Unnamed: 0
int64 0
192k
| title
stringlengths 1
200
| text
stringlengths 10
100k
| url
stringlengths 32
885
| authors
stringlengths 2
392
| timestamp
stringlengths 19
32
⌀ | tags
stringlengths 6
263
| info
stringlengths 45
90.4k
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2,700 | A product manager’s reflections for a better 2021 | This year I tried something different. I wanted to craft an article each month on an interesting thought or lesson from my life as a product manager.
It’s been a long time since a year lived has taught me so much on living and working well.
In this article, I’ve summarised some of my most exciting ideas from the year. I hope you enjoy it and that it helps with your own reflections as we move forward together into 2021.
1. Turn your team into an idea factory
How to Persuade a Product Manager
Good ideas give us more opportunities for success.
We should encourage our teams to develop their thoughts with systems that provide them with confidence in the validity of good ideas.
The riskier the idea the more time you should probably spend thinking it through.
If you want to check you are solving a valuable problem question ask this question — how much would you need to pay somebody not to use your product?
Further Reading
2. Difficult conversations help difficult situations
A product manager’s guide for difficult conversations
Being confident and skilled in having a difficult conversation frees you to not only identify and work through issues before they become big problems.
Further Reading
3. Build for resilience while planning for change
Product strategies for after the pandemic
Things not going to plan is a fact of life. The best we can do is put in place plans and mental models on how to be resilient to disruptive events biologically, psychologically and socially while also keeping an eye on any opportunities that may emerge as a result.
This year it was the pandemic, next year we don’t know. But we can be mentally prepared for the worst when it emerges.
Further Reading
4. Product managers don’t build products, they make decisions
Decision making for product managers
The creation of products is the result of a bunch of little decisions stacked together.
The benefits of a series of healthy choices have the power to compound returns over time, so you really want to give yourself the best chance of making the best choices you can.
By leveraging decision-making models, you can run your thoughts through a range of perspectives that help engage your thinking and hopefully work through any blind spots and biases.
Further Reading
5. When luck happens all you can do is control your response
Luck vs skill in determining product success
Luck events, both good and bad, are out of your control, unevenly distributed and inevitable.
Being at the mercy of luck puts us into a reactive mindset which usually means we don’t make the best decisions as we try to get away or lean into luck events.
Pausing a second and being able to zoom out of the situation enables us to acknowledge a luck event is occurring. This the first step towards taking back control and planning for the best outcome now and later should such an event occur again.
Further Reading
6. Taking notes makes you a better thinker
Building a Second Brain for Productivity
In product management, we highly valued for our ability to generate valuable ideas, solve challenging problems and draw strategic insights across the disciplines of sales, tech and design. So it makes sense that anything that helps us perform those tasks more effectively will be welcomed.
A curated note-taking system that encourages you to think through what may be valuable from a range of sources is a significant first step to catalysing your thought process and its impact.
What you are actually doing is thinking about thinking; almost a form to metacognition.
Further Reading
7. Understanding user problems requires second-order thinking
How product managers should understand users
When people describe a pain point, it can be tempting to deal exclusively with that problem, when actually the real issue lies hidden beneath the surface.
It’s the equivalent of a patient taking opioids for a painful knee when rather physiotherapy to strengthen the joint would resolve the underlying problem.
For example, a user tells us their search results are not relevant, we could fiddle around with the ranking system to make it more relevant, but solving their problem actually requires a deeper understanding of their intent.
We need to use a process of second-order emotional thinking to identify the most valuable problems and put ourselves in the position of the user. This enables us to image the world the way our user sees it and use the same language they use to describe it.
Further Reading/Watching
8. A system for building systems makes a happy team
Five product team lessons learned while building a search engine
Three principles I’ve learned for fostering a healthy project team include
The ability for one's mind to be changed A process of collecting feedback from teammates and users A system for developing systems when things don’t go to plan
Further Reading
9. Please motivate your team, but responsibly
Use motivation to inspire teams, but don’t intentionally mislead them just squeeze out some more productivity. The short term benefits may be good, but it comes at the expense of long term harm; emotionally blunting people to the pleasures of work.
Further Reading/Watching | https://uxdesign.cc/a-product-managers-reflections-for-a-better-2021-8a7eb7f7887e | ['Adrian H. Raudaschl'] | 2020-12-22 14:38:29.036000+00:00 | ['Product Design', 'Psychology', 'Product Management', 'UX', 'Productivity'] | Title product manager’s reflection better 2021Content year tried something different wanted craft article month interesting thought lesson life product manager It’s long time since year lived taught much living working well article I’ve summarised exciting idea year hope enjoy help reflection move forward together 2021 1 Turn team idea factory Persuade Product Manager Good idea give u opportunity success encourage team develop thought system provide confidence validity good idea riskier idea time probably spend thinking want check solving valuable problem question ask question — much would need pay somebody use product Reading 2 Difficult conversation help difficult situation product manager’s guide difficult conversation confident skilled difficult conversation free identify work issue become big problem Reading 3 Build resilience planning change Product strategy pandemic Things going plan fact life best put place plan mental model resilient disruptive event biologically psychologically socially also keeping eye opportunity may emerge result year pandemic next year don’t know mentally prepared worst emerges Reading 4 Product manager don’t build product make decision Decision making product manager creation product result bunch little decision stacked together benefit series healthy choice power compound return time really want give best chance making best choice leveraging decisionmaking model run thought range perspective help engage thinking hopefully work blind spot bias Reading 5 luck happens control response Luck v skill determining product success Luck event good bad control unevenly distributed inevitable mercy luck put u reactive mindset usually mean don’t make best decision try get away lean luck event Pausing second able zoom situation enables u acknowledge luck event occurring first step towards taking back control planning best outcome later event occur Reading 6 Taking note make better thinker Building Second Brain Productivity product management highly valued ability generate valuable idea solve challenging problem draw strategic insight across discipline sale tech design make sense anything help u perform task effectively welcomed curated notetaking system encourages think may valuable range source significant first step catalysing thought process impact actually thinking thinking almost form metacognition Reading 7 Understanding user problem requires secondorder thinking product manager understand user people describe pain point tempting deal exclusively problem actually real issue lie hidden beneath surface It’s equivalent patient taking opioids painful knee rather physiotherapy strengthen joint would resolve underlying problem example user tell u search result relevant could fiddle around ranking system make relevant solving problem actually requires deeper understanding intent need use process secondorder emotional thinking identify valuable problem put position user enables u image world way user see use language use describe ReadingWatching 8 system building system make happy team Five product team lesson learned building search engine Three principle I’ve learned fostering healthy project team include ability one mind changed process collecting feedback teammate user system developing system thing don’t go plan Reading 9 Please motivate team responsibly Use motivation inspire team don’t intentionally mislead squeeze productivity short term benefit may good come expense long term harm emotionally blunting people pleasure work ReadingWatchingTags Product Design Psychology Product Management UX Productivity |
2,701 | 22 Examples of Great Copywriting in Action | Copywriting Swipe File
Copywriting that addresses your customer’s concerns head-on
RX bar: I love the RXbar package because it is copywriting at its simplest. It is addressing a challenge consumers face today: distrust in processed foods that have a paragraph list of ingredients. The call-out to “NO B.S.” and the simple act of listing out the ingredients immediately communicates transparency.
GymIt: What is the biggest reason why someone doesn’t follow through with a purchase of your product or service? GymIt takes this answer and uses it directly in their marketing to address a top concern head-on before it becomes an excuse.
Medium: While Medium no longer has this on their “Our Story” page, I really loved the call out to what they aren’t while sharing what they are. It immediately dispels any fears or hesitations about the platform that you might have been thinking about when considering signing up.
Innocent: Before we can even protest or question the realness of this juice, Innocent is already letting you know that these smoothies are healthy and delicious with a fun play on words.
Copywriting that makes you feel special
Born Fitness: This email opt-in immediately makes you feel like you have the opportunity to join an exclusive health community. Who wouldn’t want special tips that they don’t share with anyone but their email list? We all want to feel special and in-the-know and this kind of copy leans right into that.
AppSumo: With this home page copy you feel like you’ve been added to the exclusive invite list and you don’t want to miss out by passing up this opportunity.
Copywriting that gives you FOMO
Basecamp: No one wants to feel left out and this kind of fear, when used correctly, can be a huge motivator for trying something new or purchasing a product. Their well-timed, “Join the 4,088 businesses that signed up last week” does just that. Well if everyone else is using it, I guess I should too?
Spotify: Nothing quite gives you FOMO as much as a deadline to make a decision on a discount. You wouldn’t think that stress sells, but sometimes the right amount of pressure can mean the difference between a purchase and “well, maybe later.”
Campaign Monitor: This email makes you feel like you missed out, but then uses that FOMO to include you in the fun with content you can click through and dive into.
Copywriting that is fun and conversational
The Hustle: Sometimes all it takes for successful copywriting is a certain ease of writing that sounds like a friend is talking to you. The Hustle added in some humor, wit, and fun with their opt-in that makes the decision to let them into your inbox an easy one because they are a friend and not a sale.
Metro Trains (Dumb Ways to Die): One of my favorite advertisements of all time is the “Dumb Ways to Die” public service announcement made by Metro Trains to promote railway safety. What could have easily been another boring video telling you to stay away from train tracks was creatively made into a song that still manages to get stuck in my head today.
Articulate: The “About Us” page is a great opportunity to showcase your company’s personality and can benefit from some thoughtful copywriting. What I love about Articulate’s “About Us” page is that they stray away from the boring norm and in the process, they come across as fun, authentic, and trustworthy.
Netflix: Sometimes the best copywriting involves little writing prowess and just timely execution. This Netflix Twitter thread makes people smile, it’s fun to retweet and share, and also simultaneously communicates what shows they have on their platform.
Copywriting that knows their audience
Snowbird Ski Resort: I love this creative use of a critique. By leaning into what they aren’t, they simultaneously tell you what they are and who they are for. It makes those advanced or die-hard skiers excited about coming to this mountain and experiencing the difficult slopes.
Cards Against Humanity: If you know of this not-for-kids card game then you know that the use of “your dumb questions” and their sassy answers instead of the usual “Q&A” is the perfect wording for the target audience of this game.
Copywriting that tells you exactly what you are going to get
Sometimes it’s all about answering the question of who, what, when, and where.
BarkBox: This is such a simple yet effective “how we work” section of BarkBox’s home page. It communicates what value you will receive (“spoil your pup”, “month-long dog party”, “Valued at over $40”) while also giving the necessary details (“your first box ships immediately”, “monthly dog toy”, “free shipping”, etc.).
Skillshare: Instead of saying “take classes and learn new things,” Skillshare’s home page begins with this idea of curiosity and wonder. From there, once you scroll down you are invited to take a look into the platform and see exactly what a membership might offer. It’s copywriting that knows its offer and how to share it effectively.
Mailchimp: Simplicity is usually best when it comes to copywriting and Mailchimp is successful at the simple explanation. “Mailchimp helps small businesses do big things, with the right tools and guidance”. BAM!
Copywriting that shares your anguish or frustration
This is where customer research comes into play and where you can put your business on the same side as your customer. Hey, you know that annoying thing? We hate it too.
Harry’s: Instead of saying, “our razors are affordable” they are sharing a story about their business that you can relate to as a potential customer.
Asana: Instead of describing what Asana is (a project management tool) they describe the end result (less busywork) while touching on a pain point many people feel at work. They even have an easy-to-understand video that accompanies their copy that provides even more detail and understanding of how it can make your life easier.
Copywriting that tells a story
Aubrey Marcus: So many product descriptions feel like a long list of “blah, blah, blah” and don’t spend any time inviting you in or compelling you to purchase. When a person is reading your product description they are quite literally making the decision at that moment if they want to purchase. That’s what I love about this Aubrey Marcus shoe description because it tells a story while simultaneously selling you on what kind of person wears these shoes.
Everlane: Sometimes the art of telling a story doesn’t just exist in a cute advertisement, but across your entire brand. Everlane has built its brand around ethical factories and transparency in their products. Throughout their entire website, they share the story of their factories, how they make their products, where the supplies come from, etc. All of this creates a story for their brand that you believe and buy into. | https://medium.com/better-marketing/22-examples-of-great-copywriting-in-action-4c896dafa612 | ['Megan Elizabeth Clark'] | 2020-12-28 14:32:52.070000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Copywriting Tips', 'Content Marketing', 'Marketing', 'Copywriting'] | Title 22 Examples Great Copywriting ActionContent Copywriting Swipe File Copywriting address customer’s concern headon RX bar love RXbar package copywriting simplest addressing challenge consumer face today distrust processed food paragraph list ingredient callout “NO BS” simple act listing ingredient immediately communicates transparency GymIt biggest reason someone doesn’t follow purchase product service GymIt take answer us directly marketing address top concern headon becomes excuse Medium Medium longer “Our Story” page really loved call aren’t sharing immediately dispels fear hesitation platform might thinking considering signing Innocent even protest question realness juice Innocent already letting know smoothy healthy delicious fun play word Copywriting make feel special Born Fitness email optin immediately make feel like opportunity join exclusive health community wouldn’t want special tip don’t share anyone email list want feel special intheknow kind copy lean right AppSumo home page copy feel like you’ve added exclusive invite list don’t want miss passing opportunity Copywriting give FOMO Basecamp one want feel left kind fear used correctly huge motivator trying something new purchasing product welltimed “Join 4088 business signed last week” Well everyone else using guess Spotify Nothing quite give FOMO much deadline make decision discount wouldn’t think stress sell sometimes right amount pressure mean difference purchase “well maybe later” Campaign Monitor email make feel like missed us FOMO include fun content click dive Copywriting fun conversational Hustle Sometimes take successful copywriting certain ease writing sound like friend talking Hustle added humor wit fun optin make decision let inbox easy one friend sale Metro Trains Dumb Ways Die One favorite advertisement time “Dumb Ways Die” public service announcement made Metro Trains promote railway safety could easily another boring video telling stay away train track creatively made song still manages get stuck head today Articulate “About Us” page great opportunity showcase company’s personality benefit thoughtful copywriting love Articulate’s “About Us” page stray away boring norm process come across fun authentic trustworthy Netflix Sometimes best copywriting involves little writing prowess timely execution Netflix Twitter thread make people smile it’s fun retweet share also simultaneously communicates show platform Copywriting know audience Snowbird Ski Resort love creative use critique leaning aren’t simultaneously tell make advanced diehard skier excited coming mountain experiencing difficult slope Cards Humanity know notforkids card game know use “your dumb questions” sassy answer instead usual “QA” perfect wording target audience game Copywriting tell exactly going get Sometimes it’s answering question BarkBox simple yet effective “how work” section BarkBox’s home page communicates value receive “spoil pup” “monthlong dog party” “Valued 40” also giving necessary detail “your first box ship immediately” “monthly dog toy” “free shipping” etc Skillshare Instead saying “take class learn new things” Skillshare’s home page begin idea curiosity wonder scroll invited take look platform see exactly membership might offer It’s copywriting know offer share effectively Mailchimp Simplicity usually best come copywriting Mailchimp successful simple explanation “Mailchimp help small business big thing right tool guidance” BAM Copywriting share anguish frustration customer research come play put business side customer Hey know annoying thing hate Harry’s Instead saying “our razor affordable” sharing story business relate potential customer Asana Instead describing Asana project management tool describe end result le busywork touching pain point many people feel work even easytounderstand video accompanies copy provides even detail understanding make life easier Copywriting tell story Aubrey Marcus many product description feel like long list “blah blah blah” don’t spend time inviting compelling purchase person reading product description quite literally making decision moment want purchase That’s love Aubrey Marcus shoe description tell story simultaneously selling kind person wear shoe Everlane Sometimes art telling story doesn’t exist cute advertisement across entire brand Everlane built brand around ethical factory transparency product Throughout entire website share story factory make product supply come etc creates story brand believe buy intoTags Writing Copywriting Tips Content Marketing Marketing Copywriting |
2,702 | Who to turn to? | In the previous article, we went through the difference between emotional and academic intelligence. But one question remains; why have we not looked at this before? Surely, our ancestors also faced emotional challenges, so why has the topic remained underdeveloped for so long? Well, in most societies, the influence of religion kept emotional intelligence in a dark, unexplored corner.
This isn’t to say that religion is to blame, far from it. For most of human history, religion has served as an emotional pacifier, a safe haven to run towards when things go bad. Religious leaders speak of ethical behavior, a meaning in life, community spirit, and a purpose to work towards. They show us the way to live, love, and exist in harmony with others. Even after we die, there is a promise of continuity — an afterlife.
“the influence of religion kept emotional intelligence in a dark, unexplored corner.”
It is for this reason that religions have (openly or subliminally) served as points of reference during times of emotional hardship. I still vividly remember my grandparents saying that during times of crisis, their first point of call all would be a priest. It was a belief shared by many, especially in fervently Christian nations.
So why do we not run to a priest anymore? Why is religion no longer our go-to point? For starters, the idea that we should blindly obey a dogma doesn’t seem to fit into a world of rationale and reasoning. Today we focus on understanding how things work, rather than abandoning ourselves to the powers of a greater being. Even this article itself seeks to unravel the concept of emotional intelligence, and not merely accept it. Our individual searches for emotional wellbeing have led to the proverbial ground being pulled from underneath us. We are no longer on a level playing field but on different, separate islands each with its own set of challenges.
“For most of human history, religion has served as an emotional pacifier, a safe haven to run towards when things go bad.”
When things go wrong, where do we run? The answer is automatic; we gravitate towards what we have always known, to what seems familiar — to our cultures. In the absence of religion, culture fills in the gaps. We rely on our cultures, norms, values, and traditions to guide us as to what is ethically correct. How do we understand ourselves emotionally? What is our purpose? To whom do we turn to in despair? These are all questions we subconsciously pose to our cultures.
“We are no longer on a level playing field but on different, separate islands each with its own set of challenges.”
A Shakespearean tragedy can teach us to be wary of those around us. The Mona Lisa instructs us through an enigmatic smile. Musical compositions evoque feelings of sadness or joy. Altogether, they provide a replacement for the guidance our faiths used to offer. This isn’t to say that religion is obsolete, however, it would be a mistake to completely write off the influence of culture on our emotional beings.
Just as Milan’s Duomo holds a certain atmosphere of reverence, so do the world’s prominent museums and libraries. Whether it be a greater being which we believe in or a vast accumulation of knowledge, we can’t help but feel humbled. Seeing the achievements of man or the power of a god has a profound effect.
“This isn’t to say that religion is obsolete, however, it would be a mistake to completely write off the influence of culture on our emotional beings.”
So what does this all mean? Will we be rushing into museums, gazing at portraits, and rationalizing our feelings in a few year's time? I doubt it. As compelling a case as culture makes, it has not replaced scripture, nor does it give us all the answers when we feel troubled.
It does however serve as a reminder that we are not alone; that is some distant past, other people have felt the same way. This in itself is comforting, but not enough.
Taking a step back, it seems the answer we seek was never readily available. In the past people looked to religion, today we are expected to deal with our emotions somehow or other. Although it makes no sense, we expect any moderately educated, sensible person to be able to deal with the concepts of life, death, happiness, and grief. It seems absurd that’s some of us may need guidance, however, it is the reality. The moral of the story is that although culture and religion can enable us to experience emotions such as tranquility and empathy, a deeper understanding is needed if we truly want to achieve emotional intelligence. | https://danielcaruanasmith.medium.com/who-to-turn-to-c13067f92a67 | ['Daniel Caruana Smith'] | 2020-12-22 12:58:04.124000+00:00 | ['Emotional Intelligence', 'Life Lessons', 'Mental Health', 'Self Improvement', 'Psychology'] | Title turn toContent previous article went difference emotional academic intelligence one question remains looked Surely ancestor also faced emotional challenge topic remained underdeveloped long Well society influence religion kept emotional intelligence dark unexplored corner isn’t say religion blame far human history religion served emotional pacifier safe run towards thing go bad Religious leader speak ethical behavior meaning life community spirit purpose work towards show u way live love exist harmony others Even die promise continuity — afterlife “the influence religion kept emotional intelligence dark unexplored corner” reason religion openly subliminally served point reference time emotional hardship still vividly remember grandparent saying time crisis first point call would priest belief shared many especially fervently Christian nation run priest anymore religion longer goto point starter idea blindly obey dogma doesn’t seem fit world rationale reasoning Today focus understanding thing work rather abandoning power greater Even article seek unravel concept emotional intelligence merely accept individual search emotional wellbeing led proverbial ground pulled underneath u longer level playing field different separate island set challenge “For human history religion served emotional pacifier safe run towards thing go bad” thing go wrong run answer automatic gravitate towards always known seems familiar — culture absence religion culture fill gap rely culture norm value tradition guide u ethically correct understand emotionally purpose turn despair question subconsciously pose culture “We longer level playing field different separate island set challenges” Shakespearean tragedy teach u wary around u Mona Lisa instructs u enigmatic smile Musical composition evoque feeling sadness joy Altogether provide replacement guidance faith used offer isn’t say religion obsolete however would mistake completely write influence culture emotional being Milan’s Duomo hold certain atmosphere reverence world’s prominent museum library Whether greater believe vast accumulation knowledge can’t help feel humbled Seeing achievement man power god profound effect “This isn’t say religion obsolete however would mistake completely write influence culture emotional beings” mean rushing museum gazing portrait rationalizing feeling year time doubt compelling case culture make replaced scripture give u answer feel troubled however serve reminder alone distant past people felt way comforting enough Taking step back seems answer seek never readily available past people looked religion today expected deal emotion somehow Although make sense expect moderately educated sensible person able deal concept life death happiness grief seems absurd that’s u may need guidance however reality moral story although culture religion enable u experience emotion tranquility empathy deeper understanding needed truly want achieve emotional intelligenceTags Emotional Intelligence Life Lessons Mental Health Self Improvement Psychology |
2,703 | Hemingway’s 3 Tips for Aspiring Writers Are Also Valid for Everybody Else | Inspiring personalities
Hemingway’s 3 Tips for Aspiring Writers Are Also Valid for Everybody Else
Here is why
Canva Pro Image
Every human being is born into this world without a manual.
Everything else comes with a solid manual. Just think about all this stuff that you have.
Television: A manual that describes how you should use it and what you must avoid
Washing Machine: The same. The producer informs the customer what you should do with the Machine and what to avoid to ensure longevity.
Mobile Phone: Pretty much the same. Please don’t throw it out the window when you are in a skyscraper on the last floor. Sound advice
The human body and life? Nobody has ever written a solid manual. The only thing we get is two mentors — we call them usually parents. And that's’ it.
Right after birth, we are bound to accept our parent’s truth, regardless of whether they are right or not.
One of my biggest questions in life still is:
How the hell should I live this life so that I am happy most of the time and go to sleep with a smile on my face — most of the days.
It was tough to find answers before the internet started, and even 10 years ago, almost nothing was published that provided answers to the questions.
