InterfaceContent Today panda library become defacto tool exploratory data analysis Python versatility flexibility ease use make library choice many data scientist today panda library also enjoys excellent community support thus always active development improvement Due indispensable nature panda various tool created time time enhance effectiveness improve upon two specific set tool encountered come panda Tools perform basic EDA two three line code library essentially use pandas’ function hood Examples SweetViz Pandas profiling library GUIbased alternative panda example Bamboolib Recently came across another GUI based alternative panda called PandasGUI One thing struck offered capability plotting well reframing dataframe Also user freedom perform custom operation article try explain various feature functionality could use dataTags Pandas Dataframe Pandas GUI Python Exploratory Data Analysis |
2,567 | REMARKABLE NETWORKS: SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST COMMUNITY | REMARKABLE NETWORKS: SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST COMMUNITY
The 2019 Sustainability Graduate Programs Student Showcase
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Jay Lanier of Interface delivered the keynote address for the 2019 Sustainability Graduate Programs Student Showcase held at The Graduate School at Brookstown Inn. The event was an end of year celebration to recognize the class of 2019 and welcome the incoming class of 2020. Graduate Students presented capstone projects of their work from the Applied Sustainability course with the Yadkin Riverkeeper.
TREES TALK TO EACH OTHER. Now, of course, they lack mouths to render speech and have nothing in the way of language that a linguist could recognize, but they absolutely communicate. I’m currently reading a book by a German Forrester named Peter Wohlleben called The Hidden Life of Trees. He describes how acacia trees on the Savannah of Africa tell one another that a hungry giraffe is out to hit the leaf buffet so its neighbors can immediately create the compounds that make them taste bad.
In the beech and oak forests of his home in the Eifel mountains, Wohlleben talks about the communication through roots that allow bigger, stronger and older trees to share nutrients and water with sick, small and damaged neighboring trees.
It turns out that trees work best in forests. It may be easy to assume that a lone tree, with no need to share its light, water or nutrients would be better off than a crowded group. As it turns out though, that group, with its social bonds could better be thought of as a superorganism, where it is truly more than the sum of its parts.
Grade school biology taught us the survival of the fittest. We, as individuals, automatically tend to interpret that as survival of the fittest individually. But what if we change individual to the word community? Survival of the best community. A close-knit fabric of interwoven roots voluntarily shifting resources to create the maximum benefit for one another and, by proxy, an entire woodland ecosystem. Cooperation that begets abundance. A community that thrives, rather than simply survives.
It used to be that the forest was a truly scary place. How many fairy tales took very dark turns when the Brothers Grimm sent their protagonists …into the woods? So often, it was used as the stand-in for all things unknown, wild, foreign — weighed in equal parts fear but also enchantment. It represented both dread and magic.
So why the discussion about the woods and fairytales at a ceremony focused on your accomplishments in the study of sustainability? After all, many of us will go to work in a system that has grown and has a continued belief in the survival of the fittest individual. And with good reason in many ways. With the rise of our industrial system, the world’s desperately poor has fallen by over 1 billion people in less than 20 years. A physicist would look at such a result and immediately ask, “At what cost?” For much of our history as a species, those costs were negligible, or even outright invisible. But as our 7.5 billion people’s needs begin to ask questions of the earth’s abundance, the limits of exponential growth in a closed system are becoming more and more apparent.
The morality of meeting the basic needs of so many are coming into conflict with the generous systems that allowed for such amazing growth of humanity in the first place.
Back in 1944, the US Coast Guard released 29 reindeer on St. Matthew Island in the middle of the Bering Sea. Some of you may be familiar with the example I am preparing to cite here, but for those of you who aren’t, St. Matthew is a windblown, battered island that would be pretty unpleasant for most people. But it was an absolute reindeer paradise.
Those 29 reindeer grew, thrived and procreated — quite successfully, I might add. There were no forces against their growth and prosperity. By the year 1963, there were not 29, not 290, not 2,900, but 6,000 reindeer on this small island in the middle of the Bering Sea.
By 1965 only 42 remained. They overshot the carrying capacity and abundance of the paradise they had known. One that seemed to have been made just for them.
You might expect, with that kind of correction to a population, they could continue to build their population up once again into something a little bit more sustainable. But by 1984, the last reindeer on St. Matthew Island had perished. The systems that provided for the reindeer had disappeared along with them.
So, once again, why a tale of reindeer collapse in an audience all too familiar with the risks of population overshoot and collapse?
The reindeer of St. Matthew Island, in their own strange way, have brought me here to be with you today. In Paul Hawken’s book, The Ecology of Commerce, he cited this natural experiment in his chapter called the Death of Birth. It was this chapter, that fell into the hands of a founder and CEO of an industrial manufacturing company that was later described as a spear in the chest that lodged in the heart of a man looking for the answer to a simple question: “What is Interface doing for the environment?”
Interface is the world’s largest manufacturer of carpet tile. Back in 1973, Ray Anderson waged his life savings and that of his best friend on a vision of a modular floor that would meet the needs of the modern workplace. It quickly grew into a $1 billion per year business going public in 1983. By 1994, Ray had every reason to be proud of a global business that he built himself, legally, that employed 5,000 people across the world. By all measures of the time, he had earned a relaxing retirement by making something from nothing, playing by the rules.
In Hawken’s conclusion, the only entity big enough, powerful enough and pervasive enough to reverse these problems was business and industry itself. Interface didn’t have to be the problem, it could be the solution.
But whose rules were those? Upon reading The Ecology of Commerce, he realized that the decline of our biosphere was directly linked to the rise of industrialization. The take, make, waste model of which Interface was built, was doomed to fail someday — the moment our limited resources ran out. Ray was convicted as a “plunderer of the earth,” but there was a silver lining. In Hawken’s conclusion, the only entity big enough, powerful enough and pervasive enough to reverse these problems was business and industry itself. Interface didn’t have to be the problem, it could be the solution.
In response, Ray set Interface on an uncharted course to a goal called Mission Zero, where by the year 2020 we would have zero negative impact on the environment. It was silly, it was audacious, it was ridiculous, but most importantly, it has been incredibly successful. Typically, sustainability initiatives are viewed as expensive window dressing handled by the marketing department. But when you take the time and commit to learning from the master of efficiency and innovation, Mother Nature, the inspiration for both people and product is astounding.
I’m pleased to announce that on net we have met our Mission Zero goal, but much like the Hippocratic Oath in medicine, doing no harm is only the first step in curing a broken system.
In our next chapter, we have begun what we call The Climate Take Back, using Interface as a model business that creates our products and systems in a way that sequesters atmospheric carbon, just like a forest. In fact, we produce a carpet tile already that when made leaves less climate-changing CO2 in the air than had it never been made. It will be available here in the US next year. In this new vision for our business, we have begun our first steps to emulate the cooperative systems that the longest-lived residents of our planet already have mastered. We like to call it Factories as Forests. And we are doing much better than surviving. We are thriving.
MONUMENTAL CHANGE OFTEN BEGINS WITH SMALL GESTURES
All of this started from one exceptionally sane, or monumentally crazy, idea that business, industry and commerce have a lot to learn from nature. We may not have the next Ray Anderson in this room with us today, but I wouldn’t bet against it. Do you know where Ray got that copy of Hawken’s book? Not some other big shot exec or policy guru. It came from Joyce Lattelle. A salesperson in the Bay Area who gave the book to Ray on a whim months before. Monumental change often begins with small gestures.
Many of you will go on to work for organizations with a clear purpose to affect the greater good using sustainability as a guiding principle in your mission. Many of you will go to work in organizations that don’t live up to the morals you hold dear in conserving our planet. I am here to tell you that both roles are critical to our local and global communities. Think back to the trees we began discussing. If they serve as a model for the next industrial revolution, they are built as competing to be the most cooperative and to be systems that create abundance and generosity at every exchange, then you are the stewards of that forest. You are the guides.
You are the ones who can show others that the future isn’t scary for all its vastness and still unknown secrets. You can (and will!) show them that this future as a forest is a place of refuge, of wonder, of abundance and magic. Be the leaders who show them the forest so they can truly see the trees.
The Sustainability Graduate Programs at Wake Forest University would like to extend a special thank you to our program partners and project hosts: Yadkin Riverkeeper; VF Corporation; Wrangler Jeans; Hanesbrands Inc; Ray C. Anderson Foundation, Interface Carpets; Wise Man Brewing; Trinity Consulting; VisionaryLogic; Ducks Unlimited; Elizabeth River Project and all other organizations and individuals that offered their time and support. | https://medium.com/the-sustainability-graduate-programs/remarkable-networks-survival-of-the-fittest-community-9b6855dbb3aa | ['Wake Forest Mas'] | 2019-10-16 21:04:54.684000+00:00 | ['Biomimicry', 'Zero Waste', 'Sustainability', 'Environment', 'Manufacturing'] | Title REMARKABLE NETWORKS SURVIVAL FITTEST COMMUNITYContent REMARKABLE NETWORKS SURVIVAL FITTEST COMMUNITY 2019 Sustainability Graduate Programs Student Showcase Tuesday September 17 2019 Jay Lanier Interface delivered keynote address 2019 Sustainability Graduate Programs Student Showcase held Graduate School Brookstown Inn event end year celebration recognize class 2019 welcome incoming class 2020 Graduate Students presented capstone project work Applied Sustainability course Yadkin Riverkeeper TREES TALK course lack mouth render speech nothing way language linguist could recognize absolutely communicate I’m currently reading book German Forrester named Peter Wohlleben called Hidden Life Trees describes acacia tree Savannah Africa tell one another hungry giraffe hit leaf buffet neighbor immediately create compound make taste bad beech oak forest home Eifel mountain Wohlleben talk communication root allow bigger stronger older tree share nutrient water sick small damaged neighboring tree turn tree work best forest may easy assume lone tree need share light water nutrient would better crowded group turn though group social bond could better thought superorganism truly sum part Grade school biology taught u survival fittest individual automatically tend interpret survival fittest individually change individual word community Survival best community closeknit fabric interwoven root voluntarily shifting resource create maximum benefit one another proxy entire woodland ecosystem Cooperation begets abundance community thrives rather simply survives used forest truly scary place many fairy tale took dark turn Brothers Grimm sent protagonist …into wood often used standin thing unknown wild foreign — weighed equal part fear also enchantment represented dread magic discussion wood fairytale ceremony focused accomplishment study sustainability many u go work system grown continued belief survival fittest individual good reason many way rise industrial system world’s desperately poor fallen 1 billion people le 20 year physicist would look result immediately ask “At cost” much history specie cost negligible even outright invisible 75 billion people’s need begin ask question earth’s abundance limit exponential growth closed system becoming apparent morality meeting basic need many coming conflict generous system allowed amazing growth humanity first place Back 1944 US Coast Guard released 29 reindeer St Matthew Island middle Bering Sea may familiar example preparing cite aren’t St Matthew windblown battered island would pretty unpleasant people absolute reindeer paradise 29 reindeer grew thrived procreated — quite successfully might add force growth prosperity year 1963 29 290 2900 6000 reindeer small island middle Bering Sea 1965 42 remained overshot carrying capacity abundance paradise known One seemed made might expect kind correction population could continue build population something little bit sustainable 1984 last reindeer St Matthew Island perished system provided reindeer disappeared along tale reindeer collapse audience familiar risk population overshoot collapse reindeer St Matthew Island strange way brought today Paul Hawken’s book Ecology Commerce cited natural experiment chapter called Death Birth chapter fell hand founder CEO industrial manufacturing company later described spear chest lodged heart man looking answer simple question “What Interface environment” Interface world’s largest manufacturer carpet tile Back 1973 Ray Anderson waged life saving best friend vision modular floor would meet need modern workplace quickly grew 1 billion per year business going public 1983 1994 Ray every reason proud global business built legally employed 5000 people across world measure time earned relaxing retirement making something nothing playing rule Hawken’s conclusion entity big enough powerful enough pervasive enough reverse problem business industry Interface didn’t problem could solution whose rule Upon reading Ecology Commerce realized decline biosphere directly linked rise industrialization take make waste model Interface built doomed fail someday — moment limited resource ran Ray convicted “plunderer earth” silver lining Hawken’s conclusion entity big enough powerful enough pervasive enough reverse problem business industry Interface didn’t problem could solution response Ray set Interface uncharted course goal called Mission Zero year 2020 would zero negative impact environment silly audacious ridiculous importantly incredibly successful Typically sustainability initiative viewed expensive window dressing handled marketing department take time commit learning master efficiency innovation Mother Nature inspiration people product astounding I’m pleased announce net met Mission Zero goal much like Hippocratic Oath medicine harm first step curing broken system next chapter begun call Climate Take Back using Interface model business creates product system way sequesters atmospheric carbon like forest fact produce carpet tile already made leaf le climatechanging CO2 air never made available US next year new vision business begun first step emulate cooperative system longestlived resident planet already mastered like call Factories Forests much better surviving thriving MONUMENTAL CHANGE OFTEN BEGINS SMALL GESTURES started one exceptionally sane monumentally crazy idea business industry commerce lot learn nature may next Ray Anderson room u today wouldn’t bet know Ray got copy Hawken’s book big shot exec policy guru came Joyce Lattelle salesperson Bay Area gave book Ray whim month Monumental change often begin small gesture Many go work organization clear purpose affect greater good using sustainability guiding principle mission Many go work organization don’t live moral hold dear conserving planet tell role critical local global community Think back tree began discussing serve model next industrial revolution built competing cooperative system create abundance generosity every exchange steward forest guide one show others future isn’t scary vastness still unknown secret show future forest place refuge wonder abundance magic leader show forest truly see tree Sustainability Graduate Programs Wake Forest University would like extend special thank program partner project host Yadkin Riverkeeper VF Corporation Wrangler Jeans Hanesbrands Inc Ray C Anderson Foundation Interface Carpets Wise Man Brewing Trinity Consulting VisionaryLogic Ducks Unlimited Elizabeth River Project organization individual offered time supportTags Biomimicry Zero Waste Sustainability Environment Manufacturing |
2,568 | How Breaking Your Good Habits Now Can Create Stronger, Healthier Habits in the Future | Nobody wants to break perfectly healthy habits on purpose. I did.
Photo by Giancarlo Revolledo on Unsplash
Whether you are training for a marathon, writing a book, or strictly following a healthy diet, there comes a time where you might fall off the wagon.
A lot of people try to stay on track and consecutively mark productive days on the calendar. Whenever we miss a day due to unforeseen circumstances or take a day off for rest, we might be hard on ourselves and urgently reassure our anxious mind that we will be back at it the next day.
Sometimes, we end up having to take more time off than intended. Instead of one day, it spirals into two or three, maybe even a week. At the end of the week you might be thinking “well, I haven’t done anything productive for 6 days, so whats another day”. That’s how the spiral begins. We’ve all been there before. Weeks turn to months, and before you know it, you almost forget what its like to be on track and to be productive.
On a streak? Good. Break it.
Photo by Adam Tinworth on Unsplash
We are always taught and encouraged to be productive, but never to be unproductive. Here’s what I mean. When you break a streak, it might spiral into a period of inactivity, and it’s hard to bounce back. We are never taught how to bounce back. Establishing a deliberate practice on bouncing back is nobody’s responsibility but our own. This can and will help you establish better habits for the long term.
This winter, after an unproductive weekend, I was determined to stop my self doubt, negative self talk, and laziness from creeping in. I am usually pretty good at getting back on the grind but I always struggle with taking the first few steps.
While I was on a streak of successful writing sessions, runs, and workouts, I chose a day I would stop entirely for 3 days, whether I wanted to or not. On the fourth day, I marked it in my calendar that I would pick right back up where I left off. I was in control. I practiced being active about my choice, which helped me overcome being reactive later.
During those 3 days, I didn’t feel guilty, lazy, or anxious. This was time I had deliberately set aside for doing nothing. On the fourth day, I was focused and aware I would be starting back up again, and I did. So how did this help?
Practice makes better, aim for perfect later
Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash
We will all catch a cold at some point. That was me last week, sneezing and sniffling with what felt like a 10 pound weight fused to my frontal lobe. If I wanted to recover quickly, I knew I needed a lot of rest and time for my body to heal.
Running was out of the question, and it was hard to focus on writing for more than 30 minutes. I was okay with that. As long as I had this cold, I would relax, guilt free, and pick it back up once I was healthy.
The guilt and negative emotions I felt about being stagnant were dulled by my previous 3 day practice of of doing nothing. I knew how to bounce back. It wasn’t perfect right away, but I definitely felt better and more relaxed about not doing much.
The cold was passing, I could feel that my head was clearing. I planned to start back up the next day, guilt free, not telling myself I had wasted precious time. It seemed to work. I felt good, I was productive, and I had avoided the infamous downward spiral into laziness and self-loathing.
Apply your new found perspective when you can but don’t over do it
Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash
These days I know how to bounce back. We can look at every weekend off or unexpected schedule changes as a challenge and an opportunity to practice. Tell yourself that you are making the decision to take a break, and set a date for your return to action. It feels extremely liberating and it puts you in control. You have a timeline, so you’re not caught in a never ending loop of anxiety wondering when you will have the guts to start back up again.
Just don’t overdo it. This can’t be an excuse for creating additional unnecessary plans for things that really don’t forward your personal development.
Practice doing nothing deliberately, so when the time comes and it’s out of your control, you can banish thoughts of guilt and low self worth, and replace them with a practiced plan. Our brains love structure. Teaching yourself this integrity on your own terms will help you immensely in the long run. | https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/how-breaking-your-good-habits-now-can-create-stronger-healthier-habits-in-the-future-33b952f18df8 | ['Michal Bernolak'] | 2019-03-28 17:56:56.348000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Startup', 'Productivity', 'Habits', 'Strategy'] | Title Breaking Good Habits Create Stronger Healthier Habits FutureContent Nobody want break perfectly healthy habit purpose Photo Giancarlo Revolledo Unsplash Whether training marathon writing book strictly following healthy diet come time might fall wagon lot people try stay track consecutively mark productive day calendar Whenever miss day due unforeseen circumstance take day rest might hard urgently reassure anxious mind back next day Sometimes end take time intended Instead one day spiral two three maybe even week end week might thinking “well haven’t done anything productive 6 day whats another day” That’s spiral begin We’ve Weeks turn month know almost forget like track productive streak Good Break Photo Adam Tinworth Unsplash always taught encouraged productive never unproductive Here’s mean break streak might spiral period inactivity it’s hard bounce back never taught bounce back Establishing deliberate practice bouncing back nobody’s responsibility help establish better habit long term winter unproductive weekend determined stop self doubt negative self talk laziness creeping usually pretty good getting back grind always struggle taking first step streak successful writing session run workout chose day would stop entirely 3 day whether wanted fourth day marked calendar would pick right back left control practiced active choice helped overcome reactive later 3 day didn’t feel guilty lazy anxious time deliberately set aside nothing fourth day focused aware would starting back help Practice make better aim perfect later Photo Samuel Zeller Unsplash catch cold point last week sneezing sniffling felt like 10 pound weight fused frontal lobe wanted recover quickly knew needed lot rest time body heal Running question hard focus writing 30 minute okay long cold would relax guilt free pick back healthy guilt negative emotion felt stagnant dulled previous 3 day practice nothing knew bounce back wasn’t perfect right away definitely felt better relaxed much cold passing could feel head clearing planned start back next day guilt free telling wasted precious time seemed work felt good productive avoided infamous downward spiral laziness selfloathing Apply new found perspective don’t Photo Jamie Street Unsplash day know bounce back look every weekend unexpected schedule change challenge opportunity practice Tell making decision take break set date return action feel extremely liberating put control timeline you’re caught never ending loop anxiety wondering gut start back don’t overdo can’t excuse creating additional unnecessary plan thing really don’t forward personal development Practice nothing deliberately time come it’s control banish thought guilt low self worth replace practiced plan brain love structure Teaching integrity term help immensely long runTags Self Improvement Startup Productivity Habits Strategy |
2,569 | Open-sourcing KingPin, building blocks for scaling Pinterest | Shu Zhang | Pinterest engineer, Infrastructure
When we first started building Pinterest, we used Python as our development language, which helped us build quickly and reliably. Over the years we built many tools around Python, including Pinball, MySQL_utils and pymemcache, as well as a set of libraries used daily for service communication and configuration management. Today we’re releasing this toolset, KingPin, as our latest open-source package.
KingPin contains some of the best practices we learned when scaling Pinterest, including:
A local daemon to deal with the ZooKeeper’s single point of failure (SPOF) problem. The daemon is running on ~20K hosts delivering configuration data in less than 10 seconds.
A Python Thrift client wrapper for enhanced functionality. We send hundreds of thousands of requests per second via this Python client across Pinterest.
A configuration management framework. We have over 400 configurations being updated and consumed through this framework.
KingPin use cases
You may want to try out KingPin in any of the following cases:
Your stack is also Python-oriented and running on AWS.
You want to make your ZooKeeper cluster more robust and resilient.
You’re building a configuration system and want your configurations to support a rich set of data structures like lists, maps, sets and JSON.
You want to use S3 to store some of the most critical metadata.
You’re using Thrift and looking for a more reliable client library.
KingPin architecture
KingPin has the following components working together:
Kazoo Utils: A wrapper for Kazoo that implements the utils we use for the RPC framework, service discovery and some enhancements of native Kazoo APIs.
A wrapper for Kazoo that implements the utils we use for the RPC framework, service discovery and some enhancements of native Kazoo APIs. Thrift Utils: A greenlet-safe wrapper for Python Thrift client with error handling, retry handling, load balancing and connection pool management built in.
A greenlet-safe wrapper for Python Thrift client with error handling, retry handling, load balancing and connection pool management built in. Config Utils: A system that stores configuration on S3 and uses ZooKeeper as the notification system to broadcast updates to subscribers. (See our previous blog post for additional details.)
A system that stores configuration on S3 and uses ZooKeeper as the notification system to broadcast updates to subscribers. (See our previous blog post for additional details.) ZK Update Monitor: A local daemon and server that syncs subscribed configurations and serversets to local disk from ZooKeeper and S3. This is a key part of how we make our use of ZooKeeper fault-tolerant. (For more on this design, check out this blog post.)
A local daemon and server that syncs subscribed configurations and serversets to local disk from ZooKeeper and S3. This is a key part of how we make our use of ZooKeeper fault-tolerant. (For more on this design, check out this blog post.) Decider: A utility we use to control online logic flow, one typical use case is experiment control. Deciders are set so every A/B testing experiment can be turned on or off in real-time without any code deploy. Decider is built on top of Config Utils.
A utility we use to control online logic flow, one typical use case is experiment control. Deciders are set so every A/B testing experiment can be turned on or off in real-time without any code deploy. Decider is built on top of Config Utils. Managed Data Structures: A convenient map/list data structure abstraction in Python built on top of Config Utils.
A convenient map/list data structure abstraction in Python built on top of Config Utils. MetaConfig Manager: A system that manages all configurations/serversets and dependencies (subscriptions), built on top of Config Utils.
Real-time configuration management and deployment
An additional use case of KingPin is managing configurations in real-time. For example, engineers might create a new configuration via MetaConfig Manager and add it to a subscription we call “Dependencies.”
Configuration content is stored in S3 as the ground truth and uses ZooKeeper to track and propagate updates. In order to get the configuration subscribed downloaded properly, ZK Update Monitor must be running on the subscriber machine.
Applications can read the file out and decode into Python object for CRUD operations using variety of APIs.
Service discovery
We rely on KingPin to move towards SOA (service oriented architecture) inside Pinterest. An essential building block for SOA is service discovery. A service client needs to know the addresses of the service endpoints to connect and send request to them. KingPin provides a script for service endpoints to register themselves to ZooKeeper so the endpoint list (“serverset”) can be consumed by service clients.
Similarly, ZK Update Monitor downloads the serverset from ZooKeeper and puts it into a local file. Serversets change dynamically when server nodes join or leave.
Using the Mixin provided in Thrift Utils, a Thrift client reads the local serverset file and talks to the endpoints using any HostSelector algorithm. The Mixin also manages the connection pool and allow users to set various timeouts and retry policies according to specific use cases.
Getting started
We use KingPin across various parts of our infrastructure. For example, ZK Update Monitor is running on every box at Pinterest to deploy the latest configurations and serversets in real-time. Managed data structures are used for serving write-rare-read-frequent configuration data, such as a blacklist of domains we use to filter spam. The Python service framework is used by every Thrift client.here are hundreds of deciders controlling online logic and turning on and off various experiments.
You can now access the source code, how-tos and examples for your own use. If you have any question or comments, reach us at [email protected].
Acknowledgements: KingPin is a joint effort across Pinterest engineering and has significantly evolved over the years. Contributors include Xiaofang Chen, Tracy Chou, Dannie Chu, Pavan Chitumalla, Steve Cohen, Jayme Cox, Michael Fu, Jiacheng Hong, Xun Liu, Yash Nelapati, Aren Sandersen, Aleksandar Veselinovic, Chris Walters, Yongsheng Wu and Shu Zhang. Thanks to Jon Parise for his support during the open-sourcing effort. | https://medium.com/pinterest-engineering/open-sourcing-kingpin-building-blocks-for-scaling-pinterest-8febe81f2c1c | ['Pinterest Engineering'] | 2017-02-21 19:33:53.218000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Open Source', 'Microservices', 'Kingpin', 'DevOps'] | Title Opensourcing KingPin building block scaling PinterestContent Shu Zhang Pinterest engineer Infrastructure first started building Pinterest used Python development language helped u build quickly reliably year built many tool around Python including Pinball MySQLutils pymemcache well set library used daily service communication configuration management Today we’re releasing toolset KingPin latest opensource package KingPin contains best practice learned scaling Pinterest including local daemon deal ZooKeeper’s single point failure SPOF problem daemon running 20K host delivering configuration data le 10 second Python Thrift client wrapper enhanced functionality send hundred thousand request per second via Python client across Pinterest configuration management framework 400 configuration updated consumed framework KingPin use case may want try KingPin following case stack also Pythonoriented running AWS want make ZooKeeper cluster robust resilient You’re building configuration system want configuration support rich set data structure like list map set JSON want use S3 store critical metadata You’re using Thrift looking reliable client library KingPin architecture KingPin following component working together Kazoo Utils wrapper Kazoo implement utils use RPC framework service discovery enhancement native Kazoo APIs wrapper Kazoo implement utils use RPC framework service discovery enhancement native Kazoo APIs Thrift Utils greenletsafe wrapper Python Thrift client error handling retry handling load balancing connection pool management built greenletsafe wrapper Python Thrift client error handling retry handling load balancing connection pool management built Config Utils system store configuration S3 us ZooKeeper notification system broadcast update subscriber See previous blog post additional detail system store configuration S3 us ZooKeeper notification system broadcast update subscriber See previous blog post additional detail ZK Update Monitor local daemon server syncs subscribed configuration serversets local disk ZooKeeper S3 key part make use ZooKeeper faulttolerant design check blog post local daemon server syncs subscribed configuration serversets local disk ZooKeeper S3 key part make use ZooKeeper faulttolerant design check blog post Decider utility use control online logic flow one typical use case experiment control Deciders set every AB testing experiment turned realtime without code deploy Decider built top Config Utils utility use control online logic flow one typical use case experiment control Deciders set every AB testing experiment turned realtime without code deploy Decider built top Config Utils Managed Data Structures convenient maplist data structure abstraction Python built top Config Utils convenient maplist data structure abstraction Python built top Config Utils MetaConfig Manager system manages configurationsserversets dependency subscription built top Config Utils Realtime configuration management deployment additional use case KingPin managing configuration realtime example engineer might create new configuration via MetaConfig Manager add subscription call “Dependencies” Configuration content stored S3 ground truth us ZooKeeper track propagate update order get configuration subscribed downloaded properly ZK Update Monitor must running subscriber machine Applications read file decode Python object CRUD operation using variety APIs Service discovery rely KingPin move towards SOA service oriented architecture inside Pinterest essential building block SOA service discovery service client need know address service endpoint connect send request KingPin provides script service endpoint register ZooKeeper endpoint list “serverset” consumed service client Similarly ZK Update Monitor downloads serverset ZooKeeper put local file Serversets change dynamically server node join leave Using Mixin provided Thrift Utils Thrift client read local serverset file talk endpoint using HostSelector algorithm Mixin also manages connection pool allow user set various timeouts retry policy according specific use case Getting started use KingPin across various part infrastructure example ZK Update Monitor running every box Pinterest deploy latest configuration serversets realtime Managed data structure used serving writerarereadfrequent configuration data blacklist domain use filter spam Python service framework used every Thrift clienthere hundred deciders controlling online logic turning various experiment access source code howtos example use question comment reach u kingpindevgooglegroupscom Acknowledgements KingPin joint effort across Pinterest engineering significantly evolved year Contributors include Xiaofang Chen Tracy Chou Dannie Chu Pavan Chitumalla Steve Cohen Jayme Cox Michael Fu Jiacheng Hong Xun Liu Yash Nelapati Sandersen Aleksandar Veselinovic Chris Walters Yongsheng Wu Shu Zhang Thanks Jon Parise support opensourcing effortTags Python Open Source Microservices Kingpin DevOps |
2,570 | 10 Simple Steps to Steady Blogging | Do you struggle to keep up with consistently posting to your blog, email newsletter, or even a podcast? Let’s solve that once and for all, right now. I’m going to share the 10 simple steps that will create an easily manageable system for your blog.
This is what I have learned after helping people launch thousands of blogs, and in writing my own weekly blog for 12 years. This is my best advice.
Okay, let’s dig in…
Step #1: Have a Clear Focus
You want to be laser-focused on what you write about, and who you write for. Create a mission statement for the blog, identifying exactly what you are focused on and why.
Be clear about who this blog is for. Have a picture in your mind of the exact person who will read this. Don’t write for “an audience,” write for one person.
Step #2: Mindmap the Themes
Now that you have a clear mission and sense of who this blog is for, create a mindmap of the basic themes. You can do this on paper, or via software such as Freemind.
Create a circle in the middle and write your mission. Then create a line extending out and write one primary theme of it you will dig into. Draw a circle around that. For that specific theme, create sub-topics around it.
Step #3 Create an Editorial Calendar
Create a basic schedule to adhere to. Get out a paper calendar or use software such as Excel to create a basic editorial calendar. Plan to post to your blog at least once per week, if possible.
Take each of the themes from the mindmap, and begin to place each general theme on a given day or week. Plan 6–12 weeks out. You do not have to stick to a rigid schedule such as this, but I find that it is a useful organization tool, and prevents bloggers from feeling that they are starting from scratch each week.
Step #4: Consider Different Types of Posts You Can Create
Consider how each theme you write about can take a different form. Would your mission and the person you are writing for benefit from a long story, or a short how-to post? Would they prefer a video? Would a quote be useful? Do they need links and research? Would a drawing be most engaging to them?
Don’t feel trapped by “best practices” you read about the blog content that works best based on “industry trends.” Instead, focus intensely how your themes and mission can best connect with an actual person.
On your calendar, you can color-code these different content types. Blue can be a poem, red a short how-to post, yellow a long essay, green a diagram, etc.
Step #5: Capture Ideas
Your mission and themes will be a general guide, but I encourage you to have a place to capture ideas for specific blog posts. If you prefer paper, buy a small notebook that will fit in your pocket and an equally small pen. Jot down ideas as you have them.
If you prefer digital, download Evernote on your phone and computer so that you can capture ideas when you have them, or even just save a photo of something that inspires an idea.
Step #6: Process Your Ideas
Process those ideas weekly. Review your notes, and begin to outline how they would fit into specific blog posts.
Use a writing tool such as Scrivener where you can outline multiple blog posts in one place, or create a folder on Dropbox (so you can access them anywhere) where you can keep these ideas organized.
As ideas slowly turn into potential blog posts, brainstorm potential headlines early. Create an outline of what a final blog post may look like. This can consist of a few key phrases that gives the post a narrative arc. Consider how this post could delight the person you are writing it for.
If you have a file of outlines such as this, you never have to worry about writers block. When you sit down to write, you can choose the outline that is most interesting to you. This gives you a massive head start. You are FINISHING, not STARTING.
Step #7: Create a Writing Routine
Writing isn’t easy, and it can be an emotional process. Prepare for that by creating a routine that includes some of these steps:
Ideation Outlining Writing Re-writing Editing Creating final headline Formatting Final proofing
You can even include these steps on an editorial calendar. Perhaps you want to focus on one post per week, and align each of these actions to a specific day. Or maybe you want to batch posts… outlining several at once, or writing several at once. Then processing them the next week through editing and formatting. It’s up to you.
Step #8: Find Collaborators
Consider if you need an accountability partner to keep you motivated. Or if you have a friend who will proofread posts. Or if you want to hire an illustrator on Fiverr.com to create diagrams for each post.
I have those things. I bounce ideas off of the people in my mastermind group every single day. I have hired someone to keep me accountable to certain aspects of my social media calendar. I have a friend I chat with once per week to talk about big picture plans, and keep me focused on item #1 above: the mission and who I write for.
I strongly encourage you to involve others in this process.
Step #9: Obsess About Engagement
Writing a blog is about sharing a message with someone. To do that most effectively, become more and more curious about who these people are, and what engages them. I wrote a whole book about audience research, and I suppose the short version is: care about those you hope to reach.
Give yourself a few months to experiment. Concern yourself with crafting the best blog posts you possibly can, and on meaningfully connecting it with others in a way that is welcome to them, not spammy.
Step #10: Celebrate
Throughout this process, you may feel uncertain. You may seek immediate validation of the work you post, and it may be difficult to receive that very quickly. You may hope for a lot of social media shares or page views, and you may be disappointed.
Keep going.
Celebrate what you do create each week. How your mission has become clearer. How you identified more ideas that inspire you. How you wrote more posts. How you connected with at least one person.
Because if you can make one person’s day better, you have changed their world.
Thanks.
-Dan | https://medium.com/creative-shift/10-simple-steps-to-steady-blogging-3f08ba7dacce | ['Dan Blank'] | 2017-11-03 10:47:25.680000+00:00 | ['Email Marketing', 'Marketing', 'Writing', 'Blogging', 'Writer'] | Title 10 Simple Steps Steady BloggingContent struggle keep consistently posting blog email newsletter even podcast Let’s solve right I’m going share 10 simple step create easily manageable system blog learned helping people launch thousand blog writing weekly blog 12 year best advice Okay let’s dig in… Step 1 Clear Focus want laserfocused write write Create mission statement blog identifying exactly focused clear blog picture mind exact person read Don’t write “an audience” write one person Step 2 Mindmap Themes clear mission sense blog create mindmap basic theme paper via software Freemind Create circle middle write mission create line extending write one primary theme dig Draw circle around specific theme create subtopics around Step 3 Create Editorial Calendar Create basic schedule adhere Get paper calendar use software Excel create basic editorial calendar Plan post blog least per week possible Take theme mindmap begin place general theme given day week Plan 6–12 week stick rigid schedule find useful organization tool prevents blogger feeling starting scratch week Step 4 Consider Different Types Posts Create Consider theme write take different form Would mission person writing benefit long story short howto post Would prefer video Would quote useful need link research Would drawing engaging Don’t feel trapped “best practices” read blog content work best based “industry trends” Instead focus intensely theme mission best connect actual person calendar colorcode different content type Blue poem red short howto post yellow long essay green diagram etc Step 5 Capture Ideas mission theme general guide encourage place capture idea specific blog post prefer paper buy small notebook fit pocket equally small pen Jot idea prefer digital download Evernote phone computer capture idea even save photo something inspires idea Step 6 Process Ideas Process idea weekly Review note begin outline would fit specific blog post Use writing tool Scrivener outline multiple blog post one place create folder Dropbox access anywhere keep idea organized idea slowly turn potential blog post brainstorm potential headline early Create outline final blog post may look like consist key phrase give post narrative arc Consider post could delight person writing file outline never worry writer block sit write choose outline interesting give massive head start FINISHING STARTING Step 7 Create Writing Routine Writing isn’t easy emotional process Prepare creating routine includes step Ideation Outlining Writing Rewriting Editing Creating final headline Formatting Final proofing even include step editorial calendar Perhaps want focus one post per week align action specific day maybe want batch posts… outlining several writing several processing next week editing formatting It’s Step 8 Find Collaborators Consider need accountability partner keep motivated friend proofread post want hire illustrator Fiverrcom create diagram post thing bounce idea people mastermind group every single day hired someone keep accountable certain aspect social medium calendar friend chat per week talk big picture plan keep focused item 1 mission write strongly encourage involve others process Step 9 Obsess Engagement Writing blog sharing message someone effectively become curious people engages wrote whole book audience research suppose short version care hope reach Give month experiment Concern crafting best blog post possibly meaningfully connecting others way welcome spammy Step 10 Celebrate Throughout process may feel uncertain may seek immediate validation work post may difficult receive quickly may hope lot social medium share page view may disappointed Keep going Celebrate create week mission become clearer identified idea inspire wrote post connected least one person make one person’s day better changed world Thanks DanTags Email Marketing Marketing Writing Blogging Writer |
2,571 | Notes on TypeScript: Inferring React PropTypes | These notes should help in better understanding TypeScript and might be helpful when needing to lookup up how to leverage TypeScript in a specific situation. All examples are based on TypeScript 3.2.
PropTypes and Inference
More often than not we might be working on an existing React application, where a team has decided to introduce TypeScript. This would also mostly mean that if Components props have to be defined at some point, either defining all at once or gradually. In some cases there also might be existing prop-type definitions. Instead of removing the existing prop-type definitions, we might be able to build a bridge between these prop-types and TypeScript.
In this part of the “Notes on TypeScript” we will learn how we can leverage TypeScript to infer these component prop-types.