But times got much better. Today many people post YouTube videos or write Articles on platforms like Medium with inspiring content from people who achieved success on all levels of life:
Family
Friends
Arts
Business and
Health
Recently I came across one of these masterpieces.
I loved reading the article as it provided sound advice from one of the writers I admire the most — Ernest Hemingway.
The article is based on the book With Hemingway: A Year in Key West and Cuba. Unfortunately, it is out of print, and the second-hand versions are not shipped to Austria. I can trust Tom Beck — the author of the article — that he cited accurately. The third quote is from the article “Monologue to the Maestro: A High Seas Letter,”
While reading the article, one feeling grows stronger. It started with the first quote, and after reading the whole piece, I am confident that these three quotes are not only for writers but useful for everybody.
So here is my interpretation of the quotes:
Canva Pro Image
Learn to Understand Your Emotions
“Watch what happens today. If we get a fish see exactly what it is that everyone does. If you get a kick out of it while he is jumping remember back until you see exactly what the action was that gave you the emotion. Whether it was the rising of the line from the water and the way it tightened like a fiddle string until drops started from it, or the way he smashed and threw water when he jumped. Remember what the noises were and what was said. Find what gave you the emotion; what the action was that gave you the excitement. Then write it down making it clear so the reader will see it too and have the same feeling that you had.” — Ernest Hemingway
Tom Beck states that good writing comes from real experience, and good writing centers on objects in the world, not abstract ideas.
Ernest Hemingway’s quote is not only for writers. Matthew McConaughey makes a similar statement in his book “Greenlights.”
Matthew describes his method of journaling that he practiced for more than 30 years. He recommends observing what the environment and activities cause on an emotional level.
I agree with that. Whenever I go to a new bar and eat some new food, I try to figure out what happens. The next morning I write it down. Did you ever have this experience that you go out without drinking alcohol the next morning, you feel a huge hangover?
The questions are:
What did you do the night before?
What did you eat?
Whom did you talk to?
What topics did you talk about?
Once I sat in a bar and started talking with a stranger. For hours I heard how miserable his life was, how unfair he was treated by everybody in his life, and how miserable our society is in general.
The next morning I felt simply horrible, which is in my eyes a natural result of too much negativity. Whenever I experience something, I write it down and do my best to navigate around such problems.
Don’t get me wrong. I do not talk about giving up being empathetic, but human beings — especially strangers are no emotional garbage bins in which everybody can pour in their negativity at will.
On the contrary, write down what feels good. Every year I try something new to find out whether it improves my life or not. By doing so, I found out that learning new things is pure joy for me and adds tremendous quality to my life.
Not necessarily to master everything I learn, but getting more insights into life itself is worth the learning process.
I practice guitar for years, yet I don’t think it has created a notable skill. But whenever I am worried or sad or anxious, and I pick up the guitar to practice, I feel better 5 minutes later.
How I found that? By trying new things and writing down how it makes me feel.
Probably not in that great detail that Ernest Hemingway referred to, but I am working on it.
Canva Pro Image
Try to Understand the Situation Before Judging People
“Then get into somebody else’s head for a change. If I bawl you out try to figure out what I’m thinking about as well as how you feel about it. If Carlos curses Juan think what both their sides of it are. Don’t just think who is right. As a man things are as they should or shouldn’t be. As a man you know who is right and who is wrong. You have to make decisions and enforce them. As a writer you should not judge. You should understand.” — Ernest Hemingway
How often are we trapped in the simplified judgemental thinking of true and false?
How often are we quick in judging and labeling any behavior as right or wrong.
Judy betrayed her husband with a family friend; it made her a slut and ruined the family. The poor abandoned and betrayed their husband.
We hear parts of a story and come up with a definite solution thinking it is right.
Ernest Hemingway describes not to do that. Life is a complex process of actions and reactions that create events that are events.
We, humans, give them meaning and assign emotions to the outcome of events. Sometimes it is good to have a certain situation correctly labeled. For example, a funeral is a sad event as a beloved member of a family passed away. Everybody has somebody who loves them. Showing respect and understanding for such a sad situation is the right thing to do.
And yet, in other situations, we come up quickly with a definite solution while we have not really tried to understand the situation as a whole.
What about Judy? How would it be instead of being judgemental behind her back to ask her why she did it?
Maybe she tells you a sad story about how her husband abused her daily, told her that she was an ugly fat cow when nobody was watching. That it would be best for her to leave the house and be gone forever.
Does that make the husband a bad man? I mean, man is overly expressive in their emotions. So what might be the reason he acts that way? Maybe they lived in a time where Judy accidentally got pregnant, and out of social standards, they felt the need to marry and move in together.
But on a human level never were a good fit. Maybe the part of the story Judy would never tell was that she told her husband daily that he is the sole reason for her miserable life. Wouldn’t she have conceived a child from him? She would have met a better man.
Maybe it is just that they tried their best to be there for their child, but never were a perfect fit, so separation is inevitable, and by changing their life circumstances, they met people afterward that bring out the best in them.
I learned not to trust the first reaction to a story and to start digging deeper and trying my best to see the entire picture before making a judgemental decision.
Canva Pro Image
Listen! Listen! Listen! … don’t speak.
“Listen now. When people talk listen completely. Don’t be thinking what you’re going to say. Most people never listen. Nor do they observe. You should be able to go into a room and when you come out know everything that you saw there and not only that. If that room gave you any feeling you should know exactly what it was that gave you that feeling. Try that for practice. When you’re in town stand outside the theatre and see how the people differ in the way they get out of taxis or motor cars. There are a thousand ways to practice. And always think of other people.” — Ernest Hemingway
Walking through life, labeling everything, and judging a person before the person has said anything.
Do you notice this pattern in your own life?
The white man in the new suit must be a rich millionaire coming from wealth. Probably he had a great childhood with loving parents growing up on the bright side of life without having anything to worry about.
Or maybe the white man has lost everything during the corona crisis, job, savings, and family as his wife left with the kids and vanished without notice.
He pulled himself together, bought a new suit with his last money, and is on the way to a job interview that hopefully works out as otherwise, he will not have enough money left to pay for his rent.
Who knows. We often see another person and immediately connect the impression with past experiences trying to make sense of what we see. These experiences can also be social stories we get told via social media.
We judge quickly.
Ernest Hemingway points at the importance of working on perceiving reality as it is without making judgments.
Listen first. Listening means when somebody says something to clear the mind and consume the other person's words.
When I sit in a bar watching people, I often see people in conversations. Well, it is not really a conversation. I like talking with people, listening to what the other person says, making one or the other note — and when the person is finished phasing out a response in my mind and then starting talking.
It is a prolonged process to let people speak without interrupting, thinking about a reply — which creates a moment of silence and the moment can be long — and then starting to reply.
Or not saying anything at all -just listening.
But in bars, one person speaks, and the other person speaks at the same time. Both tell stories from their lives, but none of them actually listens to what the other person says.
When did you really listen lately to another person? | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/hemingways-3-tips-for-aspiring-writers-are-also-valid-for-everybody-else-c30d5eb38055 | ['Christian Soschner'] | 2020-12-23 11:04:15.151000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Writing', 'Self Improvement', 'Success', 'Writing Tips'] | Title Hemingway’s 3 Tips Aspiring Writers Also Valid Everybody ElseContent Inspiring personality Hemingway’s 3 Tips Aspiring Writers Also Valid Everybody Else Canva Pro Image Every human born world without manual Everything else come solid manual think stuff Television manual describes use must avoid Washing Machine producer informs customer Machine avoid ensure longevity Mobile Phone Pretty much Please don’t throw window skyscraper last floor Sound advice human body life Nobody ever written solid manual thing get two mentor — call usually parent thats’ Right birth bound accept parent’s truth regardless whether right One biggest question life still hell live life happy time go sleep smile face — day tough find answer internet started even 10 year ago almost nothing published provided answer question time got much better Today many people post YouTube video write Articles platform like Medium inspiring content people achieved success level life Family Friends Arts Business Health Recently came across one masterpiece loved reading article provided sound advice one writer admire — Ernest Hemingway article based book Hemingway Year Key West Cuba Unfortunately print secondhand version shipped Austria trust Tom Beck — author article — cited accurately third quote article “Monologue Maestro High Seas Letter” reading article one feeling grows stronger started first quote reading whole piece confident three quote writer useful everybody interpretation quote Canva Pro Image Learn Understand Emotions “Watch happens today get fish see exactly everyone get kick jumping remember back see exactly action gave emotion Whether rising line water way tightened like fiddle string drop started way smashed threw water jumped Remember noise said Find gave emotion action gave excitement write making clear reader see feeling had” — Ernest Hemingway Tom Beck state good writing come real experience good writing center object world abstract idea Ernest Hemingway’s quote writer Matthew McConaughey make similar statement book “Greenlights” Matthew describes method journaling practiced 30 year recommends observing environment activity cause emotional level agree Whenever go new bar eat new food try figure happens next morning write ever experience go without drinking alcohol next morning feel huge hangover question night eat talk topic talk sat bar started talking stranger hour heard miserable life unfair treated everybody life miserable society general next morning felt simply horrible eye natural result much negativity Whenever experience something write best navigate around problem Don’t get wrong talk giving empathetic human being — especially stranger emotional garbage bin everybody pour negativity contrary write feel good Every year try something new find whether improves life found learning new thing pure joy add tremendous quality life necessarily master everything learn getting insight life worth learning process practice guitar year yet don’t think created notable skill whenever worried sad anxious pick guitar practice feel better 5 minute later found trying new thing writing make feel Probably great detail Ernest Hemingway referred working Canva Pro Image Try Understand Situation Judging People “Then get somebody else’s head change bawl try figure I’m thinking well feel Carlos curse Juan think side Don’t think right man thing shouldn’t man know right wrong make decision enforce writer judge understand” — Ernest Hemingway often trapped simplified judgemental thinking true false often quick judging labeling behavior right wrong Judy betrayed husband family friend made slut ruined family poor abandoned betrayed husband hear part story come definite solution thinking right Ernest Hemingway describes Life complex process action reaction create event event human give meaning assign emotion outcome event Sometimes good certain situation correctly labeled example funeral sad event beloved member family passed away Everybody somebody love Showing respect understanding sad situation right thing yet situation come quickly definite solution really tried understand situation whole Judy would instead judgemental behind back ask Maybe tell sad story husband abused daily told ugly fat cow nobody watching would best leave house gone forever make husband bad man mean man overly expressive emotion might reason act way Maybe lived time Judy accidentally got pregnant social standard felt need marry move together human level never good fit Maybe part story Judy would never tell told husband daily sole reason miserable life Wouldn’t conceived child would met better man Maybe tried best child never perfect fit separation inevitable changing life circumstance met people afterward bring best learned trust first reaction story start digging deeper trying best see entire picture making judgemental decision Canva Pro Image Listen Listen Listen … don’t speak “Listen people talk listen completely Don’t thinking you’re going say people never listen observe able go room come know everything saw room gave feeling know exactly gave feeling Try practice you’re town stand outside theatre see people differ way get taxi motor car thousand way practice always think people” — Ernest Hemingway Walking life labeling everything judging person person said anything notice pattern life white man new suit must rich millionaire coming wealth Probably great childhood loving parent growing bright side life without anything worry maybe white man lost everything corona crisis job saving family wife left kid vanished without notice pulled together bought new suit last money way job interview hopefully work otherwise enough money left pay rent know often see another person immediately connect impression past experience trying make sense see experience also social story get told via social medium judge quickly Ernest Hemingway point importance working perceiving reality without making judgment Listen first Listening mean somebody say something clear mind consume person word sit bar watching people often see people conversation Well really conversation like talking people listening person say making one note — person finished phasing response mind starting talking prolonged process let people speak without interrupting thinking reply — creates moment silence moment long — starting reply saying anything listening bar one person speaks person speaks time tell story life none actually listens person say really listen lately another personTags Entrepreneurship Writing Self Improvement Success Writing Tips |
2,704 | Make Your Application Essay Harvard-Ready with AI | How AI Can Make Your College Application Essay Harvard-Ready
What AI says about what makes successful Harvard and Yale admissions essays work.
With deadlines looming for college applications, as many as two million college applicants nationwide will spend the holiday season putting their final touches on that most important and feared aspect of the college admissions process: the college application essay.
Because of COVID, the essay is more important this year than ever before. Many applicants have been unable to sit for standardized tests like the SAT, placing an even greater emphasis on grades and essays in this admissions cycle.
Given my long-running interest in AI storytelling, I started with a simple question: can AI improve the college application essay?
The answer is a resounding YES, and not in years or decades, but right now. You should follow this advice before submitting your application essay in the coming weeks!
And I have the data to prove it.
I analyzed more than 100 successful application essays that I found online. The dataset includes 55 successful Harvard application essays, 50 successful Yale admissions essays, and more than 30 “before” and 30 “after” publicly-available essays submitted by actual applicants prior to any editing or coaching and the same essay post-coaching.
I ran each essay through Grammarly’s AI to compile helpful statistics and to look for commonalities. My questions included:
Is there something different about successful Harvard and Yale admissions essays not shared by their less prestigious brethren?
Are Harvard essays better scoring than Yale essays?
Are there any actionable insights for applicants to improve their essays?
Do paid essay coaches improve the score of the essays based on “before” and “after”?
While I have no connection to or relationship with Grammarly, I chose the platform because it is among the leading consumer writing AIs on the market, and it’s mostly free. According to TechCrunch, that company is valued at more than $1 billion, and it has invested at least $200 million in its technology, so I figured it was worth a shot. Additionally, I chose EssayMaster as the source of essays because they have many successful essays accepted by top schools and because I advised the founding editor there, who was a long-time head of admissions at a university.
My Awful Harvard Admissions Essay
But, maybe, the real reason I went down this rabbit hole is that I just had to know if my application essay, the one I wrote to get into Harvard, was as perfect as I imagined it was 25 years ago.
Twenty-five years ago, I submitted my essay to Harvard, and nobody but me edited it, no machine or human. I didn’t even show it to my parents, and it worked, I got in.
But based on my analysis, I would not have gotten in today. My essay scored atrociously on Grammarly, with an overall score of 83. When compared to modern successful examples, it is not even in the same league. If a similar applicant with my grades and test scores submitted the same trite, poor-scoring garbage to Harvard today, that poor soul would almost certainly be denied, and, based on the data, probably even Yale wouldn’t take her.
I still remember the name of my essay, and I even managed to find it: “Hiking to Understanding.” I’m afraid the essay did not improve from its cringe-worthy title, and today, I’m horrified by the adverb-laden text. After reading On Writing by Stephen King, I’ve learned to hate adverbs, although I fail to hate them enough apparently 😊.
My sister whose application essay scored better than mine
But, that terrible score, that 83, would be fine, so long as my sister, Catherine, who is eleven years younger than me and went to Georgetown, had a worse score. So I asked her for her essay. When I saw her proud title, “The Four Corners of Me,” I thought I had a chance.
She scored a not particularly respectable 90. As it turned out, compared to modern Harvard and Yale goers we both stunk, but I stunk far worse. So now I have that to deal with at family get-togethers.
Needless to say, I would never have submitted an 83, because today I would not be foolish enough not to avail myself of AI-assisted editing. In fact, I would go so far as to say that submitting an application essay without any reference to an AI is an anachronism, like gas-powered automobiles.
The truth is AI can improve your admissions essay, and I will tell you how, but first, it’s important that you know this one thing about what the AI is doing: it is beyond your comprehension.
As it turns out, that’s not an insult.
For the purposes of the admissions essay and for this article, all you must know about deep-learning algorithms is this: the reason why the computer composes one sentence and not another or says one thing is wrong and not another is completely incomprehensible to a human seeking to deconstruct the algorithm, even in principle. That simply is the nature of machine-learning.
No less an authority than Wired Magazine has observed that the nature of the technology is that it “produces outcomes based on so many different conditions being transformed by so many layers of neural networks that humans simply cannot comprehend the model the computer has built for itself.”
Ok, so now that you know you can’t understand it, how can AI improve an admissions essay?
Five Easy Steps to Improve Your College Application Essay with AI
Here are the goods. Based on the data, you should do these 5 things to optimize your essay:
1. Score at least a 95 on Grammarly for “Overall score.”
The successful Harvard and Yale essays in the data set scored an average score of 97.4 and a median score of 98. Meanwhile, the average “before” for an essay in the EssayMaster dataset is an 88.1. This is a significant difference, but should surprise no one that applicants to Harvard and Yale generally write better than the average applicant; however, the data also shows this gap can be closed. Interestingly, the average “after” score for an essay is a 97.6 — a score in-line with what a student is expected to have for Harvard or Yale admission. Wise applicants should run their essays through Grammarly, it’s free for the basic service, to see how you score and to work to improve that score.
2. All college admissions essays should score “Very Engaging.”
This is an important baseline. Every single successful college admissions essay accepted by Harvard or Yale in the dataset was “very engaging” based on Grammarly’s score. You have all the time in the world to write your essay. If your essay is not scoring “Very engaging” you should consider why and see if you can improve it. Needless to say, my essay did not score at that level. My 1995-written essay was a bit bland by Grammarly’s metric, apparently, the kiss of death given every single essay in our dataset accepted by Harvard and Yale scored “very engaging.” My sister’s successful Georgetown essay, unfortunately, also achieved this bar, scoring “very engaging.” Kudos Catherine!
3. Get the delivery “Just Right”
About 87% of accepted Harvard and Yale essays had a delivery that scored “Just Right,” the rest were “Slightly Off.” Though less important than being engaging, getting the delivery correct and tonally accurate is important for a successful essay. With that said, the 13% of the essays that were “slightly off” still got into Harvard and Yale. Not surprisingly, a higher proportion, nearly one-third, of the “before” essays were “slightly off.” To improve your delivery, there are free resources, like this admissions essay help course, to learn how to improve an essay’s delivery yourself.
4. Use 50–55% unique words and ~33% rare words but don’t thesaurus-ize!
The percent of unique words is a measure of how many total words are in the essay just once over the total number of words. The percent of rare words is words that are less frequently used in English. The Harvard and Yale essays had an average of 54% unique words compared to the other essays’ 48%. The minimum number of unique words in the Harvard and Yale essays was 40% versus 34% for the other essays. Rare words told a similar story. The percent of rare words used in a Harvard or Yale admissions essay was 33% versus 31% for the “before” essays.
But do NOT thesaurus-ize.
Stephen King’s advice is more true today than ever before:
“Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.” — Stephen King
If the word doesn’t come naturally to you, you could be committing a horrific error in language and make it the easiest possible “No” for an admissions officer.
5. Be at least “clear.” 66% of Harvard and Yale essays scored “very clear.”
Of Harvard and Yale essays, 66% scored “Very clear” on Grammarly’s clarity metric, while 11% were “mostly clear,” and 23% were “clear.” That being said, this appears to be the least useful metric reported by Grammarly, given that a greater percentage of the “before” essays were very clear. The takeaway is this: So long as you are “clear” or better, then you are in good company.
So, are Harvard essays better than Yale essays … and other urgent questions?
We started this journey with a few urgent questions. Here are the answers:
Successful Harvard and Yale essays score better than other applicants’ essays by about 10 points on Grammarly. They use more unique and rare words, and they have “just right” delivery.
On the question of whether Harvard essays score better than Yale essays, Harvard beats Yale 98 to 98 . That is, Harvard essays are NOT better scoring than Yale essays. The medians of both were 98. Yale has slightly more unique words and Harvard slightly more rare words.
. That is, Harvard essays are NOT better scoring than Yale essays. The medians of both were 98. Yale has slightly more unique words and Harvard slightly more rare words. There are some pretty obvious things applicants can do to improve their essays. Most importantly, have an overall score of at least a 95 on Grammarly, and aim for a “very engaging” score and a “just right” delivery score. Don’t sweat the clarity score, so long as it is “clear” or better.
On the question of whether paid essay coaches improved essays, it was self-evident that they did, at least by the measure of Grammarly AI. The before set scored an 88 and the after set scored a 98 for the essays in the dataset.
As far as the role of AI in the practice of writing, it appears we are in a goldilocks zone, prior to the ultimate ascendancy of automated storytelling, where the best writers will not only be skilled at their craft but also proficient masters of AI.
I’d expect that for the next decade or two, the state-of-the-art in storytelling will consist of an AI-assisted human edit. In no more than five to ten years, computers will reliably suggest reasonable next sentences and topics for future paragraphs, and, it will end in the singularity of Deep Story AI, where human-produced writing is clearly inferior to machine-produced creativity.
In a future where sophisticated machines are producing stellar admissions essays, then the only capable scorer of such nuance will be other machines. At that point, the audience for machine writing will be machine scoring.
If the perception is that admissions committees operate in a star chamber today, just wait until AI renders their candidate decisions incomprehensible, even in principle. Perhaps that day has already arrived.
P.S. — Grammarly scored this article an 84 with an engagement score of a bit bland. Sorry about that. I guess not much has changed in 25 years. 🤦 | https://medium.com/towards-artificial-intelligence/how-ai-can-make-your-college-application-essay-harvard-ready-90f9dde79a90 | ['Geoff Cook'] | 2020-12-26 22:02:31.762000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'College Admissions', 'Technology', 'Writing'] | Title Make Application Essay HarvardReady AIContent AI Make College Application Essay HarvardReady AI say make successful Harvard Yale admission essay work deadline looming college application many two million college applicant nationwide spend holiday season putting final touch important feared aspect college admission process college application essay COVID essay important year ever Many applicant unable sit standardized test like SAT placing even greater emphasis grade essay admission cycle Given longrunning interest AI storytelling started simple question AI improve college application essay answer resounding YES year decade right follow advice submitting application essay coming week data prove analyzed 100 successful application essay found online dataset includes 55 successful Harvard application essay 50 successful Yale admission essay 30 “before” 30 “after” publiclyavailable essay submitted actual applicant prior editing coaching essay postcoaching ran essay Grammarly’s AI compile helpful statistic look commonality question included something different successful Harvard Yale admission essay shared le prestigious brother Harvard essay better scoring Yale essay actionable insight applicant improve essay paid essay coach improve score essay based “before” “after” connection relationship Grammarly chose platform among leading consumer writing AIs market it’s mostly free According TechCrunch company valued 1 billion invested least 200 million technology figured worth shot Additionally chose EssayMaster source essay many successful essay accepted top school advised founding editor longtime head admission university Awful Harvard Admissions Essay maybe real reason went rabbit hole know application essay one wrote get Harvard perfect imagined 25 year ago Twentyfive year ago submitted essay Harvard nobody edited machine human didn’t even show parent worked got based analysis would gotten today essay scored atrociously Grammarly overall score 83 compared modern successful example even league similar applicant grade test score submitted trite poorscoring garbage Harvard today poor soul would almost certainly denied based data probably even Yale wouldn’t take still remember name essay even managed find “Hiking Understanding” I’m afraid essay improve cringeworthy title today I’m horrified adverbladen text reading Writing Stephen King I’ve learned hate adverb although fail hate enough apparently 😊 sister whose application essay scored better mine terrible score 83 would fine long sister Catherine eleven year younger went Georgetown worse score asked essay saw proud title “The Four Corners Me” thought chance scored particularly respectable 90 turned compared modern Harvard Yale goer stunk stunk far worse deal family gettogethers Needless say would never submitted 83 today would foolish enough avail AIassisted editing fact would go far say submitting application essay without reference AI anachronism like gaspowered automobile truth AI improve admission essay tell first it’s important know one thing AI beyond comprehension turn that’s insult purpose admission essay article must know deeplearning algorithm reason computer composes one sentence another say one thing wrong another completely incomprehensible human seeking deconstruct algorithm even principle simply nature machinelearning le authority Wired Magazine observed nature technology “produces outcome based many different condition transformed many layer neural network human simply cannot comprehend model computer built itself” Ok know can’t understand AI improve admission essay Five Easy Steps Improve College Application Essay AI good Based data 5 thing optimize essay 1 Score least 95 Grammarly “Overall score” successful Harvard Yale essay data set scored average score 974 median score 98 Meanwhile average “before” essay EssayMaster dataset 881 significant difference surprise one applicant Harvard Yale generally write better average applicant however data also show gap closed Interestingly average “after” score essay 976 — score inline student expected Harvard Yale admission Wise applicant run essay Grammarly it’s free basic service see score work improve score 2 college admission essay score “Very Engaging” important baseline Every single successful college admission essay accepted Harvard Yale dataset “very engaging” based Grammarly’s score time world write essay essay scoring “Very engaging” consider see improve Needless say essay score level 1995written essay bit bland Grammarly’s metric apparently kiss death given every single essay dataset accepted Harvard Yale scored “very engaging” sister’s successful Georgetown essay unfortunately also achieved bar scoring “very engaging” Kudos Catherine 3 Get delivery “Just Right” 87 accepted Harvard Yale essay delivery scored “Just Right” rest “Slightly Off” Though le important engaging getting delivery correct tonally accurate important successful essay said 13 essay “slightly off” still got Harvard Yale surprisingly higher proportion nearly onethird “before” essay “slightly off” improve delivery free resource like admission essay help course learn improve essay’s delivery 4 Use 50–55 unique word 33 rare word don’t thesaurusize percent unique word measure many total word essay total number word percent rare word word le frequently used English Harvard Yale essay average 54 unique word compared essays’ 48 minimum number unique word Harvard Yale essay 40 versus 34 essay Rare word told similar story percent rare word used Harvard Yale admission essay 33 versus 31 “before” essay thesaurusize Stephen King’s advice true today ever “Any word hunt thesaurus wrong word exception rule” — Stephen King word doesn’t come naturally could committing horrific error language make easiest possible “No” admission officer 5 least “clear” 66 Harvard Yale essay scored “very clear” Harvard Yale essay 66 scored “Very clear” Grammarly’s clarity metric 11 “mostly clear” 23 “clear” said appears least useful metric reported Grammarly given greater percentage “before” essay clear takeaway long “clear” better good company Harvard essay better Yale essay … urgent question started journey urgent question answer Successful Harvard Yale essay score better applicants’ essay 10 point Grammarly use unique rare word “just right” delivery question whether Harvard essay score better Yale essay Harvard beat Yale 98 98 Harvard essay better scoring Yale essay median 98 Yale slightly unique word Harvard slightly rare word Harvard essay better scoring Yale essay median 98 Yale slightly unique word Harvard slightly rare word pretty obvious thing applicant improve essay importantly overall score least 95 Grammarly aim “very engaging” score “just right” delivery score Don’t sweat clarity score long “clear” better question whether paid essay coach improved essay selfevident least measure Grammarly AI set scored 88 set scored 98 essay dataset far role AI practice writing appears goldilocks zone prior ultimate ascendancy automated storytelling best writer skilled craft also proficient master AI I’d expect next decade two stateoftheart storytelling consist AIassisted human edit five ten year computer reliably suggest reasonable next sentence topic future paragraph end singularity Deep Story AI humanproduced writing clearly inferior machineproduced creativity future sophisticated machine producing stellar admission essay capable scorer nuance machine point audience machine writing machine scoring perception admission committee operate star chamber today wait AI render candidate decision incomprehensible even principle Perhaps day already arrived PS — Grammarly scored article 84 engagement score bit bland Sorry guess much changed 25 year 🤦Tags Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence College Admissions Technology Writing |
2,705 | Bad API design — studying confusing AppsFlyer Server-to-server API | If you want to learn how not to design APIs, you can just look at the AppsFlyer’s server-to-server events API. The purpose of this API is to enable developers to send additional events about user behavior after they installed your app.
Analyzing the API
Okay, let’s see what we are expected to do to send en event. Documentation opens as follows:
Parameters
Looks simple enough — format the URL with your application id and send some events parameters as a JSON. Let’s skip to the parameters section to start coding.
Well, that is already weird. Look at the screenshot above, can you already see what’s bad here?
The first thing you’ll probably notice is that that some parameter names are in CamelCase , while others are in snake_case . Naming variables using different naming styles is not aesthetic and may lead to human errors. The right way would be choosing just one naming convention and sticking to it throughout the API.
The second thing is that this table lacks data types. So, are all of these parameters supposed to be strings? Well, I guess they could be, but that’s not obvious at all. Always specify data types.
Oh, wait, the table says that af_events_api must always be set to true , so I guess not everything is a string, since we have at least one boolean.
That also leads to another question — why exactly af_events_api must be set to true all the time? What happens if I set it to false or omit it? Well, spoiler alert: the API call will return an Exception. So, why even include this parameter if it must always be true ? What is design decision led to this? I have no idea, this is ridiculous.
Some of the parameters are marked as mandatory (no questions about it), some as optional (same here) and some as recommended. Now, what exactly is “recommended”? I guess it’s the same as optional? So why not just mark them as optional? I mean, if something breaks if these parameters are not set, they should be marked as “Mandatory”. If they are optional but somehow the precision of the service is enhanced when they are set, then it should be clearly stated.
Anyway, since we don’t know the data types, let’s just look at the code examples.
Here goes one:
Wait, what? af_events_api is a string saying "true" ? Why would they stringify a boolean value? If it’s a boolean let it be a boolean. These kind of unintuitive things lead to human errors all the time.
Okay, eventValue is supposed to be a JSON, but… not just a JSON, a stringified JSON! Why on Earth should it be stringified? There is no good reason for that. It’s not like a JSON dictionary cannot hold another dictionary as one of it’s parameters. It can and it should in situations like this. Again, very unintuitive. Encoding two JSONs instead of one (request body itself and eventValue ) will also have a negative impact on the speed of your app if you have to send lots of events.
Okay-okay-okay, so it’s a stringified JSON. But what parameters should be in it? The API Documentation does not even describe them! From the code sample I know that there are af_revenue which is, I guess, revenue value, af_content_type which I have no idea about and af_content_id which I also have no idea about. What do they stand for? Are all of them mandatory or not? Why should I guess? This all should be described in the first table with parameters.
So we scroll the documentation and find another example of code:
Seems like there is also af_quantity — AppsFlyer, do you really want me to guess which parameters can be passed as eventValue ?
Scrolling even further we can observe the most hilarious thing:
Did you get it? AppsFlyers API is so confusing, that even the creator of this documentation managed to confuse eventValue with event_value .
And, by the way, if the value is empty it should be set to either null or omitted in the request instead of setting to an empty string which just confuses things more.
Then we scroll a little more and see this:
Wait, you can specify the event time? Then why the parameters table didn’t specify eventTime alongside other parameters?
Takeaway
You’ve seen a real-life example of bad API design. Here are all the points you need to remember in order to design better APIs: | https://medium.com/swlh/bad-api-design-studying-confusing-appsflyer-server-to-server-api-3c0a2af0b991 | ['Alexey Strelkov'] | 2020-02-21 23:16:39.144000+00:00 | ['Design', 'API', 'Confusion', 'Development', 'Appsflyer'] | Title Bad API design — studying confusing AppsFlyer Servertoserver APIContent want learn design APIs look AppsFlyer’s servertoserver event API purpose API enable developer send additional event user behavior installed app Analyzing API Okay let’s see expected send en event Documentation open follows Parameters Looks simple enough — format URL application id send event parameter JSON Let’s skip parameter section start coding Well already weird Look screenshot already see what’s bad first thing you’ll probably notice parameter name CamelCase others snakecase Naming variable using different naming style aesthetic may lead human error right way would choosing one naming convention sticking throughout API second thing table lack data type parameter supposed string Well guess could that’s obvious Always specify data type Oh wait table say afeventsapi must always set true guess everything string since least one boolean also lead another question — exactly afeventsapi must set true time happens set false omit Well spoiler alert API call return Exception even include parameter must always true design decision led idea ridiculous parameter marked mandatory question optional recommended exactly “recommended” guess it’s optional mark optional mean something break parameter set marked “Mandatory” optional somehow precision service enhanced set clearly stated Anyway since don’t know data type let’s look code example go one Wait afeventsapi string saying true would stringify boolean value it’s boolean let boolean kind unintuitive thing lead human error time Okay eventValue supposed JSON but… JSON stringified JSON Earth stringified good reason It’s like JSON dictionary cannot hold another dictionary one it’s parameter situation like unintuitive Encoding two JSONs instead one request body eventValue also negative impact speed app send lot event Okayokayokay it’s stringified JSON parameter API Documentation even describe code sample know afrevenue guess revenue value afcontenttype idea afcontentid also idea stand mandatory guess described first table parameter scroll documentation find another example code Seems like also afquantity — AppsFlyer really want guess parameter passed eventValue Scrolling even observe hilarious thing get AppsFlyers API confusing even creator documentation managed confuse eventValue eventvalue way value empty set either null omitted request instead setting empty string confuses thing scroll little see Wait specify event time parameter table didn’t specify eventTime alongside parameter Takeaway You’ve seen reallife example bad API design point need remember order design better APIsTags Design API Confusion Development Appsflyer |
2,706 | The Literally Literary Weekly Update #3 | One Last Note
We have 27,489 followers at Literally Literary. We have approximately 200 writers. Even with these tremendous numbers, most of the submitted works get less than 20 views. Why? Algorithms.
How do we combat this and support each other? Bookmark our homepage and once a day, come here and see what you missed. The only way we can be the kind of community we all want to be is to support each others’ works by reading them.
Our homepage has a Top 25–30 that is updated every single day with new works published in the last month. Below that, you will find our trending works and then the latest ones that you may have missed. Be a participant and read works from amazing writers that maybe you don’t follow yet, but might want to. | https://medium.com/literally-literary/the-literally-literary-weekly-update-3-2a710eed5ce4 | ['Jonathan Greene'] | 2020-01-08 14:24:08.348000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Nonfiction', 'Ll Letters', 'Fiction', 'Writing'] | Title Literally Literary Weekly Update 3Content One Last Note 27489 follower Literally Literary approximately 200 writer Even tremendous number submitted work get le 20 view Algorithms combat support Bookmark homepage day come see missed way kind community want support others’ work reading homepage Top 25–30 updated every single day new work published last month find trending work latest one may missed participant read work amazing writer maybe don’t follow yet might want toTags Poetry Nonfiction Letters Fiction Writing |
2,707 | Data Science, Machine Learning and the musings. | When it comes to career selection and following its pursuit, one seldom makes head or tail of it. The following articles consists a brief discussion of several questions regarding data science and machine learning which are residing in minds of many who are about embark a new career in it or are just curious about it. Let’s clear the air, and see how they are the “Sexiest jobs of 21st century” .
1. Why one should learn Data Science and Machine Learning?
As per sources, about a whopping 2.5 Quintilian (2,500,000,000,000,000,000) bytes of data is produced every day, which if stacked, can be equal to 4 Eiffel Towers. Every organization in the world, uses various strategies, tools, and professionals to make sense of this huge amount of data — Big data, but there are not enough sources to convert data into useful insights nor there are skilled professionals for it.
Now, when it comes to pursuing a career in data science there are various positives to this like the pay, as per Glassdoor, a data scientist earns $ 171,345/year which is approximately 163% more than the national average salary. Additionally, there is no restriction on educational background i.e. apart from computer engineers, and statisticians, professionals from mechanical, electronic, electric, and even management realms can find a job in data science. However, the data scientist role requires a lot of skill, and experience for a lucrative wage, not everyone can get it in one go. But, other positions like data analyst, business analyst, business intelligence analyst, data architect, data engineer, and many more have been here which in the future can lead up to a data scientist position.
Apart from the skills required and years of experience, recruiters are now looking onto some qualities in a person like, how curious one is? how judgmental one is? how good story-teller one is?. Many leading professionals have confessed that if a candidate is curious, judgmental, and a story-teller with less coding experience, they will still select that candidate over the one having great coding skills but no interest in data. Therefore, the doors are open for people even if they posses less polished skills.
As discussed before, data scientist uses ‘TOOLS’ to sieve information from the humongous data,so what are those tools? That is when Machine Learning comes into the picture. In old days, people stored data as a tally or tick marks, and an abacus was invented to analyze the same, however, this cannot be applied to the current scenario. The machine learning realm has various algorithms that extract data, collect data, and glean insights from data as well as prepare models which once created can be used for a longer time to perform the above functions. Therefore, the process is automatized. Furthermore, prospective Data Scientists can specialize in Machine Learning and become more desirable for employers. The average salary of a Machine Learning engineer in the US is $ 114,961/year as well as requires command over Math, Algebra, and Statistics (not a PhD in Maths or Statistics) with comprehensive machine learning basics.
With the increment in data, the demand for data specialists has augmented. Amidst that, a 2011 McKinsey research on Big data illustrates that “the United States alone face a shortage of 140,000–190,000 people with analytical expertise”, which conveys a great opportunity to students and other professionals to follow this field. Moreover, both occupations have widespread applications in almost every field viz. healthcare organizations use data to monitor patient health charts, military forces employ them to monitor the defense army, store managers utilize the customer data to tailor discounts and many more.
To conclude, data rules the future world, and learning these skills can make the world a better place collectively, and individually as they do not necessarily require expertise to enter the field. Also, using the untapped opportunities can help build a better career prospect with a high living standard.
2. Is it possible for non-technical candidates to enter into the field of Data Science & Machine Learning? If YES, how and NO, why?
Parents spend a significant amount of money in technical education, expecting a bright future of their child. To be honest, it is hard to grab a good job and survive in it for employees from non-technical backgrounds and cannot use their talent in technical field. Although the stereotypes are set by the recruiters around the globe, things have taken a turn nowadays. So, YES! a non-technical person can pursue a successful career in either data science or machine learning. Even there are success stories of a plethora of IT startups owned and created by people from a non-technical background. So, we can say Sky is not the limit. How? Let’s unravel!
With overwhelming information on the internet and advice from co-workers, the turmoil is guaranteed and the mind surely hits the wall. Anyway, there are numerous ways one can make it into this industry. Firstly, the MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) have seen significant growth since 2012 and during the pandemic, it has boosted exponentially. Many esteemed universities like Harvard, Stanford have partnered with these MOOCs, presenting state-of-the-art course modules, hands-on labs, and assignments. On top of it, many courses do not even require technical backgrounds, therefore taking online courses can help boost confidence and skills to fill the gaps. One of the best online sites to learn are Coursera, Udacity, Udemy, Swayam to name a few.
Secondly and most popularly renowned source, YouTube. Although technical videos are scarce on YouTube, the trend has seen rapid growth over the last few years and the best part is they are free! Most of the online courses are paid or require fees to generate certifications but YouTube is the best source to learn at no cost. Adding to it, there are countless YouTube channels to learn about data science and machine learning like Kaggle, Data School, Crash Course, Tensorflow, and many more.
Furthermore, there is one of the oldest and impeccable source to learn skills from, i.e. books. There are lots of books for absolute beginners or “dummies” viz. “Machine Learning for Dummies” by John Paul Mueller and Luca Massaron, “Introduction to Computation and Programming using Python” by John V. Guttag, “Data Science from Scratch: First principle with Python” by Joel Grus, “Algorithm in a nutshell” by George T. Heineman, Gary Police and Stanley Selkow which are available in paperback as well as e-book versions.
Apart from these, applying knowledge practically is the best way to expertise in a field. One can take part in various online competitions hosted by websites: CodeChef, Google, GeeksforGeeks, and others. Taking part in such contest is an ideal attempt to figure out one’s weakness and strength which helps channel energy and focus in the right direction saving from burnout and loss of motivation.
Ultimately, be part of coding communities. The bitter truth of being a technician is that learning never ends, so have to keep a learn-it-all attitude instead of know-it-all. These communities help beginners upgrade their skill set, host various technical events, help solve technical errors, increase networking and awareness about the technology. Some of the well-known ones are StackOverflow, GitHub, Reddit, Quora, and Hacker News. Even there are certain communities specifically created for women in technology.
3. What are applications of Data Science and Machine Learning in businesses?
Almost every section of business: marketing, sales, feedback, service care, employ data science and machine learning to elevate business sales and opportunities.
To initiate with data science, in a multitude of ways data science aids to make better decisions employing business intelligence. Formerly, business intelligence was static but data science made it more dynamic. With big data available to multi-national companies, they take the help of data scientists to analyze the data and gain knowledge for needed strategies. The gist of the process can be explained as follows:
Business understanding — Understand the context and nature of the problem from the stakeholders which guides the further process. Analytic approach — Based on the type of issue stated, a descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, or prescriptive approach is followed. Data understanding & collection — The data is collected from various sources, prepared, transformed, and visualized to understand it more. Building models — The data and algorithm selected are then trained, scored, and evaluated through several iterations and finally deployed to the stakeholders.
The above process is analogous for machine learning too.
Many business firms use the analyzed data for understanding customer shopping patterns and easy handling during peak hours. For instance, data science assists Walmart in interpreting customer behavior that helps them to stock products in demand along with the ones for the future. Walmart has also tailored checkouts based on each stores, that is either a self-checkout or facilitated checkout. Moreover, based on shopping cart analysis, they curate discounts and offers, organize shelves and recommend products to enhance shopping experience.
Due to globalization, there are customers from several parts of the globe, and handling queries and feedback of naive level disrupts the overall experience for consumers as well as service provides. Therefore, with the help of machine learning, chatbots are integrated into the systems which can handle first wave questions aiding in customer support allowing the company to solve serious problems requiring immediate attention.
One of the classical machine learning applications in the commercial sector is anomaly detection that is diagnosing fraudulent transactions. This strategy is widely applied in manufacturing to intensify productivity and efficiency, reduce costs, and optimize downtime. The procedure of collecting and analyzing data is followed by installing sensors into the system. Machine learning models process this information to find anomalous entities and analyze them to prevent further issues and damage to the system environment. Similarly, these models aid in credit card fraud, medical diagnosis, cyber-security, and many others.
One of the typical utilization of machine learning and data science which is now ubiquitous on websites is recommending engines. To be more precise, while browsing through Netflix, it is hard not to notice how it has designed its home page where one can see strips of shows that are in the top 10 and recommended shows based on the watching history of the user. One might wonder, how are Netflix shows always a blockbuster? Well, analyzing the data helps them sniff the success of every show even before it is released.
There are diverse practices of data science and machine learning residing in almost every step of business which over time has built a stronger understanding of the market, stock prices, customer behavior, and potential threats to the same.
4. What is Deep Learning? Elucidate its sub-categories.
For many years, Artificial Intelligence stirred excitement but experienced AI winter even after Machine Learning arrived. Surprisingly, Deep Learning neural networks made a breakthrough and powered through the whole AI field bringing AI spring.
Deep learning is the subset of machine learning which is a part of artificial intelligence based on artificial neural networks with representational learning. In simple words, a deep learning neural network mimics the working of the human mind but not exactly. To mention a difference, an artificial neural network is static and symbolic while a biological brain in dynamic and analog.
Around the 1950s, the concept of machine learning was coined by Alan Turing, a British mathematician and computer scientist, when he predicted the human brain like supercomputers will be invented and later in the mid-1960s the idea was realized when Soviet mathematicians Ivakhnenko-Lapa created compact functional neural networks. Since then a lot of discoveries have been made and deep learning networks have found a place in various fields.
Remember, all deep learning algorithms are machine learning algorithms but not all machine learning algorithms are deep learning algorithms. Deep learning models are trained using considerable labeled data for high complexity problems requiring high computational power, producing accurate results. On the downside, the trained data is hard to explain and they are expensive.
In deep learning, algorithms are prepared which perform classification tasks on images, texts, and sound. Deep learning is the backbone of self-driving cars, enabling them to differentiate a person and lamp-post or recognize the stop sign. Furthermore, in devices like phones, tablets, TVs, and speakers neural networks support voice command and control.
The adjective “deep” signifies the use of multiple hidden layers in the network where there is an input layer, several hidden layers, and an output layer. A conventional neural network has 3–5 hidden layers but a deep network has as many as 150. Using the labeled data, they extract features without manual intervention. One of the most popular neural networks is Convolution Neural Network (CNN) which is suitable for processing 2D data such as images.
Deep learning is sub-categorized based on architectures which are emphasized in the following text:
Generative — They focus on pre-training a layer using an unsupervised learning approach, which is later included in the model for further training and fine-tuning. This eliminates the difficulty of training lower level architectures.
Discriminative — They process and stack the output of each layer with original information.
Hybrid deep learning — Hybrid deep learning models combine the working of both generative and discriminative.
Additionally, deep learning tools have become an adjunct tool in the automatic medical diagnosis of several diseases like the detection of arrhythmia, breast cancer, pneumonia, and the classification of skin cancers and brain diseases. Similarly, deep learning models have aided in learning large DNA/RNA sequences and fast-track diagnosis of COVID-19 form X-rays images with the help of a special COVIDX-Net Model comprising seven CNN models. In conclusion, deep learning has generated accurate and high complexity results exceeding human thinking and has been making avant-garde revelations from the aggregated data over time.
5. What is Object Oriented Programming in Python? Described with illustrations.
Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm which organizes software design around objects rather than logic or function. in general, object-oriented programming consists of objects consisting of corresponding data structures and the required procedures, thus following a bottom-up problem-solving approach. It is mainly focused on data, not procedures.
An object has two characteristics:
Attributes
Behavior
For illustration, suppose human as an object then,
attributes — name, age, gender, weight
behavior — walking, crying, running
Python is a multi-purpose programming language that focuses on the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) concept thus producing reusable code. Python follows certain object-oriented programming principles mentioned as follows:
Class
In general, class is a blueprint for the object which is used to make user-defined functions. For example, a class is a sketch of human with labels on it. Class creates a method, containing the behavior and properties which object created from the class can perform with its data.