Before we begin, it’s important to note that the PropTypes type package offers PropTypes.InferProps , which enables to infer the types for an existing prop-type definition like so:
const userPropTypes = {
id: PropTypes.number.isRequired,
name: PropTypes.string.isRequired,
active: PropTypes.bool
}; types UserProps = PropTypes.InferProps<typeof userPropTypes>;
But let’s take a step back for a minute. What does calling typeof on a PropType definition return?
type TypeOfUserProps = typeof userPropTypes;
/*
type TypeOfUserProps = {
id: PropTypes.Validator<number>;
name: PropTypes.Validator<string>;
active: PropTypes.Requireable<boolean>;
}
*/
If we take a closer look at userPropTypes , we can see that id and name are required and that the active flag is optional. When inferring these prop-type definitions, we can see that the returned type definition wraps the defined types into either a Validator or Requireable , depending on the fact, that the type has been defined as required or not.
So internally PropTypes.InferProps differentiates between required and optional types and then creates an intersection between these two groups. We won't go too deep into the implementation details, but there is a need to find out if a prop-type is required or not. An internal IsOptional type checks if a type is null | undefined and then determines if the type is optional.
Next, let’s build a small example, to verify if we can transform any prop-type definitions to actual TypeScript types. We have a User component with existing prop-type and default props definitions.
const userPropTypes = {
id: PropTypes.number.isRequired,
name: PropTypes.string.isRequired,
active: PropTypes.bool
};
const userDefaultProps = {
name: "Test"
};
const User = (props /*: PropTypes? */) => {
return (
<div>
id: {props.id}
name: {props.name}
status: {props.active ? "active" : "inactive"}
</div>
);
};
User.defaultProps = userDefaultProps;
How can we infer these userPropTypes and provide the missing types for the User component?
Our first approach would be to go back to the very first example in this write-up:
const userPropTypes = {
id: PropTypes.number.isRequired,
name: PropTypes.string.isRequired,
active: PropTypes.bool
};
types UserProps = PropTypes.InferProps<typeof userPropTypes>;
If we verify the example, we can see that this is already working as expected.
const User = (props: UserProps) => {
// ...
}
<User id={1} /> // Works!
<User id="1!" /> // Error! Type 'string' is not assignable to type 'number'
<User /> // Error! Property 'id' is missing
But we’re not considering any default props, although this should not be the case, they might have a different type. This means we need to extend the existing mechanism to include the inference of default props.
There is not very much we need to do:
type InferPropTypes<
PropTypes,
DefaultProps = {},
Props = PropTypes.InferProps<PropTypes>
> = {
[Key in keyof Props]: Key extends keyof DefaultProps
? Props[Key] | DefaultProps[Key]
: Props[Key]
};
If we take a closer look at the above InferPropTypes type, we can notice that we accept the prop-type and default prop types and then infer the provided prop-types. Next, we map over these inferred prop types and check if a key is also defined in the default props. The key extends keyof DefaultProps part helps us to find out if a key actually exists in the default props. If this is the case we return a union of the prop and default prop value type else we only return the prop value type.
Finally we can use our newly defined InferPropTypes as shown in the next example.
type UserProps =
InferPropTypes<typeof userPropTypes, typeof userDefaultProps>;
Running our User component again, shows that everything works as expected.
const User = (props: UserProps) => {
// ...
}
<User id={1} /> // Works!
<User id="1!" /> // Error! Type 'string' is not assignable to type 'number'
<User /> // Error! Property 'id' is missing
We should have a basic understanding of how we can infer existing prop-type definition in a React application when working with TypeScript. | https://medium.com/javascript-inside/notes-on-typescript-inferring-react-proptypes-dfb93100523d | ['A. Sharif'] | 2019-03-10 16:52:39.370000+00:00 | ['Typescript', 'React', 'Web Development'] | Title Notes TypeScript Inferring React PropTypesContent note help better understanding TypeScript might helpful needing lookup leverage TypeScript specific situation example based TypeScript 32 PropTypes Inference often might working existing React application team decided introduce TypeScript would also mostly mean Components prop defined point either defining gradually case also might existing proptype definition Instead removing existing proptype definition might able build bridge proptypes TypeScript part “Notes TypeScript” learn leverage TypeScript infer component proptypes begin it’s important note PropTypes type package offer PropTypesInferProps enables infer type existing proptype definition like const userPropTypes id PropTypesnumberisRequired name PropTypesstringisRequired active PropTypesbool type UserProps PropTypesInferPropstypeof userPropTypes let’s take step back minute calling typeof PropType definition return type TypeOfUserProps typeof userPropTypes type TypeOfUserProps id PropTypesValidatornumber name PropTypesValidatorstring active PropTypesRequireableboolean take closer look userPropTypes see id name required active flag optional inferring proptype definition see returned type definition wrap defined type either Validator Requireable depending fact type defined required internally PropTypesInferProps differentiates required optional type creates intersection two group wont go deep implementation detail need find proptype required internal IsOptional type check type null undefined determines type optional Next let’s build small example verify transform proptype definition actual TypeScript type User component existing proptype default prop definition const userPropTypes id PropTypesnumberisRequired name PropTypesstringisRequired active PropTypesbool const userDefaultProps name Test const User prop PropTypes return div id propsid name propsname status propsactive active inactive div UserdefaultProps userDefaultProps infer userPropTypes provide missing type User component first approach would go back first example writeup const userPropTypes id PropTypesnumberisRequired name PropTypesstringisRequired active PropTypesbool type UserProps PropTypesInferPropstypeof userPropTypes verify example see already working expected const User prop UserProps User id1 Works User id1 Error Type string assignable type number User Error Property id missing we’re considering default prop although case might different type mean need extend existing mechanism include inference default prop much need type InferPropTypes PropTypes DefaultProps Props PropTypesInferPropsPropTypes Key keyof Props Key extends keyof DefaultProps PropsKey DefaultPropsKey PropsKey take closer look InferPropTypes type notice accept proptype default prop type infer provided proptypes Next map inferred prop type check key also defined default prop key extends keyof DefaultProps part help u find key actually exists default prop case return union prop default prop value type else return prop value type Finally use newly defined InferPropTypes shown next example type UserProps InferPropTypestypeof userPropTypes typeof userDefaultProps Running User component show everything work expected const User prop UserProps User id1 Works User id1 Error Type string assignable type number User Error Property id missing basic understanding infer existing proptype definition React application working TypeScriptTags Typescript React Web Development |
2,572 | There Used to be Music | My life is filled with music.
To me, it’s essentially synonymous with silence because I never truly experience the latter due to all the music.
One particular night was no different. The windows were open while I cooked dinner. The music was loud but distant. It was coming from an amphitheater nearby I think. It had a Dave Matthews Band sort of vibe to it.
I imagined what it must be like to be there tonight instead of at home with my daughter. I’d love to trade one of these stale nights for one painted with livelier shades. The last time I was there I danced the night away.
Later, I was folding laundry while sitting on the bed in my room. My neighbors loved to play music every Sunday. I liked to listen but another neighbor likes to compete by drowning out their music with Jazz and soul music while he gives his truck its weekly wax.
This makes for a weird combination — classic rock mixed with Jazz. I grew used to it, even came to expect it on Sundays, but I never really mentioned it to anyone because it had such an insidious entry into my life.
A weirder combination though, and one worth mentioning? Barney’s classic “I love you” played simultaneously with Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.” This time, the source of the music seemed closer, just outside my window even. And actually, for a split second, I thought I saw Barney in my room.
What can I say? I live in an eclectic neighborhood with lots of children. I hadn’t slept. I was tired. The brain fog was probably building; I was an unreliable source.
If the neighbors weren’t Playing live music and nothing was going on at the amphitheater, I could hear opera music. I’ve always been within earshot of it. I’m never sure who’s playing it, but I can hear it in the distance— My friends all say I have the best hearing.
And that day, just like any other day, I could hear my boyfriend’s television playing from the other room. The door was shut and he said he hadn’t left anything on but I didn’t believe him; he did it all the time.
I nagged at him to remember to turn his tv off.
I questioned why children were playing outside at midnight on a school night.
I asked everyone if they could hear that girl calling for help.
I insisted fireworks were exploding outside.
…I ended up with a psychiatrist.
A diagnosis didn’t take long and it lead to many answers. It may seem as though these auditory hallucinations should have been obvious to me. Wasn’t it easy to figure out no one else was hearing these things? Well, I never knew anything else, so to me, it was normal.
Schizophrenia has made many parts of my life confusing. I’m medicated now and much healthier (I can definitely do without the voices). But when silence comes around, I can’t help but miss those thirty years of music. | https://medium.com/the-partnered-pen/there-used-to-be-music-d1f7b594bde0 | ['Juliette Roanoke'] | 2020-09-18 01:01:47.940000+00:00 | ['Self', 'Mental Health', 'Schizophrenia', 'This Happened To Me', 'Psychology'] | Title Used MusicContent life filled music it’s essentially synonymous silence never truly experience latter due music One particular night different window open cooked dinner music loud distant coming amphitheater nearby think Dave Matthews Band sort vibe imagined must like tonight instead home daughter I’d love trade one stale night one painted livelier shade last time danced night away Later folding laundry sitting bed room neighbor loved play music every Sunday liked listen another neighbor like compete drowning music Jazz soul music give truck weekly wax make weird combination — classic rock mixed Jazz grew used even came expect Sundays never really mentioned anyone insidious entry life weirder combination though one worth mentioning Barney’s classic “I love you” played simultaneously Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” time source music seemed closer outside window even actually split second thought saw Barney room say live eclectic neighborhood lot child hadn’t slept tired brain fog probably building unreliable source neighbor weren’t Playing live music nothing going amphitheater could hear opera music I’ve always within earshot I’m never sure who’s playing hear distance— friend say best hearing day like day could hear boyfriend’s television playing room door shut said hadn’t left anything didn’t believe time nagged remember turn tv questioned child playing outside midnight school night asked everyone could hear girl calling help insisted firework exploding outside …I ended psychiatrist diagnosis didn’t take long lead many answer may seem though auditory hallucination obvious Wasn’t easy figure one else hearing thing Well never knew anything else normal Schizophrenia made many part life confusing I’m medicated much healthier definitely without voice silence come around can’t help miss thirty year musicTags Self Mental Health Schizophrenia Happened Psychology |
2,573 | Here’s The Style Of Business Plan You Should Write | Here’s The Style Of Business Plan You Should Write
Should you go all-in on a 20+ page business plan?
Bogdan Karlenko
The first big project many new entrepreneurs take on for their new venture is the business plan.
Having written a lot of business plans over my career for myself and my clients, I have a strong opinion on 20+ page business plans and their lack of necessity for most entrepreneurs.
The majority of startups can do just fine with a 5–10 page business plan.
The key to taking the right business plan journey is to define a clear intention for your plan.
A lot of entrepreneurs dive into creating a business plan but don’t put any intention behind it. What ends up happening is that they write this long, multi-hour document and then never glance at it again. Without a clear intention, I’ve seen many business plans get abandoned after the finish line push.
Sounds like a waste of 30 hours.
Tip number one when it comes to writing a business plan: get clear on why you’re writing it.
Is your intention to use the business plan to:
Pursue investment from investors who would like to see a business plan? If not, what is the purpose of the document? Will you use it as a roadmap to be followed by your team members? Will it help you clarify your thinking process behind the business?
Here are some tips on the business plan style you should pursue after you become clear on your plan’s intention.
Business plan as an investment document
Do you think it’s worth starting on a 30-hour business plan if no one will read it but you?
Committing to writing a business plan once you have some soft yeses from potential investors seems logical, writing one with the hopes that a cold lead will respond is a bit far-fetched.
I prefer not to start on a 30-hour project unless I have some investors in the pipeline.
This is why I recommend that business plans should not be prewritten before solid investor interest. You can create an outline and a writing plan in preparation, but that’s about it.
Once this pipeline is primed, the timing of writing the business plan has to be perfect. In other words, you have to get writing and deliver that business plan as soon as you can to investors, while the coals are hot.
(It’s important to note that some investors also won’t care to see a long business plan. Some investors are okay with just seeing a pitch deck and detailed financials. Know your audience and plan accordingly.)
A substantial business plan for investors should be about 20+ pages long and include thorough market research not only for your industry but from a zoomed-out perspective of external market factors that will affect your business. You should also possess a solid, thought-out strategy for all major arms of your business and realistic financial projections.
Some entrepreneurs trust their ability to write a full business plan in a short period of time. Others who are not as well-versed with writing can hire a business plan writer to turnaround a business plan in a short period of time. Good places to find writers like these are on platforms like Upwork.
Business plan as a roadmap or for clarity
If you’re not planning on taking any investors and are crafting a business plan to use it more as a roadmap, I recommend that you opt for a shorter business plan, coming in at around 5–10 pages.
You can also use an alternative like a business plan canvas to create a more succinct business plan.
Even though a descriptive, well-researched 20+ page business plan can only be useful — in my experience, I’ve found that business plans made during the ideation phase age very quickly. I’ve seen some business plans become obsolete as soon as 6 months because of changes integrated after the testing/implementation phase.
In a business plan used for the purposes of providing a roadmap, or to clarify one’s vision for the business, I recommend that you strongly focus on the positioning you’ll be using to define your business’ mission and vision, its unique value proposition, and the data and research defining your target customer’s shopping behaviors.
Utilizing this approach, this document can act as a reference for your business’ copy and voice on its website, social media and other consumer-facing channels.
The purpose of this document will be to help your business hammer out its unique angle and key plays when it comes to appealing to its audience in a compelling manner.
This central pillar can be a useful document to share with collaborators such as marketers, designers, business strategists, and more. | https://medium.com/sales-mastery/heres-the-style-of-business-plan-you-should-write-1728aa99d4f3 | ['Sophia Sunwoo'] | 2020-06-01 15:01:01.170000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneur', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Business Plan', 'Startup'] | Title Here’s Style Business Plan WriteContent Here’s Style Business Plan Write go allin 20 page business plan Bogdan Karlenko first big project many new entrepreneur take new venture business plan written lot business plan career client strong opinion 20 page business plan lack necessity entrepreneur majority startup fine 5–10 page business plan key taking right business plan journey define clear intention plan lot entrepreneur dive creating business plan don’t put intention behind end happening write long multihour document never glance Without clear intention I’ve seen many business plan get abandoned finish line push Sounds like waste 30 hour Tip number one come writing business plan get clear you’re writing intention use business plan Pursue investment investor would like see business plan purpose document use roadmap followed team member help clarify thinking process behind business tip business plan style pursue become clear plan’s intention Business plan investment document think it’s worth starting 30hour business plan one read Committing writing business plan soft yes potential investor seems logical writing one hope cold lead respond bit farfetched prefer start 30hour project unless investor pipeline recommend business plan prewritten solid investor interest create outline writing plan preparation that’s pipeline primed timing writing business plan perfect word get writing deliver business plan soon investor coal hot It’s important note investor also won’t care see long business plan investor okay seeing pitch deck detailed financials Know audience plan accordingly substantial business plan investor 20 page long include thorough market research industry zoomedout perspective external market factor affect business also posse solid thoughtout strategy major arm business realistic financial projection entrepreneur trust ability write full business plan short period time Others wellversed writing hire business plan writer turnaround business plan short period time Good place find writer like platform like Upwork Business plan roadmap clarity you’re planning taking investor crafting business plan use roadmap recommend opt shorter business plan coming around 5–10 page also use alternative like business plan canvas create succinct business plan Even though descriptive wellresearched 20 page business plan useful — experience I’ve found business plan made ideation phase age quickly I’ve seen business plan become obsolete soon 6 month change integrated testingimplementation phase business plan used purpose providing roadmap clarify one’s vision business recommend strongly focus positioning you’ll using define business’ mission vision unique value proposition data research defining target customer’s shopping behavior Utilizing approach document act reference business’ copy voice website social medium consumerfacing channel purpose document help business hammer unique angle key play come appealing audience compelling manner central pillar useful document share collaborator marketer designer business strategist moreTags Entrepreneur Entrepreneurship Business Plan Startup |
2,574 | The 10 Commandments of Social Media Marketing | 5. Be Generous With the Information You Give to Followers
In the past, I have had clients that were way too worried about losing business by giving too much away. I’ve had catering clients refuse to use brilliant wedding tips articles all because one comment suggested having a pot luck wedding reception.
Restaurants have also refused to share stories which suggest a person might do anything other than eat... there. This is a narrow and shortsighted strategy. Who are we kidding? Restaurants and caterers know that their customers could be foodies who often cook for themselves.
Don’t fight reality! Your social media strategy will make a much bigger and better impact by actively engaging with your clients.
If your client is a piemaker, they can’t just sell their followers pies all the damn time. They need to sell the image and feel of homemade pies. The comfort and fun.
In that vein, show customers how to make the pies. Show them how your client makes them better. Share fun pie trivia, and talk about all of the occasions for indulging in pie. Followers love businesses that don’t take themselves so seriously. | https://medium.com/better-marketing/10-commandments-of-social-media-marketing-8446129e6e1 | ['Shannon Ashley'] | 2019-09-27 15:42:24.731000+00:00 | ['Freelancing', 'Social Media', 'Marketing', 'Success', 'Writing'] | Title 10 Commandments Social Media MarketingContent 5 Generous Information Give Followers past client way worried losing business giving much away I’ve catering client refuse use brilliant wedding tip article one comment suggested pot luck wedding reception Restaurants also refused share story suggest person might anything eat narrow shortsighted strategy kidding Restaurants caterer know customer could foodie often cook Don’t fight reality social medium strategy make much bigger better impact actively engaging client client piemaker can’t sell follower pie damn time need sell image feel homemade pie comfort fun vein show customer make pie Show client make better Share fun pie trivia talk occasion indulging pie Followers love business don’t take seriouslyTags Freelancing Social Media Marketing Success Writing |
2,575 | Nostalgic for New Bookstores? Not I. | Not even if Barnes & Noble disappears tomorrow.
Photo by freddie marriage on Unsplash
As you probably know, the book-selling and publishing industries are undergoing severe change, economic convulsions and high tech disintermediation.
That last one is a fancy word for new technological developments causing extreme disruption in business models.
I don’t have any insider insight into all this, but one aspect of the ongoing streams of arguments bugs me.
So many people talk about new bookstores as though they are the book publishing equivalent of Mom and apple pie.
Do We Really NEED New Bookstores to Hold Up the Sky?
There’s a subtext that we as readers and writers need new bookstores. That without them we wouldn’t be recreational readers. That American culture depends on them. That they deserve preserving even if they’re not profitable.
So commentators look at the decline in brick and mortar bookstores in the United States, and decide the sky is falling.
In a sense, they’re right.
Independent bookstores have been in decline for several decades, thanks to the two corporate behemoths. The Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks movie You’ve Got Mail dramatized the issue. Tom Hanks’s character was the grandson of a family-owned book chain to make him more sympathetic, but the movie certainly took aim at how Borders and Barnes and Noble discounted book prices to drive independents out of business. Because those companies were so large, they could take advantage of economic efficiencies impossible for the owners of single bookstores.
Many right-thinking culture snobs of that era decried the rise of those corporate big box stores. That’s even though the average Barnes and Noble and Borders store carried FAR MORE titles on their shelves than any independent bookstore I’ve ever been in.
How times have changed.
Borders declared bankruptcy in early 2012. One corporate behemoth out of the game.
Barnes and Noble are closing some retail stores, and converting a lot of space to nonbook use. Would you like a game with that?
James Patterson took out a full page ad in the New York Times Book Review and Publishers Weekly calling for some type of government intervention to protect book publishers and book sellers.
In interviews, he did cite several European countries as good examples of governments protecting bookstores for the sake of culture and literacy.
James Patterson on government intervention in book publishing
An Ebook Pioneer Went to Bat for New Bookstores
Stephen King released the first mass market ebook, Riding the Bullet, back in 2000 — years before Amazon produced the Kindle. In 2009, he came with a novella (title: Ur) that’s only available on Kindle. Therefore, fans had no reason to think he’s a Luddite.
However, when King released Joyland in 2013, it didn’t have an ebook edition. (It does now.) His stated goal: helping bookstores, who have helped him so much over the year.
He is on record as saying people who want to read that book should get off the stick and drive to an actual bookstore to buy it.
Stephen King on Joyland
This makes no sense to me. Maybe he got push-back from bookstores over Ur, but he did his fans, especially those in rural areas, a disservice.
Now, I’m a reading addict, have been since age 7 or so. I’ve read as many books as just about anybody. And over the years I’ve spent a large amount of money on books. Sometimes I told myself to stop, to read more of my To Be Read boxes (NOT a mere stack of books, mind you — a stack of boxes), but something always came out I needed to buy and read right away.
That’s been my pattern for over fifty-five years now. I’ve been in more bookstores than most people my age have owned TVs.
Why do I support the movement toward ebooks?
So why don’t I feel any of this great nostalgia for new bookstores?
Because it’s 95% BS.
*GASP!*
How can I say such a thing?
What About Mom and Apple Pie?
Let’s step back and get a little perspective, okay?
Printed books have been around since Gutenberg invented the printing press. Literacy, writing, periodicals and literature have spread gradually since that point.
In 19th century America, literacy was still an elite skill. For most frontier farmers, miners, soldiers and factory workers, literacy was for the upper classes, preachers and men of questionable masculinity by the standards of the time. (Preachers were allowed to read so they could know what’s in the Bible.)
(When Oscar Wilde toured the Old West, the miners in Leadville took him down a deep shaft, thinking he’d be one effete English “Nancy boy” shaking in his boots. Instead, he out-drank them all.)
Those people were rough, but not necessarily ignorant. They memorized poetry and knew Shakespeare and classical mythology. But they didn’t sit down and read novels.
Probably many more people attended Mark Twain’s lectures and readings than actually read his works.
However, late in the 19th century, that changed, thanks to the implementation of universal education. Also, no doubt, to the desire by many immigrants to see their children grow up to become successful. Many European immigrants also brought a respect for culture and education with them.
Anyway, the demand grew for stories. Humanity needs stories, but only the elite could afford to buy the expensive hardcover books sold in bookstores.
And bookstores existed only in large cities. That does make sense economically. A bookstore owners need to sell books to pay the rent, and if the only two literate people in a fifty-mile radius are the preacher and the newspaper editor, that wouldn’t work.
Therefore, some enterprising entrepreneurs brought out dime novels to meet the need for cheap stories. Most of their distribution no doubt came in large cities, where there were enough literate (often barely literate) men and women entertained by the stories. But they also reached American small towns and cities.
These tales were never published in luxurious hardback books. Hardcover books were reserved for the wealthy, and sold in new bookstores.
Dime novels most likely spread through newsstands, candy stories and so on.
Pulp Magazines Also Brought Cheap Adventure Stories to the Masses “Literary” Publishers Ignored
Late in the 19th century, pulp magazines became the dominant vehicle for cheap adventure fiction. A ton of them filled the newsstand racks.
The black and white photo down the page at this site gives an idea of how magazines on display used to look. And that’s on a city sidewalk.
Here’s a display in Manhattan that appears to be outside a drugstore.
Here’s a picture that gives a closer look at a few of them.
Pulp Magazines Created the Idea of Genres
A few of the pulps, such as Blue Book, published almost any kind of story if well written and exciting enough, but most were specialized, so readers would look for the same title next month.
Before this period, general readers would of course perceive that The Time Machine by H.G. Wells was a different sort of novel than Moby Dick by Herman Melville. But book publishers brought out any story they considered good enough. They did not have separate imprints for science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, and so on. They expected all their customers to be a potential customer for every novel.
But periodical publishers wanted that reader recognition and bonding, to create loyalty to their magazine titles.
So, pulp magazines came, by the hundreds. Spicy stories. Air war stories. Love stories. Confessions. Mysteries. Westerns. Hardboiled private eyes. Science fiction. Horror. Also, magazines dedicated to one character, such as Doc Savage.
More expensively produced magazines (“slicks”) published stories intended for more sophisticated audiences. This included The Saturday Evening Post. In the 1920's, when the average annual wage was $1,296, the Post paid $1 a word. Sell one story a year to the Post and you were set for the year. That’s how F. Scott Fitzgerald paid off his debts and supported his wife Zelda in the mental institution.
Although they competed with the growing movie and (starting in the 20's) radio industries for the fiction-seeking audience’s time and money, pulps survived until 1955.
Supposedly it was a problem in distribution that finally did them in, not the growing competition from television and paperback books, their direct heir.
Some pulps still survive, though in the smaller digest format: ANALOG SCIENCE FICTION (which began life as the pulp ASTOUNDING).
My point is, reading and fiction thrived for decades with little or no support from new bookstores.
How New Bookstores did NOT Help Me
I grew up in the small city of Alton, Illinois, just north of St. Louis, MO, but considered part of the Metro St. Louis area. So although my immediate environment was much like a small town, I had ready access to a significant urban area.
What do I owe to new bookstores for my love of books and reading from an early age?
Nada.
Of course, schools got me started reading, and supplied my earliest books. My mother took us to Hayner’s Children’s Library. In the summer after the third grade, I won the summer contest for reading the most books. Despite attending on the swim team practice every morning and playing in the pool all afternoon.
Freddy the Pig. The juvenile novels by Robert Heinlein. A Wrinkle in Time. Hundreds I’ve forgotten.
Before long, I walked up the stairs and began checking out the adult section of the library.
I remember the awe and chills I felt looking up and spotting the huge collection by Arthur C. Clarke, Across the Sea of Stars. What a great title.
In the years to come, I checked out hundreds of library books.
If there’s any one American institution responsible for widespread literacy and the appreciation of literature, “great” and genre, it’s not bookstores — it’s the public library.
God Bless Andrew Carnegie. (Though I’m not sure whether or not he funded Alton’s public library.)
(I just found out. The Jennie D. Hayner Library Association actually turned down funding from Mr. Carnegie because it would have required Alton’s residents to pay a tax to continuing to support library. Until the city took it over just before I was born, it was the only totally free library in the United States. So I owe a big debt of gratitude to Jennie D. Hayner and the other ladies who founded the original Alton Library Association in 1852.)
(But God Bless Andrew Carnegie anyway for all the other public libraries he helped build.)
Yet, the Big 5 publishers the cultural elites are crying tears for, are making life difficult for libraries.
How the big publishers are hurting libraries
Mr. Patterson, explain to me again how book publishers protect American culture?
God Bless the Newsstands and Paperback Books
If there’s another American institution that also deserves immeasurable credit for widespread literacy and the appreciation of literature, it’s the newsstand.
(And the candy stores and drug stores that also carried magazines, comic books and paperbacks on display.)
Why hasn’t anyone bemoaned the death of the newsstand?
Although I got lots of free reading material from Hayner Library, it was certainly not the only source of my literary fix.
From kindergarten through sixth grade, I attended McKinley Elementary School in the North Alton business district. I don’t recall exactly when my mother decided I was big/old enough to walk home from school, but it was at least by the fourth grade.
Alone and with friends, I explored the possibilities of fun and adventure.
And soon discovered the Wardein Pharmacy I walked past carried lots of magazines and comic books. And held a revolving rack of paperback books.
Mass market paperback books. Also called pocket books, because you could fit them into the back pocket of your pants. The true heirs to the pulp tradition. Especially paperback originals.
These proved so popular, hardcover publishers began selling the paperback rights to the “elite” novels. Soon it became SOP for a book first published in hardcover to come out as a paperback about a year or so later. This made even “literature” cheap enough for working people to afford.
Books that bombed as hardcovers could make a profit and even build an author’s reputation in paperback.
However, only hardcover book publishers were respected among the literary hoi polloi. Paperback originals continued to have a lower reputation, a carryover from the pulps. Jumping from paperback originals to hardcover publication was a milestone in an author’s career.
Paperbacks began to appear in the 1930's, and were especially popular with mystery fans. By the 1950's, as pulps fell in popularity or distribution, paperback originals took their place. At first, the main genres served were mysteries and westerns.
Fawcett Crest Gold Medal books published a lot of terrific mystery and thriller books: Wade Miller, John D. McDonald, and many more.
Except for a few “literary” works such as those of H.G. Wells, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, science fiction as we know it today is a creature of the pulp era. Although many adventure writers dabbled in it or used its ideas as exotic settings for adventures (Edgar Rice Burroughs), the first magazine devoted exclusively to science fiction was AMAZING, founded in 1926 by Hugo Gernsback.
The great SF writers of the early generation — Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein — as well as many others, wrote their stories for the magazines, never expecting them to be reprinted in permanent book editions.
One of the first science fiction publishers was Fantasy Press, established in 1946 by Lloyd Eshback. While he probably also hoped to make some money, Eshback founded Fantasy Press as an act of love for the genre.
Related to science fiction is fantasy and horror. The pulp era was not a good one for straight fantasy as a genre. The one pulp magazine devoted to straight fantasy was Unknown Worlds, and it lasted only four years.
However, the more dark fantasy oriented Weird Tales made history. Among others, it published Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories and H.P. Lovecraft.
Neither of those two authors ever saw or — possibly — imagined, their stories would someday be collected into books and even celebrated and praised around the world.
Both died in 1936, long before they achieved fame and a kind of outgroup stardom.
In 1940, a Lovecraft devotee named August Derleth founded Arkham House, devoted to promoting Lovecraft and similar horror works. Its first book, The Outsider and Others, is now worth a lot of money.
As Fantasy Press, Arkham House and a few others were small publishers devoted to extremely “fringe” genres and authors, I’m certain the bookstores of the time never carried their books. They sold through ads placed in the magazines, science fiction conventions and word of mouth.
Science fiction book publishing didn’t really begin until the early 1950's. Doubleday did start publishing science fiction in hardcover editions, then made book club editions available to those who couldn’t afford hardcover.
In paperback, Ace Books and Ballantine began the next phase of the genre’s popularity.
Three Cheers for Revolving Wire Racks of Paperback Books
I’m fairly certainly Wardein’s is where I bought my first Fantastic Four comic book (#15 — how I regretted not getting #1) and first Spiderman (#6).
I’m also fairly certain that’s where I spotted the Richard Powers covers of the Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Chessmen of Mars was the first ERB book I bought and read. Ballantine reprinted the Mars and Tarzan books and gave them all great Powers covers.
Ace got hold of the rest, and gave them even better covers by Frank Frazetta. I still well remember buying Carson of Venus by ERB there at Wardein’s.
But Wardein’s was primarily a drugstore. Their magazines and comic books occupied a section of the wall about four feet long. I appreciated the comics, and, later on, the magazines. (Magazine of IF, Galaxy, Amazing, Fantastic, etc). But most of the magazines were mass market. Time, Newsweek, Look, Life, Saturday Evening Post, and a long row of confessions magazines.
And the paperback books occupied just one revolving wire rack with, I believe, four columns. It didn’t take long to turn it around to look for new releases.
Then I discovered the newsstand across State Street. I don’t recall its name. It had at least four or five revolving racks of paperback books, and many shelves of periodicals. It smelled strongly of tobacco, which I didn’t like, but I put up with it to browse through all those books for sale.
So for years, I bought comics, magazines, and paperback books from Wardein and that newsstand.
After I went on to high school, I bought from Kerr Drug in Upper Alton and the Broadway Newsstand downtown.
Man, talk about a cramped, dark little place. The front of the Broadway newsstand was small, and the one aisle leading to the back even more narrow. The better for the tiny, cramped lady who owned it to keep an eye on customers, I guess.
But she carried magazines I saw nowhere else: The Magazine of Horror and Startling Mysteries Stories.
These were digest sized magazines that consisted mainly of sloppy reprints of stories from Weird Tales, selected by Robert A.W. Lowndes, an old time fan and pro.
Since Weird Tales was long out of print and only available from mail order used dealers who charged extremely high prices for them, I loved getting to read those old stories. RAWL reprinted Lovecraft stories I could not find in paperback. Non-Conan Howard. Seabury Quinn Jules de Grandin stories.
But RAWL sometimes bought new stories as well. Two issues of Startling Mysteries Stories, which I bought at that newsstand when they were brand new, each published a short story by a newcomer named Stephen King. They now command a hefty price from dealers.
Mr. King, I Discovered You in a Newsstand — Not a New Bookstore!
As I recall, this same newsstand is where I could depend on finding the latest releases from the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series and the Ace Science Fiction Specials (edited by Terry Carr).
The Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series was the highest quality line of fantasy books ever published.
The Ace Science Fiction Specials was the highest quality line of science fiction titles.
And I bought them all — at a newsstand, NOT a bookstore!
I Didn’t Set Foot Inside a New Bookstore Until I Started College
To the best of my memory, the first new bookstore I ever walked into was the university bookstore in Columbia, Missouri when I bought my first semester’s textbooks. And others. I enjoyed browsing through the many fiction books required by some class or other, and bought some.
Still, my hometown, Alton, Illinois did NOT have a bookstore!
Heck, it doesn’t even have one now. You live in Alton and you want to go to a new bookstore, you have to drive across the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to St. Louis. Then you must search for the nearest Barnes and Noble that’s still open.
As I recall, when it opened in 1978, Alton Square Mall had both a Waldenbooks and a B. Dalton, but that didn’t last long.
Sometime in the 70's, The Godfrey Book Store opened in Monticello Plaza, and I remember going there to visit with a buddy who was a clerk, but it long ago converted to a used bookstore.
All right, St. Louis is a big city. St. Louis had bookstores, though I never entered one until I was grown. I loved all of them, but they didn’t make me. They didn’t nourish my love of science fiction and other genre fiction.
I bought a lot at Paul’s Books in University City, especially when I lived around the corner in the Loop neighborhood. Yet they eventually went under, despite their close proximity to the staff and students of Washington University.
I’ve forgotten the name of the bookstore that occupied three separate locations in downtown Clayton, before the owners sold out to Borders Books.
Left Bank Books on Euclid Avenue carried a small assortment of bestsellers and ordinary genre books. They are a hippie/New Left collective, and so mainly carried a lot of leftwing periodicals and books you couldn’t find anywhere else. It still survives.
I do recall how happy I was when Barnes and Noble opened its first area store. In Ladue, but near both Clayton and University City.
Hey, I never said I didn’t like new bookstores. I’ve been in lots of them over the years.
And independent bookstores? As the corporate chains collapse and shrink, they’re actually increasing in numbers. They can focus on specific genres — science fiction, mysteries and so on. They can carry small publisher offerings not available at B & N. They can talk to the customers and find out what they like and enjoy.
And some of them are now partnering with Kobo. Go to the bookstore, browse, find a book you enjoy, but instead of then going to Amazon to buy it, you can buy it in electronic form right there at the store, and they get a percentage. Only fair.
The Megabookstores Saturated the St. Louis Market
But I’m not nostalgic about the whole idea of new bookstores. And I never dreamed St. Louis could support close to twenty superbookstores. (Now, with Borders out of the picture, it doesn’t.)
And I’ve been close to a major metropolitan area.
Many people live hours away from the nearest supersized bookstore. That was true even before Borders slit their own throat and finished bleeding to death.
So Stephen King’s admonition to fans to off their sticks and go to a bookstore to buy King’s book Joyland was ignorant.
Of geography.
I don’t know about Maine, but out here in flyover country, people who live in small towns may be a hundred miles or so away from the nearest brick-and-mortar new bookstore. They have NEVER been well-served by new bookstores.
Their drugstores used to get new comics, magazines and paperbacks, but that distribution system is now gone.
Now, if a writer’s fans are forced to buy the physical book, they’re going to order it from Amazon anyway. Why not let the UPS do the driving?
How does it help new bookstores for people to order a physical, paper book from Amazon instead of a Kindle version?
I don’t know.
My main point:
I’m a voracious reader and book consumer.
But new bookstores didn’t make me that way.
Libraries did.
Newsstands did.
Used bookstores did.
I am Nostalgic for Used Bookstores
All right, I didn’t talk about used bookstores. This story is long enough. Let’s just say used bookstores perform an important function new bookstores do not — they make older works available to readers.
If a writer is not a bestseller, new bookstores don’t carry their backlist. If you just today discover an author who’s been writing for years, so you want to read all their old books, and their name isn’t Stephen King or James Patterson, a new bookstore won’t help you.
Heck, I bet they don’t carry more than a fracture of the backlist of even those two guys.
You can check out a used bookstore if you live near any, or go to Amazon. If you’re lucky, there are Kindle editions of the older works. Older paperbacks are usually available on Amazon.
Amazon has done readers and used bookstores a tremendous service by allowing used bookstores to list their inventory on Amazon.
I’ve spend hundreds of hours of my life staring at the shelves of used bookstores, searching for something I wanted.
Thanks to Amazon, books available in used bookstores all over the country are now easily available to readers — no matter where they live. That’s a tremendous service to those of us who feel compelled to buy every book beloved authors have ever published.
And it’s a major service to those used bookstores. Now they can sell books to readers all over the country, or the world.
Used bookstores have had it rough economically as well as used bookstores. Many have gone out of business.
But, I suspect, some used bookstores in small towns are now thriving. They don’t have to pay the exorbitant rents necessary to attract a lot of traffic. They might simply exist in a garage or basement. By listing on Amazon, they can sell their inventory to anybody.
By De-Emphasizing All Books Except the Latest Hardcover Releases by A-List Writers, It’s New Bookstores that are Degrading the Culture
New bookstores are where you go to buy hardcovers of bestselling writers when they’re first released.
I for one never joined the fan club of hardcover editions. They’re expensive. And trade paperback editions, which I never saw on sale when growing up, aren’t much better. Too big, too expensive. Both formats are difficult to read while I eat. Both formats are difficult to carry around while waiting at the bus stop.
They don’t fit into the back pocket of your jeans as paperbacks used to. (In fairness, Kindles don’t either. But they are easier to carry around than a hardcover book.)
The more new bookstores cater to the grab so-and-so’s expensive new hardcover on its publication date crowd and the Big 5 publishers who cater to that mentality because that’s where their profit is, the more irrelevant they are to me.