Let’s define a Human as a class:
#Note: Always capitalize the first letter of class name.
class Human:
pass
Here,by using the keyword “class” we prepared an empty class, “Human”. The keyword “pass” is a placeholder indicating where the rest of the code will be placed and this python code runs without any error. The class is used make instances, which is an object containing real data such as name, age or breed.
Object
An object is created by instantiation of class and memory is allocated to it. To instantiate an object write the name of class “human” followed by opening and closing parentheses ().
Human()
One can create two objects with same name but they are not equal as they represent different memory locations.
Creating a class and object in python:
class Human:
#class attributes
species = "homo sapiens" #instance attributes
def __init__(self, name, age):
self.name = name
self.age = age #instantiating Human class
monica = Human("Monica", 25)
rachel = Human("Rachel", 27) #access class attributes
print("Monica is a human / {}.".format(monica.__class__.species)
print("Rachel is a human / {}.".format(rachel.__class__.species) #access instance attributes
print("{} is {} year(s) old.".format(monica.name, monica.age)
print("{} is {} year(s) old.".format(rachel.name, rachel.age)
Output:
Monica is a human / homo sapiens.
Rachel is a human / homo sapiens.
Monica is 25 year(s) old.
Rachel is 25 year(s) old.
In the above program, a class is created called, “Human” with its attribute “species”.
Next, attributes are defined inside the “init” method of that class.
Then, instances of “Human” class are created and “monica” and “rachel” are the value/references to our new objects.
To access class attributes type, __class__species. Class instances are same for all the objects of the class. In the same way, to access instance attributes type, monica.name and monica.age. However, instance attributes are specific to each instance/object of the class.
Methods
Methods are the functions defined inside the body of the class representing the behavior of an object. Now, unlike Java, Python can have function outside the class.
Define a function:
def eat(self, food):
return food
Creating methods in Python:
class Human:
#class attributes
species = "homo sapiens" #instance attributes
def __init__(self, name, age):
self.name = name
self.age = age #instance methods
def eat(self, food):
return "{} loves {}.".format(self.name, food) def live(self, city):
return "{} lives in {}.".format(self.name, city) #instantiating Human class
monica = Human("Monica", 25)
rachel = Human("Rachel", 27) #calling instance methods
print(monica.eat("Lasagna")
print(rachel.eat("Pizza")
print(monica.live("New York")
print(rachel.live("Newark")
Output:
Monica loves Lasagna.
Rachel loves Pizza.
Monica lives in New York.
Rachel lives in Newark.
In the above program, two instance methods are defined: eat() and live(). They are called instance methods as they are called on the instances of the class.
Inheritance
Inheritance allows a new class to use propertied of existing class without manipulating them. Thus, the new class is called derived or child class while the existing one is called base or parent class.
Illustration of inheritance in python:
#Base or Parent Class
class Human:
def __init__(self):
print("I am Human")
def species(self):
print("Homo Sapiens")
def exc(self):
print("Exercises daily!") #Derived or Child Class
class Monica(Human):
def __init__(self):
#call super() function
super().__init__()
print("I am Monica")
def species(self):
print("Human Being")
def cook(self):
print("Cooks lovely!") monica = Monica()
monica.species()
monica.exc()
monica.cook()
Output:
I am Human
I am Monica
Human Being
Exercises daily!
Cooks lovely!
In the above program, two classes are created: Human and Monica, where (Monica) child inherits functions of (Human)parent class. This is demonstrated from exc().
Again, child class modified behavior of parent in species() method which is known as Overriding. While, child class extended parent by creating a new cook() method.
Finally, super() function is used inside the __init__() method to allow the running of the parent class inside the child class.
Encapsulation
Employing OOP in python, the access to methods and variables can be restricted, preventing data from direct modification. This is known as encapsulation. In python, we denote private attributes using underscore as the prefix.( ‘_’ or ‘__’)
Illustrating encapsulation in Python:
class Food: def __init__(self):
self.__cost = 10
def cuisine(self):
print(" Tropical -> {}".format(self.__cost)
def setNewCost(self,price):
self.__cost = price f = Food()
f.cuisine() #change the cost
f.__cost = 20
f.cuisine() #using setter function
f.setNewCost(20)
f.cuisine()
Output:
Tropical -> 10
Tropical -> 10
Tropical -> 20
In the above program, a Food class is defined and __init__() method is used to store cost of food.
Even after trying to modify the cost, it did not change in 2nd line of output because python treats __cost as a private attribute.
Therefore, to change the value, setter function, setNewCost() is used, taking price as parameter.
Polymorphism
“Poly” means many. Polymorphism allows to use a common interface for multiple data types. Suppose we need to color a shape and there are various shapes (square, circle, rectangle). Same method can be used to color all shapes via polymorphism.
Illustrating polymorphism in Python:
class square:
def corner(self):
print("Square has 4 corners") class circle: def corner(self):
print("Circle has no corners") #common interface
def corner_test(shape):
shape.corner() #instantiate objects
s = square()
c = circle() #passing the objects
corner_test(s)
corner_test(c)
Output:
Square has 4 corners
Circle has no corners
In the above program, two classes are defined : Square and Circle, each having common corner() method. But they act as different functions.
To use polymorphism, a common interface corner_test() is created that takes any object and calls the object’s corner() method. Thus, passed c and s in corner_test() function, which ran effectively. | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/data-science-machine-learning-and-the-musings-886844c946a2 | ['Ruhi Tyagi'] | 2020-10-15 12:47:23.189000+00:00 | ['Deep Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Python', 'Data Science', 'Machine Learning'] | Title Data Science Machine Learning musingsContent come career selection following pursuit one seldom make head tail following article consists brief discussion several question regarding data science machine learning residing mind many embark new career curious Let’s clear air see “Sexiest job 21st century” 1 one learn Data Science Machine Learning per source whopping 25 Quintilian 2500000000000000000 byte data produced every day stacked equal 4 Eiffel Towers Every organization world us various strategy tool professional make sense huge amount data — Big data enough source convert data useful insight skilled professional come pursuing career data science various positive like pay per Glassdoor data scientist earns 171345year approximately 163 national average salary Additionally restriction educational background ie apart computer engineer statistician professional mechanical electronic electric even management realm find job data science However data scientist role requires lot skill experience lucrative wage everyone get one go position like data analyst business analyst business intelligence analyst data architect data engineer many future lead data scientist position Apart skill required year experience recruiter looking onto quality person like curious one judgmental one good storyteller one Many leading professional confessed candidate curious judgmental storyteller le coding experience still select candidate one great coding skill interest data Therefore door open people even posse le polished skill discussed data scientist us ‘TOOLS’ sieve information humongous dataso tool Machine Learning come picture old day people stored data tally tick mark abacus invented analyze however cannot applied current scenario machine learning realm various algorithm extract data collect data glean insight data well prepare model created used longer time perform function Therefore process automatized Furthermore prospective Data Scientists specialize Machine Learning become desirable employer average salary Machine Learning engineer US 114961year well requires command Math Algebra Statistics PhD Maths Statistics comprehensive machine learning basic increment data demand data specialist augmented Amidst 2011 McKinsey research Big data illustrates “the United States alone face shortage 140000–190000 people analytical expertise” conveys great opportunity student professional follow field Moreover occupation widespread application almost every field viz healthcare organization use data monitor patient health chart military force employ monitor defense army store manager utilize customer data tailor discount many conclude data rule future world learning skill make world better place collectively individually necessarily require expertise enter field Also using untapped opportunity help build better career prospect high living standard 2 possible nontechnical candidate enter field Data Science Machine Learning YES Parents spend significant amount money technical education expecting bright future child honest hard grab good job survive employee nontechnical background cannot use talent technical field Although stereotype set recruiter around globe thing taken turn nowadays YES nontechnical person pursue successful career either data science machine learning Even success story plethora startup owned created people nontechnical background say Sky limit Let’s unravel overwhelming information internet advice coworkers turmoil guaranteed mind surely hit wall Anyway numerous way one make industry Firstly MOOCs Massive Open Online Courses seen significant growth since 2012 pandemic boosted exponentially Many esteemed university like Harvard Stanford partnered MOOCs presenting stateoftheart course module handson lab assignment top many course even require technical background therefore taking online course help boost confidence skill fill gap One best online site learn Coursera Udacity Udemy Swayam name Secondly popularly renowned source YouTube Although technical video scarce YouTube trend seen rapid growth last year best part free online course paid require fee generate certification YouTube best source learn cost Adding countless YouTube channel learn data science machine learning like Kaggle Data School Crash Course Tensorflow many Furthermore one oldest impeccable source learn skill ie book lot book absolute beginner “dummies” viz “Machine Learning Dummies” John Paul Mueller Luca Massaron “Introduction Computation Programming using Python” John V Guttag “Data Science Scratch First principle Python” Joel Grus “Algorithm nutshell” George Heineman Gary Police Stanley Selkow available paperback well ebook version Apart applying knowledge practically best way expertise field One take part various online competition hosted website CodeChef Google GeeksforGeeks others Taking part contest ideal attempt figure one’s weakness strength help channel energy focus right direction saving burnout loss motivation Ultimately part coding community bitter truth technician learning never end keep learnitall attitude instead knowitall community help beginner upgrade skill set host various technical event help solve technical error increase networking awareness technology wellknown one StackOverflow GitHub Reddit Quora Hacker News Even certain community specifically created woman technology 3 application Data Science Machine Learning business Almost every section business marketing sale feedback service care employ data science machine learning elevate business sale opportunity initiate data science multitude way data science aid make better decision employing business intelligence Formerly business intelligence static data science made dynamic big data available multinational company take help data scientist analyze data gain knowledge needed strategy gist process explained follows Business understanding — Understand context nature problem stakeholder guide process Analytic approach — Based type issue stated descriptive diagnostic predictive prescriptive approach followed Data understanding collection — data collected various source prepared transformed visualized understand Building model — data algorithm selected trained scored evaluated several iteration finally deployed stakeholder process analogous machine learning Many business firm use analyzed data understanding customer shopping pattern easy handling peak hour instance data science assist Walmart interpreting customer behavior help stock product demand along one future Walmart also tailored checkout based store either selfcheckout facilitated checkout Moreover based shopping cart analysis curate discount offer organize shelf recommend product enhance shopping experience Due globalization customer several part globe handling query feedback naive level disrupts overall experience consumer well service provides Therefore help machine learning chatbots integrated system handle first wave question aiding customer support allowing company solve serious problem requiring immediate attention One classical machine learning application commercial sector anomaly detection diagnosing fraudulent transaction strategy widely applied manufacturing intensify productivity efficiency reduce cost optimize downtime procedure collecting analyzing data followed installing sensor system Machine learning model process information find anomalous entity analyze prevent issue damage system environment Similarly model aid credit card fraud medical diagnosis cybersecurity many others One typical utilization machine learning data science ubiquitous website recommending engine precise browsing Netflix hard notice designed home page one see strip show top 10 recommended show based watching history user One might wonder Netflix show always blockbuster Well analyzing data help sniff success every show even released diverse practice data science machine learning residing almost every step business time built stronger understanding market stock price customer behavior potential threat 4 Deep Learning Elucidate subcategories many year Artificial Intelligence stirred excitement experienced AI winter even Machine Learning arrived Surprisingly Deep Learning neural network made breakthrough powered whole AI field bringing AI spring Deep learning subset machine learning part artificial intelligence based artificial neural network representational learning simple word deep learning neural network mimic working human mind exactly mention difference artificial neural network static symbolic biological brain dynamic analog Around 1950s concept machine learning coined Alan Turing British mathematician computer scientist predicted human brain like supercomputer invented later mid1960s idea realized Soviet mathematician IvakhnenkoLapa created compact functional neural network Since lot discovery made deep learning network found place various field Remember deep learning algorithm machine learning algorithm machine learning algorithm deep learning algorithm Deep learning model trained using considerable labeled data high complexity problem requiring high computational power producing accurate result downside trained data hard explain expensive deep learning algorithm prepared perform classification task image text sound Deep learning backbone selfdriving car enabling differentiate person lamppost recognize stop sign Furthermore device like phone tablet TVs speaker neural network support voice command control adjective “deep” signifies use multiple hidden layer network input layer several hidden layer output layer conventional neural network 3–5 hidden layer deep network many 150 Using labeled data extract feature without manual intervention One popular neural network Convolution Neural Network CNN suitable processing 2D data image Deep learning subcategorized based architecture emphasized following text Generative — focus pretraining layer using unsupervised learning approach later included model training finetuning eliminates difficulty training lower level architecture Discriminative — process stack output layer original information Hybrid deep learning — Hybrid deep learning model combine working generative discriminative Additionally deep learning tool become adjunct tool automatic medical diagnosis several disease like detection arrhythmia breast cancer pneumonia classification skin cancer brain disease Similarly deep learning model aided learning large DNARNA sequence fasttrack diagnosis COVID19 form Xrays image help special COVIDXNet Model comprising seven CNN model conclusion deep learning generated accurate high complexity result exceeding human thinking making avantgarde revelation aggregated data time 5 Object Oriented Programming Python Described illustration ObjectOriented Programming OOP programming paradigm organizes software design around object rather logic function general objectoriented programming consists object consisting corresponding data structure required procedure thus following bottomup problemsolving approach mainly focused data procedure object two characteristic Attributes Behavior illustration suppose human object attribute — name age gender weight behavior — walking cry running Python multipurpose programming language focus DRY Don’t Repeat concept thus producing reusable code Python follows certain objectoriented programming principle mentioned follows Class general class blueprint object used make userdefined function example class sketch human label Class creates method containing behavior property object created class perform data Let’s define Human class Note Always capitalize first letter class name class Human pas Hereby using keyword “class” prepared empty class “Human” keyword “pass” placeholder indicating rest code placed python code run without error class used make instance object containing real data name age breed Object object created instantiation class memory allocated instantiate object write name class “human” followed opening closing parenthesis Human One create two object name equal represent different memory location Creating class object python class Human class attribute specie homo sapiens instance attribute def initself name age selfname name selfage age instantiating Human class monica HumanMonica 25 rachel HumanRachel 27 access class attribute printMonica human formatmonicaclassspecies printRachel human formatrachelclassspecies access instance attribute print year oldformatmonicaname monicaage print year oldformatrachelname rachelage Output Monica human homo sapiens Rachel human homo sapiens Monica 25 year old Rachel 25 year old program class created called “Human” attribute “species” Next attribute defined inside “init” method class instance “Human” class created “monica” “rachel” valuereferences new object access class attribute type classspecies Class instance object class way access instance attribute type monicaname monicaage However instance attribute specific instanceobject class Methods Methods function defined inside body class representing behavior object unlike Java Python function outside class Define function def eatself food return food Creating method Python class Human class attribute specie homo sapiens instance attribute def initself name age selfname name selfage age instance method def eatself food return love formatselfname food def liveself city return life formatselfname city instantiating Human class monica HumanMonica 25 rachel HumanRachel 27 calling instance method printmonicaeatLasagna printracheleatPizza printmonicaliveNew York printrachelliveNewark Output Monica love Lasagna Rachel love Pizza Monica life New York Rachel life Newark program two instance method defined eat live called instance method called instance class Inheritance Inheritance allows new class use propertied existing class without manipulating Thus new class called derived child class existing one called base parent class Illustration inheritance python Base Parent Class class Human def initself printI Human def speciesself printHomo Sapiens def excself printExercises daily Derived Child Class class MonicaHuman def initself call super function superinit printI Monica def speciesself printHuman def cookself printCooks lovely monica Monica monicaspecies monicaexc monicacook Output Human Monica Human Exercises daily Cooks lovely program two class created Human Monica Monica child inherits function Humanparent class demonstrated exc child class modified behavior parent specie method known Overriding child class extended parent creating new cook method Finally super function used inside init method allow running parent class inside child class Encapsulation Employing OOP python access method variable restricted preventing data direct modification known encapsulation python denote private attribute using underscore prefix ‘’ ‘’ Illustrating encapsulation Python class Food def initself selfcost 10 def cuisineself print Tropical formatselfcost def setNewCostselfprice selfcost price f Food fcuisine change cost fcost 20 fcuisine using setter function fsetNewCost20 fcuisine Output Tropical 10 Tropical 10 Tropical 20 program Food class defined init method used store cost food Even trying modify cost change 2nd line output python treat cost private attribute Therefore change value setter function setNewCost used taking price parameter Polymorphism “Poly” mean many Polymorphism allows use common interface multiple data type Suppose need color shape various shape square circle rectangle method used color shape via polymorphism Illustrating polymorphism Python class square def cornerself printSquare 4 corner class circle def cornerself printCircle corner common interface def cornertestshape shapecorner instantiate object square c circle passing object cornertests cornertestc Output Square 4 corner Circle corner program two class defined Square Circle common corner method act different function use polymorphism common interface cornertest created take object call object’s corner method Thus passed c cornertest function ran effectivelyTags Deep Learning Artificial Intelligence Python Data Science Machine Learning |
2,708 | The Secret Lives of Color. My sweet husband Rob gave me a book for… | My sweet husband Rob gave me a book for Christmas that he heard about on a podcast and thought I might like.
But giving a book to someone and asking them to spend time and attention and energy on it is an act of such intimacy and audacity. I’ve been married to Rob for almost 31 years and even I had a tiny internal eye roll when I saw that he had given me a book. Like, “Really — you’re going to give ME a book? Me who reads books all day long for a living? ME who reads books all night long because there are so many I want and need to read for my work and my life? ME who has books stacked everywhere in a scattered TBR file? ME who doesn’t have a spare minute?”
Note that I said internal eye roll, above. You don’t stay married for 31 years without learning something about when to keep your mouth shut. I also love to give books as gifts and frequently do so to both family and friends so it’s not like I can hold a double standard in this regard. So I smiled and thanked him and dutifully asked him where he had heard about the book (99% Invisible), and then I took the book and put it in the stack and thought I might get around to looking at it one day.
That day came this week and when I cracked open The Secret Lives of Colors by Kassia St Clair, I literally gasped. It is an object of incredible beauty — which in the age of e-books, means that a great many people lavished a lot of money and attention on it. Those little dots on the cover are raised and shiny — I knew that much — as well as the fact that they used very thick paper because the book is heavy. The shock was inside, where the Table of Contents was printed in every single color written about — 75 colors printed there. And there are colored bars on the edge of the pages where each color story begins in the book, forming a deep rich rainbow on the page edges. Certain page spreads are saturated with color.
Before reading a word about what the book was even about, I was eagerly trying to figure out who the author was who warranted this level of detail, and what her deal was.
Turns out she is a cultural historian who has been writing about the history of color for many years for publications such as The Economist, House & Garden, and Quartz, and in a long-running column for Elle Decoration.
Already loving her — a cultural historian with an expertise in color?? — I turned back to the TOC to see the most gorgeous structure. I am obsessed with the way books are shaped and structured — with how the material flows, and how it was curated and edited, and what the form of the work tells us about its function. When I am working with a nonfiction client to transform the fuzzy idea that’s stuck in their head into a powerful message that can be pressed into a reader’s hands and consumed, the bulk of what I am doing is helping them think about how to contain their idea, how to define it, how to edit it, which is to say that we are in the business of structure.
I could read TOCs all day long and sometimes do when doing research on behalf of a client. My favorites ones are the ones that tell you in an instant what the book is — the whole story in just one glance. A book like Michael Pollan’s Cooked does this or The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. I just love that kind of power and clarity, because it can only come from someone with deep experience wrestling with an idea.
The TOC of The Secret Lives of Color is nothing more than a list of colors printed in the colors they represent. Outside of the context of the book, printed in black and white on a piece of paper, it would literally just be a meaningless list of colors. But within the context of the book, it raises so many questions — the good kind of questions you want your reader to be asking, such as “Why these colors? And what on earth could the author possibly say about so many colors that would warrant the writing of the book?”
With these thoughts in mind, I turned to the introduction, where St. Claire writes:
“What I have tried to do is provide something between a potted history and a character sketch for the 75 shades that have intrigued me the most. Some are artists’ colors, some are dyes, and others are almost more akin to ideas or sociocultural creations.”
I didn’t even know what a potted history was when I read those words, but I could guess that it wasn’t good, wasn’t something to be desired; it sounded like plodding, or stuck. But a character sketch of a color? Yes, please, give me that. What a concept! What an imagination that came up with that idea! What a fantastic premise for a book.
(And I was right — “A potted history is brief, a quick summary. Potted meat is meat, usually not of the highest quality, processed and preserved in a tin. The expression is often used in a derogatory way.” — English.stackexchange.com)
Not even 300 words into the experience of this book, and I was taken in, hook, line, and sinker. Suddenly, I was holding in my hands my favorite kind of book — a book about creativity. But it’s also about fashion and art and chemistry and science and politics and geography. There is intrigue and thievery and scandal running like an electric current through the stories.
It’s written in such a way that you want to dog-ear the pages, even though you would never actually dare (and I am a devoted dog-ear-er of pages!) You keep running across sentences like this:
“Colors, therefore, should be understood as subjective cultural creations: you could no more meaningfully secure a precise universal definition for all the known shades than you could plot the coordinates of a dream.”
I believe I have mentioned it to ten people in 3 days, and now I am sharing it with you. The term “it speaks volumes” comes to mind. It’s just one book but it contains so much within it that is worth thinking about and sharing.
No one needs this book.
There is no agent who said on Manuscript Wish List, “Bring me all your nonfiction books about the cultural history of color.”
There is no reader who said, “What I really want is an expensive book that teaches me something about color.”
But the author was nonetheless thinking of me or someone like me when she crafted her book. She was thinking about who would care, why they would care, and how she could delight them. She was probably thinking about fashion designers and graphic designers and artists and photographers, and maybe dancers and poets, and maybe scholars and other writers, and maybe book coaches.
I am just so tickled that the author wrote it and that my husband was bold enough and wise enough to know that I would love it.