I don’t see how making every release of a new hardcover by a bestselling author at the expense of making writer backlists available to readers is promoting “culture.”
The I enjoy browsing at Amazon because I know just about every book in English ever published might be available.
My emotional attachment is to the paperback, and the Big 5 are abandoning that format. They hate to cater to readers who want to pay only $8 for a book.
Self-published ebooks are the new mass market paperback books.
Let’s stay in touch. Sign up for my daily email list. | https://richardstooker.medium.com/nostalgic-for-new-bookstores-not-i-7f60066360af | ['Richard Stooker'] | 2019-06-07 16:31:00.745000+00:00 | ['Books', 'Publishing', 'Reading', 'Fiction', 'Writing'] | Title Nostalgic New Bookstores IContent even Barnes Noble disappears tomorrow Photo freddie marriage Unsplash probably know bookselling publishing industry undergoing severe change economic convulsion high tech disintermediation last one fancy word new technological development causing extreme disruption business model don’t insider insight one aspect ongoing stream argument bug many people talk new bookstore though book publishing equivalent Mom apple pie Really NEED New Bookstores Hold Sky There’s subtext reader writer need new bookstore without wouldn’t recreational reader American culture depends deserve preserving even they’re profitable commentator look decline brick mortar bookstore United States decide sky falling sense they’re right Independent bookstore decline several decade thanks two corporate behemoth Meg RyanTom Hanks movie You’ve Got Mail dramatized issue Tom Hanks’s character grandson familyowned book chain make sympathetic movie certainly took aim Borders Barnes Noble discounted book price drive independent business company large could take advantage economic efficiency impossible owner single bookstore Many rightthinking culture snob era decried rise corporate big box store That’s even though average Barnes Noble Borders store carried FAR title shelf independent bookstore I’ve ever time changed Borders declared bankruptcy early 2012 One corporate behemoth game Barnes Noble closing retail store converting lot space nonbook use Would like game James Patterson took full page ad New York Times Book Review Publishers Weekly calling type government intervention protect book publisher book seller interview cite several European country good example government protecting bookstore sake culture literacy James Patterson government intervention book publishing Ebook Pioneer Went Bat New Bookstores Stephen King released first mass market ebook Riding Bullet back 2000 — year Amazon produced Kindle 2009 came novella title Ur that’s available Kindle Therefore fan reason think he’s Luddite However King released Joyland 2013 didn’t ebook edition stated goal helping bookstore helped much year record saying people want read book get stick drive actual bookstore buy Stephen King Joyland make sense Maybe got pushback bookstore Ur fan especially rural area disservice I’m reading addict since age 7 I’ve read many book anybody year I’ve spent large amount money book Sometimes told stop read Read box mere stack book mind — stack box something always came needed buy read right away That’s pattern fiftyfive year I’ve bookstore people age owned TVs support movement toward ebooks don’t feel great nostalgia new bookstore it’s 95 BS GASP say thing Mom Apple Pie Let’s step back get little perspective okay Printed book around since Gutenberg invented printing press Literacy writing periodical literature spread gradually since point 19th century America literacy still elite skill frontier farmer miner soldier factory worker literacy upper class preacher men questionable masculinity standard time Preachers allowed read could know what’s Bible Oscar Wilde toured Old West miner Leadville took deep shaft thinking he’d one effete English “Nancy boy” shaking boot Instead outdrank people rough necessarily ignorant memorized poetry knew Shakespeare classical mythology didn’t sit read novel Probably many people attended Mark Twain’s lecture reading actually read work However late 19th century changed thanks implementation universal education Also doubt desire many immigrant see child grow become successful Many European immigrant also brought respect culture education Anyway demand grew story Humanity need story elite could afford buy expensive hardcover book sold bookstore bookstore existed large city make sense economically bookstore owner need sell book pay rent two literate people fiftymile radius preacher newspaper editor wouldn’t work Therefore enterprising entrepreneur brought dime novel meet need cheap story distribution doubt came large city enough literate often barely literate men woman entertained story also reached American small town city tale never published luxurious hardback book Hardcover book reserved wealthy sold new bookstore Dime novel likely spread newsstand candy story Pulp Magazines Also Brought Cheap Adventure Stories Masses “Literary” Publishers Ignored Late 19th century pulp magazine became dominant vehicle cheap adventure fiction ton filled newsstand rack black white photo page site give idea magazine display used look that’s city sidewalk Here’s display Manhattan appears outside drugstore Here’s picture give closer look Pulp Magazines Created Idea Genres pulp Blue Book published almost kind story well written exciting enough specialized reader would look title next month period general reader would course perceive Time Machine HG Wells different sort novel Moby Dick Herman Melville book publisher brought story considered good enough separate imprint science fiction fantasy mystery expected customer potential customer every novel periodical publisher wanted reader recognition bonding create loyalty magazine title pulp magazine came hundred Spicy story Air war story Love story Confessions Mysteries Westerns Hardboiled private eye Science fiction Horror Also magazine dedicated one character Doc Savage expensively produced magazine “slicks” published story intended sophisticated audience included Saturday Evening Post 1920s average annual wage 1296 Post paid 1 word Sell one story year Post set year That’s F Scott Fitzgerald paid debt supported wife Zelda mental institution Although competed growing movie starting 20 radio industry fictionseeking audience’s time money pulp survived 1955 Supposedly problem distribution finally growing competition television paperback book direct heir pulp still survive though smaller digest format ANALOG SCIENCE FICTION began life pulp ASTOUNDING point reading fiction thrived decade little support new bookstore New Bookstores Help grew small city Alton Illinois north St Louis MO considered part Metro St Louis area although immediate environment much like small town ready access significant urban area owe new bookstore love book reading early age Nada course school got started reading supplied earliest book mother took u Hayner’s Children’s Library summer third grade summer contest reading book Despite attending swim team practice every morning playing pool afternoon Freddy Pig juvenile novel Robert Heinlein Wrinkle Time Hundreds I’ve forgotten long walked stair began checking adult section library remember awe chill felt looking spotting huge collection Arthur C Clarke Across Sea Stars great title year come checked hundred library book there’s one American institution responsible widespread literacy appreciation literature “great” genre it’s bookstore — it’s public library God Bless Andrew Carnegie Though I’m sure whether funded Alton’s public library found Jennie Hayner Library Association actually turned funding Mr Carnegie would required Alton’s resident pay tax continuing support library city took born totally free library United States owe big debt gratitude Jennie Hayner lady founded original Alton Library Association 1852 God Bless Andrew Carnegie anyway public library helped build Yet Big 5 publisher cultural elite cry tear making life difficult library big publisher hurting library Mr Patterson explain book publisher protect American culture God Bless Newsstands Paperback Books there’s another American institution also deserves immeasurable credit widespread literacy appreciation literature it’s newsstand candy store drug store also carried magazine comic book paperback display hasn’t anyone bemoaned death newsstand Although got lot free reading material Hayner Library certainly source literary fix kindergarten sixth grade attended McKinley Elementary School North Alton business district don’t recall exactly mother decided bigold enough walk home school least fourth grade Alone friend explored possibility fun adventure soon discovered Wardein Pharmacy walked past carried lot magazine comic book held revolving rack paperback book Mass market paperback book Also called pocket book could fit back pocket pant true heir pulp tradition Especially paperback original proved popular hardcover publisher began selling paperback right “elite” novel Soon became SOP book first published hardcover come paperback year later made even “literature” cheap enough working people afford Books bombed hardcover could make profit even build author’s reputation paperback However hardcover book publisher respected among literary hoi polloi Paperback original continued lower reputation carryover pulp Jumping paperback original hardcover publication milestone author’s career Paperbacks began appear 1930s especially popular mystery fan 1950s pulp fell popularity distribution paperback original took place first main genre served mystery western Fawcett Crest Gold Medal book published lot terrific mystery thriller book Wade Miller John McDonald many Except “literary” work HG Wells Aldous Huxley George Orwell science fiction know today creature pulp era Although many adventure writer dabbled used idea exotic setting adventure Edgar Rice Burroughs first magazine devoted exclusively science fiction AMAZING founded 1926 Hugo Gernsback great SF writer early generation — Isaac Asimov Arthur C Clarke Robert Heinlein — well many others wrote story magazine never expecting reprinted permanent book edition One first science fiction publisher Fantasy Press established 1946 Lloyd Eshback probably also hoped make money Eshback founded Fantasy Press act love genre Related science fiction fantasy horror pulp era good one straight fantasy genre one pulp magazine devoted straight fantasy Unknown Worlds lasted four year However dark fantasy oriented Weird Tales made history Among others published Robert E Howard’s Conan story HP Lovecraft Neither two author ever saw — possibly — imagined story would someday collected book even celebrated praised around world died 1936 long achieved fame kind outgroup stardom 1940 Lovecraft devotee named August Derleth founded Arkham House devoted promoting Lovecraft similar horror work first book Outsider Others worth lot money Fantasy Press Arkham House others small publisher devoted extremely “fringe” genre author I’m certain bookstore time never carried book sold ad placed magazine science fiction convention word mouth Science fiction book publishing didn’t really begin early 1950s Doubleday start publishing science fiction hardcover edition made book club edition available couldn’t afford hardcover paperback Ace Books Ballantine began next phase genre’s popularity Three Cheers Revolving Wire Racks Paperback Books I’m fairly certainly Wardein’s bought first Fantastic Four comic book 15 — regretted getting 1 first Spiderman 6 I’m also fairly certain that’s spotted Richard Powers cover Mars series Edgar Rice Burroughs Chessmen Mars first ERB book bought read Ballantine reprinted Mars Tarzan book gave great Powers cover Ace got hold rest gave even better cover Frank Frazetta still well remember buying Carson Venus ERB Wardein’s Wardein’s primarily drugstore magazine comic book occupied section wall four foot long appreciated comic later magazine Magazine Galaxy Amazing Fantastic etc magazine mass market Time Newsweek Look Life Saturday Evening Post long row confession magazine paperback book occupied one revolving wire rack believe four column didn’t take long turn around look new release discovered newsstand across State Street don’t recall name least four five revolving rack paperback book many shelf periodical smelled strongly tobacco didn’t like put browse book sale year bought comic magazine paperback book Wardein newsstand went high school bought Kerr Drug Upper Alton Broadway Newsstand downtown Man talk cramped dark little place front Broadway newsstand small one aisle leading back even narrow better tiny cramped lady owned keep eye customer guess carried magazine saw nowhere else Magazine Horror Startling Mysteries Stories digest sized magazine consisted mainly sloppy reprint story Weird Tales selected Robert AW Lowndes old time fan pro Since Weird Tales long print available mail order used dealer charged extremely high price loved getting read old story RAWL reprinted Lovecraft story could find paperback NonConan Howard Seabury Quinn Jules de Grandin story RAWL sometimes bought new story well Two issue Startling Mysteries Stories bought newsstand brand new published short story newcomer named Stephen King command hefty price dealer Mr King Discovered Newsstand — New Bookstore recall newsstand could depend finding latest release Ballantine Adult Fantasy series Ace Science Fiction Specials edited Terry Carr Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series highest quality line fantasy book ever published Ace Science Fiction Specials highest quality line science fiction title bought — newsstand bookstore Didn’t Set Foot Inside New Bookstore Started College best memory first new bookstore ever walked university bookstore Columbia Missouri bought first semester’s textbook others enjoyed browsing many fiction book required class bought Still hometown Alton Illinois bookstore Heck doesn’t even one live Alton want go new bookstore drive across Mississippi Missouri Rivers St Louis must search nearest Barnes Noble that’s still open recall opened 1978 Alton Square Mall Waldenbooks B Dalton didn’t last long Sometime 70 Godfrey Book Store opened Monticello Plaza remember going visit buddy clerk long ago converted used bookstore right St Louis big city St Louis bookstore though never entered one grown loved didn’t make didn’t nourish love science fiction genre fiction bought lot Paul’s Books University City especially lived around corner Loop neighborhood Yet eventually went despite close proximity staff student Washington University I’ve forgotten name bookstore occupied three separate location downtown Clayton owner sold Borders Books Left Bank Books Euclid Avenue carried small assortment bestseller ordinary genre book hippieNew Left collective mainly carried lot leftwing periodical book couldn’t find anywhere else still survives recall happy Barnes Noble opened first area store Ladue near Clayton University City Hey never said didn’t like new bookstore I’ve lot year independent bookstore corporate chain collapse shrink they’re actually increasing number focus specific genre — science fiction mystery carry small publisher offering available B N talk customer find like enjoy partnering Kobo Go bookstore browse find book enjoy instead going Amazon buy buy electronic form right store get percentage fair Megabookstores Saturated St Louis Market I’m nostalgic whole idea new bookstore never dreamed St Louis could support close twenty superbookstores Borders picture doesn’t I’ve close major metropolitan area Many people live hour away nearest supersized bookstore true even Borders slit throat finished bleeding death Stephen King’s admonition fan stick go bookstore buy King’s book Joyland ignorant geography don’t know Maine flyover country people live small town may hundred mile away nearest brickandmortar new bookstore NEVER wellserved new bookstore drugstore used get new comic magazine paperback distribution system gone writer’s fan forced buy physical book they’re going order Amazon anyway let UPS driving help new bookstore people order physical paper book Amazon instead Kindle version don’t know main point I’m voracious reader book consumer new bookstore didn’t make way Libraries Newsstands Used bookstore Nostalgic Used Bookstores right didn’t talk used bookstore story long enough Let’s say used bookstore perform important function new bookstore — make older work available reader writer bestseller new bookstore don’t carry backlist today discover author who’s writing year want read old book name isn’t Stephen King James Patterson new bookstore won’t help Heck bet don’t carry fracture backlist even two guy check used bookstore live near go Amazon you’re lucky Kindle edition older work Older paperback usually available Amazon Amazon done reader used bookstore tremendous service allowing used bookstore list inventory Amazon I’ve spend hundred hour life staring shelf used bookstore searching something wanted Thanks Amazon book available used bookstore country easily available reader — matter live That’s tremendous service u feel compelled buy every book beloved author ever published it’s major service used bookstore sell book reader country world Used bookstore rough economically well used bookstore Many gone business suspect used bookstore small town thriving don’t pay exorbitant rent necessary attract lot traffic might simply exist garage basement listing Amazon sell inventory anybody DeEmphasizing Books Except Latest Hardcover Releases AList Writers It’s New Bookstores Degrading Culture New bookstore go buy hardcover bestselling writer they’re first released one never joined fan club hardcover edition They’re expensive trade paperback edition never saw sale growing aren’t much better big expensive format difficult read eat format difficult carry around waiting bus stop don’t fit back pocket jean paperback used fairness Kindles don’t either easier carry around hardcover book new bookstore cater grab soandso’s expensive new hardcover publication date crowd Big 5 publisher cater mentality that’s profit irrelevant don’t see making every release new hardcover bestselling author expense making writer backlists available reader promoting “culture” enjoy browsing Amazon know every book English ever published might available emotional attachment paperback Big 5 abandoning format hate cater reader want pay 8 book Selfpublished ebooks new mass market paperback book Let’s stay touch Sign daily email listTags Books Publishing Reading Fiction Writing |
2,576 | The Difference Between Trustworthiness and Trust Is “Merit” | Trustworthiness
Truth is some people “seem” to be trustworthy, while they are merely brilliant manipulators who mastered the art of mirroring:
When someone mirrors us, they are doing a range of things. They may mimic us, emulate us, be interested in us, share our interests, point out our strengths, gently point out our weaknesses, and simply reflect us. Healthy mirroring involves a person who sees us accurately, and who allows us to see them as well. It is safe. It is reciprocal. It is honest. It is kind. Having this sort of holistic mirroring leaves us feeling safe. Narcissistic mirroring is a whole other game. The process is less about seeing you in some meaningful way than it is about data gathering. — Dr. Ramani Durvasula
Interestingly, those fake trustworthy people sell to you, on purpose, the kind of connection you crave. As a human being, and before our life-time of conditioning even started, we used to be a secure interdependent person:
When I am physically interdependent, I know that I can do any physical task alone. But, I also recognize that you and I, working together, could do much better than, even at my best, I can accomplish alone. If I am emotionally interdependent, I am emotionally healthy and self-reliant, but I also admit my need for sharing the love. If I am intellectually interdependent, I can recognize that our analytical skills put together could take us to the farthest places I would have never been able to reach alone!
The conditioning made us accumulate numerous limiting beliefs about ourselves and build an insecure attachment style — 1. Fearful-Avoidant, 2. Anxious-Preoccupied, and 3. Dismissive-avoidant (some people might be a combination of two styles).
The style depends on our bond with our caregivers and how they loved us conditionally and/or inconsistently. Some of us might have been raised by narcissistic parents, resulting in microtraumas, which sometimes could lead to CPTSD (Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).
What happens during adulthood is that we tend to look for the patterns we know and perceive as the “norm” in our relationships. Manipulators, and especially malignant narcissists — described in the words of Psychoanalyst Otto Kernberg (1970) as sadistic psychopaths — know it and exploit it shamelessly.
Always keep in mind that Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is best known as the triplet {E, E, E}: Entitlement, Exploitation, and lack of Empathy, along with the grandiosity pattern and need for control.
More to the point, after studying your attachment style — and they are experts in doing so in no time— they make sure to provide you with your familiar patterns no matter the kind of relationship — be it a life partner, a colleague, a friend, you name it!
It is their intentional strategy to seem trustworthy to you. Giving them your trust for free is the shortest road to abuse, anger, disappointment, frustration, sadness, disgust, confusion, guilt, shame — sometimes even losing your sanity especially when your self-esteem is low and that you are a codependent (quick to self-doubt and self-loathing and having weak emotional boundaries).
Bear in mind that not only manipulators can violate your boundaries, be selfish, toxic, and unable to value your investment in the relationship and honor your feelings. Many kind souls may disappoint you because they don’t know better. Should you be interested, I explored the topic here:
As a general rule, trust is a gift you should only grant to the person who deserves it, no matter how trustworthy they might seem to be!
What does it take to build trust?
Trust as a verb is “built”. It involves making deposits. The first and major one is showing integrity. Unfortunately, spotting duplicity requires making use of one’s critical thinking skills.
And because most people are operating on auto-pilot without even being aware of it, their self-awareness human endowment and the ability to question everything, including their own thoughts, are sadly out of service most of the time.
A non-exhaustive list of other deposits could be:
Active listening, making the person we are interacting with feel seen and understood or what we call providing them with psychological air, as well as attending to the little courtesies and small kindnesses. The latter part is not the same thing as merely buying you gifts. It is about the “being” versus the “doing”.
Courtesy of the author
Clarifying the expectations of every party from the relationship and getting them on the table in the most transparent way.
Courtesy of the author
Keeping promises: you need to understand that some people tend to build their hopes — in some cases their lives — around your promises. keeping your commitments is showing you care, and this could build bridges of trust that span the gaps of understanding. I mean, let’s be pragmatic! We will not be able to understand people from the very first interactions. It takes time, and that’s okay!
Courtesy of the author
Apologizing quickly and sincerely whenever screwing things up, as we all do. It takes a great deal of internal security and strength of character.
Courtesy of the author
Making those deposits raises the “Trust Reserve”. In other words, the trust will not be easily lost. We can make mistakes and withdrawals from the reserve — or what Stephen Covey liked to call the “Emotional Bank Account” — and there will still be room to continue trusting the person and elevate it again.
Final thoughts
Unless you fully reconnected with your purest gut, that is having entirely re-written your invasive subconscious program, and which was never achieved by any human being, most probably— at least, according to my limited knowledge, giving your trust for free is seldom a winning strategy.
More often than you would like to believe, you granted your gift to a person in whom you saw great potential. Sadly, the potential is anything but enough whenever the person is not ready to break their denial circle.
You can continue believing in potential and risking to break your heart over and over again or decide your sacred trust needs to be deserved. The choice is yours! | https://medium.com/know-thyself-heal-thyself/the-difference-between-trustworthiness-and-trust-is-merit-2bc90bc9b482 | ['Myriam Ben Salem'] | 2020-12-28 09:58:02.358000+00:00 | ['Self', 'Philosophy', 'Trust', 'Relationships', 'Psychology'] | Title Difference Trustworthiness Trust “Merit”Content Trustworthiness Truth people “seem” trustworthy merely brilliant manipulator mastered art mirroring someone mirror u range thing may mimic u emulate u interested u share interest point strength gently point weakness simply reflect u Healthy mirroring involves person see u accurately allows u see well safe reciprocal honest kind sort holistic mirroring leaf u feeling safe Narcissistic mirroring whole game process le seeing meaningful way data gathering — Dr Ramani Durvasula Interestingly fake trustworthy people sell purpose kind connection crave human lifetime conditioning even started used secure interdependent person physically interdependent know physical task alone also recognize working together could much better even best accomplish alone emotionally interdependent emotionally healthy selfreliant also admit need sharing love intellectually interdependent recognize analytical skill put together could take u farthest place would never able reach alone conditioning made u accumulate numerous limiting belief build insecure attachment style — 1 FearfulAvoidant 2 AnxiousPreoccupied 3 Dismissiveavoidant people might combination two style style depends bond caregiver loved u conditionally andor inconsistently u might raised narcissistic parent resulting microtraumas sometimes could lead CPTSD Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder happens adulthood tend look pattern know perceive “norm” relationship Manipulators especially malignant narcissist — described word Psychoanalyst Otto Kernberg 1970 sadistic psychopath — know exploit shamelessly Always keep mind Narcissistic Personality Disorder NPD best known triplet E E E Entitlement Exploitation lack Empathy along grandiosity pattern need control point studying attachment style — expert time— make sure provide familiar pattern matter kind relationship — life partner colleague friend name intentional strategy seem trustworthy Giving trust free shortest road abuse anger disappointment frustration sadness disgust confusion guilt shame — sometimes even losing sanity especially selfesteem low codependent quick selfdoubt selfloathing weak emotional boundary Bear mind manipulator violate boundary selfish toxic unable value investment relationship honor feeling Many kind soul may disappoint don’t know better interested explored topic general rule trust gift grant person deserves matter trustworthy might seem take build trust Trust verb “built” involves making deposit first major one showing integrity Unfortunately spotting duplicity requires making use one’s critical thinking skill people operating autopilot without even aware selfawareness human endowment ability question everything including thought sadly service time nonexhaustive list deposit could Active listening making person interacting feel seen understood call providing psychological air well attending little courtesy small kindness latter part thing merely buying gift “being” versus “doing” Courtesy author Clarifying expectation every party relationship getting table transparent way Courtesy author Keeping promise need understand people tend build hope — case life — around promise keeping commitment showing care could build bridge trust span gap understanding mean let’s pragmatic able understand people first interaction take time that’s okay Courtesy author Apologizing quickly sincerely whenever screwing thing take great deal internal security strength character Courtesy author Making deposit raise “Trust Reserve” word trust easily lost make mistake withdrawal reserve — Stephen Covey liked call “Emotional Bank Account” — still room continue trusting person elevate Final thought Unless fully reconnected purest gut entirely rewritten invasive subconscious program never achieved human probably— least according limited knowledge giving trust free seldom winning strategy often would like believe granted gift person saw great potential Sadly potential anything enough whenever person ready break denial circle continue believing potential risking break heart decide sacred trust need deserved choice yoursTags Self Philosophy Trust Relationships Psychology |
2,577 | Michael Orthofer on Why Fiction Matters (Ep. 11) | COWEN: What’s your theory of America? Where have we gone wrong? You say correctly there was more interest in foreign fiction in the 1970s, right? We’ve moved away from that. Why has that happened? What’s the institutional failure behind that? You could say lack of someone like you may be part of it, but you’re here now. It’s still the case.
A novel comes out in American English, and they try to hide the fact that it was translated, quite often. I’m sure you’ve seen this, or maybe not seen it.
ORTHOFER: Right. Well, I think, actually, things have improved a lot in the time I’ve been running the site. I think a major reason was that there was a generational shift from, especially, the publishing world. The publishers would come across from Europe around World War II, who obviously had brought a lot of international fiction, who were aware of what was being written elsewhere in the world — mainly in Europe, unfortunately, so relatively localized as well, but still.
But you also had it with the interest in Japanese fiction, for example. There was that generation, which is also very much due to the sudden interest in Japan from World War II — the people who learned Japanese and then began translating the work. And I think there was a generational shift which played itself out most fully in the 1990s. But yeah, I’m not sure why exactly it went as far down as it did.
The wonderful thing is that translation has really been revived in the past couple of years. I think there really has been a greater interest in — especially, with smaller publishers who are really interested in publishing translations.
COWEN: But it is a kind of paradox of globalization, right? After the ’70s in particular, immigration to the United States goes up quite rapidly. There’s a lot more trade, especially with Asia. Many more Americans get passports. They travel abroad. And yet, at the same time, we’re less interested in some aspects of foreign literature.
Maybe there’s something more general to this. If you think of America as, in some ways, an open country, actually we’re much less willing to watch foreign films than are people from most other countries.
Then you go to Canada, for all of its talk of cultural protectionism — they do a small amount of it — or Paris, arguably they’re, in many ways, more open to foreign cultures than America. What’s the general paradoxical lesson about globalization we can pull out of all of this?
ORTHOFER: It might be a cultural thing that America has, in many ways, always been sort of integrating. It has integrated the immigrants that have come in, and it has valued that they become American, that they adopt American values. And part of that has been leaving behind, to a certain extent, the culture.
I think there’s a great amount of literature of sort of the first-, second-, third-generation Americans and — but it’s almost all in English. And there’s very little of returning to the languages that these immigrants brought with them.
On the other hand, it’s fascinating how many foreign authors live, especially in university settings, in the United States. But they live in these sort of isolated pockets. They’re not part of the broader American literary culture, which I find a bizarre paradox. I don’t quite understand why that happens.
COWEN: Let me tell you an argument about New York City which I occasionally hear. And I know it’s not true about you, but whether you think it’s true at all. And it gets at these paradoxes of globalization. That in some ways New York City, or maybe just Manhattan, is fairly provincial because people think — and they’re led to believe — that the whole world comes here.
In some ways that’s true, both tourism and migration, but you don’t actually get the whole world here at all. You get a highly processed, filtered version of a bit of it from each particular region. Then people here, in a way, become more inward looking. They don’t go as many other places. They feel everything is right here. They get into their routines.
And is it possible that parts of Manhattan are evolving into this highly provincial place because of these cultural paradoxes?
ORTHOFER: I think so, although New York still remains such a dynamic place because you also have great shifts in what populations come here and how that affects the city, I think. And so there is that dynamism, the changing neighborhoods. I still think, in that sense, it is a very vibrant city. And it’s fairly unprovincial for a metropolitan city, compared to even some European — I mean, I’m from Austria, and Vienna is a cosmopolitan city, but in the end of things, it is — .
COWEN: Still Vienna.
ORTHOFER: It is, yeah.
On hacking books
COWEN: My friend Ben Casnocha — he’s always talking to me about this idea of life hacks, like advice where you can live your life or learn things more efficiently. Let’s say I was approaching foreign-language literature in translation as an economist, and the following life hack occurred to me. I’m going to lay it out, and you tell me why it’s wrong.
There’s always more to read, always more wonderful things to read in all of the major languages. But if you can read a language fluently, usually you’ll enjoy the fiction or poetry in that language much more. You’re not going to run out of things to read in the languages you can read in.
Therefore, in translated literature, you should read the very most famous works. If you don’t read Russian, yes, read Brothers Karamazov and War and Peace and a few things, and then stop. And if you read, say, English, Spanish, and French, then just read in those languages. Translated literature — at the margin, put it aside; never look at it again. That’s not what you do, but what’s wrong with that argument?
ORTHOFER: I think you’re really missing so much, because the problem is finding what is of value, what is important. And I mean, we have these established books like War and Peace or Crime and Punishment, but Russian literature goes so much deeper, for example, to take just an example of a big language.
It also changes with time so rapidly. I think that in every 10‑year period, you could select a new set of a dozen recent — relatively recent, of the past quarter-century from that culture — works which would give you a completely different view and provide you with a completely different experience.
And the bigger problem I see, of course, is that you’re missing out on so much literature from elsewhere, that there really is — for a lot of cultures and languages, there isn’t that standout that you know. You know, Russia, Tolstoy, got it.
But if you want to read something from the Philippines, you’re unlikely to be able to find that one author. There are so many other languages and cultures. There is so much being written now which it really is worthwhile keeping up with.
COWEN: Would you agree, then, that it’s a good life hack, say, for poetry? If I try to read poetry originally written in Russian — I don’t speak Russian. I understand some of it. I know enough to get that I’m not getting it when I read it in English. It just doesn’t come through, no matter how great the poet, and I don’t enjoy it that much.
So in this case I followed the life hack. I just don’t read poetry in Russian, and I feel that’s efficient. Do you agree with that when it comes to poetry? But I do read poetry in the languages I read well.
ORTHOFER: Poetry is a bit more difficult because, first of all, there seems a lot more with less poetry that stands out. It’s very difficult, often, to recognize the great poetry of the day in the time being, especially with modern poetry. I find it very difficult to get a sense of what I really should be focusing on.
So I mean, I guess it is a useful life hack because, really, there is only so much we can read. I might very well act similarly with poetry, because I don’t spend that much time reading poetry, but with fiction I wouldn’t accept it. No.
COWEN: Here’s another life hack which I totally reject, but it may just be because I’m an addict of sorts. You tell me why, for you, it’s wrong.
A lot of people say to me, “Well, I love fiction, but I’m never going to read new works because I can’t tell what’s really good. I’ll just wait 20 years and then look back on what was truly excellent from 20 years ago and read that 20 years later. In the meantime, now I’ll just read classics or things in other areas which are verified as being truly excellent.” Does that make sense?
ORTHOFER: I worry very much about people who rely on what gets that stamp of approval. Just because it has a cover review in the New York Times Book Review does not mean that that book really is, if we look at it from five or ten years down the road — that that book will still be a significant work. I find so much which is highly praised at any one point long‑term won’t be. Again, however — .
I worry very much about people who rely on what gets that stamp of approval. Just because it has a cover review in the New York Times Book Review does not mean that that book really is, if we look at it from five or ten years down the road — that that book will still be a significant work.
COWEN: Then wait longer. Wait 30 years.
ORTHOFER: Much that we look back on, is — we’ve lost in the margins as well because it’s really hard to keep track of all the great books. We saw at the Strand earlier today Stoner, John Williams. This is a book that disappeared from view for a long time. It was always recognized, sort of. People would say, “This is a great book,” but it had really fallen out of view. Helen DeWitt’s The Last Samurai was just republished.
COWEN: I just ordered it on Amazon. I’m excited to get my copy. I didn’t know about it.
ORTHOFER: This was sort of a — not legendary text, but it had gotten a great deal of attention when it first came out. Then, through an odd series of coincidences, it just sort of fell from view. There are many, many, many more books which are in this gray zone where, if you really dig, if you really look, you can still pluck them out. But because there’s so much new work being published, it’s very difficult for it to rise out of that noise.
COWEN: Say I’m an American, but I’m someone who doesn’t have as much time to read as you do or I do. I’m only going to take away one book tip from this podcast or video. I’m going to walk into a Barnes and Noble or go to Amazon, and I want to buy a new book.
At the margin, what’s the piece of information I should have that will help me make a better decision other than just saying, “Well, go to Literary Saloon and see what I tell you to do.” More generally, I forgot my iPad, I’m in Strand or Barnes and Noble.
Tyler and Michael shopping at the Strand Book Store in Manhattan
ORTHOFER: Well, I think, depending on the bookstore — but it works, probably, even for many of the Barnes and Noble ones — I really think you should have some faith in the staff that they will be able to best guide you. I’m certain at Strand, for example, which — the booksellers there are book lovers — if you give them a bit of information about what would be suitable for you, that they will be able to guide you. I like to think that the Complete Review is meant to guide readers to their books, right?
COWEN: Of course.
ORTHOFER: I think on the more localized level in the bookstore, you hopefully get that as well.
COWEN: I think I’ve bought more than a hundred books because of you, so I thank you for that. Let’s say now I’m someone who more or less reads for a living. Maybe I write books, or I’m a book reviewer, or I’m a certain kind of journalist, or I work in publishing.
You can give me advice at the margin — how to make a better book choice, something to buy and read. For that kind of person, it’s harder to give advice, right?
ORTHOFER: Very much so.
COWEN: What would your advice be?
ORTHOFER: I don’t know that I would — I don’t really have a system for picking books myself. I’m very much — .
COWEN: That can’t be true. You may not have articulated your system. But I saw you in the Strand. You have rules and principles. You turn the corner at a certain time. You know what sections to go to.
ORTHOFER: Right. It’s a very personal selection process, I think. I think it’s whatever information works for you. One source of information, for example, is seeing what imprint has published — a certain publisher. If New Directions or New York Review Books has brought out a volume, you know possibly what kind of book this might be. That helps narrow it down.
Used-book stores — you have to be familiar with the older imprints, for example, which just takes a lot of practice, I guess. That, for example, is one of the sources of information. It’s very difficult, I think, to narrow it down.
I think that’s one of the wonderful things of going in a bookstore and of being willing to take a chance and pick up something that hasn’t been shoved down your throat, hasn’t been recommended in 15 different publications, because the offerings out there are so rich that you can really find many things just at the extremes.
I think that’s one of the wonderful things of going in a bookstore and of being willing to take a chance and pick up something that hasn’t been shoved down your throat, hasn’t been recommended in 15 different publications, because the offerings out there are so rich that you can really find many things just at the extremes.
COWEN: I once did an experiment. I went into a bookstore, and I said, “I’m just going to pick out the book whose cover I like the best and put aside whatever other impressions I might have of that book and really see this through,” just to see how good of a predictor that would be.
I ended up liking the cover of a Kate Christensen novel. I then liked the novel, and I’ve liked some of her subsequent writing. When it comes to covers, covers are there, in a way, to trick us, but there’s also a kind of matching going on.
It signals, maybe, how intellectual the book is or what kind of person should buy or read that book. You see a cover. How do you decipher or decode the information there? If you like the cover, does it sway you?
ORTHOFER: It can sway me, but it rarely does. I’m not a big cover person. I’m really a text person, not an image person. And so I try to see beyond the cover, but the aesthetics obviously do play somewhat of a role. But it’s a very — I think a cover can attract my attention but won’t be decisive. I don’t think anything about a cover could convince me that this is a book I must have. I think I will leaf beyond that, but it can get me to pick up the book.
COWEN: Say a parent comes to you. The parent says, “I have a 12‑year‑old, smart child, shows some interest in now wanting to read,” what advice do you give that parent for hooking the child on reading? Since you yourself — your whole life, you’ve had this extreme, intense love of reading — maybe you were born with it — but how do people get hooked on reading? What do you tell that parent?
ORTHOFER: I think you want to let them loose in a book environment, in the library, in the bookstore. And you want to give them the freedom to explore for themselves, because I think reading is very much a personal thing, especially in childhood and especially when parents are often tempted to — “Well, is this a book that’s good for the kid?”
I think you want to avoid that, because the child has a completely different perspective and really has to want to read the book. I think by letting them make their own choices, their own selections, finding their own way, and not really pressuring them. I don’t think you want to say, “Reading is good for you. You have to read whatever it is.” Just make it easy for them to read whatever they want to read.
COWEN: You know what I did a few times with Yana? I’d put a book on the table. I’d point at it. I’d say, “You’re not ready for this yet.” Then I’d just walk away.
ORTHOFER: [laughs] That’s usually a good trick.
COWEN: That was fairly effective.
ORTHOFER: I can imagine, yeah.
On translations, great books, and the merits of being a completist
COWEN: Are there books which are better translated into languages other than the languages they were written in — novels?
ORTHOFER: I think there are, probably many which are, let’s say, B novels. Pulp novels, for example, can often be, especially stylistically, improved in translation. You often have so‑called literary authors translating crime authors, B-list crime authors, and they do a wonderful job of it.
There are also cases where I don’t think it’s better, but some of the most interesting — the translations that appeal most to me are those of experimental works which basically are not — you can’t translate them literally. The word‑for‑word don’t come close. The translator basically becomes a re-creator of the text and takes a new approach. Some of those are wonderful as well.
COWEN: What’s the best book that you never finished?
ORTHOFER: That I never finished? I don’t know because I really finish almost everything. It takes a lot for me to give up on a book.
COWEN: See, I don’t finish most of my books. Maybe I finish 10 percent — I’m not sure — but a clear minority. Why finish books that are not as good as the next book you could be reading in respective value terms?
ORTHOFER: Right, right. Yeah, but I can’t think of any. There are probably some long books which I haven’t made my way entirely through — let’s say Richardson’s Clarissa, which is a huge book, which I’ve never sat down to read from beginning to end.
Perhaps something like that, but nothing really strikes me, because a good book — I want to finish that book. It would have been a not-very-memorable book in any case. [laughs]
COWEN: Of the so‑called great books, what’s the one that disappointed you most?
ORTHOFER: Of the so‑called great ones? Well, it’s difficult knowing what that canon is.
COWEN: Take like Harold Bloom’s list in the back of his book, the western canon of fiction, something like that, maybe a little broader.
ORTHOFER: Yeah, no, I have difficulty with especially the verse epics. I’ve never finished the Aeneid, for example, or something like that. I have difficulty getting into some of those. I think, of the great authors, the one I have the most difficulty with is probably Dostoevsky. I’ve read most of those. I think The Prince is probably my favorite, or The Idiot, as it’s sometimes translated. I’m not a big fan of Dostoevsky.
COWEN: Tom G wrote this question in to me on Marginal Revolution: “Which are the first three books that come to mind in answer to the question, ‘What books made him feel really good after finishing them?’ Quickest answer desired.”