Aren’t you dying to write a book that one day hits someone like that? I hope you are deeply engaged in it right this very moment. And I hope you don’t stop until it’s as close to your vision as you can make it. | https://medium.com/no-blank-pages/the-secret-lives-of-colors-845b606eb5d3 | ['Jennie Nash'] | 2020-02-07 03:19:15.471000+00:00 | ['Books And Authors', 'Inspiration', 'Writing', 'Book Recommendations', 'Books'] | Title Secret Lives Color sweet husband Rob gave book for…Content sweet husband Rob gave book Christmas heard podcast thought might like giving book someone asking spend time attention energy act intimacy audacity I’ve married Rob almost 31 year even tiny internal eye roll saw given book Like “Really — you’re going give book read book day long living read book night long many want need read work life book stacked everywhere scattered TBR file doesn’t spare minute” Note said internal eye roll don’t stay married 31 year without learning something keep mouth shut also love give book gift frequently family friend it’s like hold double standard regard smiled thanked dutifully asked heard book 99 Invisible took book put stack thought might get around looking one day day came week cracked open Secret Lives Colors Kassia St Clair literally gasped object incredible beauty — age ebooks mean great many people lavished lot money attention little dot cover raised shiny — knew much — well fact used thick paper book heavy shock inside Table Contents printed every single color written — 75 color printed colored bar edge page color story begin book forming deep rich rainbow page edge Certain page spread saturated color reading word book even eagerly trying figure author warranted level detail deal Turns cultural historian writing history color many year publication Economist House Garden Quartz longrunning column Elle Decoration Already loving — cultural historian expertise color — turned back TOC see gorgeous structure obsessed way book shaped structured — material flow curated edited form work tell u function working nonfiction client transform fuzzy idea that’s stuck head powerful message pressed reader’s hand consumed bulk helping think contain idea define edit say business structure could read TOCs day long sometimes research behalf client favorite one one tell instant book — whole story one glance book like Michael Pollan’s Cooked Top Five Regrets Dying love kind power clarity come someone deep experience wrestling idea TOC Secret Lives Color nothing list color printed color represent Outside context book printed black white piece paper would literally meaningless list color within context book raise many question — good kind question want reader asking “Why color earth could author possibly say many color would warrant writing book” thought mind turned introduction St Claire writes “What tried provide something potted history character sketch 75 shade intrigued artists’ color dye others almost akin idea sociocultural creations” didn’t even know potted history read word could guess wasn’t good wasn’t something desired sounded like plodding stuck character sketch color Yes please give concept imagination came idea fantastic premise book right — “A potted history brief quick summary Potted meat meat usually highest quality processed preserved tin expression often used derogatory way” — Englishstackexchangecom even 300 word experience book taken hook line sinker Suddenly holding hand favorite kind book — book creativity it’s also fashion art chemistry science politics geography intrigue thievery scandal running like electric current story It’s written way want dogear page even though would never actually dare devoted dogearer page keep running across sentence like “Colors therefore understood subjective cultural creation could meaningfully secure precise universal definition known shade could plot coordinate dream” believe mentioned ten people 3 day sharing term “it speaks volumes” come mind It’s one book contains much within worth thinking sharing one need book agent said Manuscript Wish List “Bring nonfiction book cultural history color” reader said “What really want expensive book teach something color” author nonetheless thinking someone like crafted book thinking would care would care could delight probably thinking fashion designer graphic designer artist photographer maybe dancer poet maybe scholar writer maybe book coach tickled author wrote husband bold enough wise enough know would love Aren’t dying write book one day hit someone like hope deeply engaged right moment hope don’t stop it’s close vision make itTags Books Authors Inspiration Writing Book Recommendations Books |
2,709 | What I Learned from Martial Arts as a Software Engineer | What I Learned from Martial Arts as a Software Engineer
Some striking similarities between Martial Arts and Software Engineering. No pun intended :)
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
As someone who sits in front of the computer as a profession, I take my health and fitness seriously. I started training Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) about a year ago. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made. Before that, I was doing mostly strength and cardio training for years. I got bored with the repetitive nature of such workouts, so I decided to try martial arts.
I’ve been a fan of martial arts movies since I was a kid. Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master was the first “Kung Fu” movie that I watched. My father introduced me to Bruce Lee movies. My fascination with martial arts has evolved into following combat sports like Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). I’ve also been following the Joe Rogan Podcast for years now. That has made my decision to sign up for a martial arts gym an easy one.
I’ve been pondering the crossover of ideas between being a Martial Arts student and being a Software Engineer that I had to write an essay to get my thoughts out.
Before I dive into what I learned from Martial Arts, let’s start with why I chose Muay Thai and BJJ, among all other options.
Why Muay Thai and BJJ?
I chose both martial arts because:
They are proven to be effective over the years until now with the popularity of MMA. I don’t condone any form of violence. However, the engineer in me justifies that if I’m going to learn martial arts, I might as well choose the ones that I can use in any unlikely situations.
They involve explosive movements. Training teaches me the martial art as a skill while serving as an intense workout.
They are accessible to me logistically. My MMA gym is walkable from my workplace and a bus ride away from where I live.
They are opposites. BJJ is the “gentle art”; there’s an emphasis on neutralizing the opponent. Muay Thai is the “art of the eight limbs,” which combines fists, elbows, knees, and shins to attack.
They compliment each other. BJJ is for fighting on the ground, while Muay Thai is for stand-up striking.
Being proficient in both Martial Arts is akin to being a Full-Stack developer. You are skilled in both front-end and back-end development; hence it allows you to build your entire application stack just like being a well-rounded Martial Artist.
10,000 kicks
I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. — Bruce Lee
In my Muay Thai class, trainers require the students to repeat drills after stretching and warm-up. These drills are usually knee strikes or roundhouse kicks on the bag. Roundhouse kicks and knee strikes could range from 50 to 100 reps in total for each leg.
The same goes for my BJJ class. We repeat the same drills, such as forward, backward rolls, and hip escapes, before practicing the techniques or grappling.
The benefits of these drills are two-fold. (1) I will master the Muay Thai strikes or BJJ movements that I repeat to the point that they become second nature. Upon mastery, I won’t have to think about the exact mechanics of a roundhouse kick, like rotating my hips, using my hand to guard my face, and pivoting on my tiptoe. I tell my mind that I want to do a Muay Thai roundhouse kick, and my body will follow. (2) It conditions my body. For example, in Muay Thai, my shins adapt to the stress of hitting the bag. In my first month of Muay Thai, I always go home with bruised shins while limping. Then my body started to adapt to a point where hitting the bag doesn’t hurt as much as it used to.
As a software engineer, tasks like writing code, facilitating a useful technical discussion and presenting demos follow the same principle. I have to do the same activities over and over again to become good at it. When I was new to coding, I remember that I had to flip the pages of a book to write a simple select SQL query or implement a for-loop statement. However, after doing it some time, forming a for-loop statement in my head and writing becomes second nature.
What are you willing to do your “10,000 kicks” for?
Continuous feedback loop
Make feedback normal. Not a performance review. — Ed Batista
My Muay Thai Krus and BJJ Professors are continually going around checking each student’s technique. If they spot a bad technique, they will correct it before it becomes a bad habit.
In my first private session with a former Lumpinee champion, I realized that I wasn’t consistent with my techniques. My jab, cross, and hook weren’t generating as much power as possible because of my bad form. I tend to forget to pivot with my tiptoe when I do my roundhouse kick. I tend to fall into bad habits, especially when I’m gassing out; I’d unconsciously drop my hands, making my head open to attacks. Kru-Aek corrected all of these in one session. Now that I’m more aware of these bad habits, they are now stuck in my head every time I do my drills. Getting rid of bad habits and giving way to proper technique.
Some students can give you valuable feedback, as well. I recently sparred with a fellow white belt who’s ten years younger than me. He dominated our sparring session. It seemed too easy for him to take my back at will and submit me with a rear-naked choke. After our sparring, I asked him for feedback, which he gladly shared. We repeated the positions as to where I have holes in my game. He showed me what I did that made it easy for him to take my back. I learned a ton from feedback alone during my classes.
In my software engineering career, feedback could be in the form of a code review, document review, formal 360 feedback, Adhoc feedback, pair programming, or performance reviews. We don’t have to wait for the performance review cycle to gather feedback if we make feedback a norm. Constant and timely feedback course correct what could form a long-term bad habit. Seeking feedback has helped me become a better software engineer. Learning what areas you suck at and correcting them will bring you to the next level.
When was the last time you have asked for feedback? What was the most valuable feedback you have received recently?
Belt system and the software engineering ladder
The belt color in Judo indicates how hard your sparring partner can throw you down — Paraphrased from a YouTube or Reddit comment.
Your competence as a practitioner is the basis of the BJJ Belt System. Muay Thai does not have a belt system. However, some gyms do implement a similar approach using color-coded armbands or pra jiad [1]. Color and ranking follow a similar progression from no armband to earning one with color rankings similar to BJJ: white, blue, purple, etc. In my current gym, you have to have at least a white pra jiad (Level 2) before you can start Muay Thai sparring.
A black belt in BJJ takes on average at least ten to fifteen years to achieve. With a few exceptional cases like Gordon Ryan and BJ Penn. Gordon Ryan received his black belt when he was nineteen years old. BJ Penn received his black belt in three years and four months [2].
The belt system in martial arts somehow reminds me of the Software Career Engineering Ladder. Depending on your company, you start as an Entry Level Software Engineer, progress to mid-level then to Senior Software Engineer, Staff Engineer, Principal Engineer, and Distinguished Engineer. In theory, your “competence” determines your career progression. Every company has its own set of criteria for what it takes to reach a specific level. It’s not consistent across companies. A Senior Engineer in Company A becoming an Entry Level Software Engineer when they move to Company B is not uncommon. It’s similar in martial arts. In BJJ, for example, some gyms will require you to move down to a lower ranking belt when you join them. Or some gyms could get you promoted relatively faster than if you joined other gyms.
However, in martial arts, especially BJJ, instructors could put their gym’s reputation and their students at risk if they give away belt promotions to those who are not “ready.” Let’s say you have a group of BJJ black belt students from Dojo A who went out to challenge BJJ students in Dojo B. Dojo A’s black belt students somehow got beaten by Dojo B’s purple belts. Dojo A is most likely not the gym that I want to go to in this example because of the “watering down” that happens. “Watering down” is similar to software engineers’ “title inflation” in some tech companies. You get the prestige of the job title just like how you get the prestige of getting a black belt in “watered down” dojos [3].
The beauty of the BJJ belt system is that sparring sessions and competitions can test their accuracy. Similarly, they could also test an engineer’s readiness for promotion by assigning them responsibilities meant for the level they are aiming for. However, Software Engineering ladders in any organization are prone to inconsistencies, with people finding ways to shortcut their way to promotion [4], which will be harmful to their engineers’ careers in the long run. In BJJ, most of the practitioners I met, including myself, are focused on enjoying the journey. The belt promotion is not an end goal by itself. There is more focus on mastering the art.
Regardless of whether it’s a BJJ belt system or Software Engineering Ladder, any form of ranking judged by humans is still flawed. Testing the individual is the best way to achieve accuracy in the system. We should strive to give promotions to those who are ready for it. Give the belt to deserving people who can carry it. Otherwise, people will underperform if we promote them prematurely. It’s a long journey. Imagine the satisfaction of achieving your blackbelt after training in BJJ consistently for more than ten years.
What do you think about the career ladder that you are in? Is there anything you could do to improve it?
Humility
There is no losing in Jiu-Jitsu. You either win or you learn. — Carlos Gracie
“Styles make fights” — I always hear this phrase from boxing analysts. It means that no matter how good a fighter is, they eventually get beaten, regardless of skill disparity. There are fighters with a no-loss record, to name some of them: Floyd Mayweather (retired) in boxing, Jon Jones (discounting the disqualification), and Khabib Nurmagomedov (retired) in MMA. However, these fighters are one-in-a-million. A combat fighter is still bound to lose a match at some point, especially if they are undefeated in the early stage of their career [5].
When I roll with a sparring partner on the mats, my goal is to either win or learn [6]. “Losing” a roll is part of the process. Rolling reminds me to be humble. No egos on the mat. No matter how much I master a submission, someone else has already figured out a way to defend it. No matter how much I have practiced my defense, someone will find a way to sweep me. The goal is to finish the class as an incrementally better grappler than before I came in.
In my software engineering career, I’ve had so many “failures.” No matter how much experience you have under your belt or how much you have mastered a tech stack, the software you’ve built is not bulletproof to outages and bugs. No matter how much you’ve tried to help your team, some things are out of your control that could go wrong. No matter how good you think you are at what you’re doing, failure is inevitable.
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t aim to win. My point is to take full responsibility when we lose. However, don’t get too fixated. Learn from losing, stay humble, and move on.
What have you “learned” recently?
A never-ending journey
If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t even start. — from Charles Bukowski’s Go All The Way
The world of martial arts is in constant progress. Martial arts practitioners invent new techniques. I don’t have a glamorous end goal in practicing martial arts. I want to become the best martial artist that I can be in my lifetime. I don’t aspire to fight professionally or even compete at an amateur level. I’m happy to regularly go to my gym, learn new techniques, have fun sparring, polish my game, and go home a happy man. It’s something that I look forward to every time I schedule my class. There is always something new to learn in every class; it’s either a new defensive technique, a new Muay Thai combo, or a new BJJ submission. I see myself practicing martial arts until I’m able to.
The world of software engineering is in constant progress. New software tools get introduced regularly. Open-source developers build new libraries to help software engineers become more efficient in writing software. I need to get better at my craft continuously. Like martial arts, I don’t have a glamorous end goal in my career as a software engineer other than becoming the best software craftsman that I can be. I always look forward to my day job as a software engineer. There is still something new to learn every day. I see myself writing code until I’m able to.
What’s your never-ending journey?
Staying true to the art
In closing, I will share an excerpt from the poem translated from Russian: My Sister — Life by Boris Pasternak. This poem reminds me of how I feel about practicing Martial Arts and being a Software Engineer.
And never for a single moment
Betray your credo or pretend,
But be alive — only this matters -
Alive and burning to the end.
I got to know about this poem from the Joe Rogan Podcast Episode with Lex Fridman. To quote Lex Fridman’s interpretation, which I think perfectly hit it home [7]:
Fame, recognition, money; none of that matters. The winning and losing; none of that matters. What matters is the purity of the art. Just giving yourself completely over to the art. Others will write your story, others will tell whether you did good or bad. Others will inspire using your story. But as the artist, you should think about the art, the purity of it and the love of it…
References | https://wickedmanok.medium.com/what-i-learned-from-martial-arts-as-a-software-engineer-86cf055c4918 | ['Ardy Dedase'] | 2020-12-30 21:08:30.897000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Programming', 'Startup', 'Self Improvement', 'Productivity'] | Title Learned Martial Arts Software EngineerContent Learned Martial Arts Software Engineer striking similarity Martial Arts Software Engineering pun intended Photo Nathan Dumlao Unsplash someone sits front computer profession take health fitness seriously started training Muay Thai Brazilian JiuJitsu BJJ year ago It’s one best decision I’ve made mostly strength cardio training year got bored repetitive nature workout decided try martial art I’ve fan martial art movie since kid Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master first “Kung Fu” movie watched father introduced Bruce Lee movie fascination martial art evolved following combat sport like Boxing Mixed Martial Arts MMA I’ve also following Joe Rogan Podcast year made decision sign martial art gym easy one I’ve pondering crossover idea Martial Arts student Software Engineer write essay get thought dive learned Martial Arts let’s start chose Muay Thai BJJ among option Muay Thai BJJ chose martial art proven effective year popularity MMA don’t condone form violence However engineer justifies I’m going learn martial art might well choose one use unlikely situation involve explosive movement Training teach martial art skill serving intense workout accessible logistically MMA gym walkable workplace bus ride away live opposite BJJ “gentle art” there’s emphasis neutralizing opponent Muay Thai “art eight limbs” combine fist elbow knee shin attack compliment BJJ fighting ground Muay Thai standup striking proficient Martial Arts akin FullStack developer skilled frontend backend development hence allows build entire application stack like wellrounded Martial Artist 10000 kick fear man practiced 10000 kick fear man practiced one kick 10000 time — Bruce Lee Muay Thai class trainer require student repeat drill stretching warmup drill usually knee strike roundhouse kick bag Roundhouse kick knee strike could range 50 100 rep total leg go BJJ class repeat drill forward backward roll hip escape practicing technique grappling benefit drill twofold 1 master Muay Thai strike BJJ movement repeat point become second nature Upon mastery won’t think exact mechanic roundhouse kick like rotating hip using hand guard face pivoting tiptoe tell mind want Muay Thai roundhouse kick body follow 2 condition body example Muay Thai shin adapt stress hitting bag first month Muay Thai always go home bruised shin limping body started adapt point hitting bag doesn’t hurt much used software engineer task like writing code facilitating useful technical discussion presenting demo follow principle activity become good new coding remember flip page book write simple select SQL query implement forloop statement However time forming forloop statement head writing becomes second nature willing “10000 kicks” Continuous feedback loop Make feedback normal performance review — Ed Batista Muay Thai Krus BJJ Professors continually going around checking student’s technique spot bad technique correct becomes bad habit first private session former Lumpinee champion realized wasn’t consistent technique jab cross hook weren’t generating much power possible bad form tend forget pivot tiptoe roundhouse kick tend fall bad habit especially I’m gassing I’d unconsciously drop hand making head open attack KruAek corrected one session I’m aware bad habit stuck head every time drill Getting rid bad habit giving way proper technique student give valuable feedback well recently sparred fellow white belt who’s ten year younger dominated sparring session seemed easy take back submit rearnaked choke sparring asked feedback gladly shared repeated position hole game showed made easy take back learned ton feedback alone class software engineering career feedback could form code review document review formal 360 feedback Adhoc feedback pair programming performance review don’t wait performance review cycle gather feedback make feedback norm Constant timely feedback course correct could form longterm bad habit Seeking feedback helped become better software engineer Learning area suck correcting bring next level last time asked feedback valuable feedback received recently Belt system software engineering ladder belt color Judo indicates hard sparring partner throw — Paraphrased YouTube Reddit comment competence practitioner basis BJJ Belt System Muay Thai belt system However gym implement similar approach using colorcoded armband pra jiad 1 Color ranking follow similar progression armband earning one color ranking similar BJJ white blue purple etc current gym least white pra jiad Level 2 start Muay Thai sparring black belt BJJ take average least ten fifteen year achieve exceptional case like Gordon Ryan BJ Penn Gordon Ryan received black belt nineteen year old BJ Penn received black belt three year four month 2 belt system martial art somehow reminds Software Career Engineering Ladder Depending company start Entry Level Software Engineer progress midlevel Senior Software Engineer Staff Engineer Principal Engineer Distinguished Engineer theory “competence” determines career progression Every company set criterion take reach specific level It’s consistent across company Senior Engineer Company becoming Entry Level Software Engineer move Company B uncommon It’s similar martial art BJJ example gym require move lower ranking belt join gym could get promoted relatively faster joined gym However martial art especially BJJ instructor could put gym’s reputation student risk give away belt promotion “ready” Let’s say group BJJ black belt student Dojo went challenge BJJ student Dojo B Dojo A’s black belt student somehow got beaten Dojo B’s purple belt Dojo likely gym want go example “watering down” happens “Watering down” similar software engineers’ “title inflation” tech company get prestige job title like get prestige getting black belt “watered down” dojos 3 beauty BJJ belt system sparring session competition test accuracy Similarly could also test engineer’s readiness promotion assigning responsibility meant level aiming However Software Engineering ladder organization prone inconsistency people finding way shortcut way promotion 4 harmful engineers’ career long run BJJ practitioner met including focused enjoying journey belt promotion end goal focus mastering art Regardless whether it’s BJJ belt system Software Engineering Ladder form ranking judged human still flawed Testing individual best way achieve accuracy system strive give promotion ready Give belt deserving people carry Otherwise people underperform promote prematurely It’s long journey Imagine satisfaction achieving blackbelt training BJJ consistently ten year think career ladder anything could improve Humility losing JiuJitsu either win learn — Carlos Gracie “Styles make fights” — always hear phrase boxing analyst mean matter good fighter eventually get beaten regardless skill disparity fighter noloss record name Floyd Mayweather retired boxing Jon Jones discounting disqualification Khabib Nurmagomedov retired MMA However fighter oneinamillion combat fighter still bound lose match point especially undefeated early stage career 5 roll sparring partner mat goal either win learn 6 “Losing” roll part process Rolling reminds humble ego mat matter much master submission someone else already figured way defend matter much practiced defense someone find way sweep goal finish class incrementally better grappler came software engineering career I’ve many “failures” matter much experience belt much mastered tech stack software you’ve built bulletproof outage bug matter much you’ve tried help team thing control could go wrong matter good think you’re failure inevitable I’m saying shouldn’t aim win point take full responsibility lose However don’t get fixated Learn losing stay humble move “learned” recently neverending journey you’re going try go way Otherwise don’t even start — Charles Bukowski’s Go Way world martial art constant progress Martial art practitioner invent new technique don’t glamorous end goal practicing martial art want become best martial artist lifetime don’t aspire fight professionally even compete amateur level I’m happy regularly go gym learn new technique fun sparring polish game go home happy man It’s something look forward every time schedule class always something new learn every class it’s either new defensive technique new Muay Thai combo new BJJ submission see practicing martial art I’m able world software engineering constant progress New software tool get introduced regularly Opensource developer build new library help software engineer become efficient writing software need get better craft continuously Like martial art don’t glamorous end goal career software engineer becoming best software craftsman always look forward day job software engineer still something new learn every day see writing code I’m able What’s neverending journey Staying true art closing share excerpt poem translated Russian Sister — Life Boris Pasternak poem reminds feel practicing Martial Arts Software Engineer never single moment Betray credo pretend alive — matter Alive burning end got know poem Joe Rogan Podcast Episode Lex Fridman quote Lex Fridman’s interpretation think perfectly hit home 7 Fame recognition money none matter winning losing none matter matter purity art giving completely art Others write story others tell whether good bad Others inspire using story artist think art purity love it… ReferencesTags Life Lessons Programming Startup Self Improvement Productivity |
2,710 | Listening Out For The Australian Powerful Owl | From studying law like a hawk to studying owls for science — QUT research student Callan Alexander is working with BirdLife Australia to help track and monitor Australia’s threatened powerful owl.
As part of his masters research, Alexander will develop an automated species recogniser — a computer algorithm that detects a species’ call from an audio recording.
To do this, he visited several nature reserves around Queensland and captured audio from the environment using acoustic monitors.
“We can take audio from an area and run it through the algorithm which should tell us if there are any powerful owls around,” Alexander said.
“This will help us accurately track the distribution of Australia’s largest owl, especially in remote areas that are difficult to visit regularly.” | https://medium.com/thelabs/listening-out-for-the-australian-powerful-owl-8bf729f4b759 | ['The Labs'] | 2020-12-02 23:25:50.007000+00:00 | ['Powerful Owl', 'Ecology', 'Environment', 'Science', 'Birds'] | Title Listening Australian Powerful OwlContent studying law like hawk studying owl science — QUT research student Callan Alexander working BirdLife Australia help track monitor Australia’s threatened powerful owl part master research Alexander develop automated specie recogniser — computer algorithm detects species’ call audio recording visited several nature reserve around Queensland captured audio environment using acoustic monitor “We take audio area run algorithm tell u powerful owl around” Alexander said “This help u accurately track distribution Australia’s largest owl especially remote area difficult visit regularly”Tags Powerful Owl Ecology Environment Science Birds |
2,711 | This Is Why You Keep Sabotaging Your Consistency | How to transform your saboteurs into allies
There are so many different avenues to transforming your saboteurs into allies, so I’ll just give you the framework that is working for me.
Also worth noting: These steps can happen in succession or all at the same time. Inner processes don’t usually follow a linear progression so feel free to flow in and out of these steps based on what works for you.
Lastly: The book recommendations in this section are all affiliated links.
Step 1: Learn the most helpful framework for dealing with your parts in general.
The Internal Family Systems modality has taught me everything I need to know about the inner physics of transforming my parts. You can check out the article I wrote on it here:
But I strongly encourage you to listen to Greater Than The Sum Of Our Parts by Dr. Richard Schwartz. It is honestly the most life-changing book I’ve ever read because it revolutionized my relationship with myself as well as boosted my self-awareness.
I would not be able to write this article if it wasn’t for this book. Learning the IFS framework is a must if you want to successfully — and permanently — unburden and transform your parts.
Step 2: Identify your saboteurs.
Shirzad Chaimne has pioneered a groundbreaking system of identifying and weakening saboteurs through his Positive Intelligence program that combines positive psychology, neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and performance science.
There is a free saboteur assessment on his website that I highly recommend taking. You have to enter your email to get the results, but the results are so worth it. You’ll get a detailed description of the saboteurs at play in your inner-war which will help you start a relationship with them.
Check out the free Positive Intelligence saboteur test here:
The only thing I don’t find helpful about the Positive Intelligence program is that it paints your saboteurs as “bad parts,” putting you at war with your saboteurs instead of in a relationship with them. The problem with this is that it offers no hope for your saboteurs to be redeemed by going back to their naturally helpful role, which limits you from experiencing true internal synergy and sets you up to war against a part of yourself for the rest of your life.
However, there are so many wonderful teachings of the Positive Intelligence framework that I absolutely recommend taking the course (which I am in the middle of right now and can honestly say it is incredibly transformative) or at least reading his book, Positive Intelligence.
Step 3: Cultivate a compassionate inner environment.
Creating a compassionate and safe inner environment is the biggest thing that will convince your saboteurs that they don’t have to work so hard to protect you anymore because self-compassion is inherently self-protecting and self-soothing.
This is why I say compassion is the great un-twister of all that has been twisted. This especially goes for self-compassion. When we are compassionate to ourselves we become strong and flexible enough weather the storms of life. We can bend, but not break. We might need a breather, but we don’t give up. We move between play and rest instead of pushing ourselves too hard and burnout.
A compassionate mind is a thriving mind. And a thriving mind breeds fulfilling consistency.
We were never taught self-compassion or how to be our own best friends. We were taught the opposite, actually, hence our saboteurs.
We must teach ourselves how to be more compassionate, and we do this by consuming content that is not the voice of our saboteurs.
I recommend reading books like the seriously transformative Self-Compassion by Kristen Neff or Learning to Love Yourself by Gay Hendricks (paid links). The book I mentioned in Step 1, Greater Than The Sum Of Our Parts also promotes a more compassionate inner-environment.
If you’re tight on money or don’t read books, I suggest finding some podcasts that help people improve their relationship with themselves. I know Brené Brown’s podcast, Unlocking Us, has definitely helped me be more compassionate to myself and others.
If you have your own go-to inner work podcast(s) or free resources, please post them in the comments for myself others to explore.
The last thing I want to offer about creating a more compassionate inner environment is to foster a mindfulness practice or, for the more secularly oriented, practice what the Positive Intelligence framework calls “PQ reps” which are 10-second exercises you can do throughout the day.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, Tara Brach, and Dan Siegel are all great mindfulness teachers. You can check out the “PQ Gym” section of the Positive Intelligence’s Resources page for more information on PQ reps.
The reason meditation, mindfulness, and PQ reps are helpful in transforming your saboteurs into your allies is that they help slow your mind down enough to become aware of the conversations that are actually going on in there. Furthermore, when you are hi-jacked by a saboteur, the practice of mindfulness is the command-switch that helps your brain switch over to a more compassionate and curious environment.
Step 4: Transform your saboteurs into allies.
This is the part where you begin having conversations with your saboteurs. I know these parts are scary and frustrating, but it is important to begin these inner-dialogues with compassion. Otherwise, you’ll just be perpetuating your inner war and never get anywhere.
Build a relationship with your saboteurs by getting curious about their stories. Some great questions you can ask them are:
What is your current role? What are you trying to do for me?
Why did you have to twist into this role? How did you have to twist?
What are you afraid will happen if you don’t play this role any longer?
If it was safe to thrive and you didn’t have to work so hard to protect our little kid anymore, what role would you rather play?
Do they realize that their current role is hurting your inner child more than it is helping it?
When you can get to the point of having compassion for your saboteurs and their story, you know you’re ready to begin the work of transformation. Many saboteurs will tell you they are tired of their current role, especially once they see they are hurting more than helping, but that they don’t know or can’t remember how to do anything else. Let them know this is totally normal and you don’t expect them to change all at once.
Transforming saboteurs is a dance between their commitment to changing their harmful habits little by little as well as your commitment to creating a more compassionate inner environment little by little.
Over time, your saboteur will realize it is safe to be vulnerable in your compassionate mind so it will take more risks through changing its habits, which will only create a more compassionate environment — creating a positive cycle. This is the consistency before the consistency.
I encourage you to check in with your saboteurs (and all your parts, really) every day. Just see how it’s going. This is how you start building a compassionate relationship with yourself. One that honors all parts of you. One that fosters consistency.
I am a writer so I usually check in with my parts through journaling, but even just taking a few minutes each day to touch base and see what’s going on inside of you is enough to build positive momentum.
Okay — last thing about transforming your saboteurs into allies.
Our saboteurs are protecting us from experiencing our wounds. They will keep protecting us from those wounds until they are healed. Permanently healing those wounds is what IFS practitioners call “unburdening.”
When our wounds are unburdened, there is nothing for our saboteurs to protect, so therefore they are freed up to untwist and go back to playing a role that helps us thrive.
Unburdening and healing our wounds is a deep process, though. One that takes time and usually someone to help guide us. This is why I recommend getting a therapist or coach to help guide you on your journey of inner transformation. The more IFS-oriented your therapist or coach, the better. | https://medium.com/real-1-0/this-is-why-you-keep-sabotaging-your-consistency-f4e4594da1ea | ['Jordin James'] | 2020-10-31 00:47:31.538000+00:00 | ['Advice', 'Mental Health', 'Self Improvement', 'Self', 'Psychology'] | Title Keep Sabotaging ConsistencyContent transform saboteur ally many different avenue transforming saboteur ally I’ll give framework working Also worth noting step happen succession time Inner process don’t usually follow linear progression feel free flow step based work Lastly book recommendation section affiliated link Step 1 Learn helpful framework dealing part general Internal Family Systems modality taught everything need know inner physic transforming part check article wrote strongly encourage listen Greater Sum Parts Dr Richard Schwartz honestly lifechanging book I’ve ever read revolutionized relationship well boosted selfawareness would able write article wasn’t book Learning IFS framework must want successfully — permanently — unburden transform part Step 2 Identify saboteur Shirzad Chaimne pioneered groundbreaking system identifying weakening saboteur Positive Intelligence program combine positive psychology neuroscience cognitive psychology performance science free saboteur assessment website highly recommend taking enter email get result result worth You’ll get detailed description saboteur play innerwar help start relationship Check free Positive Intelligence saboteur test thing don’t find helpful Positive Intelligence program paint saboteur “bad parts” putting war saboteur instead relationship problem offer hope saboteur redeemed going back naturally helpful role limit experiencing true internal synergy set war part rest life However many wonderful teaching Positive Intelligence framework absolutely recommend taking course middle right honestly say incredibly transformative least reading book Positive Intelligence Step 3 Cultivate compassionate inner environment Creating compassionate safe inner environment biggest thing convince saboteur don’t work hard protect anymore selfcompassion inherently selfprotecting selfsoothing say compassion great untwister twisted especially go selfcompassion compassionate become strong flexible enough weather storm life bend break might need breather don’t give move play rest instead pushing hard burnout compassionate mind thriving mind thriving mind breed fulfilling consistency never taught selfcompassion best friend taught opposite actually hence saboteur must teach compassionate consuming content voice saboteur recommend reading book like seriously transformative SelfCompassion Kristen Neff Learning Love Gay Hendricks paid link book mentioned Step 1 Greater Sum Parts also promotes compassionate innerenvironment you’re tight money don’t read book suggest finding podcasts help people improve relationship know Brené Brown’s podcast Unlocking Us definitely helped compassionate others goto inner work podcasts free resource please post comment others explore last thing want offer creating compassionate inner environment foster mindfulness practice secularly oriented practice Positive Intelligence framework call “PQ reps” 10second exercise throughout day Jon KabatZinn Tara Brach Dan Siegel great mindfulness teacher check “PQ Gym” section Positive Intelligence’s Resources page information PQ rep reason meditation mindfulness PQ rep helpful transforming saboteur ally help slow mind enough become aware conversation actually going Furthermore hijacked saboteur practice mindfulness commandswitch help brain switch compassionate curious environment Step 4 Transform saboteur ally part begin conversation saboteur know part scary frustrating important begin innerdialogues compassion Otherwise you’ll perpetuating inner war never get anywhere Build relationship saboteur getting curious story great question ask current role trying twist role twist afraid happen don’t play role longer safe thrive didn’t work hard protect little kid anymore role would rather play realize current role hurting inner child helping get point compassion saboteur story know you’re ready begin work transformation Many saboteur tell tired current role especially see hurting helping don’t know can’t remember anything else Let know totally normal don’t expect change Transforming saboteur dance commitment changing harmful habit little little well commitment creating compassionate inner environment little little time saboteur realize safe vulnerable compassionate mind take risk changing habit create compassionate environment — creating positive cycle consistency consistency encourage check saboteur part really every day see it’s going start building compassionate relationship One honor part One foster consistency writer usually check part journaling even taking minute day touch base see what’s going inside enough build positive momentum Okay — last thing transforming saboteur ally saboteur protecting u experiencing wound keep protecting u wound healed Permanently healing wound IFS practitioner call “unburdening” wound unburdened nothing saboteur protect therefore freed untwist go back playing role help u thrive Unburdening healing wound deep process though One take time usually someone help guide u recommend getting therapist coach help guide journey inner transformation IFSoriented therapist coach betterTags Advice Mental Health Self Improvement Self Psychology |
2,712 | 5 Ways How Writing Can Recharge Your Soul | We Write
Most of us write to some degree at varying stages of our lives. From early childhood scribbles, throughout our academic journey before applying our evolving skills in our chosen profession or as a hobby.
Writing is a tool that humankind uses to communicate, educate, learn and create.
The vast majority of us write as a function, a task relevant to our stage in life. At university, we write to study or prepare a paper. At work, we do so to compile a report, draft an email or just make notes. For some, it's simply a pastime, for others, a profession.
This piece is not about the function of writing. Rather it's about the flow of writing from the soul with tips to nurture the inner passion that every writer knows, sometimes motionless and still, with periodic eruptions of creative bliss.
Writing can recharge our soul when we adopt 5 simple rules for creativity.
Rule №1 — Capture and record your ideas
We all have plenty of ideas every single day. Think about it, how often do you have ideas? From experience, we have them much more often than we think.
Ideas are born out of fleeting thoughts that blindside us on a random Tuesday.
A lot of my ideas are terrible, at least initially. Then at random moments, another idea springs to mind, making a terrible idea that more appealing.
In the past, my ideas were forgotten, swept away by the wind of my mind. I dismissed them without a second thought. The reality is that my subconscious mind was trying to tell me something.
That's the nature of ideas, they arrive without warning. They have a tendency to crop up when we least expect it. This creative-inconvenience is something that most great writers are prepared for. They’ve learned to capture these intuitive gifts as soon as they appear.
“Art is when you hear a knocking from your soul — and you answer.” — Terri Guillemets
Today I record my ideas, using one of the five tools below depending on when and where an idea manifests:
How to apply — There’s an abundance of choices out there for writers to harvest the fruits of our wonderful minds, so here are 5:
A notepad — Good old pen and paper is one of the best ways to capture our ideas. It’s easy to do plus you never lose battery power. In the digital age, there’s something magical about writing notes on paper, igniting kinetic energy of mind and body An App — Recording notes on your smartphone is convenient when you can’t or don’t want to look for a pen and paper. There are loads of apps out there, so pick your favourite. I’d recommend Evernote or the notes app installed for free on your phone Voice — Use your phone voice recorder, or a dictaphone to speak your ideas out loud Phone — The free notes app installed on your phone is an alternative to Apps like Onenote or Evernote Share — If you’re in the company of others, sharing your thoughts at the moment they arrive is a great way to refine your idea
Rule №2 — Self-expression
Writing is an art form, an expression of self. It's a magical channel at our fingertips. Self-expression is the act of giving life to our thoughts, ideas and emotions.
Writing funnels our ideas and feelings for deeper exploration through articles, abstract prose, poetry or personal notes. Writing is a great way to delve into the inner workings of our mind, supported by our body and soul.
“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” ― Joan Didion
How to apply — Never hold back. Any piece that you write is self-expressive. If you write to share with others remember to edit, cleaning out the fluff for publication. If your expression is private, write anyway, you can always delete, bin it or burn it afterwards.
Have the courage to let your truthful words flow from the heart. Being open and free to express yourself by writing is a cathartic experience, a very healthy endeavour indeed.
Rule №3 — Creative flow
Creativity can ebb and flow. When creativity flows it’s like a river as inspiring ideas come rushing in wave after wave. Our energetic peak is prolonged as we stay awake into the early hours of the morning under the spell of deep thought. It’s a magical feeling.
Then without warning — Bam — we crash. The magic vanishes.
What just happened? Even our desire, our enthusiasm to write no longer burns inside. Tiny efforts to reignite that spark feels like “trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.”
A sense of loss consumes us as we question our creative ability. Maybe I’ll never have another great idea ever again?
How to apply — Chill out. This is the ebb of creativity, so perfectly normal, I assure you. No one feels the flow of creativity all the time. Like anything in life, creativity is no different than a boat on the high seas, navigating a succession of waves with plenty of ups and downs.
Accept that you can never feel inspired all the time. Likewise, a crash won't last forever either. So rather than resisting the loss of that high, by trying to force it to happen again while you fret over the impending crash, stop, relax, and breath to let your flow unfurl.
Learn to embrace the lows of your creative ebb today to surf the flow of ambiguity tomorrow.
A constant high is a one way street to burnout. So learn to take a break. Use this time to recharge for the next wave of flow that will arrive. Downtime is a necessity for writers to nourish the soul. So be kind to yourself when you’re in an ebb-state, let the momentum unfold naturally.
Rule №4 — Write from the heart to open your mind
We all write articles that are … how do I put this? … dull. Uninspiring. Boring even. Devoid of personality. Pieces that lack spirit.
There's no need to panic. Every writer is guilty of this. I do it all the time. It can take years to perfect a writing style that connects consistently with our readers. I’m still learning how to make my writing more engaging.
Writing is a never-ending journey of discovery as we learn new ways of expressing our creative ideas. Few writers are the ‘finished article’. It’s an ongoing process, so be patient. To fine-tune your writing skill you need to be comfortable with the uncomfortable ebbs and flows of creativity.
“Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.” — Stephen King
How to apply — It takes work to master the ability to create heartfelt and meaningful writing. It takes commitment to your art. Like any mastery, such as musicians or athletes, it can take years to develop world-class skills. So invest time in your writing.
Every writer has the ability to improve their emotive expression. What I’ve learned from other writers is that there are 3 laws to this, sub-rules that enhance our ability to create inspirational writings. Here they are:
Write with passion from the heart Make sure it’s relevant to your target audience Convey emotion through your words using emotive-words
It’s no secret that writing from the heart opens the doorway to our soul. So listen to your heart.
№5 — Connect the dots
As we know creativity does not announce itself at predefined moments. It never-ever books an appointment. It only makes itself known through random ideas that spring out of nowhere.
To harness the creative potential that random ideas hold, writers learn to apply two types of thinking:
Convergent thinking— This is the ability to combine multiple thoughts, often very different ideas that we connect in our minds to form something completely unique. Divergent thinking — This involves cultivating multiple ideas to form a selection of potential solutions for a single idea.
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.” — Steve Jobs
How to apply — Writing is word-innovation. A potential invention that’s incubated in the soul.
Some of what we write can be dull, but over time we can learn to apply ways of thinking to raise our game and deliver a piece of work that evokes abstract thought in our readers. The best way to do this is to keep writing, even when you’re in the midst of an ebb.
As Steve Jobs said, “Creativity is just connecting things”, connecting the dots to form something new or unique to share with the world. | https://medium.com/illumination-curated/5-ways-how-writing-can-recharge-your-soul-a70420aa11b2 | ['Paul Myers Mba'] | 2020-12-11 15:29:32.392000+00:00 | ['Writing Life', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Writing', 'Self Improvement', 'Writing Tips'] | Title 5 Ways Writing Recharge SoulContent Write u write degree varying stage life early childhood scribble throughout academic journey applying evolving skill chosen profession hobby Writing tool humankind us communicate educate learn create vast majority u write function task relevant stage life university write study prepare paper work compile report draft email make note simply pastime others profession piece function writing Rather flow writing soul tip nurture inner passion every writer know sometimes motionless still periodic eruption creative bliss Writing recharge soul adopt 5 simple rule creativity Rule №1 — Capture record idea plenty idea every single day Think often idea experience much often think Ideas born fleeting thought blindside u random Tuesday lot idea terrible least initially random moment another idea spring mind making terrible idea appealing past idea forgotten swept away wind mind dismissed without second thought reality subconscious mind trying tell something Thats nature idea arrive without warning tendency crop least expect creativeinconvenience something great writer prepared They’ve learned capture intuitive gift soon appear “Art hear knocking soul — answer” — Terri Guillemets Today record idea using one five tool depending idea manifest apply — There’s abundance choice writer harvest fruit wonderful mind 5 notepad — Good old pen paper one best way capture idea It’s easy plus never lose battery power digital age there’s something magical writing note paper igniting kinetic energy mind body App — Recording note smartphone convenient can’t don’t want look pen paper load apps pick favourite I’d recommend Evernote note app installed free phone Voice — Use phone voice recorder dictaphone speak idea loud Phone — free note app installed phone alternative Apps like Onenote Evernote Share — you’re company others sharing thought moment arrive great way refine idea Rule №2 — Selfexpression Writing art form expression self magical channel fingertip Selfexpression act giving life thought idea emotion Writing funnel idea feeling deeper exploration article abstract prose poetry personal note Writing great way delve inner working mind supported body soul “I write entirely find I’m thinking I’m looking see mean want fear” ― Joan Didion apply — Never hold back piece write selfexpressive write share others remember edit cleaning fluff publication expression private write anyway always delete bin burn afterwards courage let truthful word flow heart open free express writing cathartic experience healthy endeavour indeed Rule №3 — Creative flow Creativity ebb flow creativity flow it’s like river inspiring idea come rushing wave wave energetic peak prolonged stay awake early hour morning spell deep thought It’s magical feeling without warning — Bam — crash magic vanishes happened Even desire enthusiasm write longer burn inside Tiny effort reignite spark feel like “trying solve algebra equation chewing bubblegum” sense loss consumes u question creative ability Maybe I’ll never another great idea ever apply — Chill ebb creativity perfectly normal assure one feel flow creativity time Like anything life creativity different boat high sea navigating succession wave plenty ups down Accept never feel inspired time Likewise crash wont last forever either rather resisting loss high trying force happen fret impending crash stop relax breath let flow unfurl Learn embrace low creative ebb today surf flow ambiguity tomorrow constant high one way street burnout learn take break Use time recharge next wave flow arrive Downtime necessity writer nourish soul kind you’re ebbstate let momentum unfold naturally Rule №4 — Write heart open mind write article … put … dull Uninspiring Boring even Devoid personality Pieces lack spirit Theres need panic Every writer guilty time take year perfect writing style connects consistently reader I’m still learning make writing engaging Writing neverending journey discovery learn new way expressing creative idea writer ‘finished article’ It’s ongoing process patient finetune writing skill need comfortable uncomfortable ebb flow creativity “Find subject care heart feel others care genuine caring game language compelling seductive element style” — Stephen King apply — take work master ability create heartfelt meaningful writing take commitment art Like mastery musician athlete take year develop worldclass skill invest time writing Every writer ability improve emotive expression I’ve learned writer 3 law subrules enhance ability create inspirational writing Write passion heart Make sure it’s relevant target audience Convey emotion word using emotivewords It’s secret writing heart open doorway soul listen heart №5 — Connect dot know creativity announce predefined moment neverever book appointment make known random idea spring nowhere harness creative potential random idea hold writer learn apply two type thinking Convergent thinking— ability combine multiple thought often different idea connect mind form something completely unique Divergent thinking — involves cultivating multiple idea form selection potential solution single idea “Creativity connecting thing ask creative people something feel little guilty didn’t really saw something seemed obvious while” — Steve Jobs apply — Writing wordinnovation potential invention that’s incubated soul write dull time learn apply way thinking raise game deliver piece work evokes abstract thought reader best way keep writing even you’re midst ebb Steve Jobs said “Creativity connecting things” connecting dot form something new unique share worldTags Writing Life Entrepreneurship Writing Self Improvement Writing Tips |
2,713 | De-Mystifying Self-Motivation: How do you Develop It? | Self-Motivation: Motivated to do or achieve something because of one’s own enthusiasm or interest, without needing pressure from others.
External pressure plays a significant role in helping us attain our goals. When we have a boss demanding results or a client asking us to turn in a project, producing results is a given. But what happens when you’re just starting out and you have no external pressure pushing you towards achieving a result? What happens when you are the leader, and are accountable to no one?
That’s where self-motivation comes in.
Imagine running a 2Km circuit after months of binge watching Netflix. Your muscles are weak, your lungs are not very strong, and your heart cannot sustain intense movements. You can feel your thighs burn as your breathing starts getting static and heavy. What seemed like a simple enough endeavour now seems impossible.
Your health is in no imminent danger, so there’s no external pressure.
How in the hell are you going to finish the run? Is it fine if you stop partway? After all, you’ve come a long way from sitting on your couch; it’s the effort that counts.
So what do you do? Do you stop or do you finish?
The answer to this question depends on your ability to self-motivate. Now, let me be clear:
1. You should not be attempting a 2Km run after months of inactivity,
2. Failing to self-motivate on one occasion does not mean inability to self-motivate on others.
But a pattern of letting things figure themselves out as opposed to fighting for your goals, is a recipe for disaster. It is imperative for you to discipline yourself up to a point where self-motivation is natural…a reflex.
As an entrepreneur, freelancer, or any other type of professional, your success is heavily dependent on the consistent effort you put into your work, regardless of whether or not you see results. This effort is driven by self-motivation.
So how exactly do you develop self-motivation if you are not born with the trait?
Well, to place internal pressures on yourself, you will need to set strict but achievable goals and outline the steps you need to take in order to meet them. Create a disciplined routine that involves you carrying out predetermined steps in a predetermined amount of time.
Eventually this routine will transform from a chore you must do to an activity that you enjoy doing.
Self-motivation and discipline are intertwined. A disciplined person has the ability to set internal pressure upon themselves and respond to it. This is self-motivation.