ORTHOFER: [laughs] Again, this is the kind of question I have great difficulty with, because I don’t know what made me feel happiest. I don’t know that the — immediate satisfaction, I couldn’t even think of one off the top of my head.
COWEN: Now, my theory of you as a reviewer and reader is that you love highly complex books that are long and very puzzling to work out what’s going on.
ORTHOFER: I do enjoy those very much, yes.
COWEN: So I’m going to bring up two or three of those, and you can tell us what’s in them for you or why we should care. Here’s volume one of a Chinese book — used to be known as Dream of the Red Chamber. Now it’s more often called Story of the Stone. Penguin translation. You’re an advocate of this book. It’s very long. This is only one volume.
ORTHOFER: Of five, yes.
COWEN: What’s in here?
ORTHOFER: Basically, it’s a family saga and basically a love story of the main character and the two women, girls when it starts out. It starts out when he was a young boy. It’s basically a novel which has everything. It’s comprehensive. It’s such a sweeping book. It’s really one that you can get lost in over a long period of time. It’s a book that is very easy to return to, because there is so much in it.
COWEN: Even though on the Wikipedia page, 40 main characters are listed, plus minor characters. That’s going to be tough going, right, even with a good translation?
ORTHOFER: It depends. I think it conveniently probably has the list of characters.
COWEN: It does, but even with a cheat sheet, 40 is hard.
ORTHOFER: Right, the main characters. There really are the central characters and the more incidental characters. The story focuses on groups of characters at a time. There are not 40 people onstage all the time, so that makes it somewhat simpler. It is initially, perhaps — if you haven’t read much Chinese fiction, the Chinese names alone can be confusing.
I don’t think — that’s the least of the hurdles to the book, I think. It’s also very accessible. It’s just a compelling story. It really describes these characters and their feelings very well — and a wonderful picture, also, of the China of the times, which is a totally different world.
COWEN: Which is the 18th century, yeah.
An author you’re a big advocate of, Arno Schmidt, right?
ORTHOFER: Yes.
COWEN: You’ve written a book on him. It’s the book here. His masterwork is coming out in English, actually, translated for the first time this September. Is that correct?
ORTHOFER: Yes.
COWEN: The German title is Zettels Traum. What’s the English title?
ORTHOFER: Bottom’s Dream.
COWEN: Bottom’s Dream. Most people have never heard of Arno Schmidt.
ORTHOFER: Regrettably, no.
COWEN: We have a chance now to read his masterwork. Some of his others are in English already. Tell us why we should care.
ORTHOFER: Well, Bottom’s Dream — I don’t know how many people will actually read that. That is a very complicated piece of work. Arno Schmidt is a fascinating — .
COWEN: You love it, right? You’ve written a book on Schmidt.
ORTHOFER: I do, but again, it’s on Schmidt as a whole, and Schmidt has written in several different categories. He’s also written short novels and stories which are much more accessible.
COWEN: But you giggled when you read Bottom’s Dream, right?
ORTHOFER: Yes.
COWEN: You giggled a lot.
ORTHOFER: The English edition, I think, is just under 1,500 pages.
COWEN: A mere pittance compared to Dream of the Red Chamber, right?
ORTHOFER: It’s going to be about this big, and it’s written in three columns per page. There’s the main story. Then you have the commentary and not quite the footnotes but the elaborations on the side.
COWEN: Talk us into the work now.
ORTHOFER: It covers a seven‑day span. Basically it’s a story of translation. Some translators come to an expert on Poe and ask his advice about translating Poe. As the title Bottom’s Dream also suggests, there’s a Shakespearean aspect to it as well.
And I don’t even know if it’s Schmidt’s greatest work. In some ways, because it is beyond anything almost anyone else has ever tried to write, it is an immense accomplishment. It’s not the first Schmidt work you want to read.
COWEN: What’s the first Schmidt work you want to read?
ORTHOFER: If you eventually want to read Bottom’s Dream, then The School for Atheists is the one to read.
COWEN: And that’s in English now?
ORTHOFER: That’s in English now. Interestingly, the person who translated all these books is John E. Woods, who is famous for his translations of Thomas Mann. He did the definitive Magic Mountain and Buddenbrooks. He’s almost been translating Arno Schmidt for decades now, and Bottom’s Dream — .
COWEN: Do you like the translations?
ORTHOFER: Yes. And Schmidt, again, is one of these writers who you really — it’s difficult to translate him just literally. In the case of Bottom’s Dream and The School for Atheists, he called them his typoscript books because they were written on larger-than-normal pieces of paper and allowed not just writing line by line, as we’re used to, but playing with the text.
For example, one of his favorite things to do was with words where you can change the beginning of the word. You have both school bus and schoolchild. He would have school as one word and then bus and child on top of each other, so you could add both meanings of the word. He would take this to the nth degree.
Bottom’s Dream and also The School for Atheists allow for incredible literary play. Schmidt is also — I read a fair amount. I read probably more than most people.
COWEN: Probably. [laughs]
ORTHOFER: Arno Schmidt is an order or two above me as a reader. He wrote a lot, but basically he’s one of the great readers of all times. And one of the reasons I also appreciate him so much is because he’s directed me to so much more reading. And there are a couple of authors — .
COWEN: He’s like you?
ORTHOFER: Perhaps.
COWEN: Or you’re like him?
ORTHOFER: On some level, yes.
COWEN: Here’s your book out not too long ago, The Complete Review Guide to Contemporary World Fiction. Another author you promote in this book and elsewhere, Luis Goytisolo.
ORTHOFER: Juan Goytisolo. Luis is the brother.
COWEN: But both of them you like, right?
ORTHOFER: Unfortunately, Luis — nothing of his has been translated yet, although his major work, the title of which escapes me — .
COWEN: Antagonía.
ORTHOFER: Antagonía is coming out from Dalkey Archive as well.
COWEN: Oh, I didn’t know this.
ORTHOFER: It’s the same publishers who are publishing Bottom’s Dream.
COWEN: It strikes me as a book you would love.
ORTHOFER: It does, it does, but unfortunately I have not read that yet.
COWEN: The brother, Juan — why is he special?
ORTHOFER: He writes in so many different registers. He’s not satisfied with a simple — even when he’s successful with one way of storytelling, he tries out different things, new things. He tells stories in new ways. Also, he’s been a wonderful chronicler of Spain and especially the Spanish conflict with the Islamic world, which goes back to when part of Spain was Islamic. That’s been a tension that has been in the culture for well over 1,000 years.
He has written several works which I find really superior. He’s one of those authors where you won’t get the same book you got last time. You’ll get something completely different when you pick up the next one.
He’s one of those authors who also manages to do — he’s not going to fail at these attempts. If they are failures, they’re interesting failures. That appeals to me greatly. He’s one of those authors where, if something new of his is coming out, I’m going to make a beeline for it.
On things under- and overrrated
COWEN: There’s a segment of these chats — you may have heard of it — it’s called “overrated or underrated?” I’m going to call out a few names, books, whatever. You’re free to decline if you don’t want to offend anyone or other reasons. We’ll try just a few, and you tell us overrated or underrated, J. K. Rowling?
ORTHOFER: As a writer, I feel perhaps overrated, but as a cultural phenomenon, I think perfectly fine. It’s hard to say underrated, because she is sort of the ne plus ultra of children’s writing.
COWEN: Goethe, overrated or underrated?
ORTHOFER: Especially in English, absolutely underrated. Goethe is a far more significant author than anybody here seems to realize. The TLS just has a review of a new Princeton anthology of the essential Goethe, 1,000 pages.
You can’t stuff him into 1,000 pages because there is so much there and so much variety, too, which is also one of the astonishing things. He is the greatest poet of the times, the greatest dramatist of his times. And he was an astounding novelist as well.
COWEN: And scientist, a good scientist.
ORTHOFER: Yes, and the Conversations with Eckermann and Soret. You have all these different things which are just superior. In English he’s vastly underrated. In Germany I think they get it. They know.
COWEN: Angela Merkel, underrated or overrated?
ORTHOFER: [laughs] I actually have not ever read anything by Angela Merkel.
COWEN: Not as a writer, as a political leader.
ORTHOFER: Again, it probably depends where — I admire her. I think, among the political leaders currently operating in Europe, and especially since we’re speaking shortly after the whole Brexit vote and the turnover that happened in England there, I think she’s probably underrated.
COWEN: Herman Melville?
ORTHOFER: Probably also underrated.
COWEN: We’re agreeing on all these so far, if you’re curious.
ORTHOFER: [laughs] All right. Yeah, I think people also don’t range far enough with Melville. When the argument of the great American novel comes up, I always make a plug for The Confidence-Man, which I think is representative. It says so much about America that I think that would be my choice for the great American novel, and especially from Melville. Yeah, I think he’s also underrated.
I think people also don’t range far enough with Melville. When the argument of the great American novel comes up, I always make a plug for The Confidence-Man, which I think is representative. It says so much about America that I think that would be my choice for the great American novel, and especially from Melville. Yeah, I think he’s also underrated.
COWEN: Thomas Bernhard?
ORTHOFER: He’s very fashionable, but also I don’t think he can be underrated. I’m also completely behind him. I think he was a remarkable author I’ve always enjoyed. Even though there is a droning similarity to much of his bitter ranting, it completely wins me over. I don’t think I’ve been disappointed by any Bernhard.
COWEN: Wittgenstein’s Nephew is my favorite and then The Loser, Der Untergeher. But all of them, I think, are fantastic. For me, very underrated.
Another Austrian, Friedrich A. Hayek, the economist? Again, you’re free to pass.
ORTHOFER: I perhaps don’t like what his arguments are always employed for. I mean, currently he’s, obviously, a very popular economist to rely on. I think it gets dangerous with the interpretation of the philosophy. I’m a bit more leery of too much enthusiasm for him — but again, obviously such a significant figure that it’s very difficult to underrate him, I think.
COWEN: For fiction, what would be the country or region — now, what’s a country, what’s a region is even up for grabs — that is really underappreciated relative to what it has done? If you say, “Oh, classic Russian fiction,” even if people haven’t read it, people know there’s a lot there. You probably wouldn’t pick that. What’s the counterintuitive pick for most underrated region or country for wonderful fiction?
ORTHOFER: Underrated, I would absolutely think the regional language and literature of India. I think surprisingly, even though, perhaps, English is the main literary language of India and a great deal is locally translated, even there much of the vernacular literature still isn’t available in English.
What one can see of it and also in part hear about it — we’re missing an awful lot. There is a literary culture there, especially, for example, in Bengali, but we’ve had that since Tagore. One of the remarkable things is Tagore won his Nobel prize over a hundred years ago, and there are still novels by him which haven’t been translated into English. He is really a very good novelist.
It’s truly worthwhile, and this goes for many regions. The southern region of Kerala where they write in Malayalam — there’s remarkable literary production there, and we just see so little of it. Also, what is available, because a fair amount is — it tends to be underappreciated, especially in America and the United Kingdom. It hasn’t really reached these shores.
COWEN: Would you pick any part of the world as overrated for literature? In a way I know you think it’s all underrated, but in relative terms?
ORTHOFER: I think the American dominance is still too overbearing worldwide.
COWEN: We agree on this, too. I’m happy to hear you say that, but go on.
ORTHOFER: [laughs] I think American literature is too often given a free pass, especially abroad, because we’re so used to it being so dominant. I really think, if any is overrated, it is American fiction.
I think American literature is too often given a free pass, especially abroad, because we’re so used to it being so dominant. I really think, if any is overrated, it is American fiction.
COWEN: Most of it bores me. One of my pieces of advice for people going to a bookstore — I would just say, “Don’t buy an American novel,” all other things equal, because they’re fairly likely to do so. They’re more likely to have heard of it, without any kind of bias necessarily operating. “Refuse to buy American novels for a year,” I think, is a good piece of advice for a lot of people.
ORTHOFER: That is, probably. Yes, that probably is.
COWEN: If you think of all of your beliefs about literature, books, fiction — or you can go more broadly if you’d like — what’s the belief you hold that other smart people you respect would find the most absurd? If someone said, “Oh, I think Robert Heinlein is the greatest author ever to have walked on Earth,” that would be considered absurd.
It’s not my belief, probably not yours. What’s your craziest view relative to the other people you think are smart and respect?
ORTHOFER: In a literary sense?
COWEN: You can go broader if you want. Start with literary.
ORTHOFER: Oh God, I don’t know. My opinions are so firmly held. I believe them to be so obvious.
COWEN: No, you may still think you’re right.
ORTHOFER: Right, but see, I don’t know.
COWEN: But other people don’t agree.
ORTHOFER: I don’t get those disagreements. They don’t dare disagree to my face, apparently. I really don’t know. Nothing comes obviously to mind.
COWEN: And more generally?
ORTHOFER: Also not. More generally, I guess the standout belief is I don’t see myself having the concern for mortality which most other people seem to have. That seems to be a very popular thing in reading, as well, that there’s this obsession with mortality, which I find a bit odd.
COWEN: You think we fear death too much?
ORTHOFER: Yes, and many people seem to really obsess about it in a certain sense. That’s something — I don’t think necessarily my opinion is strange. It’s something so foreign to me. The other thing is, also, I have great difficulty with religion.
The God concept is just — I can’t — I really don’t know how to regard that. It is one I can’t fit into my worldview and any of my actions. Even though I read a great deal which also, again, is based on this, that part of it always remains foreign to me.
COWEN: When it comes to death, would you say death is underrated or life is overrated?
ORTHOFER: You can’t overrate life. It’s all we’ve got. Again, because I don’t believe in the religion aspect of it, too, I don’t believe in the afterlife. I definitely think life is underrated, but death is an inevitability. You take it as it comes because there’s no other way to take it.
You can’t overrate life. It’s all we’ve got. Again, because I don’t believe in the religion aspect of it, too, I don’t believe in the afterlife. I definitely think life is underrated, but death is an inevitability. You take it as it comes because there’s no other way to take it.
On the charm of the Complete Review
COWEN: Let me tell you about one of the things I find most charming about your site and your reviews. There’s this unusual mix between extreme passion for the subject, curiosity, and drive to get the books and track what’s coming out, reading them, and then a lot about how other people are reviewing the books.
If one reads your site, they don’t just get you. You get a whole broad panoply of other reviews. It’s one of the most valuable things. But then, on the other hand, you’re very hard to impress as a reader. You give these short capsules of your reviews. Here are three of your more recent ones.
ORTHOFER: Oh dear. [laughs]
COWEN: I quote: “Passable ultra‑lite fare.” Here’s another one: “Typical Carlotto tale of justice in a flawed world.” So there’s something reductionist. Here’s one — you were very enthusiastic — “Nicely done.”
I know those are shorter capsules for broader, more detailed reviews, but this mix between the blasé and the enthusiasm and how willing you are to just retreat into like, “Eh” — that’s what I find so intriguing about Literary Saloon. Is there anything you would say to that?
ORTHOFER: I hope people use the site in that way. In a way my reviews presuppose familiarity with the site. I assume that people — they look up a couple of reviews, and they get an idea of what this person is doing. The capsule reviews, I think, are a counterbalance to the longer reviews, in which, often, I will be more enthusiastic.
This ultra‑lite novel — I gave it a B. It’s perfectly competently done, but it’s just a vacuous, problematic — there’s so little to it, but it’s still perfectly readable. I hope I explained that fully in the review itself.
COWEN: You did.
ORTHOFER: The original idea behind the site was to be able to link to other reviews. And also I have the review quotes from the major review publications, where there are review quotes available, which I actually did sort of as a countermeasure.
I was so irritated by the blurbs you find on the back of the paperback editions, which are not at all representative of the reviews of the book. I wanted to give the honest blurbs of the reviews. It’s always been important to me that my opinion is my opinion. You really should seek out as many different ones as possible.
To be able to give access to all these different reviews to point readers to — because some readers rely on a certain reviewer — if I can give them the link to that for this book so that they will get an opinion which, perhaps, is more informative to them than mine can be because they don’t see eye to eye with me, I think that’s a very important thing.
Having as many different opinions as possible — to me that always seems beneficial. I realize now we have this issue of whether the wisdom of crowds really is wisdom and whether it doesn’t overcomplicate matters as well. But it’s always been important to me that I have very strongly held opinions, but please also consider the other opinions.
COWEN: Other reviews — and here I mean media, not bloggers — how corrupt are they?
ORTHOFER: Corrupt in what sense?
COWEN: That there’s something in the process which involves favoritism, and maybe there’s an incentive for excess enthusiasm. If your book review section reviews thirteen books and says they’re all mediocre, people won’t buy the books, but more importantly, they’ll stop buying your book review section. Right?
ORTHOFER: Yes.
COWEN: Do you think there’s, for instance, an incentive to be too positive or some other skew?
ORTHOFER: I don’t know that it’s as blatant as that. I definitely think editors certainly prefer positive reviews. There are some newspapers which basically won’t print negative reviews. I think that’s always an issue. They can say, “Well, we preselect. That’s the way we do it.”
One of the things I love about how I’m able to review books is that I’ll review almost anything. I will actually review it even if I do not enjoy the book, even if I have immense problems with the book, because I think that’s just — .
COWEN: You don’t put them down like I do. Take New York Times or Amazon; I know there’s both. If you had to choose, which do you trust more?
ORTHOFER: I don’t know if I can — I like Amazon because I can get a lot of information out of Amazon, the way the information is presented and, in part, with the reviews, depending on how widely it’s been reviewed.
Part of the problem with the New York Times, of course, is that they can only review so few books. You have really so little information, or information about so few titles, whereas Amazon, you have at least some information about practically everything. In that sense, Goodreads is perhaps even more useful, especially with the foreign-language books. There will usually at least be people who have already reviewed the foreign-language edition. That’s helpful.
One of the things I find remarkable about my site is I try to link to big media reviews. And an extraordinary number of the books which I cover basically go unreviewed in the major media, often even in Publishers Weekly, which I find kind of shocking. I do review obscure books, but it’s not that obscure.
I’m fascinated — the Literary Hub is a very good website now, which collects a lot of literary information. They’ve also now started a review-aggregating part of the site called Book Marks.
Basically what they do is when they find reviews in three of the publications they monitor — which are basically all American major publications and a few Internet sites — if they have three reviews for a book, then they’ll put that on Book Marks with the summaries and links to the reviews. So, sort of what I do. I find maybe one out of ten of the books I cover qualify for that. I find that shocking.
On the complete Michael Orthofer
COWEN: We know you can read in a lot of different languages, and we know you read a lot of books. To close, what are three other things about yourself you might want to tell us, not to do with books?
ORTHOFER: I don’t know that anyone would find anything interesting about me. I don’t know what could possibly — .
COWEN: Ice sculpture, perhaps?
ORTHOFER: The ice sculpture.
COWEN: Dare I mention it?
ORTHOFER: You can mention it.
COWEN: You’re a fan of doing ice sculpture.
ORTHOFER: I am. Basically, when there’s a lot of snow out, I won’t just build a snowman, but I will try to sculpt as much as I can out of the snow.
I enjoy doing that because the snow is always different. The conditions are always different. What you can make out of it is different. It’s also completely transitory. It’s gone usually in a short time, sometimes a few weeks or months. It’s the Andy Goldsworthy sculptures in nature taken to the more extreme, because the snow is obviously really very short lasting. It also shape‑shifts as it collapses, as it falls apart.
COWEN: You were born in Graz, Austria, right?
ORTHOFER: I was, yes.
COWEN: You have a background in law. Is that correct?
ORTHOFER: I do. I have a degree in law. I’m a New York State lawyer.
COWEN: You were put off by the academic nature of formal literary study because it involved so little reading of books and too much theory?
ORTHOFER: Very much so, yes. I was disappointed at university. Basically, you could study literature without reading basically, without reading fiction especially, and more importantly without really engaging in fiction, I think. Literature can lend itself to theory. You can build theory around it, but I don’t find that a useful way of dealing with literature.
COWEN: Anyway, thank you very much, Michael. Again, this is Michael’s book, Columbia University Press, The Complete Review Guide to Contemporary World Fiction. Michael Orthofer, in my opinion still vastly underrated.
ORTHOFER: [laughs] Thank you so much. | https://medium.com/conversations-with-tyler/michael-orthofer-complete-review-fiction-literary-saloon-b028a1ca2620 | ['Mercatus Center'] | 2020-07-02 20:26:50.292000+00:00 | ['Books', 'Podcast', 'Fiction', 'Interview', 'Writing'] | Title Michael Orthofer Fiction Matters Ep 11Content COWEN What’s theory America gone wrong say correctly interest foreign fiction 1970s right We’ve moved away happened What’s institutional failure behind could say lack someone like may part you’re It’s still case novel come American English try hide fact translated quite often I’m sure you’ve seen maybe seen ORTHOFER Right Well think actually thing improved lot time I’ve running site think major reason generational shift especially publishing world publisher would come across Europe around World War II obviously brought lot international fiction aware written elsewhere world — mainly Europe unfortunately relatively localized well still also interest Japanese fiction example generation also much due sudden interest Japan World War II — people learned Japanese began translating work think generational shift played fully 1990s yeah I’m sure exactly went far wonderful thing translation really revived past couple year think really greater interest — especially smaller publisher really interested publishing translation COWEN kind paradox globalization right ’70s particular immigration United States go quite rapidly There’s lot trade especially Asia Many Americans get passport travel abroad yet time we’re le interested aspect foreign literature Maybe there’s something general think America way open country actually we’re much le willing watch foreign film people country go Canada talk cultural protectionism — small amount — Paris arguably they’re many way open foreign culture America What’s general paradoxical lesson globalization pull ORTHOFER might cultural thing America many way always sort integrating integrated immigrant come valued become American adopt American value part leaving behind certain extent culture think there’s great amount literature sort first second thirdgeneration Americans — it’s almost English there’s little returning language immigrant brought hand it’s fascinating many foreign author live especially university setting United States live sort isolated pocket They’re part broader American literary culture find bizarre paradox don’t quite understand happens COWEN Let tell argument New York City occasionally hear know it’s true whether think it’s true get paradox globalization way New York City maybe Manhattan fairly provincial people think — they’re led believe — whole world come way that’s true tourism migration don’t actually get whole world get highly processed filtered version bit particular region people way become inward looking don’t go many place feel everything right get routine possible part Manhattan evolving highly provincial place cultural paradox ORTHOFER think although New York still remains dynamic place also great shift population come affect city think dynamism changing neighborhood still think sense vibrant city it’s fairly unprovincial metropolitan city compared even European — mean I’m Austria Vienna cosmopolitan city end thing — COWEN Still Vienna ORTHOFER yeah hacking book COWEN friend Ben Casnocha — he’s always talking idea life hack like advice live life learn thing efficiently Let’s say approaching foreignlanguage literature translation economist following life hack occurred I’m going lay tell it’s wrong There’s always read always wonderful thing read major language read language fluently usually you’ll enjoy fiction poetry language much You’re going run thing read language read Therefore translated literature read famous work don’t read Russian yes read Brothers Karamazov War Peace thing stop read say English Spanish French read language Translated literature — margin put aside never look That’s what’s wrong argument ORTHOFER think you’re really missing much problem finding value important mean established book like War Peace Crime Punishment Russian literature go much deeper example take example big language also change time rapidly think every 10‑year period could select new set dozen recent — relatively recent past quartercentury culture — work would give completely different view provide completely different experience bigger problem see course you’re missing much literature elsewhere really — lot culture language isn’t standout know know Russia Tolstoy got want read something Philippines you’re unlikely able find one author many language culture much written really worthwhile keeping COWEN Would agree it’s good life hack say poetry try read poetry originally written Russian — don’t speak Russian understand know enough get I’m getting read English doesn’t come matter great poet don’t enjoy much case followed life hack don’t read poetry Russian feel that’s efficient agree come poetry read poetry language read well ORTHOFER Poetry bit difficult first seems lot le poetry stand It’s difficult often recognize great poetry day time especially modern poetry find difficult get sense really focusing mean guess useful life hack really much read might well act similarly poetry don’t spend much time reading poetry fiction wouldn’t accept COWEN Here’s another life hack totally reject may I’m addict sort tell it’s wrong lot people say “Well love fiction I’m never going read new work can’t tell what’s really good I’ll wait 20 year look back truly excellent 20 year ago read 20 year later meantime I’ll read classic thing area verified truly excellent” make sense ORTHOFER worry much people rely get stamp approval cover review New York Times Book Review mean book really look five ten year road — book still significant work find much highly praised one point long‑term won’t however — worry much people rely get stamp approval cover review New York Times Book Review mean book really look five ten year road — book still significant work COWEN wait longer Wait 30 year ORTHOFER Much look back — we’ve lost margin well it’s really hard keep track great book saw Strand earlier today Stoner John Williams book disappeared view long time always recognized sort People would say “This great book” really fallen view Helen DeWitt’s Last Samurai republished COWEN ordered Amazon I’m excited get copy didn’t know ORTHOFER sort — legendary text gotten great deal attention first came odd series coincidence sort fell view many many many book gray zone really dig really look still pluck there’s much new work published it’s difficult rise noise COWEN Say I’m American I’m someone doesn’t much time read I’m going take away one book tip podcast video I’m going walk Barnes Noble go Amazon want buy new book margin what’s piece information help make better decision saying “Well go Literary Saloon see tell do” generally forgot iPad I’m Strand Barnes Noble Tyler Michael shopping Strand Book Store Manhattan ORTHOFER Well think depending bookstore — work probably even many Barnes Noble one — really think faith staff able best guide I’m certain Strand example — bookseller book lover — give bit information would suitable able guide like think Complete Review meant guide reader book right COWEN course ORTHOFER think localized level bookstore hopefully get well COWEN think I’ve bought hundred book thank Let’s say I’m someone le read living Maybe write book I’m book reviewer I’m certain kind journalist work publishing give advice margin — make better book choice something buy read kind person it’s harder give advice right ORTHOFER much COWEN would advice ORTHOFER don’t know would — don’t really system picking book I’m much — COWEN can’t true may articulated system saw Strand rule principle turn corner certain time know section go ORTHOFER Right It’s personal selection process think think it’s whatever information work One source information example seeing imprint published — certain publisher New Directions New York Review Books brought volume know possibly kind book might help narrow Usedbook store — familiar older imprint example take lot practice guess example one source information It’s difficult think narrow think that’s one wonderful thing going bookstore willing take chance pick something hasn’t shoved throat hasn’t recommended 15 different publication offering rich really find many thing extreme think that’s one wonderful thing going bookstore willing take chance pick something hasn’t shoved throat hasn’t recommended 15 different publication offering rich really find many thing extreme COWEN experiment went bookstore said “I’m going pick book whose cover like best put aside whatever impression might book really see through” see good predictor would ended liking cover Kate Christensen novel liked novel I’ve liked subsequent writing come cover cover way trick u there’s also kind matching going signal maybe intellectual book kind person buy read book see cover decipher decode information like cover sway ORTHOFER sway rarely I’m big cover person I’m really text person image person try see beyond cover aesthetic obviously play somewhat role it’s — think cover attract attention won’t decisive don’t think anything cover could convince book must think leaf beyond get pick book COWEN Say parent come parent say “I 12‑year‑old smart child show interest wanting read” advice give parent hooking child reading Since — whole life you’ve extreme intense love reading — maybe born — people get hooked reading tell parent ORTHOFER think want let loose book environment library bookstore want give freedom explore think reading much personal thing especially childhood especially parent often tempted — “Well book that’s good kid” think want avoid child completely different perspective really want read book think letting make choice selection finding way really pressuring don’t think want say “Reading good read whatever is” make easy read whatever want read COWEN know time Yana I’d put book table I’d point I’d say “You’re ready yet” I’d walk away ORTHOFER laugh That’s usually good trick COWEN fairly effective ORTHOFER imagine yeah translation great book merit completist COWEN book better translated language language written — novel ORTHOFER think probably many let’s say B novel Pulp novel example often especially stylistically improved translation often so‑called literary author translating crime author Blist crime author wonderful job also case don’t think it’s better interesting — translation appeal experimental work basically — can’t translate literally word‑for‑word don’t come close translator basically becomes recreator text take new approach wonderful well COWEN What’s best book never finished ORTHOFER never finished don’t know really finish almost everything take lot give book COWEN See don’t finish book Maybe finish 10 percent — I’m sure — clear minority finish book good next book could reading respective value term ORTHOFER Right right Yeah can’t think probably long book haven’t made way entirely — let’s say Richardson’s Clarissa huge book I’ve never sat read beginning end Perhaps something like nothing really strike good book — want finish book would notverymemorable book case laugh COWEN so‑called great book what’s one disappointed ORTHOFER so‑called great one Well it’s difficult knowing canon COWEN Take like Harold Bloom’s list back book western canon fiction something like maybe little broader ORTHOFER Yeah difficulty especially verse epic I’ve never finished Aeneid example something like difficulty getting think great author one difficulty probably Dostoevsky I’ve read think Prince probably favorite Idiot it’s sometimes translated I’m big fan Dostoevsky COWEN Tom G wrote question Marginal Revolution “Which first three book come mind answer question ‘What book made feel really good finishing them’ Quickest answer desired” ORTHOFER laugh kind question great difficulty don’t know made feel happiest don’t know — immediate satisfaction couldn’t even think one top head COWEN theory reviewer reader love highly complex book long puzzling work what’s going ORTHOFER enjoy much yes COWEN I’m going bring two three tell u what’s care Here’s volume one Chinese book — used known Dream Red Chamber it’s often called Story Stone Penguin translation You’re advocate book It’s long one volume ORTHOFER five yes COWEN What’s ORTHOFER Basically it’s family saga basically love story main character two woman girl start start young boy It’s basically novel everything It’s comprehensive It’s sweeping book It’s really one get lost long period time It’s book easy return much COWEN Even though Wikipedia page 40 main character listed plus minor character That’s going tough going right even good translation ORTHOFER depends think conveniently probably list character COWEN even cheat sheet 40 hard ORTHOFER Right main character really central character incidental character story focus group character time 40 people onstage time make somewhat simpler initially perhaps — haven’t read much Chinese fiction Chinese name alone confusing don’t think — that’s least hurdle book think It’s also accessible It’s compelling story really describes character feeling well — wonderful picture also China time totally different world COWEN 18th century yeah author you’re big advocate Arno Schmidt right ORTHOFER Yes COWEN You’ve written book It’s book masterwork coming English actually translated first time September correct ORTHOFER Yes COWEN German title Zettels Traum What’s English title ORTHOFER Bottom’s Dream COWEN Bottom’s Dream people never heard Arno Schmidt ORTHOFER Regrettably COWEN chance read masterwork others English already Tell u care ORTHOFER Well Bottom’s Dream — don’t know many people actually read complicated piece work Arno Schmidt fascinating — COWEN love right You’ve written book Schmidt ORTHOFER it’s Schmidt whole Schmidt written several different category He’s also written short novel story much accessible COWEN giggled read Bottom’s Dream right ORTHOFER Yes COWEN giggled lot ORTHOFER English edition think 1500 page COWEN mere pittance compared Dream Red Chamber right ORTHOFER It’s going big it’s written three column per page There’s main story commentary quite footnote elaboration side COWEN Talk u work ORTHOFER cover seven‑day span Basically it’s story translation translator come expert Poe ask advice translating Poe title Bottom’s Dream also suggests there’s Shakespearean aspect well don’t even know it’s Schmidt’s greatest work way beyond anything almost anyone else ever tried write immense accomplishment It’s first Schmidt work want read COWEN What’s first Schmidt work want read ORTHOFER eventually want read Bottom’s Dream School Atheists one read COWEN that’s English ORTHOFER That’s English Interestingly person translated book John E Woods famous translation Thomas Mann definitive Magic Mountain Buddenbrooks He’s almost translating Arno Schmidt decade Bottom’s Dream — COWEN like translation ORTHOFER Yes Schmidt one writer really — it’s difficult translate literally case Bottom’s Dream School Atheists called typoscript book written largerthannormal piece paper allowed writing line line we’re used playing text example one favorite thing word change beginning word school bus schoolchild would school one word bus child top could add meaning word would take nth degree Bottom’s Dream also School Atheists allow incredible literary play Schmidt also — read fair amount read probably people COWEN Probably laugh ORTHOFER Arno Schmidt order two reader wrote lot basically he’s one great reader time one reason also appreciate much he’s directed much reading couple author — COWEN He’s like ORTHOFER Perhaps COWEN you’re like ORTHOFER level yes COWEN Here’s book long ago Complete Review Guide Contemporary World Fiction Another author promote book elsewhere Luis Goytisolo ORTHOFER Juan Goytisolo Luis brother COWEN like right ORTHOFER Unfortunately Luis — nothing translated yet although major work title escape — COWEN Antagonía ORTHOFER Antagonía coming Dalkey Archive well COWEN Oh didn’t know ORTHOFER It’s publisher publishing Bottom’s Dream COWEN strike book would love ORTHOFER unfortunately read yet COWEN brother Juan — special ORTHOFER writes many different register He’s satisfied simple — even he’s successful one way storytelling try different thing new thing tell story new way Also he’s wonderful chronicler Spain especially Spanish conflict Islamic world go back part Spain Islamic That’s tension culture well 1000 year written several work find really superior He’s one author won’t get book got last time You’ll get something completely different pick next one He’s one author also manages — he’s going fail attempt failure they’re interesting failure appeal greatly He’s one author something new coming I’m going make beeline thing overrrated COWEN There’s segment chat — may heard — it’s called “overrated underrated” I’m going call name book whatever You’re free decline don’t want offend anyone reason We’ll try tell u overrated underrated J K Rowling ORTHOFER writer feel perhaps overrated cultural phenomenon think perfectly fine It’s hard say underrated sort ne plus ultra children’s writing COWEN Goethe overrated underrated ORTHOFER Especially English absolutely underrated Goethe far significant author anybody seems realize TLS review new Princeton anthology essential Goethe 1000 page can’t stuff 1000 page much much variety also one astonishing thing greatest poet time greatest dramatist time astounding novelist well COWEN scientist good scientist ORTHOFER Yes Conversations Eckermann Soret different thing superior English he’s vastly underrated Germany think get know COWEN Angela Merkel underrated overrated ORTHOFER laugh actually ever read anything Angela Merkel COWEN writer political leader ORTHOFER probably depends — admire think among political leader currently operating Europe especially since we’re speaking shortly whole Brexit vote turnover happened England think she’s probably underrated COWEN Herman Melville ORTHOFER Probably also underrated COWEN We’re agreeing far you’re curious ORTHOFER laugh right Yeah think people also don’t range far enough Melville argument great American novel come always make plug ConfidenceMan think representative say much America think would choice great American novel especially Melville Yeah think he’s also underrated think people also don’t range far enough Melville argument great American novel come always make plug ConfidenceMan think representative say much America think would choice great American novel especially Melville Yeah think he’s also underrated COWEN Thomas Bernhard ORTHOFER He’s fashionable also don’t think underrated I’m also completely behind think remarkable author I’ve always enjoyed Even though droning similarity much bitter ranting completely win don’t think I’ve disappointed Bernhard COWEN Wittgenstein’s Nephew favorite Loser Der Untergeher think fantastic underrated Another Austrian Friedrich Hayek economist you’re free pas ORTHOFER perhaps don’t like argument always employed mean currently he’s obviously popular economist rely think get dangerous interpretation philosophy I’m bit leery much enthusiasm — obviously significant figure it’s difficult underrate think COWEN fiction would country region — what’s country what’s region even grab — really underappreciated relative done say “Oh classic Russian fiction” even people haven’t read people know there’s lot probably wouldn’t pick What’s counterintuitive pick underrated region country wonderful fiction ORTHOFER Underrated would absolutely think regional language literature India think surprisingly even though perhaps English main literary language India great deal locally translated even much vernacular literature still isn’t available English one see also part hear — we’re missing awful lot literary culture especially example Bengali we’ve since Tagore One remarkable thing Tagore Nobel prize hundred year ago still novel haven’t translated English really good novelist It’s truly worthwhile go many region southern region Kerala write Malayalam — there’s remarkable literary production see little Also available fair amount — tends underappreciated especially America United Kingdom hasn’t really reached shore COWEN Would pick part world overrated literature way know think it’s underrated relative term ORTHOFER think American dominance still overbearing worldwide COWEN agree I’m happy hear say go ORTHOFER laugh think American literature often given free pas especially abroad we’re used dominant really think overrated American fiction think American literature often given free pas especially abroad we’re used dominant really think overrated American fiction COWEN bore One piece advice people going bookstore — would say “Don’t buy American novel” thing equal they’re fairly likely They’re likely heard without kind bias necessarily operating “Refuse buy American novel year” think good piece advice lot people ORTHOFER probably Yes probably COWEN think belief literature book fiction — go broadly you’d like — what’s belief hold smart people respect would find absurd someone said “Oh think Robert Heinlein greatest author ever walked Earth” would considered absurd It’s belief probably What’s craziest view relative people think smart respect ORTHOFER literary sense COWEN go broader want Start literary ORTHOFER Oh God don’t know opinion firmly held believe obvious COWEN may still think you’re right ORTHOFER Right see don’t know COWEN people don’t agree ORTHOFER don’t get disagreement don’t dare disagree face apparently really don’t know Nothing come obviously mind COWEN generally ORTHOFER Also generally guess standout belief don’t see concern mortality people seem seems popular thing reading well there’s obsession mortality find bit odd COWEN think fear death much ORTHOFER Yes many people seem really ob certain sense That’s something — don’t think necessarily opinion strange It’s something foreign thing also great difficulty religion God concept — can’t — really don’t know regard one can’t fit worldview action Even though read great deal also based part always remains foreign COWEN come death would say death underrated life overrated ORTHOFER can’t overrate life It’s we’ve got don’t believe religion aspect don’t believe afterlife definitely think life underrated death inevitability take come there’s way take can’t overrate life It’s we’ve got don’t believe religion aspect don’t believe afterlife definitely think life underrated death inevitability take come there’s way take charm Complete Review COWEN Let tell one thing find charming site review There’s unusual mix extreme passion subject curiosity drive get book track what’s coming reading lot people reviewing book one read site don’t get get whole broad panoply review It’s one valuable thing hand you’re hard impress reader give short capsule review three recent one ORTHOFER Oh dear laugh COWEN quote “Passable ultra‑lite fare” Here’s another one “Typical Carlotto tale justice flawed world” there’s something reductionist Here’s one — enthusiastic — “Nicely done” know shorter capsule broader detailed review mix blasé enthusiasm willing retreat like “Eh” — that’s find intriguing Literary Saloon anything would say ORTHOFER hope people use site way way review presuppose familiarity site assume people — look couple review get idea person capsule review think counterbalance longer review often enthusiastic ultra‑lite novel — gave B It’s perfectly competently done it’s vacuous problematic — there’s little it’s still perfectly readable hope explained fully review COWEN ORTHOFER original idea behind site able link review also review quote major review publication review quote available actually sort countermeasure irritated blurb find back paperback edition representative review book wanted give honest blurb review It’s always important opinion opinion really seek many different one possible able give access different review point reader — reader rely certain reviewer — give link book get opinion perhaps informative mine don’t see eye eye think that’s important thing many different opinion possible — always seems beneficial realize issue whether wisdom crowd really wisdom whether doesn’t overcomplicate matter well it’s always important strongly held opinion please also consider opinion COWEN review — mean medium blogger — corrupt ORTHOFER Corrupt sense COWEN there’s something process involves favoritism maybe there’s incentive excess enthusiasm book review section review thirteen book say they’re mediocre people won’t buy book importantly they’ll stop buying book review section Right ORTHOFER Yes COWEN think there’s instance incentive positive skew ORTHOFER don’t know it’s blatant definitely think editor certainly prefer positive review newspaper basically won’t print negative review think that’s always issue say “Well preselect That’s way it” One thing love I’m able review book I’ll review almost anything actually review even enjoy book even immense problem book think that’s — COWEN don’t put like Take New York Times Amazon know there’s choose trust ORTHOFER don’t know — like Amazon get lot information Amazon way information presented part review depending widely it’s reviewed Part problem New York Times course review book really little information information title whereas Amazon least information practically everything sense Goodreads perhaps even useful especially foreignlanguage book usually least people already reviewed foreignlanguage edition That’s helpful One thing find remarkable site try link big medium review extraordinary number book cover basically go unreviewed major medium often even Publishers Weekly find kind shocking review obscure book it’s obscure I’m fascinated — Literary Hub good website collect lot literary information They’ve also started reviewaggregating part site called Book Marks Basically find review three publication monitor — basically American major publication Internet site — three review book they’ll put Book Marks summary link review sort find maybe one ten book cover qualify find shocking complete Michael Orthofer COWEN know read lot different language know read lot book close three thing might want tell u book ORTHOFER don’t know anyone would find anything interesting don’t know could possibly — COWEN Ice sculpture perhaps ORTHOFER ice sculpture COWEN Dare mention ORTHOFER mention COWEN You’re fan ice sculpture ORTHOFER Basically there’s lot snow won’t build snowman try sculpt much snow enjoy snow always different condition always different make different It’s also completely transitory It’s gone usually short time sometimes week month It’s Andy Goldsworthy sculpture nature taken extreme snow obviously really short lasting also shape‑shifts collapse fall apart COWEN born Graz Austria right ORTHOFER yes COWEN background law correct ORTHOFER degree law I’m New York State lawyer COWEN put academic nature formal literary study involved little reading book much theory ORTHOFER much yes disappointed university Basically could study literature without reading basically without reading fiction especially importantly without really engaging fiction think Literature lend theory build theory around don’t find useful way dealing literature COWEN Anyway thank much Michael Michael’s book Columbia University Press Complete Review Guide Contemporary World Fiction Michael Orthofer opinion still vastly underrated ORTHOFER laugh Thank muchTags Books Podcast Fiction Interview Writing |
2,578 | Preserving My Writing In Print | I came to a realization after writing on Medium for almost two years. All of my Medium writing existed only in digital form.