Once you’ve developed the habit of running 2Km every morning, motivating yourself to increase your circuit to 3Km should not be a problem. The same thing applies to entrepreneurship. If you have the discipline to engage with 5 new organizations every day, it won’t be a stretch to motivate yourself to pitch to 5 organizations daily. If you get into the habit of writing for 20 minutes each day, motivating yourself to churn out several pieces of well-written content on a weekly basis should be simple enough.
Discipline reinforces your self-motivation and allows you to pursue goals that seem out of reach for most people. If you’re serious about attaining XYZ out of life, self-motivation is key. Position yourself to develop this trait.
xxxxxx
Written and published by Davina Ngei — Moderator on Strategic Social Networking. Many thanks for reading, and be sure to check out Strategic Social Networking Community on Google+ to connect with tens of thousands of IT professionals online. You’re also welcome to follow Strategic’s brand page on G+ for the latest industry news.
NOTE: Strategic Social Networking is Funded by The Public! Consider supporting our work on Patreon: | https://medium.com/strategic-social-news-wire/de-mystifying-self-motivation-how-do-you-develop-it-ee8423a2242 | ['Davina Ngei'] | 2018-02-07 09:10:29.611000+00:00 | ['Motivation', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Discipline', 'Self Employed'] | Title DeMystifying SelfMotivation Develop ItContent SelfMotivation Motivated achieve something one’s enthusiasm interest without needing pressure others External pressure play significant role helping u attain goal bos demanding result client asking u turn project producing result given happens you’re starting external pressure pushing towards achieving result happens leader accountable one That’s selfmotivation come Imagine running 2Km circuit month binge watching Netflix muscle weak lung strong heart cannot sustain intense movement feel thigh burn breathing start getting static heavy seemed like simple enough endeavour seems impossible health imminent danger there’s external pressure hell going finish run fine stop partway you’ve come long way sitting couch it’s effort count stop finish answer question depends ability selfmotivate let clear 1 attempting 2Km run month inactivity 2 Failing selfmotivate one occasion mean inability selfmotivate others pattern letting thing figure opposed fighting goal recipe disaster imperative discipline point selfmotivation natural…a reflex entrepreneur freelancer type professional success heavily dependent consistent effort put work regardless whether see result effort driven selfmotivation exactly develop selfmotivation born trait Well place internal pressure need set strict achievable goal outline step need take order meet Create disciplined routine involves carrying predetermined step predetermined amount time Eventually routine transform chore must activity enjoy Selfmotivation discipline intertwined disciplined person ability set internal pressure upon respond selfmotivation you’ve developed habit running 2Km every morning motivating increase circuit 3Km problem thing applies entrepreneurship discipline engage 5 new organization every day won’t stretch motivate pitch 5 organization daily get habit writing 20 minute day motivating churn several piece wellwritten content weekly basis simple enough Discipline reinforces selfmotivation allows pursue goal seem reach people you’re serious attaining XYZ life selfmotivation key Position develop trait xxxxxx Written published Davina Ngei — Moderator Strategic Social Networking Many thanks reading sure check Strategic Social Networking Community Google connect ten thousand professional online You’re also welcome follow Strategic’s brand page G latest industry news NOTE Strategic Social Networking Funded Public Consider supporting work PatreonTags Motivation Entrepreneurship Discipline Self Employed |
2,714 | 5 (More) Reasons Why You Should be Writing for Medium | I’ve been writing for Medium for 2 1/2 years, and I’ve loved every minute of it!
Even my worst days on Medium are fun. I love writing about writing, love engaging with other writers in this incredible community. I’m always thrilled by something every day, and every week and month is like a whole new adventure.
In August I talked about five reasons you should be writing for Medium…
And those, of course, are all valid reasons! It’s so much fun to write about what you want, and to actually make some income while doing it.
Taking chances on new topics is fun too, as is engaging with other writers on here. And of course it’s nice once in awhile to have your writing published, rather than have it linger for years and years like so many manuscripts you might write as a novelist (I’m shining a mirror on myself with that one).
Here are five more reasons to write for this site sooner rather than later! | https://medium.com/the-partnered-pen/5-more-reasons-why-you-should-be-writing-for-medium-d6bf29f9a101 | ['Brian Rowe'] | 2020-09-25 12:03:01.774000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Medium', 'Success', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Love'] | Title 5 Reasons Writing MediumContent I’ve writing Medium 2 12 year I’ve loved every minute Even worst day Medium fun love writing writing love engaging writer incredible community I’m always thrilled something every day every week month like whole new adventure August talked five reason writing Medium… course valid reason It’s much fun write want actually make income Taking chance new topic fun engaging writer course it’s nice awhile writing published rather linger year year like many manuscript might write novelist I’m shining mirror one five reason write site sooner rather laterTags Writing Medium Success Entrepreneurship Love |
2,715 | Let’s build an eCommerce platform from scratch | Ecommerce is the most widespread & most demanding business these days. The easiest way to buy and sell goods nowadays is mostly done online through an eCommerce platform. It is a never-ending viral loop of a quickly growing platform to provide the physical product available to an end-user or another business entity.
You all be familiar with shopping online from Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, eBay, Ali Express and many others, the working methodologies are the same as they make sure to deliver the product and build trust amongst us. Most of the businesses these days are making there own small or medium scale eCommerce platforms to reach out to more people.
TL: DR;
I am talking about the technical part of building an eCommerce website and app. Before you develop one, you must dive deep inside to understand the business patterns of eCommerce.
For taking the next step towards developing your brand and creating your digital business platform, you need to know about your business. A little time is required to establish an eCommerce business if you have a solid understanding of your brand, trade, or idea.
Brief Knowledge about your business.
Designing and Prototypes
Developing
Testing
Launching
Designing
Designing is all about shaping the ideas to get quality designs out of it. The artboard and web pages are designed in software such as Adobe XD, Sketch for finalizing the prototype. Creating a Database design is an essential part of designing, and we can preferably be understanding the User Flows and ER diagrams for that. You can use FlowMapp or Creately for this purpose. The collab feature in the app helps the UI team to develop the user flows much faster. | https://medium.com/phppoets/lets-build-an-ecommerce-platform-from-scratch-81a5a8a41be7 | ['Jay Patel'] | 2020-01-22 05:17:40.569000+00:00 | ['Design', 'Application', 'Website', 'Development', 'Ecommerce'] | Title Let’s build eCommerce platform scratchContent Ecommerce widespread demanding business day easiest way buy sell good nowadays mostly done online eCommerce platform neverending viral loop quickly growing platform provide physical product available enduser another business entity familiar shopping online Amazon Flipkart Myntra eBay Ali Express many others working methodology make sure deliver product build trust amongst u business day making small medium scale eCommerce platform reach people TL DR talking technical part building eCommerce website app develop one must dive deep inside understand business pattern eCommerce taking next step towards developing brand creating digital business platform need know business little time required establish eCommerce business solid understanding brand trade idea Brief Knowledge business Designing Prototypes Developing Testing Launching Designing Designing shaping idea get quality design artboard web page designed software Adobe XD Sketch finalizing prototype Creating Database design essential part designing preferably understanding User Flows ER diagram use FlowMapp Creately purpose collab feature app help UI team develop user flow much fasterTags Design Application Website Development Ecommerce |
2,716 | How I Earned $424.45 As a Side Hustle In My Free Time. | I started asking questions on Quora
You can earn by writing questions on Quora. Quora pays you not for writing but for asking questions.
Isn’t it sound weird!
It’s their business model. It’s always hard to discover what Silicon Valley leaders think. You can earn a good amount on Quora by asking questions. For that, Quora must invite you to join a partner program.
Screenshot from Author
After joining the partner program, I asked around 12000 questions and earned 380 dollars in 6 months. My earning in initial months were far less than now what I’m earning. I am sharing it month wise.
May- $9.23 June-$17.56 August-$22.67 September-$81.89 October- $73.78 November-$120.09
Quora partner program works like the compounding effect, where you earn after working hard for months.
Quora’s earning depends on SEO, in which is your questions is ranking on googles front page you will earn more. You must know about SEO. Quora has a higher domain authority of 95. Your question gets rank quickly if you have an enough answer for your questions.
It’s difficult to earn money on Quora, I did it by doing research and learning from other partners. I added it to my passive income stream.
I found medium and vocal media to monetize my writing
Making money by writing online was difficult for me. I never tried freelancing but will try in the future. To earn substantial passive income, I started my blog, but it didn’t get any eyes.
I invested $100 on my blog and earned nothing. I discovered Medium on google and joined it. First time in my life, I earned by writing online. Writing on Medium is a privilege for me. I have earned $75 on medium; I know the amount is small but it will be more I started putting out more efforts on Platform.
I earned,
$6 in September
$23 in October
$48 in November
By publishing around 60 Stories.
Screenshot by author
Recently I have written on vocal media, I am not earning much on that platform but it is always good to stick two or more platforms to a built portfolio for the future.
Both Medium and Vocal Media are the best blogging platform, I am practising my writing and earning a good sum to invest in the share market.
How earning passive income helped me to pay my bills
Will $100 per month change my life? We always look for a bigger amount. Let me tell you if you have proper investments plan, you can double this amount.
I use my passive income for further investments in stocks and bitcoins. I take risks; it helps to make more money. At the end we all living for money, which is our priority. Articulating, proper investment plans helped me to achieve my financial goals.
takeaways
When I look back in my life, I was always out of money and diving in a financial problem, but when I started earning passive income, I’m becoming more financially stable.
No college or school tells you about how you can become financially independent and stable. You must carve your way out. It’s time to sum up, our story,
Look for a potential passive income source Start growing it day by day Invest time and money to learn new things Invest your passive income in shares and bitcoins
Gain Access to Expert View — Subscribe to DDI Intel | https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/how-i-earned-424-45-as-a-side-hustle-in-my-free-time-640922edc2cb | ['Mike Ortega'] | 2020-12-27 16:18:35.034000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Productivity', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Money', 'Finance'] | Title Earned 42445 Side Hustle Free TimeContent started asking question Quora earn writing question Quora Quora pay writing asking question Isn’t sound weird It’s business model It’s always hard discover Silicon Valley leader think earn good amount Quora asking question Quora must invite join partner program Screenshot Author joining partner program asked around 12000 question earned 380 dollar 6 month earning initial month far le I’m earning sharing month wise May 923 June1756 August2267 September8189 October 7378 November12009 Quora partner program work like compounding effect earn working hard month Quora’s earning depends SEO question ranking google front page earn must know SEO Quora higher domain authority 95 question get rank quickly enough answer question It’s difficult earn money Quora research learning partner added passive income stream found medium vocal medium monetize writing Making money writing online difficult never tried freelancing try future earn substantial passive income started blog didn’t get eye invested 100 blog earned nothing discovered Medium google joined First time life earned writing online Writing Medium privilege earned 75 medium know amount small started putting effort Platform earned 6 September 23 October 48 November publishing around 60 Stories Screenshot author Recently written vocal medium earning much platform always good stick two platform built portfolio future Medium Vocal Media best blogging platform practising writing earning good sum invest share market earning passive income helped pay bill 100 per month change life always look bigger amount Let tell proper investment plan double amount use passive income investment stock bitcoins take risk help make money end living money priority Articulating proper investment plan helped achieve financial goal takeaway look back life always money diving financial problem started earning passive income I’m becoming financially stable college school tell become financially independent stable must carve way It’s time sum story Look potential passive income source Start growing day day Invest time money learn new thing Invest passive income share bitcoins Gain Access Expert View — Subscribe DDI IntelTags Life Lessons Productivity Entrepreneurship Money Finance |
2,717 | 7 Ways to Improve Your Writing in a Foreign Language | Be bold and don’t just use ‘words’
Each language has an infinite richness in its way of manifesting itself. Don’t just stay on the surface. Go deep and look for expressions, slang, spontaneous and natural ways of foreign speech. Do not limit yourself to just one word, when you can use a much more expressive locution instead. This generates a connection with the reader, making him or her identify and affect themselves more by your writing.
For this, you can search on the Internet like the following:
How to say [insert here an expression of your native language] in [insert here what foreign language you want to write in].
“Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.” — Rita Mae Brown
Analyze the context of each sentence
If in any more complicated situation you end up needing to translate using automated translation programs or websites such as Google Translator, be very careful.
Always, in any case, analyze the context.
Translating a word in an isolated and hasty way, outside of a specific conjuncture as a sentence, can cause it to change its meaning entirely. Especially because, unlike Portuguese where we usually have a specific word for each situation, in English, the same term can have different meanings depending on the situation.
To avoid mistakes, I have two tips!
First, after finishing, do the reverse translation and see if the meaning has changed in any passage. If this has happened, fix it and repeat the process until the result is a consistent message.
In the second place, we have some sites that facilitate this process. On Linguee and Context, you can see the searched terms inserted in a sentence and see if the meaning corresponds to what you would like to give for the phrase.
“Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.” — Flora Lewis
Use your own discernment too
In addition to automated translators, resources such as Grammarly, which assist with editing and proofreading, are also offered as a way to collaborate with the writing process. Use them to help you, but don’t trust them blindly. They are certainly fundamental tools in building better writing, but they are just tools.
We cannot underestimate our ability to judge when something is sounding strange or out of place. Trust your gut.
It is worth pointing out that we still don’t have any resource available that perceives 100% the differences of connotation or meaning that we may be wanting to apply, or that has the subtlety of human perception. Especially if it is a matter that can be as subjective and fluid as language. Figures of speech, such as ironies, double meanings, metaphors and personification, can easily go unnoticed.
Each word and expression carries with it an infinity of senses that may not be translated with the quality expected by machines.
The final deliberation must pass through us!
“To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world. “ — Chinese Proverb
Understand the language structure
This is one of the most important tips. It is implied that if you are studying and producing content in a new language, you already have some knowledge. But what I am reinforcing is the need to know in-depth the formation and syntactic structuring of the language.
A good understanding of these particularities can even contribute to optimizing the translations in the programs and sites already mentioned, when necessary.
For example, every time I translate something from Portuguese to English in the translator, I add the subject in the sentence. I need to do this because in Portuguese we can often have a hidden subject. This small correction greatly increases the chances of my translation is done correctly. I also need to pay attention to verb tenses, which are much more numerous in Portuguese, and to reflexive pronouns, which function differently.
But that is my mother tongue.
You will need to pay attention to the structuring nuances of yours!
“He who knows no foreign languages know nothing of his own.” ‒ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Reflect on your message
Now, a very serious matter. You need to remember that it’s not just ‘writing’ in another language. You also need to ‘think’ in it. That is, you also need to analyze whether the message you are conveying, in a cultural and social context, makes sense — or is relevant — to readers. For example, some basic references to moments, facts or events, which would easily be understood by a compatriot of yours, may not be understood by a foreigner. Writing is also a matter of making the reader identify with the written subject.
Besides, we must consider and, when possible, respect the subtleties of speech.
Differences in communicative preferences, such as levels of formality and politeness, mentalities and values, must be taken into consideration.
For example, English is a super simplified language, short and objective sentences are used, often with a usual ‘order’ of positioning the words. Brazilian Portuguese — I don’t know about Portugal — has countless ways of writing the same sentence with countless other possibilities of ordering it. In other words, we — generally a typical behaviour of Latin, Arabic, Asian and African cultures — tend to adopt a preference for indirect enunciation marked by pre-requests, justifications, in which the speaker conducts the speech in a circular basis. Meanwhile, Anglophones opt for a much more directive form.
Another detail is that in Portuguese we do not need to use verbs like ‘would’ and ‘could’, emphasizing a condition when making requests. We could achieve the polish effect only by the intonation, dispensing the use of specific words, or even making use of diminutives for that.
Our speech is also topic-oriented, while in the English language the prominent element is the subject, that is, the interlocutor.
I have only used these examples to demonstrate that a language also carries great cultural baggage. We need to pay attention to all these details if we want to deliver the clearest possible message.
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.” — Nelson Mandela
Pay extra attention
If even in our native language, we often slip, writing a text in a language that we do not fully master requires us to try twice as hard.
Use the programs mentioned here to help you, read carefully, search and dedicate yourself. I am sure that in the end, the pleasure of looking at a well-written text that communicates the message you want will be worth it.
“One should not aim at being possible to understand but at being impossible to misunderstand.” — Marcus Fabius Quintilian
In doubt, ask natives
To ensure that you are being accurate in your message in all the above cases, as in the case of application in a context, or the cultural understanding of the reader, do not hesitate to ask a native for help! No one knows the language better than someone who has grown up and lived their life using it. Make friends, interact, strengthen your network and whenever you feel the need, ask.
There’s no need to feel ashamed. Most are always very willing to help!
You should be proud that you are trying and wanting to learn and improve. | https://medium.com/swlh/7-ways-to-improve-your-writing-in-a-foreign-language-895ea169d8e | ['Layane Moura'] | 2020-05-11 09:23:57.128000+00:00 | ['Language', 'Writing', 'Productivity', 'Writing Tips', 'Language Learning'] | Title 7 Ways Improve Writing Foreign LanguageContent bold don’t use ‘words’ language infinite richness way manifesting Don’t stay surface Go deep look expression slang spontaneous natural way foreign speech limit one word use much expressive locution instead generates connection reader making identify affect writing search Internet like following say insert expression native language insert foreign language want write “Language road map culture tell people come going” — Rita Mae Brown Analyze context sentence complicated situation end needing translate using automated translation program website Google Translator careful Always case analyze context Translating word isolated hasty way outside specific conjuncture sentence cause change meaning entirely Especially unlike Portuguese usually specific word situation English term different meaning depending situation avoid mistake two tip First finishing reverse translation see meaning changed passage happened fix repeat process result consistent message second place site facilitate process Linguee Context see searched term inserted sentence see meaning corresponds would like give phrase “Learning another language learning different word thing learning another way think things” — Flora Lewis Use discernment addition automated translator resource Grammarly assist editing proofreading also offered way collaborate writing process Use help don’t trust blindly certainly fundamental tool building better writing tool cannot underestimate ability judge something sounding strange place Trust gut worth pointing still don’t resource available perceives 100 difference connotation meaning may wanting apply subtlety human perception Especially matter subjective fluid language Figures speech irony double meaning metaphor personification easily go unnoticed word expression carry infinity sens may translated quality expected machine final deliberation must pas u “To learn language one window look world “ — Chinese Proverb Understand language structure one important tip implied studying producing content new language already knowledge reinforcing need know indepth formation syntactic structuring language good understanding particularity even contribute optimizing translation program site already mentioned necessary example every time translate something Portuguese English translator add subject sentence need Portuguese often hidden subject small correction greatly increase chance translation done correctly also need pay attention verb tense much numerous Portuguese reflexive pronoun function differently mother tongue need pay attention structuring nuance “He know foreign language know nothing own” ‒ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Reflect message serious matter need remember it’s ‘writing’ another language also need ‘think’ also need analyze whether message conveying cultural social context make sense — relevant — reader example basic reference moment fact event would easily understood compatriot may understood foreigner Writing also matter making reader identify written subject Besides must consider possible respect subtlety speech Differences communicative preference level formality politeness mentality value must taken consideration example English super simplified language short objective sentence used often usual ‘order’ positioning word Brazilian Portuguese — don’t know Portugal — countless way writing sentence countless possibility ordering word — generally typical behaviour Latin Arabic Asian African culture — tend adopt preference indirect enunciation marked prerequests justification speaker conduct speech circular basis Meanwhile Anglophones opt much directive form Another detail Portuguese need use verb like ‘would’ ‘could’ emphasizing condition making request could achieve polish effect intonation dispensing use specific word even making use diminutive speech also topicoriented English language prominent element subject interlocutor used example demonstrate language also carry great cultural baggage need pay attention detail want deliver clearest possible message “If talk man language understands go head talk language go heart” — Nelson Mandela Pay extra attention even native language often slip writing text language fully master requires u try twice hard Use program mentioned help read carefully search dedicate sure end pleasure looking wellwritten text communicates message want worth “One aim possible understand impossible misunderstand” — Marcus Fabius Quintilian doubt ask native ensure accurate message case case application context cultural understanding reader hesitate ask native help one know language better someone grown lived life using Make friend interact strengthen network whenever feel need ask There’s need feel ashamed always willing help proud trying wanting learn improveTags Language Writing Productivity Writing Tips Language Learning |
2,718 | How to convert from React-Redux classes to React Hooks, the easy way | Hello everyone! With the recent release of create-react-app v3 and React hooks, I decided to write a tutorial on how to refactor a class component to a functional hooks component.
In this tutorial, I will share how I did it. I refer to this as the “easy way” since it doesn't require you to change your Redux code at all. The reducers and actions can be virtually left as is.
If you want a more basic intro to React Hooks integration check out my previous tutorial.
You can find the project code here.
This project uses both Redux and React hooks which will allow you to see the code and differences side by side. Open up the hooks_container1.js file and container1.js files in your text editor to see the differences. I tried my best to match the React class and React hook line for line making it easier to see the differences. However, it didn’t work out perfectly since there are some major differences between React Hooks and React classes. I tried to keep the functionality of both components the same so it will be easier for you to pick out the differences in syntax.
Table of Contents
TLDR version useReducer and Context When to use local or global state and useState and useReducer How Context Works Directory Structure The Context Object Reducers and Actions Reading and Updating state in React Redux vs. React Hooks Merging the old state in React Hooks Reading and Updating state with useReducer and Redux Reducers Reading state and Dispatching Actions Context with useState Context with useReducer
The Easy Way — TL;DR
Step 1: For your reducers, export both the initialState and the reducer. Do not export default the reducer.
Step 2: Actions can be left as is from React-Redux
Step 3: Import all your reducers and their initialState to the root App.js file. Import actions as normal.
Step 4: Pass in each reducer and its initialState to a separate useReducer() hook in the App.js file.
Step 5: Import the React.createContext() function to App.js after initializing it in its own file. Wrap all child components with <Context.Provider />
Step 6: Next simply cut and paste the properties defined in your React-Redux mapStateToProps() and mapDispatchToProps() functions to the value prop of <Context.Provider />
Step 7: Change the dispatch keyword in your properties from the mapDispatchToProps() function to the name of the dispatch actions function (2nd element in the array destructuring) in the useReducer() hook. Since each reducer will have its own useReducer hook, you will have to match the appropriate action dispatches with the right reducer.
Step 8: Do the same thing for the mapStateToProps() function. Change the name of the property to match the useReducer hook. The state value for the useReducer() hook (1st element in the array destructuring) contains the entire initial state from the reducer. You will need to access each property of state with dot notation, and then pass it into a property in the “value” prop.
Step 9: Finally to actually use the global Context state in a child component, you first import the original Context object to the child component. Then pass in the imported Context object to the useContext() hook. Save the result of the useContext hooks in a variable. Now you have access to all the properties that we defined in the value prop of the <Context.Provider /> in the root App.js file.