Those under the age of 35 are probably fine with their photos, music, and writing existing only in digital format. But for many of us, a physical book is a wonderful thing. It is more than just printed and bound words, it is a tactile experience. Much like a photo album or a vinyl record album, a printed book creates an emotional response.
I grew up with printed books, vinyl records, and film cameras. The excitement of getting film back from the photo developer was part of the fun of taking photographs. As was reading the liner notes and enjoying the artwork on record album covers.
I decided I wanted my writing to exist in physical form, so I could enjoy the tactile experience of a book I created. I wanted to be able to open it and see my words in print.
Since I write mainly short humor and fiction, and I realize that I am in the minor leagues of writing, I hold no illusions of getting my stories published traditionally. But just because they are not mainstream enough to attract a traditional publisher, it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be published and enjoyed by a small group of friends and family. You don’t have to be a great photographer to make a photo album. Or a great musician to make a video of yourself performing. So why not make a book of your writing?
Unless you are holding out hope for a traditional publishing contract, I see little reason not self-publish a book.
If you have been writing for any length of time, you probably have enough material to collect into a book. I have written hundreds of stories on Medium over the past two years. I collected many of them into two books. A book of humor and a book of fiction.
The humor book has over 240 stories. Many are very short, but comedy doesn’t require great length. Some of the funniest jokes are quite short. There are longer stories also, but most are quick reads.
The Fiction book has 92 stories ranging from 50-word microfiction to 13,300-word stories. It covers a wide variety of genres and also includes a good bit of humor.
But they all have one thing in common. I wrote them.
Which is why I choose the name Mark Starlin Writes! as the series name. The humor book is titled Mark Starlin Writes! Humor, and as you might have guessed, the fiction book is titled Mark Starlin Writes! Stories.
I already have some experience with self-publishing. I am a guitar instructor and have created my own guitar method books, which I self-publish and give to my students. I have been doing those for about 10 years, updating them over the years. I use the POD (print on demand) company LuLu.com because they are the only POD provider that offers coil-bound books, which are perfect for music books since they will lay flat on a music stand.
Of course, we all know Amazon has a near-monopoly on the book market, so if you are hoping to get your books listed in the biggest market, they are the one to go with. We also know that everyone else is listed there also. But I am not chasing big sales. I mainly wanted the books for myself. If others want a copy, I am happy to make them available in the stores. So I created my paperback books on both Amazon and Lulu (using the same pdf.)
And knowing that many prefer digital books, I created versions for Apple Books (iBooks) and am currently working on Kindle versions. | https://medium.com/mark-starlin-writes/preserving-my-writing-in-print-8e32a2338547 | ['Mark Starlin'] | 2020-09-09 17:57:39.072000+00:00 | ['Other Stories', 'Books', 'Writing', 'Stories', 'Self Publishing'] | Title Preserving Writing PrintContent came realization writing Medium almost two year Medium writing existed digital form age 35 probably fine photo music writing existing digital format many u physical book wonderful thing printed bound word tactile experience Much like photo album vinyl record album printed book creates emotional response grew printed book vinyl record film camera excitement getting film back photo developer part fun taking photograph reading liner note enjoying artwork record album cover decided wanted writing exist physical form could enjoy tactile experience book created wanted able open see word print Since write mainly short humor fiction realize minor league writing hold illusion getting story published traditionally mainstream enough attract traditional publisher doesn’t mean shouldn’t published enjoyed small group friend family don’t great photographer make photo album great musician make video performing make book writing Unless holding hope traditional publishing contract see little reason selfpublish book writing length time probably enough material collect book written hundred story Medium past two year collected many two book book humor book fiction humor book 240 story Many short comedy doesn’t require great length funniest joke quite short longer story also quick read Fiction book 92 story ranging 50word microfiction 13300word story cover wide variety genre also includes good bit humor one thing common wrote choose name Mark Starlin Writes series name humor book titled Mark Starlin Writes Humor might guessed fiction book titled Mark Starlin Writes Stories already experience selfpublishing guitar instructor created guitar method book selfpublish give student 10 year updating year use POD print demand company LuLucom POD provider offer coilbound book perfect music book since lay flat music stand course know Amazon nearmonopoly book market hoping get book listed biggest market one go also know everyone else listed also chasing big sale mainly wanted book others want copy happy make available store created paperback book Amazon Lulu using pdf knowing many prefer digital book created version Apple Books iBooks currently working Kindle versionsTags Stories Books Writing Stories Self Publishing |
2,579 | Some People Won’t Like It When You Market Your Work | Some People Won’t Like It When You Market Your Work
But don’t let that stop you
Photo by Jukebox Print on Unsplash
I got chewed out the other day for sending out a publication letter with a link to the trending stories on that pub. The criticism seemed to be that I’m greedy and selfish for wanting more people to read more of my work. Apparently.
And so it goes. Because I make my living by writing online, marketing my work is something that some folks don’t think I should do. They seem to think it somehow suggests that I don’t appreciate what I have, or that I’m trying to steal business from other writers.
You know, writing for a living is already a tough gig, but this attitude among writers only makes it harder. I have to wonder if my fellow writer who told me to “give it a rest” is just as outraged by billboards and television commercials.
Are they sick of marketing from conglomerate corporations, or just indie writers like me? | https://medium.com/better-marketing/some-people-wont-like-it-when-you-market-your-work-92ef77248756 | ['Shannon Ashley'] | 2019-12-11 19:33:09.976000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Writing', 'Work', 'Blogging', 'Life'] | Title People Won’t Like Market WorkContent People Won’t Like Market Work don’t let stop Photo Jukebox Print Unsplash got chewed day sending publication letter link trending story pub criticism seemed I’m greedy selfish wanting people read work Apparently go make living writing online marketing work something folk don’t think seem think somehow suggests don’t appreciate I’m trying steal business writer know writing living already tough gig attitude among writer make harder wonder fellow writer told “give rest” outraged billboard television commercial sick marketing conglomerate corporation indie writer like meTags Marketing Writing Work Blogging Life |
2,580 | Web Notifications Introduction: News on Lock(screens) | Web Notifications Introduction: News on Lock(screens)
How the Guardian US Mobile Innovation Lab has experimented with telling stories in web notifications.
An Android lock screen at the beginning of our EU referendum experiment.
At the end of last week, we (the Mobile Lab) all turned to look at each other. “Can you believe it’s only been 18 days since we ran our first public experiment?” one of us asked. We could not in fact believe it. After months of ramping up the lab, we were suddenly operating at full speed.
The last several weeks have been huge for us: We welcomed another developer, Connor Jennings; we ran two public versions of our jobs report notification experiment; we covered two primary nights through notifications; and we ran a notifications experiment covering the EU referendum.
And we’ve learned a lot.
We’ve known since establishing our five areas of focus that we wanted to experiment with notifications. The jobs report, primaries, and now the EU referendum, have been interesting for a few reasons: they are events that unfold over the course of a number of hours where there are smaller developments throughout.
Most organizations are using news alerts to push out top news, and include only straight headlines. This is with good reason: alerts require an app download, and a user’s options are usually either to get every alert (although some organizations have broken down the options to set of topical preferences: sports, business, etc) or none, making the risk of alienating a user with one too many alerts a constant.
But notifications, we believe, can also be used to tell a targeted piece of a story (or even the entire story itself) right on users’ lockscreens.
With the capacity for pushing out alerts now built into Chrome (aside from its iOS app), publishers suddenly have a broader range of options for what they do with the format. It has some defined parameters (character counts, limited actions, for example) but is also flexible enough to deliver information in a variety of ways and formats. It also offers publishers options for how long they run a set of alerts from one time to ad infinitum.
For users, signing up to receive a set of notifications requires no big commitments like a download or registration.
However, with this access to users’ lockscreens delivering relevant, timely content is no less a challenge. Editors need to make careful choices about what they deliver, how many alerts they send and how often.
We’ve started experimenting and hope others will, too. As of now we’ve tested five types of web notifications, which we’ve profiled here (click on names for full write-ups of each):
Interactive — which allows users to chart a path through a story, or can help break down a dense topic like the US jobs report.
— which allows users to chart a path through a story, or can help break down a dense topic like the US jobs report. Auto-updating — which is a single notification that automatically updates with new information, for example with an elections data feed.
— which is a single notification that automatically updates with new information, for example with an elections data feed. Key events — which tell a piece of a story and can usually stand alone; sometimes used to fill time gaps between other notification types.
which tell a piece of a story and can usually stand alone; sometimes used to fill time gaps between other notification types. Sequential — which offers users only one path through a predetermined thread of information, for example a Top 10 list.
— which offers users only one path through a predetermined thread of information, for example a Top 10 list. Live polling — which brings users into the conversation in real time through questions and live answers, i.e. about the EU referendum results.
We’ve also posted technical write-ups of the back- and front-end code that powers the notifications experiments, with the hope that developers in other newsrooms wanting to test web notifications on their own could look to these documents to see how to start.
For now our formats are targeted to Android. In its release of iOS 10, Apple will include some increased functionality into iPhone and iPad notifications. We plan to experiment there, as well.
In the meantime, we welcome your questions and suggestions. Drop us a note: [email protected]
The Guardian Mobile Innovation Lab operates with the generous support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. | https://medium.com/the-guardian-mobile-innovation-lab/web-notifications-introduction-news-on-lock-screens-ba0d685cb4e2 | ['Sasha Koren'] | 2016-07-11 17:16:01.908000+00:00 | ['Journalism', 'News', 'Mobile', 'Storytelling', 'Web Notifications'] | Title Web Notifications Introduction News LockscreensContent Web Notifications Introduction News Lockscreens Guardian US Mobile Innovation Lab experimented telling story web notification Android lock screen beginning EU referendum experiment end last week Mobile Lab turned look “Can believe it’s 18 day since ran first public experiment” one u asked could fact believe month ramping lab suddenly operating full speed last several week huge u welcomed another developer Connor Jennings ran two public version job report notification experiment covered two primary night notification ran notification experiment covering EU referendum we’ve learned lot We’ve known since establishing five area focus wanted experiment notification job report primary EU referendum interesting reason event unfold course number hour smaller development throughout organization using news alert push top news include straight headline good reason alert require app download user’s option usually either get every alert although organization broken option set topical preference sport business etc none making risk alienating user one many alert constant notification believe also used tell targeted piece story even entire story right users’ lockscreens capacity pushing alert built Chrome aside iOS app publisher suddenly broader range option format defined parameter character count limited action example also flexible enough deliver information variety way format also offer publisher option long run set alert one time ad infinitum user signing receive set notification requires big commitment like download registration However access users’ lockscreens delivering relevant timely content le challenge Editors need make careful choice deliver many alert send often We’ve started experimenting hope others we’ve tested five type web notification we’ve profiled click name full writeups Interactive — allows user chart path story help break dense topic like US job report — allows user chart path story help break dense topic like US job report Autoupdating — single notification automatically update new information example election data feed — single notification automatically update new information example election data feed Key event — tell piece story usually stand alone sometimes used fill time gap notification type tell piece story usually stand alone sometimes used fill time gap notification type Sequential — offer user one path predetermined thread information example Top 10 list — offer user one path predetermined thread information example Top 10 list Live polling — brings user conversation real time question live answer ie EU referendum result We’ve also posted technical writeups back frontend code power notification experiment hope developer newsroom wanting test web notification could look document see start format targeted Android release iOS 10 Apple include increased functionality iPhone iPad notification plan experiment well meantime welcome question suggestion Drop u note innovationlabtheguardiancom Guardian Mobile Innovation Lab operates generous support John James L Knight FoundationTags Journalism News Mobile Storytelling Web Notifications |
2,581 | How I tricked myself into writing a novel | My happy place: writing. Also, a martini.
For most of my life I’ve wanted to write Something Grand: something with an impressive word count. A novel. Ideally a well-written, enjoyable-to-read novel that would sell a million copies, get five stars on GoodReads and qualify me as the Great Canadian Writer of my generation.
Yet, despite collecting shelves of dusty, half-filled notebooks, despite a degree in English literature and creative writing, despite investing in some very beautiful ink pens, I could never write more than 4,000 words per project.
I just didn’t have a Story to tell.
But then some wise people in my life said some wise things, and I read some helpful phrases in the (many, many) writing books I’d collected, and magic happened: I wrote a 92,384-word story.
For those of you who feel that same LONGING to create a Grand Something, here is how I tricked myself into writing a novel. Maybe these tricks will help you too:
Step 1: Find your story
Write What You Read
In early 2017, after decades of me angst-ing about NOT yet writing a novel and thereby fulfilling My Writerly Destiny, my mom pointed out I only read mystery books; the only Netflix shows I watch are mystery series.
MOM: “Why don’t you try writing a mystery?”
Her suggestion reminded me of two quotes I’d scribbled down:
“If we didn’t have to worry about being published and being judged, how many more of us might write a novel just for the joy of making one?” – Julia Cameron, The Right to Write “If you find a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” – Toni Morrison, from her speech at a meeting of the Ohio Arts Council
I was inspired, so I began contemplating murders.
I’ve always rolled my eyes at mysteries where the murderer, once exposed, is revealed as insane: I wanted a murder that was justified. A murderer with whom we could empathize. A logical, necessary death.
Eventually, I imagined a murder scenario that made sense to me, with characters and motives and subplots and themes that I was excited to explore. I wanted to write a murder mystery set in the farmers’ market world that I knew so well; I was excited to expose the “seedy underbelly” of market politics, the contrast between the customers’ wholesome market experience and the farmers’ harried reality.
Finding Myself as a Genre Writer
One of the reasons I’d struggled so much to write a Grand Something in my twenties was because I thought only “literary fiction” was real literature. It was Art, while genre fiction (mysteries, westerns, fantasy, thrillers, romance) was for the less-discerning masses.
At university, we didn’t read or talk about genre fiction unless a (misguided, determined) student submitted those stories to a workshop, or a (rebel) professor (e.g. W.D. Valgardson) added those books to our course reading list (e.g. First Blood).
It was a big step for me to “come out” and accept myself as a mystery writer. Even now I wince and avoid mentioning my chosen genre in conversations, because I carry the shame from my post-secondary days.
Which is just silly.
Step 2: Flesh it out
So: finally I had a story to tell, in a genre I’d been reading (researching!) since my Encyclopedia Brown, Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew adolescence.
Here is a magical thing about genre fiction: there is an inherent structure to follow. If I wanted a murder to take place, I would need to set the scene, cause the death, show the discovery of the body, show the subsequent investigation, drop in some clues, include some “red herrings” (false clues), kill another character to muddy the waters, create a dramatic crisis, and give a conclusion where Everything Is Revealed. I charted these scenes out using post-it notes on poster board and finally felt confident that I had a big enough story to fill a novel.
This reminded me of another bit o’ wisdom I’d read:
“Writing is about getting something down, not about thinking something up.” – Julia Cameron, The Right to Write
All I had to do was write out the scenes of my story. That didn’t seem too hard.
Step 3: Write the first draft
This confidence nosedived when I learned: a modern murder mystery novel needs to be around 92,000 words to make a traditional publisher happy. I had never written that many words for a single project before. Once again, I was intimidated and overwhelmed by the sheer number of words.
I shared my fears with my husband, Brock, and he did the math:
92,000 words divided by 365 days = 252 words per day.
BROCK: “Can you write 252 words a day for a year?”
ME: “Yes. Easily.”
And so I began to write. I made myself write at least 252 words every day: I wouldn’t let myself go to bed until I met my daily quota. Often, I wrote more. And I found that, if I got my required words written first thing in the morning, I felt calm and fulfilled for the rest of the day.
I coasted along to the 45,000 word mark, loving the writing process. (Mmmm first draft bliss.)
Life vs. Art
When Brock’s terminal cancer progressed to the point where he needed more of my time and attention, I took a break from the book. It was a conscious decision: I knew the story would be waiting for me when I was ready and able to go back to work. I knew I had limited time left with my sweetie.
That break continued through Brock’s death, the next few months of packing and preparing for our planned move, the move itself, and then the Christmas holidays.
“I Need Help.”
By January 2018, I was ready to finish the second half of my manuscript. But I needed help. I needed someone to push me and check in with me, as my husband had done. So I signed up for OneRoom, an online coaching program.
I told my novel-writing coach, Erica Wright, that my goal was to submit my manuscript to three competitions in the fall. She worked backward, did the math, and announced I needed to write 1,000 words a week, with a first draft deadline of July.
FIRST GUT RESPONSE: “YIKES!”
SECOND GUT RESPONSE: “Hell yes.”
I was now motivated to keep writing, and devised a plan to make that possible. Whenever my four-year-old son was in preschool, I would drive to the nearest cafe and write the entire time.
I used a writing program called Scrivener to manage my increasingly bulky manuscript: the program tracked my word count progress with a delightful pie chart. Having this visual representation of my progress kept me motivated and gave me milestones to celebrate.
I completed my first full draft a little after my deadline, and submitted it to the three writing contests.
Step 4: Revise & polish
The next challenge — and one I’m still facing — is tweaking and revising my first draft to make it a strong, readable, polished final version.
My 92,000ish-word first draft was massive. I found it overwhelming to work with and didn’t know where to start with the revision stage.
I deflected this challenge by sending it to other writers for their input. The first chapter went to a reader via Sisters in Crime’s Mystery Agent service. I emailed the full draft to three different readers. One was Erica, whom I paid to give me detailed comments and suggestions for improvement.
While I waited for these “beta readers’” feedback, I tried to make my 300+ page manuscript more manageable. I summarized the scenes on pieces of paper and glued them in order into a scrapbook. I made big-picture notes to move scene #4, delete scene #13, rewrite scene #32. When my readers’ comments came back, I made notes on or under each scene.
Now all I have to do is refer to my scrapbook as I progress through the book, incorporating the edits scene by scene.
Staying Motivated
In April, during my rewriting stage, I learned the first draft of my novel had made the shortlist for the Crime Writers of Canada’s Unhanged Arthur Ellis Award: my mystery manuscript is one of the five best unpublished mysteries by a first-time author in Canada.
This was fantastic, mind-exploding news … and completely demotivating. Why should I struggle to polish my book if it was already good enough for publication?
Luckily, I didn’t win the award. Now I’m driven to make my story the best it can be.
While I’m still not done the second draft of my book, I know I’ll finish it this summer, and am motivated by my next goal: submitting it to my list of dream agents and publishers, with a lovely “Arthur Ellis Award shortlist” credential on my cover letter.
In other words …
If you dream of writing a novel or a Grand Something, perhaps these lessons I’ve learned will help you too. In short:
Know Thyself. I needed concrete goals, deadlines, some sort of coach, and milestone rewards. I needed to plot my story out in advance, while other writers (“pantsers”) prefer to create as they go. What approach works best for you? What carrots and sticks do you need? Inspire the Rider; Clear the Path for the Elephant. It’s great that you WANT to write down your story, but you need to clear the path for yourself too: arrange child care, make a writing space, schedule writing time on your calendar, or do whatever you have to do to make it POSSIBLE to write. (For more on the Rider/Elephant analogy, read Switch, by Chip & Dan Heath.) Let Yourself Be a Writer. Indulge those stationary fetishes, invest in writer-friendly software like Scrivener, and read inspirational writer books like The Right to Write.
Just write, dammit
Once we find our story, make the time to write, and actually put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), there is often a moment of self-doubt.
SELF: “What if this is shit?”
Here’s one last bite of wisdom that helped me through that anxiety:
“OK, Universe. You take care of the quality. I’ll take care of the quantity.” – Julia Cameron, The Right to Write
Take a breath. Remember your story. Write it down.
Read more of my writing on Medium: | https://medium.com/swlh/how-i-tricked-myself-into-writing-a-novel-d726953979b6 | ['Heather Mcleod'] | 2019-09-25 17:52:42.060000+00:00 | ['Creative Process', 'Motivation', 'Writing', 'Creative Writing', 'Inspiration'] | Title tricked writing novelContent happy place writing Also martini life I’ve wanted write Something Grand something impressive word count novel Ideally wellwritten enjoyabletoread novel would sell million copy get five star GoodReads qualify Great Canadian Writer generation Yet despite collecting shelf dusty halffilled notebook despite degree English literature creative writing despite investing beautiful ink pen could never write 4000 word per project didn’t Story tell wise people life said wise thing read helpful phrase many many writing book I’d collected magic happened wrote 92384word story feel LONGING create Grand Something tricked writing novel Maybe trick help Step 1 Find story Write Read early 2017 decade angsting yet writing novel thereby fulfilling Writerly Destiny mom pointed read mystery book Netflix show watch mystery series MOM “Why don’t try writing mystery” suggestion reminded two quote I’d scribbled “If didn’t worry published judged many u might write novel joy making one” – Julia Cameron Right Write “If find book really want read hasn’t written yet must write it” – Toni Morrison speech meeting Ohio Arts Council inspired began contemplating murder I’ve always rolled eye mystery murderer exposed revealed insane wanted murder justified murderer could empathize logical necessary death Eventually imagined murder scenario made sense character motif subplots theme excited explore wanted write murder mystery set farmers’ market world knew well excited expose “seedy underbelly” market politics contrast customers’ wholesome market experience farmers’ harried reality Finding Genre Writer One reason I’d struggled much write Grand Something twenty thought “literary fiction” real literature Art genre fiction mystery western fantasy thriller romance lessdiscerning mass university didn’t read talk genre fiction unless misguided determined student submitted story workshop rebel professor eg WD Valgardson added book course reading list eg First Blood big step “come out” accept mystery writer Even wince avoid mentioning chosen genre conversation carry shame postsecondary day silly Step 2 Flesh finally story tell genre I’d reading researching since Encyclopedia Brown Hardy Boys Nancy Drew adolescence magical thing genre fiction inherent structure follow wanted murder take place would need set scene cause death show discovery body show subsequent investigation drop clue include “red herrings” false clue kill another character muddy water create dramatic crisis give conclusion Everything Revealed charted scene using postit note poster board finally felt confident big enough story fill novel reminded another bit o’ wisdom I’d read “Writing getting something thinking something up” – Julia Cameron Right Write write scene story didn’t seem hard Step 3 Write first draft confidence nosedived learned modern murder mystery novel need around 92000 word make traditional publisher happy never written many word single project intimidated overwhelmed sheer number word shared fear husband Brock math 92000 word divided 365 day 252 word per day BROCK “Can write 252 word day year” “Yes Easily” began write made write least 252 word every day wouldn’t let go bed met daily quota Often wrote found got required word written first thing morning felt calm fulfilled rest day coasted along 45000 word mark loving writing process Mmmm first draft bliss Life v Art Brock’s terminal cancer progressed point needed time attention took break book conscious decision knew story would waiting ready able go back work knew limited time left sweetie break continued Brock’s death next month packing preparing planned move move Christmas holiday “I Need Help” January 2018 ready finish second half manuscript needed help needed someone push check husband done signed OneRoom online coaching program told novelwriting coach Erica Wright goal submit manuscript three competition fall worked backward math announced needed write 1000 word week first draft deadline July FIRST GUT RESPONSE “YIKES” SECOND GUT RESPONSE “Hell yes” motivated keep writing devised plan make possible Whenever fouryearold son preschool would drive nearest cafe write entire time used writing program called Scrivener manage increasingly bulky manuscript program tracked word count progress delightful pie chart visual representation progress kept motivated gave milestone celebrate completed first full draft little deadline submitted three writing contest Step 4 Revise polish next challenge — one I’m still facing — tweaking revising first draft make strong readable polished final version 92000ishword first draft massive found overwhelming work didn’t know start revision stage deflected challenge sending writer input first chapter went reader via Sisters Crime’s Mystery Agent service emailed full draft three different reader One Erica paid give detailed comment suggestion improvement waited “beta readers’” feedback tried make 300 page manuscript manageable summarized scene piece paper glued order scrapbook made bigpicture note move scene 4 delete scene 13 rewrite scene 32 readers’ comment came back made note scene refer scrapbook progress book incorporating edits scene scene Staying Motivated April rewriting stage learned first draft novel made shortlist Crime Writers Canada’s Unhanged Arthur Ellis Award mystery manuscript one five best unpublished mystery firsttime author Canada fantastic mindexploding news … completely demotivating struggle polish book already good enough publication Luckily didn’t win award I’m driven make story best I’m still done second draft book know I’ll finish summer motivated next goal submitting list dream agent publisher lovely “Arthur Ellis Award shortlist” credential cover letter word … dream writing novel Grand Something perhaps lesson I’ve learned help short Know Thyself needed concrete goal deadline sort coach milestone reward needed plot story advance writer “pantsers” prefer create go approach work best carrot stick need Inspire Rider Clear Path Elephant It’s great WANT write story need clear path arrange child care make writing space schedule writing time calendar whatever make POSSIBLE write RiderElephant analogy read Switch Chip Dan Heath Let Writer Indulge stationary fetish invest writerfriendly software like Scrivener read inspirational writer book like Right Write write dammit find story make time write actually put pen paper finger keyboard often moment selfdoubt SELF “What shit” Here’s one last bite wisdom helped anxiety “OK Universe take care quality I’ll take care quantity” – Julia Cameron Right Write Take breath Remember story Write Read writing MediumTags Creative Process Motivation Writing Creative Writing Inspiration |
2,582 | Forget Science; This is COVID-19 We’re Dealing With! | Forget Science; This is COVID-19 We’re Dealing With!
How public health policy threw science under the bus in response to the novel coronavirus.
Ignoring Years Lost and Quality of Life Lost
While raw mortality figures get the most headlines, not all deaths are equal. I mentioned this idea in “The Cost of Saving a Life.” It sounds harsh, but at the same time, we also think this way when someone young dies: “it’s a shame that they died so young.” Why? It’s because there’s a lot of life potential lost when someone dies. They had their whole lives ahead of them. On the other hand, someone who’s 90 has already won the lotto, so to speak, by significantly outliving the average person.
COVID-19 affects elderly far more severely than it affects young people, including infants. While infants aren’t immune, significant loss of life, and quality of life, seems low for very young people. That’s a good thing. Moreover, comorbidity has an exceptionally large impact on the survival rate of those infected with SARS-CoV-2. A lot of people who have died this year, from COVID-19, could have died anyway, even had they not been infected.
All of those deaths are now being attributed to COVID-19, rather than underlying conditions, which is drastically skewing the accounting. If we looked at years of life lost, and more so quality adjusted life years lost, and compared it to other diseases, COVID-19 would look a lot less troubling. It wouldn’t be something that we could ignore, but the optics of the disease would be very different.
Ignoring Cost Benefit Analysis
There’s still a lot of information to gather regarding the impact that this coronavirus has had on the world, from a health perspective. And I do plan on doing a more detailed analysis, as more statistics become available. However, I want to consider an extreme scenario, in order to show just how much those involved in public health policy have ignored rational practice on this matter.
At the time of writing this article, a little under 200,000 people are estimated to have died because of COVID-19. While high comorbidity and high average age of succumbers alters the calculus on the matter, I want to instead do the calculation assuming that people who die are of average age and in perfect health, and will remain that way for the rest of their lives.
The average life expectancy in the United States is about 78.6 years and the median age is 38.2 years old. In many parts of the world, average age is lower, but in many parts of the world, life expectancy is a lot lower too. I’ll use this figure to reach a number of QALYs lost per life lost to be 40.
That’s approximately 8 million QALYs lost due to the pandemic. How many QALYs have been saved because of the lockdown effort? 10% of that figure? 25% of that figure? I’m going to assume that it’s double that figure. So assuming that our magical lockdown has saved 16 million QALYs, what’s the cost per QALY?
According to a BBC report, the direct cost of the lockdowns so far has been about 3.3T USD, with immediate indirect costs, such as loan guarantees, bringing the total to 7.8T USD. This figure does not take into account current losses in economic output or long term consequences of the lockdowns. It also doesn’t take into account the actual medical expenses of saving anyone. But I’ll use this figure rather than one that includes any of that information.
The result: 487,500 USD per QALY
Those who have read my other piece on the cost of saving a life will notice that this figure is almost twice the high end cost for saving a QALY, in the United States. That means that even with all these assumptions driving down the cost per QALY, and using a very high figure for efficient cost per QALY, we could effectively save about two people, for every person saved because of this lockdown.
Opportunity Cost
A concept less employed directly by public health policy, but one that helps to understand the importance of cost per QALY is opportunity cost. This economic concept is essentially the lost benefits or opportunity, that could have been enjoyed, had we selected a different choice.
What could we have done with the 7.8T USD, rather than spend it on tackling the COVID-19 epidemic? Suppose we still wanted a solid chunk to go directly to COVID-19 research and treatment and reserved half, or 3.9T USD for that purpose. A major problem with COVID-19 is the lack of hospital beds available. Moreover, if we could build hospital beds around the world, and fund their upkeep, we could save a lot of lives in the long term.
Suppose we wanted to build hospitals with a 120 bed capacity and fund it for 10 years. How much would it cost? According to The Keiser Health Foundation, the cost per impatient day at a nonprofit hospital was a little over 2,600 USD. This figure is the high end of the list, but was also from 2018, so taking into account inflation and bumping up costs to give a safety buffer I’ll estimate it at a cost of 3,000 USD per inpatient day.
Meanwhile, FIXR gives an approximate construction cost of 112.5M USD for a 120 bed hospital with an ER and maternity ward with 210M for a high end teaching hospital. I’ll use the latter figure. A 120 bed hospital would have an approximate annual cost of about 131.5M USD based on the above estimate of the cost per inpatient day, bringing the construction and ten year maintenance cost to 1.525B USD. Using just the 3.9T USD reserve would allow the construction of over 2,500 high end hospitals that would be fully funded, ignoring any revenues, for ten years. These hospitals could handle a total of 300,000 patients at any time, before even functioning above capacity.
Once again, these hospitals would be state of the art teaching hospitals, which means that they would also be able to train new doctors who could save more lives, and conduct novel research which would do the same. And it would still leave another 3.9T for direct efforts to combat COVID-19. If that’s not opportunity lost, then I don’t know what is.
Ignoring Standard Practices
Of course, the question of whether social distancing and all of these other efforts are worth it also depends on whether or not lives are actually being saved. In the above analysis, I pretended that the efforts were saving a lot of lives, and a lot of QALYs. But the science isn’t there. And that’s a problem. Generally speaking, when public health experts decide to implement a policy, they do so only after scientific justification becomes robust, or the impact appears minimal. Especially when the policy is mandated by law, policy must be well informed.
And yet, there is little justification to the extreme social distancing mandates that have been put in place. I won’t go into detail in this article, because I’ve addressed the issue in “The Potential Success and Failures of Social Distancing” and in the summary of my own epidemiological models testing social distancing efforts. But to quickly summarize my findings, voluntary cyclical social distancing appears to be rather effective, but extreme social distancing is not.
Of course, it is not on me to justify the claim that these efforts don’t work. Generally speaking, we assume that a medical or public health intervention doesn’t work, until the science justifies the claim that it does. We also assume that they have significant side effects, until science justifies the claim that they don’t. And yet, science not only fails to justify these mandates, or that there are limited harmful side effects, but often contradicts those positions. Therefore, current practice is not informed by science, but rather by irrational fear and politics.
Further Reading
I mentioned “The Cot of Saving a Life” in the beginning of this article. It’s a useful read if you’re interested in the basic ideas behind decision making in public health.
I would also recommend a number of the courses on public health and epidemiology, offered by Coursera. I’ve taken a number of courses, and this specialization is a useful one, if you’re truly interested in learning about public health science and epidemiology. | https://medium.com/politicoid/forget-science-this-is-covid-19-were-dealing-with-35c3a9aa8627 | ['Daniel Goldman'] | 2020-05-14 12:06:07.879000+00:00 | ['Economics', 'Pubic Health', 'Science', 'Coronavirus', 'Politics'] | Title Forget Science COVID19 We’re Dealing WithContent Forget Science COVID19 We’re Dealing public health policy threw science bus response novel coronavirus Ignoring Years Lost Quality Life Lost raw mortality figure get headline death equal mentioned idea “The Cost Saving Life” sound harsh time also think way someone young dy “it’s shame died young” It’s there’s lot life potential lost someone dy whole life ahead hand someone who’s 90 already lotto speak significantly outliving average person COVID19 affect elderly far severely affect young people including infant infant aren’t immune significant loss life quality life seems low young people That’s good thing Moreover comorbidity exceptionally large impact survival rate infected SARSCoV2 lot people died year COVID19 could died anyway even infected death attributed COVID19 rather underlying condition drastically skewing accounting looked year life lost quality adjusted life year lost compared disease COVID19 would look lot le troubling wouldn’t something could ignore optic disease would different Ignoring Cost Benefit Analysis There’s still lot information gather regarding impact coronavirus world health perspective plan detailed analysis statistic become available However want consider extreme scenario order show much involved public health policy ignored rational practice matter time writing article little 200000 people estimated died COVID19 high comorbidity high average age succumbers alters calculus matter want instead calculation assuming people die average age perfect health remain way rest life average life expectancy United States 786 year median age 382 year old many part world average age lower many part world life expectancy lot lower I’ll use figure reach number QALYs lost per life lost 40 That’s approximately 8 million QALYs lost due pandemic many QALYs saved lockdown effort 10 figure 25 figure I’m going assume it’s double figure assuming magical lockdown saved 16 million QALYs what’s cost per QALY According BBC report direct cost lockdown far 33T USD immediate indirect cost loan guarantee bringing total 78T USD figure take account current loss economic output long term consequence lockdown also doesn’t take account actual medical expense saving anyone I’ll use figure rather one includes information result 487500 USD per QALY read piece cost saving life notice figure almost twice high end cost saving QALY United States mean even assumption driving cost per QALY using high figure efficient cost per QALY could effectively save two people every person saved lockdown Opportunity Cost concept le employed directly public health policy one help understand importance cost per QALY opportunity cost economic concept essentially lost benefit opportunity could enjoyed selected different choice could done 78T USD rather spend tackling COVID19 epidemic Suppose still wanted solid chunk go directly COVID19 research treatment reserved half 39T USD purpose major problem COVID19 lack hospital bed available Moreover could build hospital bed around world fund upkeep could save lot life long term Suppose wanted build hospital 120 bed capacity fund 10 year much would cost According Keiser Health Foundation cost per impatient day nonprofit hospital little 2600 USD figure high end list also 2018 taking account inflation bumping cost give safety buffer I’ll estimate cost 3000 USD per inpatient day Meanwhile FIXR give approximate construction cost 1125M USD 120 bed hospital ER maternity ward 210M high end teaching hospital I’ll use latter figure 120 bed hospital would approximate annual cost 1315M USD based estimate cost per inpatient day bringing construction ten year maintenance cost 1525B USD Using 39T USD reserve would allow construction 2500 high end hospital would fully funded ignoring revenue ten year hospital could handle total 300000 patient time even functioning capacity hospital would state art teaching hospital mean would also able train new doctor could save life conduct novel research would would still leave another 39T direct effort combat COVID19 that’s opportunity lost don’t know Ignoring Standard Practices course question whether social distancing effort worth also depends whether life actually saved analysis pretended effort saving lot life lot QALYs science isn’t that’s problem Generally speaking public health expert decide implement policy scientific justification becomes robust impact appears minimal Especially policy mandated law policy must well informed yet little justification extreme social distancing mandate put place won’t go detail article I’ve addressed issue “The Potential Success Failures Social Distancing” summary epidemiological model testing social distancing effort quickly summarize finding voluntary cyclical social distancing appears rather effective extreme social distancing course justify claim effort don’t work Generally speaking assume medical public health intervention doesn’t work science justifies claim also assume significant side effect science justifies claim don’t yet science fails justify mandate limited harmful side effect often contradicts position Therefore current practice informed science rather irrational fear politics Reading mentioned “The Cot Saving Life” beginning article It’s useful read you’re interested basic idea behind decision making public health would also recommend number course public health epidemiology offered Coursera I’ve taken number course specialization useful one you’re truly interested learning public health science epidemiologyTags Economics Pubic Health Science Coronavirus Politics |
2,583 | Design is storytelling: a model | The best resources for designers starting in Design, UX, and UI. Bootcamp is a new product publication from the team behind the UX Collective (http://uxdesign.cc). To submit your story: [email protected]
Follow | https://medium.com/design-bootcamp/design-is-storytelling-a-model-a9d1b01cb97e | ['Arushi Singh'] | 2020-12-21 01:56:22.417000+00:00 | ['Storytelling', 'Design Process', 'Design', 'Design Storytelling', 'Design Thinking'] | Title Design storytelling modelContent best resource designer starting Design UX UI Bootcamp new product publication team behind UX Collective httpuxdesigncc submit story hellouxdesigncc FollowTags Storytelling Design Process Design Design Storytelling Design Thinking |
2,584 | How to create dashboard for free with Google Sheets and Chart.js | Dashboards are a convenient method for quickly present data. For data scientists and analysts, it’s the tool of choice for showing results of their work to the non-technical recipients. Of course, there are many services for making online dashboards with no or little code. Using ready-made solutions such as Tableau, Qlikview or Google Data Studio, quick production of decent looking charts and dashboards is not a problem.
However, most of them are too expensive. We also often encounter situations where the possibilities for adapting views to exceptional data are limited. On the other hand, tailored, self-hosted solutions cause other difficulties. You need hosting and you are unlikely to want to play with the administration of a large system just to collect and present the necessary data.
However, it is possible to serve web applications directly from Google Apps Script.
In this article, I show you how to create a simple dashboard using data from Google Sheet and Chart.js. First, we will set up templated HTML in Google Apps Script. Next, we will with Chart.js. Then, you will learn how to fetch data from Google Sheets (e.g. when updating information visible in the dashboard) and insert it to the template. Once you set up the dataflow, you can use it in many projects. | https://towardsdatascience.com/how-to-create-dashboard-for-free-with-google-sheets-and-chart-js-8c319ab8809b | ['Rafał Rybnik'] | 2020-12-29 14:41:57.492000+00:00 | ['Data Science', 'Charts', 'Dashboard', 'Web Development', 'Visualization'] | Title create dashboard free Google Sheets ChartjsContent Dashboards convenient method quickly present data data scientist analyst it’s tool choice showing result work nontechnical recipient course many service making online dashboard little code Using readymade solution Tableau Qlikview Google Data Studio quick production decent looking chart dashboard problem However expensive also often encounter situation possibility adapting view exceptional data limited hand tailored selfhosted solution cause difficulty need hosting unlikely want play administration large system collect present necessary data However possible serve web application directly Google Apps Script article show create simple dashboard using data Google Sheet Chartjs First set templated HTML Google Apps Script Next Chartjs learn fetch data Google Sheets eg updating information visible dashboard insert template set dataflow use many projectsTags Data Science Charts Dashboard Web Development Visualization |
2,585 | My Boss of 4 Years Ghosted Me When I Told Him I Had to Quit My Job | I used to be a big fan of social media marketing. Work from home! Set your own hours! Work in your PJs, put on Netflix, and keep your baby at home. So convenient! (And a little like online dating.)
Sadly, there’s also a dark side to the social media hustle of the gig economy. Writers often overlook it because we so desperately want to work from home. Flexible work hours are like the new American dream.
For nearly four years, I worked from home as a writer for a social media management agency. Talk about gig economy — I got paid a flat rate per task, regardless of the time it took to finish.
I began writing for the startup around the time they first launched, and my client load steadily increased so that in less than a year, I became one of two full-time writers.
For a long time, I thought it was a good job. But I gave it an awful lot of extra credit for being better than it really was. This seems to be a common problem for writers, and practically anyone who’s first dipping their toes into this new American dream.
Yes, the main benefit was that I got to work from home, so I didn’t have to worry about putting my daughter in daycare — which was very important to me. She was just an infant when I began the work, and today she’s almost 5.
At first, the perks seemed to outweigh the drawbacks. I could take the job with me wherever and whenever I moved. And of course, since some friends ran the company, it initially felt like they cared about me and my daughter personally. There was a feeling of job security as if somebody cared that I had a big enough workload to pay the bills. These were nice people, so I never doubted they’d treat me decently as long as I submitted good work.
Whenever a client quit, I could count on getting replacements as new ones signed up. That in itself was such a big perk that it overshadowed some of the downsides I experienced in those early days.
Like not getting paid for every task.
Businesses are using contract workers however it suits them.
I should have been wary about the self-employed nature of the job from the start. Under the gig economy, an increasing number of businesses are relying upon “independent contractors.”
In my experience, you get treated like an employee whenever it suits the business, but not when it suits you. That means you might perform all of the day-to-day work, like writing the social media content and seeking out appropriate articles for the company’s clients. But there will be no room for growth.
Despite my non-employee status, I still had managers whom I reported to. They were salaried. The writers, designers, and editors were all contractors. We All had weekly due dates and the tasks were much more commonly micromanaged than typical contract work.
Of course, we received none of the perks of an employee. No benefits. We were responsible for payroll taxes. There was no paid training. Emails and meetings could suck away your time, all for zero pay.
It was a lot like that online boyfriend or girlfriend who defines your relationship however it suits them. If you bring up possibly needing more, they claim, "You knew what this was. Don't ruin a good thing."
Content mills take advantage of creators hoping to earn a real living.
When I first began the job, our pay seemed pretty straightforward. Some of it was quite low, but I didn’t know any better. So I went along with it.
They paid out $1.25 per social media post, which meant finding an appropriate and recent article for the client and writing a brief blurb about it for Facebook or whatever platform(s) the customer used. Most clients had 5–7 of these a week. Eventually, the company took on franchise clients, and for every “sub-account” under a franchise, that $1.25 was reduced by half. Each sub-account had to use different copy in the post or blog, but the links could be the same.
In the beginning, we also got $25 per 300-word blog post. Not every client had a blog, but those who did got two each month. About a year into the work, compensation for a blog was reduced to $10 although the blog length and standards increased for better SEO performance.
Writers also received a $20 setup fee for a new client on each applicable social media platform. This task included creating the copy for profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or LinkedIn. They later did away with this task which meant acquainting yourself with a new client was done on your time, and all unpaid.
Initially, every client with a blog also got a newsletter. That meant that I had to go into MailChimp every month to copy and paste content from the previous month into a newsletter, and send it out after an editor approved it. Although there was a $20 newsletter setup fee, there was no monthly recurring fee paid to me as a writer for creating a new newsletter every month or sending it.
At one point, I had 25 clients with blogs. That meant working on 25 monthly newsletters for zero pay. Management didn’t understand the problem because I wasn’t creating new content, it was just copying and pasting.
What a huge red flag. It took many conversations for anyone to understand what I was talking about when I said a writer shouldn’t have to do an unpaid task. Every newsletter took at least 10–20 minutes. Multiply that by 25 clients, and I was working for hours every month for free.
After much discussion, management begrudgingly announced that writers would get paid $7 per newsletter. It was hardly a win, however. They didn’t issue backpay, and they quit including newsletters in a client’s blog package. It became an add-on instead. And then a relic, since clients didn’t want to pay for it as an additional fee.
I never thought my Christian friends would run a content mill, until I actually worked for them.
To put the pay into perspective, a client with a “full package” was paying about $850 a month (plus a $700 setup fee) for daily posts on a few platforms, and two monthly blog posts. I received about $120 of that per month. And as time went on, most clients had smaller packages between $250 and $650 per month. Writers received a fraction of that pay despite doing the bulk of the actual day-to-day work.
Editors made even less. $0.25 (yes, cents) per post and $3 a blog.
Honestly? I never thought my Christian friends would run a content mill, until I actually worked for them.
And as it often goes in online dating, I realized that the company didn't care what was best for its people.
Independent contractors may suffer if they talk to startups about their pay.
While I stayed with the company for close to four years, this last year was particularly disconcerting. It all started when I dared to approach management about the fact that our compensation for a blog was cut from $25 down to $10.
As tactfully and diplomatically as possible, I tried to explain how the 60% pay cut had made it hard to research and write a quality piece. At every step along the way, I asked the other full-time writer what she felt, and if my tone was coming across alright before I sent any email. It turned out that she agreed, and enthusiastically asked for updates.
But she wouldn’t add her own two cents to management. I naively took on all of that risk myself.
Despite the fact that I repeatedly told my boss I knew a pay bump was unlikely, and that I was sorry to bring up something as awkward as pay, it seems that I really stepped in it, so to speak.
I began that conversation in the fall of 2017, and the topic basically fizzled out within a couple months. Unfortunately, my client load fizzled out right along with it.
They quit replacing clients for me, and my workload shrunk. I asked my manager if there was something I could improve to get more clients. He told me I was doing fine, and that they simply didn’t have enough clients to go around.
Oddly enough, they hired on six or seven new writers at that time. One of the writers began taking on new clients more quickly than anyone else. As my client list shrunk, hers grew exponentially. And then I found out that she was my manager’s sister.
The situation struck my editor as odd. No one could explain to me why I wasn’t being given new clients after years of devoted service. I began waking up with crushing anxiety that my daughter and I would wind up homeless again.
I decided to speak to my friend’s husband about the matter since he was one of the founders/owners and I’d lived in his attic one summer before I became a mom. I thought if anything, he would at least be honest with me about what was going on.
None of this would have gone over well with a real HR department.
According to the owner, I was performing just fine. He said my manager would have told him otherwise.
So why wasn’t I getting new clients?
The owner chalked it up to the idea that I wasn’t grateful for the work I got. He brought up the fact that I had gone to my manager about the blog pay reduction, and said, “People probably don’t feel like giving you more work when you don’t think we pay you enough.”
Even at the time, I couldn’t help but think of that conversation as an HR nightmare. The owner basically admitted I wasn’t getting new clients because I dared to offer feedback on the pay. He went onto tell me that my manager was a saint, and that I should apologize by email for the whole blog pay debacle.
I felt like I was trapped in a bad episode of The Twilight Zone. It was beyond weird. The rest of our conversation was essentially a lecture from the owner regarding social graces. Super great for an aspie like me. He said that I needed to remember I’d catch more flies with honey, and that I needed to change my tone if I was going to work in communications like social media.
I couldn’t help but think how misplaced his words would be if I were a man. He suggested that any misunderstanding regarding my intent was always my fault, because “it doesn’t matter how you intend it if one person misunderstands you.” I just wondered why the same damn thing didn’t apply to management.
To my shame, I was scared to death of losing my job, so I did everything the owner suggested. I apologized. Hell, I groveled. I didn’t say anything that could be misinterpreted as ungrateful. I was extra sweet.
All of it felt incredibly petty, like chatting with a potential date online who decides to punish you whenever you don't do exactly what they want.
When you’re an independent contractor, they don’t have to give you a reason for giving you less work.
None of my efforts to resolve the situation helped. The owner ended our call by promising to talk to my manager and getting me new clients.
What really happened?
I began to have clients taken away. All that groveling was useless. And despite being told I performed well, it suddenly seemed like I couldn’t do anything right. Ironically, the quality of my work was called into question after I went to the owner. And certain standards being applied to me were not applied to my coworkers.
Of course, when it came to the apology email, my manager told me he was never offended and never even thought I’d been ungrateful at all. No need to apologize, he said.
Funny how nothing anyone told me lined up.
The worst thing about the whole situation was that nobody would actually come out and tell me why they were cutting down my clients. At one point management accused me of linking to a client’s competitors. Knowing that I wasn’t doing that, I asked for an example of my error. They were never able to come up with one.
As a single mom who had depended upon this work for years, I felt deeply betrayed. I asked if I should start looking for another job. No answer.
I asked another manager what I could do better and explained that I wasn’t going to be able to afford preschool for my daughter as planned. She responded that it wasn’t appropriate to discuss pay. And again, gave no answer for what I was doing wrong.
By spring, my “saintly” manager’s sister had replaced me as one of the full-time writers. That’s when I realized the gig economy wasn’t as great as it once seemed. Being a contract worker, with employee treatment only when it benefits the company sucks.
Nobody deserves a toxic workplace.
Businesses within the big economy often forget that work culture matters even when it’s online. My old company became terribly toxic, and I wasn’t the only one to notice.
The other full-time writer quit talking to me once I confessed I was losing clients after bringing up the blog pay. I suppose she didn’t want to look guilty by association.
A newish manager was increasingly snippy to the point of being plain rude. Asking a question and then chastising me for my answer. Making mistakes but taking zero responsibility with qualms about putting errors all on me and my editor. Other people noticed problems too. They questioned how Christians could treat their workers so poorly, especially a single mom.
Were they trying to get me to quit? That was a common question asked by friends within and outside of the startup.
Within a year of bringing up the blog pay, I hated working there. It was miserable. I felt like I was on constant eggshells, and in a last ditch effort, I tried to talk to another owner. The first owner’s wife, and someone who was once my best friend in town. Or so I thought.
I asked for her advice on resolving the issue and she told me it was all in my head. It was one of the weirdest conversations of my life. Since she wasn’t actually working with the business anymore, she said she couldn’t give me advice on how to interpret the dynamic there. Yet she went onto tell me that any problem I thought I was having was nonsense, and that everyone else was trying to be professional. For the first time in ages, I stood up for myself and explained that I wasn’t the only person facing or observing issues in the company. And although I told her I didn’t want the situation to come between us and would have to agree to disagree, she quit speaking to me. Quit inviting me and my daughter over for the holidays.
Instead, she immediately vented to Facebook that she was such a nice and caring person but she didn’t have a magic wand to fix other people’s lives. Twenty+ people replied that she was the best and some people just didn’t want to help themselves.
Of course, I never wanted her to fix my life. I simply wanted advice as a woman with Asperger’s on what I could do to get new clients again because it felt like everything I said dug me further into a hole. I never understood why my questions were so taboo.
So I finally decided to call it quits.
The more I began to write here for myself, the more I knew I wanted to leave my social media marketing days behind.
I realized that I’d been breaking my back to write content I didn’t even like, and the money wasn’t that good. There were no opportunities for growth. No raises, no benefits, no appreciation. A writer like myself was entirely dispensable and clearly, I was vain to believe I deserved at least $25 for a single blog.
At the end of November, I developed pneumonia that went into December. I was exhausted and miserable. And for the first time, I genuinely couldn’t finish my social media work.
It was pretty damn frightening, but I realized that the time spent writing my own stories had become much more valuable than my contract work. Not to mention it was so much more fulfilling.
So I drafted an email resignation on December 16th. Of course, I thanked management for all of their help over the years and credited the job for getting me back on my feet after my crisis pregnancy.
Nothing says “thank you for your service” like the silent treatment.
To be fair, of the two managers I emailed, the newest one responded to ask if I would be willing to stay on in a lesser capacity. I declined. She was “nicer” than expected given her previous correspondence over the past year.
But my main manager, the one person at the company who worked with me the entire time I was there? He said nothing in response to my resignation.
Is it really so hard to wish someone well after four years of service?
He never once acknowledged my email. Never said thank you for my service, never wished me well… despite the fact that I thanked him and wished him well. And honestly? That stung enough for me to help affirm that the discord was never all in my head.
Maybe he really did want me to quit.
Then again, what do I know? I’ve basically been working since I was 14, and this is the first time a boss didn’t bother to thank me when I left. We were Facebook friends too, but he quit acknowledging me altogether.
Perhaps I’m just one more millennial expecting to be coddled, huh?
At any rate, I’ve learned to value my skills and not settle for peanuts when it comes to my writing goals. Plus, I can thank that experience in the gig economy for leading me to finally select a job that pays per reader engagement. I know, I know. Perhaps I’m just one more millennial expecting to be coddled, huh? Though technically I’m a “Zennial,” we might still be presumed an overly-entitled bunch.
Oh well. I still never want to sell myself short again. Let’s face it — I used to write blogs for small businesses that virtually nobody was going to read. For peanuts. These days, I get nearly 150,000 reads a month writing about whatever is on my mind, and make more than ever before. (Ahem. Knock on wood.)
It’s a helluva lot more satisfying if you ask me.
A lot of us have settled for shitty dates and shitty jobs with people who don't value our efforts. My advice?
Start valuing yourself. | https://medium.com/awkwardly-honest/my-boss-of-4-years-ghosted-me-when-i-told-him-i-had-to-quit-my-job-b974c998940c | ['Shannon Ashley'] | 2019-03-09 21:09:00.675000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Culture', 'Social Media', 'Freelancing', 'Writing'] | Title Boss 4 Years Ghosted Told Quit JobContent used big fan social medium marketing Work home Set hour Work PJs put Netflix keep baby home convenient little like online dating Sadly there’s also dark side social medium hustle gig economy Writers often overlook desperately want work home Flexible work hour like new American dream nearly four year worked home writer social medium management agency Talk gig economy — got paid flat rate per task regardless time took finish began writing startup around time first launched client load steadily increased le year became one two fulltime writer long time thought good job gave awful lot extra credit better really seems common problem writer practically anyone who’s first dipping toe new American dream Yes main benefit got work home didn’t worry putting daughter daycare — important infant began work today she’s almost 5 first perk seemed outweigh drawback could take job wherever whenever moved course since friend ran company initially felt like cared daughter personally feeling job security somebody cared big enough workload pay bill nice people never doubted they’d treat decently long submitted good work Whenever client quit could count getting replacement new one signed big perk overshadowed downside experienced early day Like getting paid every task Businesses using contract worker however suit wary selfemployed nature job start gig economy increasing number business relying upon “independent contractors” experience get treated like employee whenever suit business suit mean might perform daytoday work like writing social medium content seeking appropriate article company’s client room growth Despite nonemployee status still manager reported salaried writer designer editor contractor weekly due date task much commonly micromanaged typical contract work course received none perk employee benefit responsible payroll tax paid training Emails meeting could suck away time zero pay lot like online boyfriend girlfriend defines relationship however suit bring possibly needing claim knew Dont ruin good thing Content mill take advantage creator hoping earn real living first began job pay seemed pretty straightforward quite low didn’t know better went along paid 125 per social medium post meant finding appropriate recent article client writing brief blurb Facebook whatever platform customer used client 5–7 week Eventually company took franchise client every “subaccount” franchise 125 reduced half subaccount use different copy post blog link could beginning also got 25 per 300word blog post every client blog got two month year work compensation blog reduced 10 although blog length standard increased better SEO performance Writers also received 20 setup fee new client applicable social medium platform task included creating copy profile Facebook Twitter Google LinkedIn later away task meant acquainting new client done time unpaid Initially every client blog also got newsletter meant go MailChimp every month copy paste content previous month newsletter send editor approved Although 20 newsletter setup fee monthly recurring fee paid writer creating new newsletter every month sending one point 25 client blog meant working 25 monthly newsletter zero pay Management didn’t understand problem wasn’t creating new content copying pasting huge red flag took many conversation anyone understand talking said writer shouldn’t unpaid task Every newsletter took least 10–20 minute Multiply 25 client working hour every month free much discussion management begrudgingly announced writer would get paid 7 per newsletter hardly win however didn’t issue backpay quit including newsletter client’s blog package became addon instead relic since client didn’t want pay additional fee never thought Christian friend would run content mill actually worked put pay perspective client “full package” paying 850 month plus 700 setup fee daily post platform two monthly blog post received 120 per month time went client smaller package 250 650 per month Writers received fraction pay despite bulk actual daytoday work Editors made even le 025 yes cent per post 3 blog Honestly never thought Christian friend would run content mill actually worked often go online dating realized company didnt care best people Independent contractor may suffer talk startup pay stayed company close four year last year particularly disconcerting started dared approach management fact compensation blog cut 25 10 tactfully diplomatically possible tried explain 60 pay cut made hard research write quality piece every step along way asked fulltime writer felt tone coming across alright sent email turned agreed enthusiastically asked update wouldn’t add two cent management naively took risk Despite fact repeatedly told bos knew pay bump unlikely sorry bring something awkward pay seems really stepped speak began conversation fall 2017 topic basically fizzled within couple month Unfortunately client load fizzled right along quit replacing client workload shrunk asked manager something could improve get client told fine simply didn’t enough client go around Oddly enough hired six seven new writer time One writer began taking new client quickly anyone else client list shrunk grew exponentially found manager’s sister situation struck editor odd one could explain wasn’t given new client year devoted service began waking crushing anxiety daughter would wind homeless decided speak friend’s husband matter since one foundersowners I’d lived attic one summer became mom thought anything would least honest going None would gone well real HR department According owner performing fine said manager would told otherwise wasn’t getting new client owner chalked idea wasn’t grateful work got brought fact gone manager blog pay reduction said “People probably don’t feel like giving work don’t think pay enough” Even time couldn’t help think conversation HR nightmare owner basically admitted wasn’t getting new client dared offer feedback pay went onto tell manager saint apologize email whole blog pay debacle felt like trapped bad episode Twilight Zone beyond weird rest conversation essentially lecture owner regarding social grace Super great aspie like said needed remember I’d catch fly honey needed change tone going work communication like social medium couldn’t help think misplaced word would man suggested misunderstanding regarding intent always fault “it doesn’t matter intend one person misunderstands you” wondered damn thing didn’t apply management shame scared death losing job everything owner suggested apologized Hell groveled didn’t say anything could misinterpreted ungrateful extra sweet felt incredibly petty like chatting potential date online decides punish whenever dont exactly want you’re independent contractor don’t give reason giving le work None effort resolve situation helped owner ended call promising talk manager getting new client really happened began client taken away groveling useless despite told performed well suddenly seemed like couldn’t anything right Ironically quality work called question went owner certain standard applied applied coworkers course came apology email manager told never offended never even thought I’d ungrateful need apologize said Funny nothing anyone told lined worst thing whole situation nobody would actually come tell cutting client one point management accused linking client’s competitor Knowing wasn’t asked example error never able come one single mom depended upon work year felt deeply betrayed asked start looking another job answer asked another manager could better explained wasn’t going able afford preschool daughter planned responded wasn’t appropriate discus pay gave answer wrong spring “saintly” manager’s sister replaced one fulltime writer That’s realized gig economy wasn’t great seemed contract worker employee treatment benefit company suck Nobody deserves toxic workplace Businesses within big economy often forget work culture matter even it’s online old company became terribly toxic wasn’t one notice fulltime writer quit talking confessed losing client bringing blog pay suppose didn’t want look guilty association newish manager increasingly snippy point plain rude Asking question chastising answer Making mistake taking zero responsibility qualm putting error editor people noticed problem questioned Christians could treat worker poorly especially single mom trying get quit common question asked friend within outside startup Within year bringing blog pay hated working miserable felt like constant eggshell last ditch effort tried talk another owner first owner’s wife someone best friend town thought asked advice resolving issue told head one weirdest conversation life Since wasn’t actually working business anymore said couldn’t give advice interpret dynamic Yet went onto tell problem thought nonsense everyone else trying professional first time age stood explained wasn’t person facing observing issue company although told didn’t want situation come u would agree disagree quit speaking Quit inviting daughter holiday Instead immediately vented Facebook nice caring person didn’t magic wand fix people’s life Twenty people replied best people didn’t want help course never wanted fix life simply wanted advice woman Asperger’s could get new client felt like everything said dug hole never understood question taboo finally decided call quits began write knew wanted leave social medium marketing day behind realized I’d breaking back write content didn’t even like money wasn’t good opportunity growth raise benefit appreciation writer like entirely dispensable clearly vain believe deserved least 25 single blog end November developed pneumonia went December exhausted miserable first time genuinely couldn’t finish social medium work pretty damn frightening realized time spent writing story become much valuable contract work mention much fulfilling drafted email resignation December 16th course thanked management help year credited job getting back foot crisis pregnancy Nothing say “thank service” like silent treatment fair two manager emailed newest one responded ask would willing stay lesser capacity declined “nicer” expected given previous correspondence past year main manager one person company worked entire time said nothing response resignation really hard wish someone well four year service never acknowledged email Never said thank service never wished well… despite fact thanked wished well honestly stung enough help affirm discord never head Maybe really want quit know I’ve basically working since 14 first time bos didn’t bother thank left Facebook friend quit acknowledging altogether Perhaps I’m one millennial expecting coddled huh rate I’ve learned value skill settle peanut come writing goal Plus thank experience gig economy leading finally select job pay per reader engagement know know Perhaps I’m one millennial expecting coddled huh Though technically I’m “Zennial” might still presumed overlyentitled bunch Oh well still never want sell short Let’s face — used write blog small business virtually nobody going read peanut day get nearly 150000 read month writing whatever mind make ever Ahem Knock wood It’s helluva lot satisfying ask lot u settled shitty date shitty job people dont value effort advice Start valuing yourselfTags Entrepreneurship Culture Social Media Freelancing Writing |
2,586 | Hand Stimming Can Be a Life Saver | Misunderstanding
My suspicion is that most people find stimming disruptive because they are very forcefully ignoring, neglecting, and repressing their own intense cravings to stim.
I am not saying people are consciously choosing to neglect, but that we’ve been socially trained in the direction of bypassing this common need.
The body being is so sensitive by nature, in all people, that a lack of physical stimming means less energetic flow through the system. Makes sense, right?
Less energetic flow means more stagnancy. Stagnancy equates to stress. Stagnancy equates to blockages in the circuitry of our body being system where stress starts to pile up and go moldy — causing disorder and disease.
I want to suggest that repressing stimming is actually disruptive behavior.
Some people work out once a day or once a week and feel that’s what they need. Awesome. As a super-sensitive person, I am pretty acutely aware of the external stimulation my body being is continuously absorbing through the day, and so stimming throughout the day feels like my genuine need.
If I allow myself an active practice, I can keep my energy flowing in a healthful fluidity with small but very regular doses of “stimming” behavior. | https://medium.com/psychologically/why-so-much-hand-stimming-dc6d29c2359c | ['Kelsey Jean Marie'] | 2020-11-10 10:47:25.970000+00:00 | ['Mental Health', 'Advice', 'Autism', 'Life Lessons', 'Psychology'] | Title Hand Stimming Life SaverContent Misunderstanding suspicion people find stimming disruptive forcefully ignoring neglecting repressing intense craving stim saying people consciously choosing neglect we’ve socially trained direction bypassing common need body sensitive nature people lack physical stimming mean le energetic flow system Makes sense right Less energetic flow mean stagnancy Stagnancy equates stress Stagnancy equates blockage circuitry body system stress start pile go moldy — causing disorder disease want suggest repressing stimming actually disruptive behavior people work day week feel that’s need Awesome supersensitive person pretty acutely aware external stimulation body continuously absorbing day stimming throughout day feel like genuine need allow active practice keep energy flowing healthful fluidity small regular dos “stimming” behaviorTags Mental Health Advice Autism Life Lessons Psychology |
2,587 | Why Excellence has Lost its Meaning. And How to Fix It. | “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected,” Steve Jobs advised on the importance of maintaining high standards. And yet, these words — excellence and quality — have become so relentlessly overused and misapplied that they’ve largely become meaningless. With every company that promises a commitment to quality while selling marginal products, the notion of excellence becomes diluted. With every organization that claims to prioritize excellence, yet rewards employees for contrasting behaviors, we further distance these words from their meanings and the ideals that they represent.
If you look on the Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) Company website, it’ll say that quality and safety are top priorities. They promise that every one of their employees is guided by their Company pledge:
I always put safety first.
I look for and act to resolve unsafe situations.
I help and encourage others to act safely.
Which all sounds good. And for a company of over 20,000 employees that services millions of electrical and natural gas customers, it’s a critical pursuit.
Except for the fact that PG&E was recently accused of neglecting it’s aging power line and tower infrastructure — the result of which caused a deadly fire that destroyed the town of Paradise and killed 85 people.
Further reviews showed that this wasn’t a one-time aberration. In a 2017 internal presentation, the company identified that while the mean life expectancy of their transmission towards is 65 years, the average age of their towers in the field is 68 years, with the oldest having been up for more than a century. Overall, the company seemed content to address those repairs that it considered to be highest risk, while adopting a business model of responding to failures.
But…the safety pledge. How could this happen when the website is so clear? How could something like this happen when the company clearly values safety and quality so much?
I suppose that putting some buzzwords and promises on a website doesn’t make it a reality.
It’s relatively easy to put some claims on a website. And it doesn’t take much to throw some motivational posters on the wall or have senior management give some rousing speeches. Yet none of this leads to a culture of excellence. As Ed Catmull wrote,
“To ensure quality then, excellence must be an earned word, attributed by others to us, not proclaimed by us about ourselves. It is the responsibility of good leaders to make sure that words remain attached to the meanings and ideals they represent.”
The question then becomes, for others to attribute these words to us, what would we want them to see? If our company truly embraced a commitment to excellence, how would that show itself?
And based on my experience, the answer comes down to four main methods.
There’s No Gap between Leadership Words and Behaviors
“I wouldn’t ask anyone to do anything I wouldn’t do myself.” — Indra Nooyi
In 1982, seven people died from poisoned Tylenol in the Chicago area. Very quickly in the investigation, it became apparent that the cyanide-laced bottles were not a result of sabotage in production or supply chain, instead caused by someone tampering with the bottles following delivery to the individual stores.
It’s difficult to imagine not having tamper-proof bottles for medicine, but apparently in 1982 it was fairly easy to simply open up a bottle, add some cyanide tablets, and put it back on the shelf.
Johnson & Johnson faced a crisis. They owned 35% of the market and Tylenol was their most profitable product. The tampered products were not a result of company malpractice — relieving the organization of liability. Should they recall all products to ensure the safety of their customers? Was their first duty to use some of those funds to console the affected families? Or should they protect their shareholders and focus on a public relations campaign?
Fortunately, Johnson & Johnson has a Credo: a code originally written in 1943 by chairman Robert Wood Johnson that is literally carved in stone at the company’s headquarters. It begins with the promise that first priority will always be to customers:
“We believe our first responsibility is to the patients, doctors and nurses, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services. In meeting their needs everything we do must be of high quality.”
Johnson & Johnson quickly performed a nationwide recall of Tylenol, estimated to cost $100 million. And while at the time of the scare, the company’s market share collapsed to 8%, it rebounded within a year — a feat credited to the company’s prompt response and demonstrated commitment to quality.
It’s easy to embrace quality and excellence when everything is going well. But it’s in times of adversity that our true motives become apparent.
Johnson & Johnson’s management had a choice — $100 million or the safety of their customers. They chose to be true to their credo — and demonstrate that the company will stand behind their priorities even in the face of tremendous adversity.
In order to instill a vision and values throughout an organization, leaders must communicate it consistently and effectively. But that’s not enough. Leaders also need to live the vision. They need to consistently demonstrate the values every day — regardless of the situation. When leaders fail to do this — when there’s a gap between what they say and what they do — people quickly become disillusioned over the true priorities of the organization. In the wise words of Norman Vincent Peale,
“Nothing is more confusing than people who give good advice but set a bad example.”
Good leaders realize that with every action they take, they are setting an example for others. With each decision, they’re either reinforcing a vision of excellence or detracting from it. To develop a culture of quality and excellence, there cannot be a gap between what leaders say and what they do. As the old saying goes,
“Followers may doubt what their leaders say, but they usually believe what they do.”
Every Employee Feels Responsible for Excellence
“Responsibility equals accountability equals ownership. And a sense of ownership is the most powerful weapon a team or organization can have.” — Pat Summitt
In the Netherlands, home care nursing practices were algorithmically standardized and prescribed down to the minute. It was a very efficient method of scheduling nurses based on availability and expected need. And the nurses hated it.
So one of them, Jos de Blok, proposed a new method. He suggested that since it’s nearly impossible to predict the exact treatment that each patient will need, they should try just letting the nurses decide.
As a result, Jos found that patients got better in half the time and costs fell by 30%. As Jos described these results to Margaret Heffernan, he said, “Well, I had no idea it could be so easy to find such a huge improvement, because this isn’t the kind of thing you can know or predict sitting at a desk or staring at a computer screen.” And indeed, this method of pushing decision-making down to the individual nurses has now expanded across the Netherlands and around the world.
In Linchpin, Seth Godin cites the words of General Charles Krulak, who theorized that in an age of constant accessibility, the corporal and soldiers in the field would have more leverage than ever before. In Krulak’s words,
“In many cases, the individual Marine will be the most conspicuous symbol of American foreign policy and will potentially influence not only the immediate tactical situation, but the operational and strategic levels as well.”
The future of our organizations will be in the hands of the people in the field, not the generals back home.
Quality and excellence can only be achieved by the people who actually perform the work. And in order to do this, management needs to give them the freedom to make the right decisions.
In too many companies, we try to proceduralize performance. Management develops step-by-step procedures to ensure that people do their job right, every time.
But preventing errors and demanding compliance are very different than pursuing excellence. For one, there’s something inherently wrong with the business model of hiring bright people, training them extensively, and then telling them that the most important thing is to follow a procedure.
But more importantly, the more that management tries to think for our employees, the less we teach people to think for themselves. And what organization can achieve excellence when only 5% of their people are committed to thinking independently and looking for new opportunities to add value?
One of the defining traits of a company that’s committed to excellence is that employees are free to apply judgment and do what’s right — especially in situations that fall outside the rules.
People need guidelines and training to help them act responsibly. And they need clarity on the company’s vision to act in its best interest. But once these areas are covered, we typically get the best results when decisions are made by those closest to the work.
For people to drive excellence in an organization, they need to own the result. They need to take pride in the fruits of their labor. And it’s much easier to own the result when people can influence the outcome. As Captain L. David Marquet wrote in Turn the Ship Around!,
“The first step in changing the genetic code of any organization or system is delegating control, or decision-making authority, as much as is comfortable, and then adding a pinch more.”
Standards of Excellence are Applied Consciously and Consistently
“Excellence is in the next five minutes, or nothing at all.” — Tom Peters, Tribe of Mentors
When Bill Walsh took over the San Francisco 49ers in 1979, they were a dismal 2–14, and the worst team in the NFL. Three years later, they won the Super Bowl.
Despite a miraculous transformation, there was no miracle epiphany. There was no one major change that led to this turnaround. It was the compilation of thousands of seemingly minor changes.
Walsh implemented Standards of Performance. He instilled discipline and excellence into every moment. Plays were graded down to the inch. Players could not sit down on the practice field. Sportsmanship, cleanliness, and teamwork were primary focuses. As Ryan Holiday describes in Ego is the Enemy,
“These seemingly simple but exacting standards mattered more than some grand vision or power trip. In his eyes, if the players take care of the details, ‘the score takes care of itself.’ The winning would happen.”
Most of us consider excellence as some future goal. Something that we aspire to achieve some day. But excellence isn’t an outcome. It’s a process.
Imagine your standards as a physical bar. You set it at a certain height and that’s the level of expectation for both your performance and that of others.
But the bar is rarely fixed. Each action brings the potential to either raise it or lower it. Each choice can either raise or lower those standards for the next time.
Sometimes lowering our standards is necessary. Occasionally we need to lower the bar to meet a conflicting trade-off. But while it may be unavoidable, it should never be unintentional.
Because unless it’s recognized as an intentional departure, it’s unlikely that it’ll ever be corrected in the future.
Most companies that fall into quality issues don’t get there in one large jump. It happens in many small decisions that begin to compound. It happens when each time the bar drops, it normalizes at that new level.
When behaviors happen that lower your standards, are they corrected or allowed to continue for next time?
If people make commitments, even for seemingly trivial requests, do they follow through? Before an employee requests someone’s help, did they at least try to figure it out on their own? Can you see quality and professionalism in everything that people develop, even internal emails?
Is punctuality or tardiness the norm for meetings? Are meetings structured and useful or pointless wastes of peoples’ time? When people disagree on a topic, is there a healthy debate or unprofessional squabbling?
While meeting punctuality and email professionalism may seem like minor issues, they’re frequently indicative of much greater problems within an organization. If the bar has been lowered for these items, what else has it been lowered for?
We’re either holding up our standards or starting to fall below them. As the great historian Will Durant wrote in his 1926 tome, The Story of Philosophy (and frequently misquoted to Aristotle),
“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation: we not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather have these because we have acted rightly; these virtues are formed in man by doing his actions; we are we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
Measurements Incentivize the Right Behavior
“What gets measured gets managed,” wrote Peter Drucker in his 1954 book, The Practice of Management. And while he’s right, as he so often is, many companies have ignored Drucker’s concept and turned this into the false corollary of “What can’t be measured isn’t worth managing.”
Which is a problem. Because many of the things that are easy to measure aren’t indicative of a culture of excellence.
It’s easy to measure clicks and attention. It’s much more difficult to measure work that has a meaningful impact.
It’s easy to measure the size of someone’s social network. It’s more difficult to measure the depth of a relationship.
Chargeable hours, throughput quantity, quarterly ROI, and minimum specification requirements are all easy things to measure.
But none of them drive a culture that’s built on excellence.
Worse, prioritizing these areas can incentivize people to sacrifice quality in pursuit of superficial metrics.
If you’re focused on minimizing impact to this week’s schedule, you’re less likely to test a long-term process improvement.
If you’re going to be rewarded for how many problems you solve, you’re not incentivized to keep your projects running smoothly in the first place.
And if you’re solely measured on meeting your individual performance goals, there’s little reason to help out your neighbor or invest time in coaching and developing others.
The best indicator of how people will perform is what they’re incentivized to do. And unless incentives align the interests of individuals to the interests of the group as a whole, they’re working against the company’s performance.
What behaviors truly matter to your organization? Are your measurements incentivizing people towards those behaviors or away from them?
When we only focus on what’s easy to measure, we drive focus away from the areas that are not. Which is just about everything that matters most.
Build a Culture of Excellence
“Excellence is doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.” — John W. Gardner
When we consider why people act the way that they do, we tend to look at their personality. We look at their individual values and principles and concoct a story that explains their behaviors.
Yet this often ignores the impact of situational pressures. While people will be driven by their own intrinsic values, they’re also heavily driven by their surrounding environment — for better or worse.
I firmly believe that the large majority of people show up at work each day looking to do great work and make a positive impact. It’s then up to management to make sure that they have an environment to be successful.
Many companies have recently come out with empowerment initiatives — programs designed to encourage people to take ownership and perform high quality work. Yet I can’t help but wonder if the only reason that these companies need to empower people is because they’ve previously disempowered them.
Put another way, how would you feel if someone told you that they were going to empower you?
The good news is that if I’m right, and most people want to deliver excellent work, the act of encouraging it is less about motivating people and more about avoiding behaviors that will demotivate them.
Make sure leadership consistently demonstrates the company vision. Drive ownership and decision-making to the working level. Apply standards of excellence consistently and consciously. And make sure that measurements and incentives reinforce the right behaviors.
None of that is complicated. But it does require intent. It requires hard choices.
And most importantly, it requires that we stop thinking of excellence as a consequence and start seeing it as a prerequisite. It requires that we make quality a mindset that influences every alternative that we consider before any decision or any action. Until it becomes a defining characteristic of everything that we do.
Thanks, as always, for reading. This is by no means an all-encompassing list, so if you have other suggestions, please feel free to chime in and start a conversation. Cheers! | https://jswilder16.medium.com/why-excellence-has-lost-its-meaning-and-how-to-fix-it-710a63e81233 | ['Jake Wilder'] | 2019-08-17 14:06:20.629000+00:00 | ['Management', 'Leadership', 'Productivity', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Self Improvement'] | Title Excellence Lost Meaning Fix ItContent “Be yardstick quality people aren’t used environment excellence expected” Steve Jobs advised importance maintaining high standard yet word — excellence quality — become relentlessly overused misapplied they’ve largely become meaningless every company promise commitment quality selling marginal product notion excellence becomes diluted every organization claim prioritize excellence yet reward employee contrasting behavior distance word meaning ideal represent look Pacific Gas Electric PGE Company website it’ll say quality safety top priority promise every one employee guided Company pledge always put safety first look act resolve unsafe situation help encourage others act safely sound good company 20000 employee service million electrical natural gas customer it’s critical pursuit Except fact PGE recently accused neglecting it’s aging power line tower infrastructure — result caused deadly fire destroyed town Paradise killed 85 people review showed wasn’t onetime aberration 2017 internal presentation company identified mean life expectancy transmission towards 65 year average age tower field 68 year oldest century Overall company seemed content address repair considered highest risk adopting business model responding failure But…the safety pledge could happen website clear could something like happen company clearly value safety quality much suppose putting buzzword promise website doesn’t make reality It’s relatively easy put claim website doesn’t take much throw motivational poster wall senior management give rousing speech Yet none lead culture excellence Ed Catmull wrote “To ensure quality excellence must earned word attributed others u proclaimed u responsibility good leader make sure word remain attached meaning ideal represent” question becomes others attribute word u would want see company truly embraced commitment excellence would show based experience answer come four main method There’s Gap Leadership Words Behaviors “I wouldn’t ask anyone anything wouldn’t myself” — Indra Nooyi 1982 seven people died poisoned Tylenol Chicago area quickly investigation became apparent cyanidelaced bottle result sabotage production supply chain instead caused someone tampering bottle following delivery individual store It’s difficult imagine tamperproof bottle medicine apparently 1982 fairly easy simply open bottle add cyanide tablet put back shelf Johnson Johnson faced crisis owned 35 market Tylenol profitable product tampered product result company malpractice — relieving organization liability recall product ensure safety customer first duty use fund console affected family protect shareholder focus public relation campaign Fortunately Johnson Johnson Credo code originally written 1943 chairman Robert Wood Johnson literally carved stone company’s headquarters begin promise first priority always customer “We believe first responsibility patient doctor nurse mother father others use product service meeting need everything must high quality” Johnson Johnson quickly performed nationwide recall Tylenol estimated cost 100 million time scare company’s market share collapsed 8 rebounded within year — feat credited company’s prompt response demonstrated commitment quality It’s easy embrace quality excellence everything going well it’s time adversity true motif become apparent Johnson Johnson’s management choice — 100 million safety customer chose true credo — demonstrate company stand behind priority even face tremendous adversity order instill vision value throughout organization leader must communicate consistently effectively that’s enough Leaders also need live vision need consistently demonstrate value every day — regardless situation leader fail — there’s gap say — people quickly become disillusioned true priority organization wise word Norman Vincent Peale “Nothing confusing people give good advice set bad example” Good leader realize every action take setting example others decision they’re either reinforcing vision excellence detracting develop culture quality excellence cannot gap leader say old saying go “Followers may doubt leader say usually believe do” Every Employee Feels Responsible Excellence “Responsibility equal accountability equal ownership sense ownership powerful weapon team organization have” — Pat Summitt Netherlands home care nursing practice algorithmically standardized prescribed minute efficient method scheduling nurse based availability expected need nurse hated one Jos de Blok proposed new method suggested since it’s nearly impossible predict exact treatment patient need try letting nurse decide result Jos found patient got better half time cost fell 30 Jos described result Margaret Heffernan said “Well idea could easy find huge improvement isn’t kind thing know predict sitting desk staring computer screen” indeed method pushing decisionmaking individual nurse expanded across Netherlands around world Linchpin Seth Godin cite word General Charles Krulak theorized age constant accessibility corporal soldier field would leverage ever Krulak’s word “In many case individual Marine conspicuous symbol American foreign policy potentially influence immediate tactical situation operational strategic level well” future organization hand people field general back home Quality excellence achieved people actually perform work order management need give freedom make right decision many company try proceduralize performance Management develops stepbystep procedure ensure people job right every time preventing error demanding compliance different pursuing excellence one there’s something inherently wrong business model hiring bright people training extensively telling important thing follow procedure importantly management try think employee le teach people think organization achieve excellence 5 people committed thinking independently looking new opportunity add value One defining trait company that’s committed excellence employee free apply judgment what’s right — especially situation fall outside rule People need guideline training help act responsibly need clarity company’s vision act best interest area covered typically get best result decision made closest work people drive excellence organization need result need take pride fruit labor it’s much easier result people influence outcome Captain L David Marquet wrote Turn Ship Around “The first step changing genetic code organization system delegating control decisionmaking authority much comfortable adding pinch more” Standards Excellence Applied Consciously Consistently “Excellence next five minute nothing all” — Tom Peters Tribe Mentors Bill Walsh took San Francisco 49ers 1979 dismal 2–14 worst team NFL Three year later Super Bowl Despite miraculous transformation miracle epiphany one major change led turnaround compilation thousand seemingly minor change Walsh implemented Standards Performance instilled discipline excellence every moment Plays graded inch Players could sit practice field Sportsmanship cleanliness teamwork primary focus Ryan Holiday describes Ego Enemy “These seemingly simple exacting standard mattered grand vision power trip eye player take care detail ‘the score take care itself’ winning would happen” u consider excellence future goal Something aspire achieve day excellence isn’t outcome It’s process Imagine standard physical bar set certain height that’s level expectation performance others bar rarely fixed action brings potential either raise lower choice either raise lower standard next time Sometimes lowering standard necessary Occasionally need lower bar meet conflicting tradeoff may unavoidable never unintentional unless it’s recognized intentional departure it’s unlikely it’ll ever corrected future company fall quality issue don’t get one large jump happens many small decision begin compound happens time bar drop normalizes new level behavior happen lower standard corrected allowed continue next time people make commitment even seemingly trivial request follow employee request someone’s help least try figure see quality professionalism everything people develop even internal email punctuality tardiness norm meeting meeting structured useful pointless waste peoples’ time people disagree topic healthy debate unprofessional squabbling meeting punctuality email professionalism may seem like minor issue they’re frequently indicative much greater problem within organization bar lowered item else lowered We’re either holding standard starting fall great historian Durant wrote 1926 tome Story Philosophy frequently misquoted Aristotle “Excellence art training habituation act rightly virtue excellence rather acted rightly virtue formed man action repeatedly Excellence act habit” Measurements Incentivize Right Behavior “What get measured get managed” wrote Peter Drucker 1954 book Practice Management he’s right often many company ignored Drucker’s concept turned false corollary “What can’t measured isn’t worth managing” problem many thing easy measure aren’t indicative culture excellence It’s easy measure click attention It’s much difficult measure work meaningful impact It’s easy measure size someone’s social network It’s difficult measure depth relationship Chargeable hour throughput quantity quarterly ROI minimum specification requirement easy thing measure none drive culture that’s built excellence Worse prioritizing area incentivize people sacrifice quality pursuit superficial metric you’re focused minimizing impact week’s schedule you’re le likely test longterm process improvement you’re going rewarded many problem solve you’re incentivized keep project running smoothly first place you’re solely measured meeting individual performance goal there’s little reason help neighbor invest time coaching developing others best indicator people perform they’re incentivized unless incentive align interest individual interest group whole they’re working company’s performance behavior truly matter organization measurement incentivizing people towards behavior away focus what’s easy measure drive focus away area everything matter Build Culture Excellence “Excellence ordinary thing extraordinarily well” — John W Gardner consider people act way tend look personality look individual value principle concoct story explains behavior Yet often ignores impact situational pressure people driven intrinsic value they’re also heavily driven surrounding environment — better worse firmly believe large majority people show work day looking great work make positive impact It’s management make sure environment successful Many company recently come empowerment initiative — program designed encourage people take ownership perform high quality work Yet can’t help wonder reason company need empower people they’ve previously disempowered Put another way would feel someone told going empower good news I’m right people want deliver excellent work act encouraging le motivating people avoiding behavior demotivate Make sure leadership consistently demonstrates company vision Drive ownership decisionmaking working level Apply standard excellence consistently consciously make sure measurement incentive reinforce right behavior None complicated require intent requires hard choice importantly requires stop thinking excellence consequence start seeing prerequisite requires make quality mindset influence every alternative consider decision action becomes defining characteristic everything Thanks always reading mean allencompassing list suggestion please feel free chime start conversation CheersTags Management Leadership Productivity Entrepreneurship Self Improvement |
2,588 | Peak Performance for Anxiety Sufferers | Research shows our worries aren’t as well-founded as we often think.
Beyond my anxiety, beyond this writing, the universe waits, inexhaustible, inviting.
Jorge Luis Borges, A Personal Anthology
People diagnosed with anxiety disorders are often concerned that they aren’t doing as well as they should be doing. This can be true for people with Social Anxiety Disorder, who fear and often come to believe that other people are judging them harshly, laughing at them, or otherwise finding them worse than worst, for people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, who chronically ruminate, nagging at themselves day in and day out, and often experiencing physical symptoms such as muscle tension, headaches, and nervousness, and for people with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, who are bound to compulsive behaviors and obsessional thoughts which can take over in the form of time-consuming rituals and routines, strong superstitions, and considerable sadness and frustration.
Can You See the Real You?
Given that anxiety disorders, like other psychiatric conditions including depression and post- traumatic stress, change the way we perceive ourselves and others-distorting our sense of reality-are those of us who struggle with anxiety disorders really as bad as we think we are? How much do anxiety disorders change the way we function, and is it always negative? Here’s a place where self-doubt can be healthy -learning to be skeptical of self-defeating thoughts and critique entrenched negative self-representations.
As the psychiatrist and founder of Interpersonal Psychoanalysis Harry Stack Sullivan noted, people can be seen as having three basic kinds of self-identifications, or “personifications”: Good Me, Bad Me and Not Me. If we have a pretty good sense of self, we are usually in tune with the Good Me versions of or variations on ourselves. Greater anxiety biases us for Bad Me, a seductive place where the risk of failure seems more tolerable because we are pre-judged as lacking. Let’s not talk about Not Me, where the existence of whatever it is about ourselves is too troubling to even entertain, kind of like Jung’s idea of The Shadow, the Dark Night of the Soul.
How to Separate Truth from Reality
Two recent studies offer optimistic finding for people learning to live with anxiety, recognizing when anxiety is useful and informative, and when anxiety tries to tell us things about ourselves and others which simply are not true. In psychoanalysis, the term “transference” is used to name distortions which cause us to read things into other people which are not there, traditionally a form of identification. A therapist reminds me of my father, and then when the therapist does something my father used to do, I jump to an emotional conclusion that it was for the same reason as my father.
Our brains process social information as well as self-referential information. The information pathways for these different categories of information overlaps, because we are inherently social. Personal information is mediated by the social context, and how people act toward us can influence how we see ourselves.
In a way, this is similar to the Freudian notion of transference, a kind of noise which makes interpretation of social information in driving self-assessment sometimes ambiguous. Anxiety past a certain threshold, anxiety which begins to affect executive function in the frontal cortex, throws off correction of distorted ideas sometimes making it seem as if our worst fears were coming true.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder and OCD: Perception versus Performance
In the first study, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Yale University compared healthy controls with patients diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. They wanted to look at how people with clinically-significant anxiety might different both in terms of actual and perceived performance. Would people with an anxiety disorder see themselves as less-than, and would this be reflected in how they actually did on tasks? Would anxiety convey any advantages?
Researchers looked at anxiety through the lens of what psychologists have named Dual Mechanism Control Theory, a psychologically- and neuroscientifically-based approach to understanding how two different decision-making systems ideally work together to determine behavior, or clash and cause dysfunction. Dual Mechanism Control Theory focuses on two contrasting features of brain function: proactive control and reactive control.
According to study authors, “Proactive control is a form of early selection (i.e., filtering out irrelevant information at earlier stages of processing) and involves the effortful and active maintenance of task goals over time. By contrast, reactive control is a late-stage correction mechanism that is mobilized only after a conflict or other triggering stimulus is detected.”
Proactive control requires long-term thinking, planning, intentionally, allocation of future resources in a thoughtful way, developing contingency plans to be responsive to unexpected events, and so on. Reactive control is in place to fix issues which come up when proactive elements run out of options. When foresight runs out of contingency plans, reactive systems are ready, willing and variably able. Variably able because, as we know, reactive behavior doesn’t always fit the situation at hand, especially when we have been pre-conditioned to expect people and the world to be different from how they really are.
Participants in the study were evaluated using standard diagnostic interview tools and several clinical research-standard scales for anxiety, stress, worry, depression, OCD and related conditions, and the Attentional Control Scale (a self-report assessment of how well a person can direct their attention), They took tests measuring actual performance on tasks requiring cognitive control, using the AX-Continuous Performance Task, to look at proactive and reactive strategies for deciding how to deal with a challenging situation involving split-second decisions about whether or not to press the right key depending on how changing sequences of letters are presented on a computer screen. Finally, participants’ Task Effort was estimated by looking at how often they selected more draining proactive control strategies over those who chose the path-of-least-resistance reactive strategies by looking at which AX-Continuous Performance Task sequences they favored (some being more proactively and other more reactively biased decisions).
And here’s the first piece of good news. Even though the average person in the anxiety disorder group saw themselves as performing more poorly, on actual performances measures they were as good as the control group. They felt like they weren’t able to pay attention, but they actually focused well. The anxiety disorder group even showed a tendency to perform faster and with greater effort than the healthy control group on proactive tasks. Clinical participants tried harder than healthy controls overall, while the healthy controls made a greater effort in association with less worry.
Be Chill
In the second study, researchers from the University of Greenwich, London wanted to find out if higher levels of social anxiety would impair social performance in actual social situations. They recruited people for the study and had them participate in two different socially-demanding tasks. In the first, they had three minutes to put together a speech about either it being OK to lie, or arguing that any crime can be justified. They then delivered the speech to a few other people, who they thought were other study participants but were actual secret-agent researchers rating their performance. In the second task, participants had to meet someone new (again, an undercover researcher), and get to know they as much as possible during a three minute conversation. Public speaking and meeting someone new, both situations which can be challenging and even seem impossible when social anxiety is high.
Participants completed a self-assessment Social Phobia scale, their baseline level of anxiety and anxiety during the task was measured, and how well they did socially was evaluated using the Social Performance Rating Scale, looking at five elements: Gaze-quality of eye contact?; Vocal Quality-the sense of clarity and connection conveyed in tone and manner of speech; Length-how much the mumbled and droned on; Discomfort-how much looked physically out-of-sorts, fidgeting or looking stiff, etc.; and Flow-how well they spoke and included what the other person was saying into the conversation.
The second piece of good news is that people with higher levels of social anxiety were good when it came to communication-the spoke smoothly, free to hold good conversation. They looked more nervous to observers but did fine in the interaction. Don’t pay too much attention if you feel physical anxiety, perhaps mentally tag it as a symptom but then move on-even if your body feels off or your voice shakes a bit. It may be helpful to remind and reassure oneself that it isn’t as bad as anxiety leads us to believe, with research to back it up. For others, however, even “knowing” that it isn’t as bad as we think has little impact. The emotional reality trumps what we know to be objectively (so to speak) true.
Anxiety, friend or foe?
Listening to anxiety is a tricky business. Threat, fear and stress-responses serve important functions for us, changing the way the brain works to better match a more challenging environment. Anxiety helps direct attention and prepare the brain and body for dealing with a potentially tough situation. Stress responses prepare us for action, shunting resources away from non-essential function. Anxiety can motivate us, making us aware of a problem which needs to be addressed. How do we know when to obey anxiety and steer clear of something, or make note of anxiety’s alarm and move forward into the anxiety-provoking situation?
There’s an unclear tipping point after which adaptive moderate anxiety levels trail off, and higher anxiety levels start to cause distortions. Anxiety can tell us that the environment is more challenging than it actually is, magnifying the sense of worry about negative outcomes and causing us to doubt our competence. This defensive response can protect against the emotional risk of failure, while also making it more likely one will fail by undermining our sense of self-efficacy and making us feel like we can do it.
The present research shows that when people do persevere in the face of anxiety, we do perform as well on cognitive and social performance metrics (at least those used in these studies) as do people without clinically-significant anxiety. Knowing this is the case makes it easier to counter self-defeating inner voices, choosing “yes” over “no”, steering clear of self-fulfilling prophecy land, and moving forward with confidence. | https://granthbrennermd.medium.com/peak-performance-for-anxiety-sufferers-a294b97975f7 | ['Grant H Brenner'] | 2019-04-29 00:05:12.405000+00:00 | ['Mindfulness', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology', 'Anxiety', 'Self Improvement'] | Title Peak Performance Anxiety SufferersContent Research show worry aren’t wellfounded often think Beyond anxiety beyond writing universe wait inexhaustible inviting Jorge Luis Borges Personal Anthology People diagnosed anxiety disorder often concerned aren’t well true people Social Anxiety Disorder fear often come believe people judging harshly laughing otherwise finding worse worst people Generalized Anxiety Disorder chronically ruminate nagging day day often experiencing physical symptom muscle tension headache nervousness people ObsessiveCompulsive Disorder bound compulsive behavior obsessional thought take form timeconsuming ritual routine strong superstition considerable sadness frustration See Real Given anxiety disorder like psychiatric condition including depression post traumatic stress change way perceive othersdistorting sense realityare u struggle anxiety disorder really bad think much anxiety disorder change way function always negative Here’s place selfdoubt healthy learning skeptical selfdefeating thought critique entrenched negative selfrepresentations psychiatrist founder Interpersonal Psychoanalysis Harry Stack Sullivan noted people seen three basic kind selfidentifications “personifications” Good Bad pretty good sense self usually tune Good version variation Greater anxiety bias u Bad seductive place risk failure seems tolerable prejudged lacking Let’s talk existence whatever troubling even entertain kind like Jung’s idea Shadow Dark Night Soul Separate Truth Reality Two recent study offer optimistic finding people learning live anxiety recognizing anxiety useful informative anxiety try tell u thing others simply true psychoanalysis term “transference” used name distortion cause u read thing people traditionally form identification therapist reminds father therapist something father used jump emotional conclusion reason father brain process social information well selfreferential information information pathway different category information overlap inherently social Personal information mediated social context people act toward u influence see way similar Freudian notion transference kind noise make interpretation social information driving selfassessment sometimes ambiguous Anxiety past certain threshold anxiety begin affect executive function frontal cortex throw correction distorted idea sometimes making seem worst fear coming true Generalized Anxiety Disorder OCD Perception versus Performance first study researcher University Pittsburgh Yale University compared healthy control patient diagnosed Generalized Anxiety Disorder ObsessiveCompulsive Disorder wanted look people clinicallysignificant anxiety might different term actual perceived performance Would people anxiety disorder see lessthan would reflected actually task Would anxiety convey advantage Researchers looked anxiety lens psychologist named Dual Mechanism Control Theory psychologically neuroscientificallybased approach understanding two different decisionmaking system ideally work together determine behavior clash cause dysfunction Dual Mechanism Control Theory focus two contrasting feature brain function proactive control reactive control According study author “Proactive control form early selection ie filtering irrelevant information earlier stage processing involves effortful active maintenance task goal time contrast reactive control latestage correction mechanism mobilized conflict triggering stimulus detected” Proactive control requires longterm thinking planning intentionally allocation future resource thoughtful way developing contingency plan responsive unexpected event Reactive control place fix issue come proactive element run option foresight run contingency plan reactive system ready willing variably able Variably able know reactive behavior doesn’t always fit situation hand especially preconditioned expect people world different really Participants study evaluated using standard diagnostic interview tool several clinical researchstandard scale anxiety stress worry depression OCD related condition Attentional Control Scale selfreport assessment well person direct attention took test measuring actual performance task requiring cognitive control using AXContinuous Performance Task look proactive reactive strategy deciding deal challenging situation involving splitsecond decision whether press right key depending changing sequence letter presented computer screen Finally participants’ Task Effort estimated looking often selected draining proactive control strategy chose pathofleastresistance reactive strategy looking AXContinuous Performance Task sequence favored proactively reactively biased decision here’s first piece good news Even though average person anxiety disorder group saw performing poorly actual performance measure good control group felt like weren’t able pay attention actually focused well anxiety disorder group even showed tendency perform faster greater effort healthy control group proactive task Clinical participant tried harder healthy control overall healthy control made greater effort association le worry Chill second study researcher University Greenwich London wanted find higher level social anxiety would impair social performance actual social situation recruited people study participate two different sociallydemanding task first three minute put together speech either OK lie arguing crime justified delivered speech people thought study participant actual secretagent researcher rating performance second task participant meet someone new undercover researcher get know much possible three minute conversation Public speaking meeting someone new situation challenging even seem impossible social anxiety high Participants completed selfassessment Social Phobia scale baseline level anxiety anxiety task measured well socially evaluated using Social Performance Rating Scale looking five element Gazequality eye contact Vocal Qualitythe sense clarity connection conveyed tone manner speech Lengthhow much mumbled droned Discomforthow much looked physically outofsorts fidgeting looking stiff etc Flowhow well spoke included person saying conversation second piece good news people higher level social anxiety good came communicationthe spoke smoothly free hold good conversation looked nervous observer fine interaction Don’t pay much attention feel physical anxiety perhaps mentally tag symptom move oneven body feel voice shake bit may helpful remind reassure oneself isn’t bad anxiety lead u believe research back others however even “knowing” isn’t bad think little impact emotional reality trump know objectively speak true Anxiety friend foe Listening anxiety tricky business Threat fear stressresponses serve important function u changing way brain work better match challenging environment Anxiety help direct attention prepare brain body dealing potentially tough situation Stress response prepare u action shunting resource away nonessential function Anxiety motivate u making u aware problem need addressed know obey anxiety steer clear something make note anxiety’s alarm move forward anxietyprovoking situation There’s unclear tipping point adaptive moderate anxiety level trail higher anxiety level start cause distortion Anxiety tell u environment challenging actually magnifying sense worry negative outcome causing u doubt competence defensive response protect emotional risk failure also making likely one fail undermining sense selfefficacy making u feel like present research show people persevere face anxiety perform well cognitive social performance metric least used study people without clinicallysignificant anxiety Knowing case make easier counter selfdefeating inner voice choosing “yes” “no” steering clear selffulfilling prophecy land moving forward confidenceTags Mindfulness Mental Health Psychology Anxiety Self Improvement |
2,589 | Version Control for Jupyter Notebook | Jupyter Notebook Best Practices for Data Science by Jonathan Whitmore has been incredibly helpful and I’ve been strongly encouraging team members to adopt at least a subset of them, specifically the post-save hook and the notebook naming convention.
Post-save Hook
The idea is to automatically save a copy of the notebook in both Python script and HTML format whenever the notebook is saved.
I used to clear all output in the notebook before committing it to the version control to make change history cleaner, but that creates two problems:
If the data processing part of the notebook requires more than ten minutes to run, it would create a strong incentive for the reviewer to skip actually running the notebook, and instead just read through the code and assuming it does what it appears to do. This is assuming the trained model is serialized in some way for the reviewer to load, otherwise it may take hours to train on reviewer’s system. The distribution of the pre-trained model brings up the next problem: There’s no easy way to distributed the data and model files along with the notebook. Storing and transferring gigabytes of data isn’t that easy for data scientist, and asking data engineers to build something internally just for this may not be cost-effective. For “Big Data” scenario, you wouldn’t want to save Spark access credentials inside the notebooks (really dangerous), so you’d need to find some way to securely manage the cluster access. (There’s a new framework called Data Version Control that looks promising. But you’d need to pay fees to Google or Amazon for the cloud storage.)
All in all, the most direct way to solve these problems is to just include the outputs of the notebook in the version control. (Though I’d recommend restart the kernel and re-run the whole notebook sequentially before committing.)
Convert the notebook to a Python script and a HTML file. Use the Python script to do code diff in the review process. HTML file works best as an attachment in cross-team communication emails. (Personally I’d only add HTML files to version control only if there are active participants of the project who don’t really use Jupyter.)
The following gist is basically the direct copy from Jupyter Notebook Best Practices for Data Science. It’s tested against the latest Jupyter and put here for quick reference:
There are two ways to use the above script:
Put it at the top of ~/.jupyter/jupyter_notebook_config.py . (Run jupyter notebook --generate-config to create it if you don’t have it yet) Use export JUPYTER_CONFIG_DIR=~/.jupyter_profile2 to specify the config folder if you want different configurations for different projects. Put it in the root of the project folder (where you run jupyter notebook command) as jupyter_notebook_config.py .
There’s more!
Jupyter notebook, if used properly, can be a very high leverage tool that boosts the efficiency of team collaboration. Please check out Jupyter Notebook Best Practices for Data Science for more.
20190313 Update
There’s a new tool that enables direct Diff of Jupyter notebook on Github:
I haven’t found time to really try it yet, but I’ve heard good things about it: | https://towardsdatascience.com/version-control-for-jupyter-notebook-3e6cef13392d | ['Ceshine Lee'] | 2019-03-13 10:09:41.400000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Data Science', 'Jupyter Notebook'] | Title Version Control Jupyter NotebookContent Jupyter Notebook Best Practices Data Science Jonathan Whitmore incredibly helpful I’ve strongly encouraging team member adopt least subset specifically postsave hook notebook naming convention Postsave Hook idea automatically save copy notebook Python script HTML format whenever notebook saved used clear output notebook committing version control make change history cleaner creates two problem data processing part notebook requires ten minute run would create strong incentive reviewer skip actually running notebook instead read code assuming appears assuming trained model serialized way reviewer load otherwise may take hour train reviewer’s system distribution pretrained model brings next problem There’s easy way distributed data model file along notebook Storing transferring gigabyte data isn’t easy data scientist asking data engineer build something internally may costeffective “Big Data” scenario wouldn’t want save Spark access credential inside notebook really dangerous you’d need find way securely manage cluster access There’s new framework called Data Version Control look promising you’d need pay fee Google Amazon cloud storage direct way solve problem include output notebook version control Though I’d recommend restart kernel rerun whole notebook sequentially committing Convert notebook Python script HTML file Use Python script code diff review process HTML file work best attachment crossteam communication email Personally I’d add HTML file version control active participant project don’t really use Jupyter following gist basically direct copy Jupyter Notebook Best Practices Data Science It’s tested latest Jupyter put quick reference two way use script Put top jupyterjupyternotebookconfigpy Run jupyter notebook generateconfig create don’t yet Use export JUPYTERCONFIGDIRjupyterprofile2 specify config folder want different configuration different project Put root project folder run jupyter notebook command jupyternotebookconfigpy There’s Jupyter notebook used properly high leverage tool boost efficiency team collaboration Please check Jupyter Notebook Best Practices Data Science 20190313 Update There’s new tool enables direct Diff Jupyter notebook Github haven’t found time really try yet I’ve heard good thing itTags Python Data Science Jupyter Notebook |
2,590 | I Published over 150 Stories on Medium — Here’s What I Learned | If you’re new to Medium; write, a lot.
As I said, I’ve managed to push out around 2–3 articles per day since September. However, I took a break these last few weeks, where I noticed something utterly heartbreaking.
I’d normally average around a few hundred views per day. Yet, I almost dwindled to a measly 5–10 views per day without publishing anything new over the last few weeks. Heartbreaking.
Daily Views/ October
Daily Views/ November
As you can see, due to my lack of writing — even with over 80 curated articles — my daily views started to dwindle.
Last week, I committed to getting back into the habit of publishing at least 1–2 articles per day, and you know what? Immediately, my daily views rebounded back to an average of 200–300 views per day.
Now, to many of you, it may not seem like much, but the point is there to prove. Your old posts will get lost in a sea of desperate writers.
To make it on Medium, you have to write consistently — at least in the beginning. Maybe, one day, when I have thousands of followers, then I’ll be able to relax — slow down. Until then, I make it a habit to write a lot. | https://medium.com/swlh/i-published-over-150-stories-on-medium-heres-what-i-learned-5920a6bbbb36 | ['Jazz Parks'] | 2020-11-27 09:47:29.781000+00:00 | ['Self', 'Life Lessons', 'Blog', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Writing'] | Title Published 150 Stories Medium — Here’s LearnedContent you’re new Medium write lot said I’ve managed push around 2–3 article per day since September However took break last week noticed something utterly heartbreaking I’d normally average around hundred view per day Yet almost dwindled measly 5–10 view per day without publishing anything new last week Heartbreaking Daily Views October Daily Views November see due lack writing — even 80 curated article — daily view started dwindle Last week committed getting back habit publishing least 1–2 article per day know Immediately daily view rebounded back average 200–300 view per day many may seem like much point prove old post get lost sea desperate writer make Medium write consistently — least beginning Maybe one day thousand follower I’ll able relax — slow make habit write lotTags Self Life Lessons Blog Entrepreneurship Writing |
2,591 | Here’s a short-form post about my experiment with short-form posts. I’ll keep this one short. | Here’s a short-form post about my experiment with short-form posts. I’ll keep this one short.
Real. Short.
If you want to know the results of my little experiment, here you go: | https://medium.com/the-book-mechanic/heres-a-short-form-post-about-my-experiment-with-short-form-posts-i-ll-keep-this-one-short-c2bea750f329 | ['August Birch'] | 2020-12-16 16:08:55.242000+00:00 | ['Medim', 'Marketing', 'Money', 'Life Lessons', 'Writing'] | Title Here’s shortform post experiment shortform post I’ll keep one shortContent Here’s shortform post experiment shortform post I’ll keep one short Real Short want know result little experiment goTags Medim Marketing Money Life Lessons Writing |
2,592 | The Resilient Postdoc: How to be ok in an uncertain career. | The resilient postdoc
In case the time I have invested in wrestling this might return some interest for postgrad students and postdocs with the same worries, here’s some unsolicited advice on building resilience in the face of postdoc career anxiety.
Where are the exits? The most important and productive thing to do is prepare yourself for an exit before you need it. I have a whole post on this in the works. So for now, lie down on this couch and lets talk about our feelings.
Is your job your identity? This is both an asset and a liability. Academic careers reward those who let career conform the shape of their lives. Surrender to it and your platter of opportunities broadens. But hitching your identity to a job also makes you vulnerable when things aren’t working out at work. Finding meaning outside of work is a healthy strategy for taking pressure off career as a means to fulfillment. Think of it like an investment portfolio, spreading risk and associated reward. If your relationships, family, pets, hobbies, community work etc are thriving and fulfilling, you’ll be buffered against career anxiety.
Another sensible strategy is re-framing your identity around skills, rather than a role. The talents and skills you hone are more a part of you than the job title, however society more often places prestige on the title, not the skills.
Thinking about what else you could or should be doing is totally normal. Everyone is doing it, all the time. Most postdocs I talk to, many lecturers, most people in most jobs. I don’t know if this cognitive bias has a name, but it probably should. There’s no harm in occasionally fantasizing about the vineyard/cafe/photography/alpaca business you could go and open, but you’re probably falling victim to the focusing effect (see below).
Exiting academia won’t be your last move. There’s only so much momentum a publication record gives you to exit, re-enter and remain competitive. This increases the stakes on the decision to leave or not. However your first move out of academia need not be immune to revision. Release yourself from the pressure of finding the perfect job straight out of research. Trying new things is the only way to settle on what works for you, and in many ways researchers have been conditioned to avoid swapping and changing, because singular focus and narrow expertise is rewarded in academia.
Beware the grass-is-greener. Focusing on contract impermanence might lead you to think that other jobs with ongoing status are more desirable than they really are. This is the focusing effect, where we compare complex things along only one or two axes of variation. Plenty of people with ongoing jobs are unhappy and think your job looks marvelous because…
There are perks to this job. In science and academia we have the opportunity, at times, to make work a pleasure. Take advantage of that. If you’re not going to get to do this job forever, focus on the good things, don’t make it shit for yourself. Enjoy the moment.
The abyss is exciting. The end of a contract and unemployment can be seen as a career existential oubliette, or an exciting opportunity forcing your hand into taking a risk and trying some new things. Framing is powerful. Deliberately try to look at the same event from different angles.
Talking to colleagues can get tough. Don’t whinge, but never avoid communicating the facts. If you let your anxiety too often cloud your interactions with co-workers, you will find no one wants to get stuck in a conversation with you. When you need to talk, find the colleagues/mentors who you trust and can speak to in confidence, vent to family/friends, or speak to a counselor.
Stop looking sideways. People are going to get the jobs you want and missed out on. People are holding jobs you could probably do better than them. Dwelling on the number of people with your equivalent expertise who have found an ongoing role is demoralizing and unhelpful. It is also classic survivorship bias. It is easy to count the number of jobs that get filled by someone other than you, but much harder to count the number of failed job applications alongside yours.
Get off Twitter. Academics on Twitter are commonly whining or flexing, neither of which will make you feel better.
You won’t starve, life goes on. You’re a highly trained, intelligent individual with skills to offer. I cannot speak for all economies, but in Australia there are jobs everywhere for people like you. It’s also the case that for most of us, we return to baseline fairly quickly and adapt to what’s in front of us. The very worst outcome of a career change is highly unlikely to live up to the weight of anxiety the transition can create. | https://medium.com/swlh/the-resilient-postdoc-how-to-be-ok-with-uncertainty-cb9660ace549 | ['Michael Whitehead'] | 2019-09-30 12:01:39.926000+00:00 | ['Early Career Researchers', 'Mental Health', 'Careers', 'Science', 'Academia'] | Title Resilient Postdoc ok uncertain careerContent resilient postdoc case time invested wrestling might return interest postgrad student postdoc worry here’s unsolicited advice building resilience face postdoc career anxiety exit important productive thing prepare exit need whole post work lie couch let talk feeling job identity asset liability Academic career reward let career conform shape life Surrender platter opportunity broadens hitching identity job also make vulnerable thing aren’t working work Finding meaning outside work healthy strategy taking pressure career mean fulfillment Think like investment portfolio spreading risk associated reward relationship family pet hobby community work etc thriving fulfilling you’ll buffered career anxiety Another sensible strategy reframing identity around skill rather role talent skill hone part job title however society often place prestige title skill Thinking else could totally normal Everyone time postdoc talk many lecturer people job don’t know cognitive bias name probably There’s harm occasionally fantasizing vineyardcafephotographyalpaca business could go open you’re probably falling victim focusing effect see Exiting academia won’t last move There’s much momentum publication record give exit reenter remain competitive increase stake decision leave However first move academia need immune revision Release pressure finding perfect job straight research Trying new thing way settle work many way researcher conditioned avoid swapping changing singular focus narrow expertise rewarded academia Beware grassisgreener Focusing contract impermanence might lead think job ongoing status desirable really focusing effect compare complex thing along one two ax variation Plenty people ongoing job unhappy think job look marvelous because… perk job science academia opportunity time make work pleasure Take advantage you’re going get job forever focus good thing don’t make shit Enjoy moment abyss exciting end contract unemployment seen career existential oubliette exciting opportunity forcing hand taking risk trying new thing Framing powerful Deliberately try look event different angle Talking colleague get tough Don’t whinge never avoid communicating fact let anxiety often cloud interaction coworkers find one want get stuck conversation need talk find colleaguesmentors trust speak confidence vent familyfriends speak counselor Stop looking sideways People going get job want missed People holding job could probably better Dwelling number people equivalent expertise found ongoing role demoralizing unhelpful also classic survivorship bias easy count number job get filled someone much harder count number failed job application alongside Get Twitter Academics Twitter commonly whining flexing neither make feel better won’t starve life go You’re highly trained intelligent individual skill offer cannot speak economy Australia job everywhere people like It’s also case u return baseline fairly quickly adapt what’s front u worst outcome career change highly unlikely live weight anxiety transition createTags Early Career Researchers Mental Health Careers Science Academia |
2,593 | Anxiety Ruined My Sleepover — here’s how to stop it ruining yours. | Popping my head over the edge of my bed I gave my friend Missy a smile. She was laying on the mattress that we had dragged off the day bed in the living room. It was now situated on my bedroom floor, next to my bed. Mum had made it up all nice and cosy for her — white downy sheets, pink and green blankets and extra fluffy pillows.
It was the first time I had ever invited a school friend over for a sleep over. To say I was excited is an understatement. Missy was one of the most popular, most confident girls in school (keeping in mind we were 6 years old at the time). The fact that she had come to my place for a sleepover was awesome.
We had had the best afternoon, playing in the pool and the backyard. In the evening mum had ordered pizza for us and we guzzled enough Creaming Soda to keep us wired for hours. And that is where we found ourselves as mum tucked us in and shut the door behind her on the way out. Sugar happily buzzing through our veins.
We were unable to settle.
I felt so contentedly happy. As I popped my head over the edge of my bed to give Missy a smile though, the expression on her face was anything but happy. Missy, with her wavy brown hair and Bambi like brown eyes, was crying. Her bottom lip quivered uncontrollably. Eventually she sobbed out that she wanted to go home.
My 6 year old heart broke.
My friend didn’t want to stay over. I started crying. It became mayhem. Mum, hearing all the crying coming from my bedroom came running in, my dad close on her heels. As Missy cried out that she wanted her mum and her own bed, I couldn’t stop yammering that my friend wanted to leave me. Mum did what she had to do: she packed up Missy’s stuff and popped her in the car for dad to drive her home.
After Dad and Missy had left I sat with mum and asked her if Missy didn’t like me anymore. Mum explained that Missy still liked me, but she was just missing her mum too much to stay overnight. Mum explained to me that for all Missy’s confidence and pizazz for life, she had never slept over at a friend’s house before, and maybe, just maybe it had been a bit to much for her to do.
As a child I never really understood what mum was talking about. I just nodded my head, latching onto the nugget of information that Missy still wanted to be my friend. But as an adult and after experiencing my own anxiety, I can understand that Missy had had a panic attack. In fact, like Missy, you can be the most confident person in the world and in some situations still be overwhelmingly anxious.
Missy, at high school, became the most popular girl, she was an extreme example of an extrovert. Except for when it came to being away from home. This was her anxious no-go zone. Her taboo experience.
Her brick wall boundary.
Whereas me, I was and am your classic introvert. I felt anxiety speaking up in class and being the centre of attention. To much socialising turned me into Oscar the Grouch. I was that kid comfortable enough to play by themselves for hours.
Though at the same time I adored sleeping over at my friend’s places. The thought of playing with my friend’s toys (Kelly had the best Star Wars figurines, OMG!) and watching scary movies that my parent’s would never let me watch (Alex introduced me to Nightmare on Elm Street at the age of 10) was bliss.
Anxiety can never be stereotyped or boxed into specific personality traits. Anyone of us can experience it in any given situation. Even the most confident of us.
What exactly is anxiety though? | https://medium.com/swlh/anxiety-ruined-my-sleepover-heres-how-to-stop-it-ruining-yours-5646fff278e5 | ['Elizabeth Wright'] | 2020-01-17 00:26:31.313000+00:00 | ['Friendship', 'Life', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology', 'Anxiety'] | Title Anxiety Ruined Sleepover — here’s stop ruining yoursContent Popping head edge bed gave friend Missy smile laying mattress dragged day bed living room situated bedroom floor next bed Mum made nice cosy — white downy sheet pink green blanket extra fluffy pillow first time ever invited school friend sleep say excited understatement Missy one popular confident girl school keeping mind 6 year old time fact come place sleepover awesome best afternoon playing pool backyard evening mum ordered pizza u guzzled enough Creaming Soda keep u wired hour found mum tucked u shut door behind way Sugar happily buzzing vein unable settle felt contentedly happy popped head edge bed give Missy smile though expression face anything happy Missy wavy brown hair Bambi like brown eye cry bottom lip quivered uncontrollably Eventually sobbed wanted go home 6 year old heart broke friend didn’t want stay started cry became mayhem Mum hearing cry coming bedroom came running dad close heel Missy cried wanted mum bed couldn’t stop yammering friend wanted leave Mum packed Missy’s stuff popped car dad drive home Dad Missy left sat mum asked Missy didn’t like anymore Mum explained Missy still liked missing mum much stay overnight Mum explained Missy’s confidence pizazz life never slept friend’s house maybe maybe bit much child never really understood mum talking nodded head latching onto nugget information Missy still wanted friend adult experiencing anxiety understand Missy panic attack fact like Missy confident person world situation still overwhelmingly anxious Missy high school became popular girl extreme example extrovert Except came away home anxious nogo zone taboo experience brick wall boundary Whereas classic introvert felt anxiety speaking class centre attention much socialising turned Oscar Grouch kid comfortable enough play hour Though time adored sleeping friend’s place thought playing friend’s toy Kelly best Star Wars figurine OMG watching scary movie parent’s would never let watch Alex introduced Nightmare Elm Street age 10 bliss Anxiety never stereotyped boxed specific personality trait Anyone u experience given situation Even confident u exactly anxiety thoughTags Friendship Life Mental Health Psychology Anxiety |
2,594 | The reality of being a junior software engineer at a small startup | Real world software development is indeed quite different from what they teach in school.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Here is what I have learned after working at a startup that builds a web application tailored to customers’ specific requirements.
1. Being a full stack engineer is not an option but a necessity
As a small startup company with only 7 people, there are simply not enough resources to hire people specializing only in the frontend, backend, database or design. This is probably very different from how those big companies work.
We usually have several projects from different clients going on concurrently. Everyone needs to complete different projects independently. Thus, it is necessary for everyone to know all aspects of web development to implement features and fix bugs.
For example, we had to fully implement a feature that allows the user to add and edit records in a system. We need to use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to build out forms on the frontend. While on the backend, PHP and MySQL languages are required to perform read and write database operations.
Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
2. Shipping product which closely meets customers’ budget and requirements
The client sometimes needs software urgently to solve some problem. They set tight deadlines and offer a limited budget.
There is always a trade-off in development time, price and quality of a software product. It is really difficult to deliver a high quality yet cheap product under a tight deadline.
Thus we have to prioritize on developing the core requirements of the software first. A high-quality product takes time to build. To deliver the product on time and within the budget, sometimes we are forced to trade off on the aspects of aesthetics and user experience.
But to be fair, the customer did clearly mention to us that what he wants is just a web application that can work. He emphasized many times that he does not care about the aesthetics of the user interface, so long as we charge him the cheapest price possible.
It might sound like the customer wants a subpar product. But I would rather say he just wants a “Minimum Viable Product” or “Proof of Concept”. It is far from perfect, but good enough to be used to automate some manual work in his company.
Moreover, software development is an iterative process. If the software has been proven to be useful in real-world usage, the client probably would not hesitate to pay more for us to improve on it.
Image by bruce mars from Pexels
3. Hacky code and workarounds are sometimes unavoidable
Nobody likes to write ugly code which works but is not maintainable and scalable. Nobody likes to accumulate technical debt and pay the price for it later.
Personally, I have always tried to write readable and clean code. But sometimes there is simply no choice.
When integrating some third-party API, sometimes it will throw some unexpected results. Usually, their documentation will never clearly explain why.
When using some external open source libraries, it is inevitable that there are some minor bugs in it here and there. In my experience, the incompatibility between different versions of libraries is often the number one culprit for unexpected bugs.
All of this may cause the application to crash, and your clients are going to be extremely unhappy about it. Although the bugs are in someone else’s code, they will think it is all your fault, and will definitely hold you accountable for it.
In this case, the only way to resolve these bugs in the third party code is by implementing some clever workaround in your code. The patch might be ugly, but it works and enables the product to be shipped quickly.
Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay
4. There is nothing wrong with using old school technology (like PHP, jQuery)
In more recent years, a lot of newer and cooler technology has emerged. We have React.js, Vue.js, express.js, Golang, Scala and etc.
A lot of people start to look down on older technology like PHP, jQuery, and Java because they are so “boring” and ubiquitous.
As a developer, it is always exciting to learn new technologies and build stuff with them. But from a business point of view, there is often no strong reason to use the latest and greatest technology.
In my workplace, the senior engineer has more than 10 years of experience in developing PHP applications. Thus, we have access to a deep PHP codebase on common features like sending emails, sending notifications to a mobile app, and uploading images to AWS S3.
This means to implement a new feature in a project, we can copy-paste some code from older projects and do some necessary modifications. It enables us to develop web applications quickly.
Although PHP has its own flaws as a language, it is good enough as a tool to build out the product that meets our customers’ requirements.
Also, there is a lot of hot debate out there on whether the good old jQuery should be abandoned in favor of pure vanilla JavaScript.
Some people dislike using jQuery because it requires loading a 30kb library (minified and gzipped) when loading the webpage. They advocate the use of vanilla JavaScript as it can make web applications that are more lightweight and load faster.
But considering the popularity of jQuery, most of the developers around me are much more familiar with jQuery. They can get things done quickly with it. Using a 30kb library sounds like a relatively small price to pay for higher development velocity.
Also, why not use the newer and cooler frameworks like React.js or Angular.js?
In my case, most of the projects I have done are related to inventory management systems used internally by the clients’ company. The good old jQuery seems sufficient to implement all the features as per required by the clients.
Well, using JavaScript frameworks to build a Single Page Application may provide a better user experience. But it feels a bit like overkill for smaller web application used internally by a few company admins.
That said, we are not against the usage of new technology. We will not hesitate to use the modern JavaScript frameworks if our client demanded a dynamic web application with complex frontend features.
Conclusion
Being a software engineer is really so much more than writing some code. Ultimately, the real challenge lies in understanding the problem faced by the customer. Then develop a solution within the budget and deadline.
Thank you so much for reading! 😊 Feel free to follow me on Twitter for more stories like this. 😉 | https://medium.com/free-code-camp/the-reality-of-being-a-junior-software-engineer-at-a-small-startup-3d50004fb721 | ['Tan Le Tian'] | 2019-05-06 15:47:31.677000+00:00 | ['Software Engineering', 'Junior Developer', 'Tech', 'Startup', 'Programming'] | Title reality junior software engineer small startupContent Real world software development indeed quite different teach school Photo Annie Spratt Unsplash learned working startup build web application tailored customers’ specific requirement 1 full stack engineer option necessity small startup company 7 people simply enough resource hire people specializing frontend backend database design probably different big company work usually several project different client going concurrently Everyone need complete different project independently Thus necessary everyone know aspect web development implement feature fix bug example fully implement feature allows user add edit record system need use HTML CSS JavaScript build form frontend backend PHP MySQL language required perform read write database operation Image Steve Buissinne Pixabay 2 Shipping product closely meet customers’ budget requirement client sometimes need software urgently solve problem set tight deadline offer limited budget always tradeoff development time price quality software product really difficult deliver high quality yet cheap product tight deadline Thus prioritize developing core requirement software first highquality product take time build deliver product time within budget sometimes forced trade aspect aesthetic user experience fair customer clearly mention u want web application work emphasized many time care aesthetic user interface long charge cheapest price possible might sound like customer want subpar product would rather say want “Minimum Viable Product” “Proof Concept” far perfect good enough used automate manual work company Moreover software development iterative process software proven useful realworld usage client probably would hesitate pay u improve Image bruce mar Pexels 3 Hacky code workarounds sometimes unavoidable Nobody like write ugly code work maintainable scalable Nobody like accumulate technical debt pay price later Personally always tried write readable clean code sometimes simply choice integrating thirdparty API sometimes throw unexpected result Usually documentation never clearly explain using external open source library inevitable minor bug experience incompatibility different version library often number one culprit unexpected bug may cause application crash client going extremely unhappy Although bug someone else’s code think fault definitely hold accountable case way resolve bug third party code implementing clever workaround code patch might ugly work enables product shipped quickly Image Michal Jarmoluk Pixabay 4 nothing wrong using old school technology like PHP jQuery recent year lot newer cooler technology emerged Reactjs Vuejs expressjs Golang Scala etc lot people start look older technology like PHP jQuery Java “boring” ubiquitous developer always exciting learn new technology build stuff business point view often strong reason use latest greatest technology workplace senior engineer 10 year experience developing PHP application Thus access deep PHP codebase common feature like sending email sending notification mobile app uploading image AWS S3 mean implement new feature project copypaste code older project necessary modification enables u develop web application quickly Although PHP flaw language good enough tool build product meet customers’ requirement Also lot hot debate whether good old jQuery abandoned favor pure vanilla JavaScript people dislike using jQuery requires loading 30kb library minified gzipped loading webpage advocate use vanilla JavaScript make web application lightweight load faster considering popularity jQuery developer around much familiar jQuery get thing done quickly Using 30kb library sound like relatively small price pay higher development velocity Also use newer cooler framework like Reactjs Angularjs case project done related inventory management system used internally clients’ company good old jQuery seems sufficient implement feature per required client Well using JavaScript framework build Single Page Application may provide better user experience feel bit like overkill smaller web application used internally company admins said usage new technology hesitate use modern JavaScript framework client demanded dynamic web application complex frontend feature Conclusion software engineer really much writing code Ultimately real challenge lie understanding problem faced customer develop solution within budget deadline Thank much reading 😊 Feel free follow Twitter story like 😉Tags Software Engineering Junior Developer Tech Startup Programming |
2,595 | Kaggle #1 Winning Approach for Image Classification Challenge | The task of classifying the images into respective classes, the task has been divided into 5 steps:
STEP 1:
The first and the most important task in Machine Learning is to analyze the dataset before proceeding with any algorithms. This is important in order to understand the complexity of the dataset which will eventually help in designing the algorithm.
The distribution of images and the classes are as follows:
As already mentioned before, there are 12 classes and a total of 4750 images. However, as seen from the above, the distribution is not even and the class distribution varies from maximum of 654 images to a minimum of 221 images. This clearly demonstrates the data is imbalanced and the data need to be balanced in order to get the best results. We will come to that in STEP 3.
Image distribution per class
Now it is important to visualize the images in order to understand the data even better. So, some sample images from each class is displayed in order to see how the images differ from each other.
There is nothing much that can be understood from the images above as all the images looked pretty much same. So, I decided to see the distribution of the images using a visulaization techninque called t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE).
t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE) is a technique for dimensionality reduction that is particularly well suited for the visualization of high-dimensional datasets. The technique can be implemented via Barnes-Hut approximations, allowing it to be applied on large real-world datasets.[14]
t-SNE visualization of the dataset
Now after looking closely, we can hardly see the difference in the classes. So it is important to understand if the data is very difficult to distinguish only for humans or it is difficult for the machine learning model too. So, we will do a basic benchmark for it.
Training and Validation Set
Before starting with the model benchmark, we need to divide the data into training and validation dataset. Validation set plays the role of the test dataset before the model is tested on the original test set. So, basically a model is trained on the training dataset and is tested on the validation set and then the model can be improved over the validation set over time. Once we are satisfied with the results of validation set, we can apply the model on our real test dataset. This way, we can see the whether the model is overfitting or underfitting on our validation set which can help us in better fitting the model.
So we divide our dataset of 4750 images by keeping 80 percent images as training dataset and 20 percent as validation set. | https://medium.com/neuralspace/kaggle-1-winning-approach-for-image-classification-challenge-9c1188157a86 | ['Kumar Shridhar'] | 2018-09-30 12:57:25.480000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Kaggle', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Convolutional Network', 'Deep Learning'] | Title Kaggle 1 Winning Approach Image Classification ChallengeContent task classifying image respective class task divided 5 step STEP 1 first important task Machine Learning analyze dataset proceeding algorithm important order understand complexity dataset eventually help designing algorithm distribution image class follows already mentioned 12 class total 4750 image However seen distribution even class distribution varies maximum 654 image minimum 221 image clearly demonstrates data imbalanced data need balanced order get best result come STEP 3 Image distribution per class important visualize image order understand data even better sample image class displayed order see image differ nothing much understood image image looked pretty much decided see distribution image using visulaization techninque called tDistributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding tSNE tDistributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding tSNE technique dimensionality reduction particularly well suited visualization highdimensional datasets technique implemented via BarnesHut approximation allowing applied large realworld datasets14 tSNE visualization dataset looking closely hardly see difference class important understand data difficult distinguish human difficult machine learning model basic benchmark Training Validation Set starting model benchmark need divide data training validation dataset Validation set play role test dataset model tested original test set basically model trained training dataset tested validation set model improved validation set time satisfied result validation set apply model real test dataset way see whether model overfitting underfitting validation set help u better fitting model divide dataset 4750 image keeping 80 percent image training dataset 20 percent validation setTags Machine Learning Kaggle Artificial Intelligence Convolutional Network Deep Learning |
2,596 | Psychological Wars in Jobless Mind | What happened now? What is my future? How I can get job? Do I have to improve my skills? How I will survive without earning? What happened if I will reject in interview? Others have more skills and confidence. My life will be destroy if couldn’t get job now. All my friends have jobs or business, How I can compete with them? How I will face my family and society with jobless status? I have skills but no job. Is there any bad luck with me?
Human mind is full of complexities. It depends on us that we control it or it will control us. Life is full of surprises. It is a travel of joy and sorrow. Right now our topic is about jobless people. Almost every one of us has gone through this stage of joblessness. Every jobless mind has different fears which he/she suffering from. Lets talk about different fears.
During preparation his/her resume, educational documents or when applying for job many fears running in his/her mind.
Is my resume is perfect? What happened if more qualified people will apply for this job? What I will say if interviewer ask about experience? If I couldn’t get interview call? If my college mate or friends will get job and I will not? What I will tell my family If I rejected in interview?
First of all we have to acknowledge and understand that there is no perfection in the world. Whatever your qualification you can improve your skills by using different mediums.
I got rejected in my first 5 interviews and its was most desperate time in my life. I moved from my hometown for job that time and also running out of money. Only one meal in 36 hours and saving money by walking miles for interview. But what I learnt that time to control my mind and prepared myself for next challenge. After 5 times rejection I recalled my memory and fixed my mistakes. Reviewed my resume. Designed more dummy work for portfolio according to latest trends and techniques. Worst part of this whole process was my incomplete graduation. But in the end I got my first job in 6th interview and salary was handsome that time.
If you are newly graduate or searching for your first job please don’t worry about rejections. It is your learning period. After every interview you will learn lot of things about yourself and your particular field. Just give your best and always be ready to learn.
What I observe from personal experience when I was at my first job I was working like a slave or robot. I always said yes to every task and spent hours after job hours to complete that tasks. That type of fear is very dangerous you assume that existing job is last job for you in the world. No one will hire your or you don’t have any choice other than this.
But there is many opportunities for you. If you are thinking that your skills are not growing in current job just left it in good way and go for other job. In first ten years of career we have to explore things as we can.
Personally I started my first job in a software service company where I designed different types of apps and after that I joined a company who was working on artificial intelligence and data. Both companies have huge differences but I learnt many things from both jobs.
Conclusion is that you have to control your negative thoughts and fears by learning new skills. Always prepare for challenge and rejections. Rejections is part of life. It will take you up not down but for going up you have to learn from rejection. Review yourself and your skills everyday. In the end I will say again no one is perfect or perfectionist in this world. | https://medium.com/nyc-design/physiological-wars-in-jobless-mind-c20e74ffa4be | ['Salman Habib'] | 2020-09-22 03:27:32.800000+00:00 | ['Jobs', 'User Experience', 'New York', 'Fear', 'Psychology'] | Title Psychological Wars Jobless MindContent happened future get job improve skill survive without earning happened reject interview Others skill confidence life destroy couldn’t get job friend job business compete face family society jobless status skill job bad luck Human mind full complexity depends u control control u Life full surprise travel joy sorrow Right topic jobless people Almost every one u gone stage joblessness Every jobless mind different fear heshe suffering Lets talk different fear preparation hisher resume educational document applying job many fear running hisher mind resume perfect happened qualified people apply job say interviewer ask experience couldn’t get interview call college mate friend get job tell family rejected interview First acknowledge understand perfection world Whatever qualification improve skill using different medium got rejected first 5 interview desperate time life moved hometown job time also running money one meal 36 hour saving money walking mile interview learnt time control mind prepared next challenge 5 time rejection recalled memory fixed mistake Reviewed resume Designed dummy work portfolio according latest trend technique Worst part whole process incomplete graduation end got first job 6th interview salary handsome time newly graduate searching first job please don’t worry rejection learning period every interview learn lot thing particular field give best always ready learn observe personal experience first job working like slave robot always said yes every task spent hour job hour complete task type fear dangerous assume existing job last job world one hire don’t choice many opportunity thinking skill growing current job left good way go job first ten year career explore thing Personally started first job software service company designed different type apps joined company working artificial intelligence data company huge difference learnt many thing job Conclusion control negative thought fear learning new skill Always prepare challenge rejection Rejections part life take going learn rejection Review skill everyday end say one perfect perfectionist worldTags Jobs User Experience New York Fear Psychology |
2,597 | How Our Journalism Creators Program is Taking Flight | How Our Journalism Creators Program is Taking Flight
Launching our 100-day online-only pilot program
I’m excited to share that today we’ve invited 20 journalism innovators to join us from around the world, selected from a stellar application pool for the first iteration of our new Journalism Creators Program. We received 163 applications from 56 distinct countries. Here’s our official announcement with the participant bios.
Our cohort includes a Marine Corps Veteran, a former NPR Executive Producer, an LA Times Arts Reporter, a former NYC Media Lab director, a restorative justice pioneer, two TEDx speakers, an anthropologist and others developing niche independent projects. Many are focused on market gaps ignored by larger media organizations.
65% of the accepted cohort is female
60% are people of color
The accepted candidates come from all over the world:
7 from the US including three from New York City
the including three from New York City 5 from Europe including Germany, Switzerland and Turkey
including Germany, Switzerland and Turkey 4 from Asia including Hong Kong, Singapore and India
including Hong Kong, Singapore and India Plus Brazil, Mexico, Qatar and Tanzania
An emerging ecosystem
Our new Journalism Creators program is part of a burgeoning ecosystem made up of creators themselves, supportive journalism organizations, and emerging platforms that provide publishing infrastructure for independents. Funders supporting nascent efforts also play a crucial role—providing room for experimentation.
Anchored by a new generation of creators opting out of larger organizations, the ecosystem is strengthened by institutions like the Local Independent Online News Publishers network (LION), the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), the new News Product Alliance, and so many other journalism institutions now making a habit of sharing toolkits, best practices, case studies and other practical resources.
Emerging platforms are another key element empowering creators to focus on serving communities directly. Substack, Pico, Patreon, Kickstarter, Steady, Anchor, Glow, Supercast, Memberful, Medium, Subtext and many others enable creators to set up direct financial relationships with readers, listeners, viewers, and members.
This word cloud illustrates terms that frequently appeared in application responses
Whereas in 2010 many of the applicants to our then in-person entrepreneurial program expressed a sense of curiosity and excitement about journalism innovation, our 2020 pool exhibited a clear passion for overhauling career trajectories.
This fall’s applicant pool was so strong that we could have accepted a full second cohort of outstanding professionals. We’re starting with a small initial group for this pilot as we experiment with creative new approaches to flexible remote learning. We’ll invite applications in January for a second cohort, followed by a third next fall. Our founding objective, as outlined in my post about planting the seeds for a new era of entrepreneurial journalism, remains to support independent journalists in creating new products and services, in particular those reaching underserved communities.
If you’d like to follow along with the 100-day program that begins October 13, join our newsletter list for periodic updates. Or follow this Twitter list of the participants. And if you have ideas for collaborating on this effort to strengthen the new journalism creators ecosystem, please be in touch: [email protected]. We’d love to continue expanding our network of partners. | https://medium.com/journalism-innovation/how-our-journalism-creators-program-is-taking-flight-aee0d7aca346 | ['Jeremy Caplan'] | 2020-10-07 18:40:47.890000+00:00 | ['Passion Economy', 'Journalism Education', 'Journalism Innovation', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Journalism'] | Title Journalism Creators Program Taking FlightContent Journalism Creators Program Taking Flight Launching 100day onlineonly pilot program I’m excited share today we’ve invited 20 journalism innovator join u around world selected stellar application pool first iteration new Journalism Creators Program received 163 application 56 distinct country Here’s official announcement participant bios cohort includes Marine Corps Veteran former NPR Executive Producer LA Times Arts Reporter former NYC Media Lab director restorative justice pioneer two TEDx speaker anthropologist others developing niche independent project Many focused market gap ignored larger medium organization 65 accepted cohort female 60 people color accepted candidate come world 7 US including three New York City including three New York City 5 Europe including Germany Switzerland Turkey including Germany Switzerland Turkey 4 Asia including Hong Kong Singapore India including Hong Kong Singapore India Plus Brazil Mexico Qatar Tanzania emerging ecosystem new Journalism Creators program part burgeoning ecosystem made creator supportive journalism organization emerging platform provide publishing infrastructure independent Funders supporting nascent effort also play crucial role—providing room experimentation Anchored new generation creator opting larger organization ecosystem strengthened institution like Local Independent Online News Publishers network LION Institute Nonprofit News INN new News Product Alliance many journalism institution making habit sharing toolkits best practice case study practical resource Emerging platform another key element empowering creator focus serving community directly Substack Pico Patreon Kickstarter Steady Anchor Glow Supercast Memberful Medium Subtext many others enable creator set direct financial relationship reader listener viewer member word cloud illustrates term frequently appeared application response Whereas 2010 many applicant inperson entrepreneurial program expressed sense curiosity excitement journalism innovation 2020 pool exhibited clear passion overhauling career trajectory fall’s applicant pool strong could accepted full second cohort outstanding professional We’re starting small initial group pilot experiment creative new approach flexible remote learning We’ll invite application January second cohort followed third next fall founding objective outlined post planting seed new era entrepreneurial journalism remains support independent journalist creating new product service particular reaching underserved community you’d like follow along 100day program begin October 13 join newsletter list periodic update follow Twitter list participant idea collaborating effort strengthen new journalism creator ecosystem please touch jeremycaplanjournalismcunyedu We’d love continue expanding network partnersTags Passion Economy Journalism Education Journalism Innovation Entrepreneurship Journalism |
2,598 | How To Publish Less And Make Thousands More | Ever since I started writing on Medium, people told me to publish twice a day to earn the most money. But, if you publish twice a day, you either run out of things to say or the quality of your writing suffers. I struggled with this dilemma at the end of last year. I couldn’t publish twice a day anymore because I had two other jobs writing elsewhere.
It’s impossible to keep the flood of creativity going. I’m a prolific writer. Now, sometimes, on my good days, I can write 3 to 5 articles a day. On bad days, I write at least 1 article a day.
I have to write that much to keep the flow of my income streams. But, I also take days off. Sometimes, I go a week without writing a line.
When I can’t write, I often work on marketing my writing. Consistency is key, but you can refill your creative juices by working on a completely unrelated subject that uses a different part of your brain.
Here’s my list of optimizations to fill content gaps and make sure that I attend to all my platforms and my clients.
Ever since I started to use this list, I’ve diversified my income streams and make thousands instead of hundreds from my writing.
Last year, my monthly income came from writing 60 articles on Medium and making just $2200 in my best month.
This year, my monthly income comes from 60 articles distributed across various streams of income:
Platform 1: 10 articles
Platform 2: 20 articles
Client 1: 10 articles
Client 2: 10 articles
Client 3: 10 articles
Now, my Medium income only pays my utilities, but I’m okay with that. My entire income can now pay all of my living expenses as I slowly pull myself out of my financial hole.
But, these 60 articles each month have to be all high quality now, posted on various platforms. In some months, I can even get away with writing about 30 articles a month.
Create Impactful Content
When you create high value, impactful, ever-green content, you can share them over and over again. People will read them when you reshare them. If someone tells you that their blogpost lasts only 6 weeks of traffic, you can tell them that they are wrong.
I’ve seen good content last for months if not the whole year. In the last few months, my number of tweets fell about 90% on my account, yet, my tweet impressions have kept rising.
Repost and Re-share Your Content
When I don’t have time to create content on Medium, where your frequency of posting matters, I simply repost content from another platform that I know is high quality.
On social media accounts, it’s especially easy to re-share your content consistently. You can schedule them to go out on these platforms for the entire month.
You don’t always have to promote the latest content. You can promote older content, too.
Create Content From Different Angles
Journalists are notorious for being busy. I’ve learned a few tricks working amongst them. One that’s especially useful is that I now create content based on “topics”. I will pick one topic and then write about it from different angles.
If you imagine a 3000-word blog post broken up into sections, you may have 6 to 7 sections. Instead of 6 to 7 sections, you can split these sections into 3 blog posts. Then, you write different intros for them. You also make sure that they are all taking on different angles. You put unique research into each of them.
Once you are done, you have different takes on the same subject ready to post on different platforms.
In this case, the thorough research that you’ve done yields, not one article, but 3 articles.
Cap Your Hours of Work Based on Potential Payment
In the beginning, when writing on a platform, I never conform to this rule. I will spend extra hours working on articles to gain a reputation. However, after some time once I establish my reputation, I spend the amount of hours base on the exact pay that I was getting.
It makes no sense to spend 10 hours writing something that will only pay you $30. Instead, you should spend 10 hours writing for a project that pays at least $200. Think about the hourly rate that you are getting.
Once you establish a reputation, don’t sell yourself short.
Do I still take jobs once in a while that are below the market rate? Yes. I do that because I support a family and my cost is high. No matter what, the bills have to be paid.
But, will I work with clients who can’t use my value or don’t see my writing as valuable? No. Because at the end of the day it’s a marketplace.
Do work on platforms that you get paid on, because then your work is valuable. Otherwise, your valuable time can be spent elsewhere doing a lot more valuable work. | https://medium.com/jun-wu-blog/how-to-publish-less-and-make-thousands-more-8b5271f8b0d1 | ['Jun Wu'] | 2020-04-11 13:09:50.975000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Content Marketing', 'Writing Tips', 'Content Creation', 'Writing'] | Title Publish Less Make Thousands MoreContent Ever since started writing Medium people told publish twice day earn money publish twice day either run thing say quality writing suffers struggled dilemma end last year couldn’t publish twice day anymore two job writing elsewhere It’s impossible keep flood creativity going I’m prolific writer sometimes good day write 3 5 article day bad day write least 1 article day write much keep flow income stream also take day Sometimes go week without writing line can’t write often work marketing writing Consistency key refill creative juice working completely unrelated subject us different part brain Here’s list optimization fill content gap make sure attend platform client Ever since started use list I’ve diversified income stream make thousand instead hundred writing Last year monthly income came writing 60 article Medium making 2200 best month year monthly income come 60 article distributed across various stream income Platform 1 10 article Platform 2 20 article Client 1 10 article Client 2 10 article Client 3 10 article Medium income pay utility I’m okay entire income pay living expense slowly pull financial hole 60 article month high quality posted various platform month even get away writing 30 article month Create Impactful Content create high value impactful evergreen content share People read reshare someone tell blogpost last 6 week traffic tell wrong I’ve seen good content last month whole year last month number tweet fell 90 account yet tweet impression kept rising Repost Reshare Content don’t time create content Medium frequency posting matter simply repost content another platform know high quality social medium account it’s especially easy reshare content consistently schedule go platform entire month don’t always promote latest content promote older content Create Content Different Angles Journalists notorious busy I’ve learned trick working amongst One that’s especially useful create content based “topics” pick one topic write different angle imagine 3000word blog post broken section may 6 7 section Instead 6 7 section split section 3 blog post write different intro also make sure taking different angle put unique research done different take subject ready post different platform case thorough research you’ve done yield one article 3 article Cap Hours Work Based Potential Payment beginning writing platform never conform rule spend extra hour working article gain reputation However time establish reputation spend amount hour base exact pay getting make sense spend 10 hour writing something pay 30 Instead spend 10 hour writing project pay least 200 Think hourly rate getting establish reputation don’t sell short still take job market rate Yes support family cost high matter bill paid work client can’t use value don’t see writing valuable end day it’s marketplace work platform get paid work valuable Otherwise valuable time spent elsewhere lot valuable workTags Marketing Content Marketing Writing Tips Content Creation Writing |
2,599 | This Is What Loneliness Feels Like (And What It Does To Us) | ‘Eventually most of us come to see that our feelings of unbelonging are unexceptional, and that the truly heroic act is to carry on trying to connect with others, even if it can be dispiriting to keep doing something you are not very good at.’ — Joe Moran, Shrinking Violets
For a long time, I avoided writing about loneliness despite its pervasive influence on my life.
The reasons for that are manifold. Firstly, it took me a long time to even notice I was experiencing it. I am introverted by nature and I both like and need solitude. I’d lived alone with virtually no social contact for nearly six months before I recognised it. And it would take another six months for me to realise it was impacting me.
Second, it felt like a dirty secret, like I would taint myself by writing about it. They say that everything we do online is part of our resumes and admitting that I spend more time talking to my cat than to humans is not the kind of qualification I want to display. It is the fear of judgement that makes so many of us hide our loneliness. Yet I do not believe there has ever been anything wrong with me. I simply chose to focus on work and learning and that led me away from people, at a time when my old social circles collapses.
At the same time, I think this is one of the topics that those of us who can and want to share our experiences with, have a responsibility to do so. Ironically, it does help others to feel less alone.
I’ve spent 3/4 of my working life as a remote freelancer, working alone. I lived alone for a year in an area where I barely knew anyone. I once spent a month alone in a barn in the countryside. I’ve travelled alone for months. I go out to eat alone or to concerts, to museums and galleries. I’ve spent New Years alone, Christmas alone, birthdays alone, any holiday you can name alone. It is my default state.
Earlier this year, I met up with someone I know from college. In passing, I mentioned how alone I’d felt for months before moving to the city. She said that wasn’t true, that she’d felt lonely but was always surrounded by people. I described how, on several occasions, I’d taken the SIM out of my phone for two, three weeks and put it in a cupboard, and the only person to contact me during that time was my mother. She looked uncomfortable, surprised, got the point, and I realised how abnormal the way I lived at that time was. That the loneliness I felt was not the kind experienced by those with housemates and social circles and partners. The difference between perceiving yourself to be isolated and actually being isolated is that, in the latter case, you sense the lack of a safety net. You know there’s no one to stop you falling.
She wrote it off as my own fault. I didn’t bother to argue. | https://medium.com/swlh/this-is-what-loneliness-feels-like-1796e1a7ea8d | ['Rosie L'] | 2018-11-26 18:24:33.379000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Life Lessons', 'Writing', 'Loneliness', 'Mental Health'] | Title Loneliness Feels Like UsContent ‘Eventually u come see feeling unbelonging unexceptional truly heroic act carry trying connect others even dispiriting keep something good at’ — Joe Moran Shrinking Violets long time avoided writing loneliness despite pervasive influence life reason manifold Firstly took long time even notice experiencing introverted nature like need solitude I’d lived alone virtually social contact nearly six month recognised would take another six month realise impacting Second felt like dirty secret like would taint writing say everything online part resume admitting spend time talking cat human kind qualification want display fear judgement make many u hide loneliness Yet believe ever anything wrong simply chose focus work learning led away people time old social circle collapse time think one topic u want share experience responsibility Ironically help others feel le alone I’ve spent 34 working life remote freelancer working alone lived alone year area barely knew anyone spent month alone barn countryside I’ve travelled alone month go eat alone concert museum gallery I’ve spent New Years alone Christmas alone birthday alone holiday name alone default state Earlier year met someone know college passing mentioned alone I’d felt month moving city said wasn’t true she’d felt lonely always surrounded people described several occasion I’d taken SIM phone two three week put cupboard person contact time mother looked uncomfortable surprised got point realised abnormal way lived time loneliness felt kind experienced housemate social circle partner difference perceiving isolated actually isolated latter case sense lack safety net know there’s one stop falling wrote fault didn’t bother argueTags Self Improvement Life Lessons Writing Loneliness Mental Health |
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