Accessing state values in a child component with context: context.stateprop1
Dispatching actions in a child component with context: () => context.action1()
Here is an example of a React Redux class container and a React Hooks functional component with similar functionality side by side.
Before getting started, I’d like to clarify a few things that confused me when I first started working with React Hooks.
useReducer and Context
I was confused a little at first by useReducer. I thought by simply using useReducer, I would have automatically mimicked Redux functionality and have a global state. That isn’t the case. It is Context that makes our state global. Context can be used with either useReducer and useState.
global state: meaning state persists from one component to another. If you changed state in one component and went to another component, the state would be saved if it is global. If the state is local and you went to another component the state would not be saved.
When to use local or global state and useState and useReducer
For teaching purposes, I will show you all four possible combinations of local and global state with useState and useReducer. In a real app, I would use the useReducer hook for complex global states, such as authentication and storing data from a server. I would use the useState hook for simpler local state, such as opening up and closing a modal.
How Context Works
Context predates React hooks and is a way to pass down props to deeply nested child components. Without context, props would have to be passed down to every intermediary component to get to the intended child component.
Context solved this by allowing you to pass in a prop to the parent component. Then it would be available to all the child components automatically. You did not have to pass it down through middle man components. And this is essentially how we have a global state. By using the Context in the root component, our state is available to all child components. Since App.js is the root component, and every other component is the child component, the state we defined in App.js is available to all components.
It’s important to keep in mind that all the state is contained, initialized and updated in the App.js file. You can call a function to change the state from a child component but it is ultimately updated in the App.js file.
Directory Structure and Intro
Instead of focusing on how to build this app step by step, I will instead focus more on the differences between the React-Redux class and the React hooks.
Here are a couple of acronyms I use and their meaning
uS = useState signifies when something is using the useState hook
uR = useReducer signifies when something is using the useReducer hook
Here is the directory structure. It is a very basic app that has:
1 React-Redux class
1 React functional component that uses the useState, useReducer, and useContext hooks
Actions and action types
Reducers to use with React hooks
Reducers to use with React-Redux
a Context file
The root App.js file
The Context Object
I like to have context in its own file since you have to import it to every child component that you use with the useContext() hook. We don’t need to do anything else to setup the Context object, we just need this one function.
Also, notice we are not passing in any state to the Context object. You may see other tutorials that pass values to the createContext() function. This is pointless as we will override these values when we setup the <Context.Provider /> and pass in the state to the value prop.
Reducers and Actions
Now I will show a reducer for use with React Hooks and one for use with regular React Redux.
Reducer for use with React Hooks:
Reducer for React Redux:
Notice in the React Hooks reducer we are exporting both the intialState and reducer. We are not using export default at the bottom. In the React Redux reducer we export default the reducer.
Next, we have our actions and action types:
Actions and action creators require no changes from React Redux.
Reading and Updating state in React Redux vs React Hooks
With the preliminary information out of the way, we can now look at the hooks_container1.js and container1.js and see the differences between React Hooks and React Redux in the code.
Let’s start off and look at local state for each and see how you would implement a simple counter.
React-Redux
React Hooks
The first thing to note is that we are going from using a class component in React Redux to a functional component in React Hooks. Hence why we don't have the “this” keyword anywhere in our React Hooks code. Since we are not in a class, we can reference the variable and function names directly.
In React Redux we initialize the state in the constructor and have a dedicated setState() function. Both “state” and “setState()” are reserved names.
This is not so in React hooks. In React Hooks we create our own “state” keyword and setState() function ourselves with the useState() Hook. In the example above, you can think of “value” as the equivalent to “this.state” in a class component. And similar to “this.state”, we use dot notation to access each individual property of state, so the syntax we will be:
value.name_of_property
When I first started learning Hooks, I used to confuse the useState() hook as the equivalent to setState() function in React Redux. This isn’t the case. The React Redux setState() function is equivalent to the second element in the array destructuring. Which in the example above is setValue() . This setValue() function is how we update our state with hooks. useState() is then just a way we initialize the ability to read and update the state in a functional component. This previously was only available to class components.
Merging the old state in React Hooks
Another important thing to notice in the React Hooks example is that I am using …value before updating the state in the increment and decrement functions. This is the spread operator, that passes in the entire flattened previous state to the setState() function.
I did not need to pass in the previous state in the React Redux example. When we update a state property in React Redux the new state property is automatically merged with the old state properties.
This does not happen in React Hooks. When you update the state in React Hooks, a new state is created. You see in the React Hooks example we have 2 state properties: local_state_prop1 and local_state_prop2 . If we update the state with only local_state_prop2 and not pass in …value then a new state will be created that has only local_state_prop2 . Meaning our local_state_prop1 will simply just be deleted.
So when converting state from React Redux to React Hooks, you will need to pass in the entire previous state with the spread operator when updating a single state property.
Reading and Updating state with useReducers and Redux Reducers
We can now compare reading and updating state with useReducer and Reducers.
We are using the same reducer as in the above example. A reducer with SUCCESS and FAILURE action types that changes stateprop1 from true to false and vice versa.
useReducer Hook
React Redux
As mentioned in the intro, even though we are using useReducer() in the functional component, we are still only updating the local component state. I will show you how to mimic Redux functionality with Context and have a global state in the next section. It is important to keep in mind we are still only updating the local state here in our Hooks container even though we are using actions and reducers.
On the other hand, in our React Class component, we are updating the global state since we are using Redux.
So the first difference you will notice with useReducer is that we have to import our reducer and initial state and pass it into the useReducer hook, which is something we don't do with React Redux. In React Redux we just use the connect() function.
Reading state and Dispatching Actions
Next, to dispatch actions in React Hooks, we use an arrow function then dispatch our actions in the body of the function. You can dispatch actions directly in the onClick() event but having the dispatch in a function will make your code more readable.
In React Redux we set properties in the mapDispatchToProps() function, then each property is an arrow function that dispatches actions.
You will notice that we pass in actions and actions creators in the exact same way to the dispatch function in both React Hooks and React Redux. There is literally no difference which is why we didn't need to change our actions at all. I have included all the ways of dispatching actions as a comment.
The only difference between React Hooks and React Redux is that the “dispatch” function name is reserved in React Redux. In React Hooks we create our own “dispatch” function name through the useReducer hook.
To call the dispatch function in React Redux we use the syntax this.props then the name of the property in mapDispatchToProps() function. In React Hooks we just call the dispatch function name directly.
To read the state in React Redux we do this.props and then the name of the property in the mapStateToProps() function. The name of the property holds the value for a specific property in a specific reducer. In React Hooks we just do the name of the state value. This is the first element in the array destructuring in the useReducer hook call. Then the name of the property we defined in the intialState in the reducer.
Context with useState
Now I will go over Context which is how we setup a global state. It is important to note that Context is not part of React Hooks. useContext() is a React Hook, but Context itself is not part of React Hooks. Context is simply a way to pass down props from a parent component to a deeply nested child component. See the “How Context Works” section at the beginning of this tutorial for a full explanation.
Also, I will not be making comparisons between React Redux and Context because Context does not have an opposite in React Redux. I will show you how to implement a global state with Context using both the useReducer() and useState() hook.
We will first start off with the using the useState() hook to setup a global state.
We will begin setting up our global state in the root App.js file. We will first import the Context object we setup in the context.js file. We will also need to import our Hooks functional component.
We can just set up a simple counter for now. Our useState() hook is setup as usual. In our JSX we are wrapping our <HooksContainer1 /> with the <Context.Provider /> element. This is what allows us to pass state from App.js to child components. We also have 3 properties supplied to our value prop. 1 to hold the state value and 2 properties to change the state. Notice that we don't use the useContext() hook in App.js. The useContext() hook will actually be used in child components to read and update the state.
You can essentially think of the value prop as both the mapStateToProps() and mapDispatchToProps() functions combined into one because of the value prop holds properties that allow you to read and update the state that can be called and accessed by the child component which is exactly what the mapStateToProps() and mapDispatchToProps() functions do.
Now let's look at how we would use this Context object in a child component.
We first have to import our Context object at the top. This is the original Context object that we created with the createContext() function, not the <Context.Provider /> we just setup. Then we simply pass this Context object to the useContext() hook and save it in a variable. This context variable now has all the properties we just defined in the value prop of the <Context.Provider /> .
To access the properties of the value prop we can just use dot notation. For example, to access the state value here in our child component, we use the syntax context.valueGlobalstate_uS .
Note that valueGlobalState is the name of the property we defined in the App.js file in the value prop. valueGlobalState is the property that holds the value of the state which in App.js we defined as valueGlobal_uS . Similarly, to change the state we call the property name and not the name of the function we set in App.js.
I have intentionally kept the property and function names different so its easier to see how Context works in the child component.
This is it for using Context with useState. I will now demonstrate with useReducer.
Context with useReducer
Using Context with useReducer is essentially how we achieve Redux functionality.
In order to avoid confusion, I will setup a new reducer and actions for this.
So we have a simple reducer that functions as a counter. Now we can set up the useReducer hook in our App.js file and we will set this up in the exact same way that we set up useReducer in our Hooks container. We import the ContextReducer and its initial state and pass it into the useReducer Hook in App.js. Because we are now using Context we will not import our Context Reducer to the child components. The state will be changed here in our App.js file and will simply be passed down as props.
We set up our properties in the value prop in the exact same way that we did when we used Context with the useState() hook. The actions are also dispatched in the exact same way as we’ve seen before.
Now for our child component:
As you can see, reading and updating state with useReducer() hook is very similar to the useState() example. We can even use the same context variable we used for useState() , we don't have to initialize another one. To update the state we simply call the property name we defined in the value prop of the provider. This updates the state in App.js. Because we are updating our state in App.js we don't have to import the ContextReducer here in our child component and pass it into the useReducer() hook.
Reading the state is a little bit different. Since valueGlobalState_uR contains our entire state, we have to specify a single property of state which in this case is context_prop1 .
And this is it! After this you can read and update the state in any component in your app using this same pattern, allowing you to mimic Redux functionality essentially.
For a 100% Free Video version of this tutorial and more in-depth React Hooks content see my Udemy course or Youtube playlist:
https://www.udemy.com/react-hooks-with-react-redux-migration
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8ODM-KoDpA&list=PLMc67XEAt-ywplHhDpoj5vakceZNr8S0B | https://medium.com/free-code-camp/how-to-convert-from-react-redux-classes-to-react-hooks-the-easy-way-eca2233e0e7a | ['Mohammad Iqbal'] | 2019-05-15 15:47:20.821000+00:00 | ['React', 'Technology', 'Productivity', 'Tech', 'Programming'] | Title convert ReactRedux class React Hooks easy wayContent Hello everyone recent release createreactapp v3 React hook decided write tutorial refactor class component functional hook component tutorial share refer “easy way” since doesnt require change Redux code reducer action virtually left want basic intro React Hooks integration check previous tutorial find project code project us Redux React hook allow see code difference side side Open hookscontainer1js file container1js file text editor see difference tried best match React class React hook line line making easier see difference However didn’t work perfectly since major difference React Hooks React class tried keep functionality component easier pick difference syntax Table Contents TLDR version useReducer Context use local global state useState useReducer Context Works Directory Structure Context Object Reducers Actions Reading Updating state React Redux v React Hooks Merging old state React Hooks Reading Updating state useReducer Redux Reducers Reading state Dispatching Actions Context useState Context useReducer Easy Way — TLDR Step 1 reducer export initialState reducer export default reducer Step 2 Actions left ReactRedux Step 3 Import reducer initialState root Appjs file Import action normal Step 4 Pass reducer initialState separate useReducer hook Appjs file Step 5 Import ReactcreateContext function Appjs initializing file Wrap child component ContextProvider Step 6 Next simply cut paste property defined ReactRedux mapStateToProps mapDispatchToProps function value prop ContextProvider Step 7 Change dispatch keyword property mapDispatchToProps function name dispatch action function 2nd element array destructuring useReducer hook Since reducer useReducer hook match appropriate action dispatch right reducer Step 8 thing mapStateToProps function Change name property match useReducer hook state value useReducer hook 1st element array destructuring contains entire initial state reducer need access property state dot notation pas property “value” prop Step 9 Finally actually use global Context state child component first import original Context object child component pas imported Context object useContext hook Save result useContext hook variable access property defined value prop ContextProvider root Appjs file Accessing state value child component context contextstateprop1 Dispatching action child component context contextaction1 example React Redux class container React Hooks functional component similar functionality side side getting started I’d like clarify thing confused first started working React Hooks useReducer Context confused little first useReducer thought simply using useReducer would automatically mimicked Redux functionality global state isn’t case Context make state global Context used either useReducer useState global state meaning state persists one component another changed state one component went another component state would saved global state local went another component state would saved use local global state useState useReducer teaching purpose show four possible combination local global state useState useReducer real app would use useReducer hook complex global state authentication storing data server would use useState hook simpler local state opening closing modal Context Works Context predates React hook way pas prop deeply nested child component Without context prop would passed every intermediary component get intended child component Context solved allowing pas prop parent component would available child component automatically pas middle man component essentially global state using Context root component state available child component Since Appjs root component every component child component state defined Appjs available component It’s important keep mind state contained initialized updated Appjs file call function change state child component ultimately updated Appjs file Directory Structure Intro Instead focusing build app step step instead focus difference ReactRedux class React hook couple acronym use meaning uS useState signifies something using useState hook uR useReducer signifies something using useReducer hook directory structure basic app 1 ReactRedux class 1 React functional component us useState useReducer useContext hook Actions action type Reducers use React hook Reducers use ReactRedux Context file root Appjs file Context Object like context file since import every child component use useContext hook don’t need anything else setup Context object need one function Also notice passing state Context object may see tutorial pas value createContext function pointless override value setup ContextProvider pas state value prop Reducers Actions show reducer use React Hooks one use regular React Redux Reducer use React Hooks Reducer React Redux Notice React Hooks reducer exporting intialState reducer using export default bottom React Redux reducer export default reducer Next action action type Actions action creator require change React Redux Reading Updating state React Redux v React Hooks preliminary information way look hookscontainer1js container1js see difference React Hooks React Redux code Let’s start look local state see would implement simple counter ReactRedux React Hooks first thing note going using class component React Redux functional component React Hooks Hence dont “this” keyword anywhere React Hooks code Since class reference variable function name directly React Redux initialize state constructor dedicated setState function “state” “setState” reserved name React hook React Hooks create “state” keyword setState function useState Hook example think “value” equivalent “thisstate” class component similar “thisstate” use dot notation access individual property state syntax valuenameofproperty first started learning Hooks used confuse useState hook equivalent setState function React Redux isn’t case React Redux setState function equivalent second element array destructuring example setValue setValue function update state hook useState way initialize ability read update state functional component previously available class component Merging old state React Hooks Another important thing notice React Hooks example using …value updating state increment decrement function spread operator pass entire flattened previous state setState function need pas previous state React Redux example update state property React Redux new state property automatically merged old state property happen React Hooks update state React Hooks new state created see React Hooks example 2 state property localstateprop1 localstateprop2 update state localstateprop2 pas …value new state created localstateprop2 Meaning localstateprop1 simply deleted converting state React Redux React Hooks need pas entire previous state spread operator updating single state property Reading Updating state useReducers Redux Reducers compare reading updating state useReducer Reducers using reducer example reducer SUCCESS FAILURE action type change stateprop1 true false vice versa useReducer Hook React Redux mentioned intro even though using useReducer functional component still updating local component state show mimic Redux functionality Context global state next section important keep mind still updating local state Hooks container even though using action reducer hand React Class component updating global state since using Redux first difference notice useReducer import reducer initial state pas useReducer hook something dont React Redux React Redux use connect function Reading state Dispatching Actions Next dispatch action React Hooks use arrow function dispatch action body function dispatch action directly onClick event dispatch function make code readable React Redux set property mapDispatchToProps function property arrow function dispatch action notice pas action action creator exact way dispatch function React Hooks React Redux literally difference didnt need change action included way dispatching action comment difference React Hooks React Redux “dispatch” function name reserved React Redux React Hooks create “dispatch” function name useReducer hook call dispatch function React Redux use syntax thisprops name property mapDispatchToProps function React Hooks call dispatch function name directly read state React Redux thisprops name property mapStateToProps function name property hold value specific property specific reducer React Hooks name state value first element array destructuring useReducer hook call name property defined intialState reducer Context useState go Context setup global state important note Context part React Hooks useContext React Hook Context part React Hooks Context simply way pas prop parent component deeply nested child component See “How Context Works” section beginning tutorial full explanation Also making comparison React Redux Context Context opposite React Redux show implement global state Context using useReducer useState hook first start using useState hook setup global state begin setting global state root Appjs file first import Context object setup contextjs file also need import Hooks functional component set simple counter useState hook setup usual JSX wrapping HooksContainer1 ContextProvider element allows u pas state Appjs child component also 3 property supplied value prop 1 hold state value 2 property change state Notice dont use useContext hook Appjs useContext hook actually used child component read update state essentially think value prop mapStateToProps mapDispatchToProps function combined one value prop hold property allow read update state called accessed child component exactly mapStateToProps mapDispatchToProps function let look would use Context object child component first import Context object top original Context object created createContext function ContextProvider setup simply pas Context object useContext hook save variable context variable property defined value prop ContextProvider access property value prop use dot notation example access state value child component use syntax contextvalueGlobalstateuS Note valueGlobalState name property defined Appjs file value prop valueGlobalState property hold value state Appjs defined valueGlobaluS Similarly change state call property name name function set Appjs intentionally kept property function name different easier see Context work child component using Context useState demonstrate useReducer Context useReducer Using Context useReducer essentially achieve Redux functionality order avoid confusion setup new reducer action simple reducer function counter set useReducer hook Appjs file set exact way set useReducer Hooks container import ContextReducer initial state pas useReducer Hook Appjs using Context import Context Reducer child component state changed Appjs file simply passed prop set property value prop exact way used Context useState hook action also dispatched exact way we’ve seen child component see reading updating state useReducer hook similar useState example even use context variable used useState dont initialize another one update state simply call property name defined value prop provider update state Appjs updating state Appjs dont import ContextReducer child component pas useReducer hook Reading state little bit different Since valueGlobalStateuR contains entire state specify single property state case contextprop1 read update state component app using pattern allowing mimic Redux functionality essentially 100 Free Video version tutorial indepth React Hooks content see Udemy course Youtube playlist httpswwwudemycomreacthookswithreactreduxmigration httpswwwyoutubecomwatchvl8ODMKoDpAlistPLMc67XEAtywplHhDpoj5vakceZNr8S0BTags React Technology Productivity Tech Programming |
2,719 | The Place Where Everything Feels Cold and Empty Is Not Far Away | The Place Where Everything Feels Cold and Empty Is Not Far Away
No one reached it yet, as it’s moving whenever they moved
Photo by Guillaume Bleyer on Unsplash
There was a group of men,
whose hearts never new the best
and no matter how much they desired it
they didn’t know where is it.
Their hopes clutched to one experiment
in which they will seek the worst,
to know its contrary
and peruse it.
They looked for the worst in men,
from the dreary traits
to the heroic merits.
They searched day and night
with one goal and aim:
To discover the truth.
And when they got tired,
when they decided to stop,
they turned to see the truth
sitting behind them all along,
then they lowered their heads
and looked into themselves.
The surprise hit, but not an actual surprise
because in most of the occasions
we predict the bad news and we pretend
we are shocked.
The men saw nothing in themselves,
but the worst of the worst
floating and swimming in their veins.
Their eyes scanning the lengths of their bodies,
as if they expected to find
anything else.
Emptiness. And I’m glad they gave it a name.
They stopped the research and looked
to one another,
to the only thing
they had in common.
It linked them like a thread of silk
barely stretching to unite them by
their sudden, semi-new goal:
Finding the worst in themselves before touching it in others.
And since they turned the project down,
they feared the thread would perish.
A long, awkward silence filled the place,
and until now flies only flew around them
increasing the tense.
A long, sweaty, thick hand stretched, or
that’s the description from one’s mind.
It hung up in the air, as to mark
a clothes hanger — a thick one.
Two hands stretched, then three
and slowly one by one, they shook hands
and tried to smile.
The days hastened by,
and the group of men
had more silk threads
and less envisions
of sweaty hands.
And they were astounded to look
into themselves and find
the emptiness
fading away
leaving words in its place:
Relationship, friendship, and love — ship, perhaps?
They were not certain yet.
And the moment came in which
they broke apart
and didn’t shatter.
They found the contrary. | https://medium.com/the-pom/the-place-where-everything-feels-cold-and-empty-is-not-far-away-4ae4c955940a | ['Abdullah Alshawaf'] | 2020-05-06 14:36:19.556000+00:00 | ['Short Story', 'Relationships', 'Mental Health', 'Poetry', 'Storytelling'] | Title Place Everything Feels Cold Empty Far AwayContent Place Everything Feels Cold Empty Far Away one reached yet it’s moving whenever moved Photo Guillaume Bleyer Unsplash group men whose heart never new best matter much desired didn’t know hope clutched one experiment seek worst know contrary peruse looked worst men dreary trait heroic merit searched day night one goal aim discover truth got tired decided stop turned see truth sitting behind along lowered head looked surprise hit actual surprise occasion predict bad news pretend shocked men saw nothing worst worst floating swimming vein eye scanning length body expected find anything else Emptiness I’m glad gave name stopped research looked one another thing common linked like thread silk barely stretching unite sudden seminew goal Finding worst touching others since turned project feared thread would perish long awkward silence filled place fly flew around increasing tense long sweaty thick hand stretched that’s description one’s mind hung air mark clothes hanger — thick one Two hand stretched three slowly one one shook hand tried smile day hastened group men silk thread le envisions sweaty hand astounded look find emptiness fading away leaving word place Relationship friendship love — ship perhaps certain yet moment came broke apart didn’t shatter found contraryTags Short Story Relationships Mental Health Poetry Storytelling |
2,720 | I Thought Gay Celibacy Was My Only Option — I Was Wrong | The most difficult part of convincing someone when you are begging for food is figuring out what kind of face to make — appearing both in need and deserving somehow. Look too desperate and they will think you might make a grab for their purse or ask to move into the spare bedroom. Too responsible and they’ll wonder whether you really need help at all.
I begged in France while living with a religious order. “We have nothing to eat. Do you have anything you could share?” I would smile and hold the straps to my backpack like an earnest schoolboy. Hungry, but honest.
I had never begged on the street before and was struck by how humbling it is — asking strangers to keep you alive just because they can. And you can’t.
“No,” the eighth woman I asked scowled at me from behind her front door. “Go away.”
I wanted to tell her No really I have no food, no money. I don’t have, like, options here. Do you want to feel my stomach rumbling? Check my pockets for a wallet?
Eventually, a man invited my companion and I into his house and began making each of us a sandwich with thick slices of cured ham. Standing in his kitchen he asked us where we were traveling and why we were begging.
“We travel simply, and go out two by two like Jesus sent his disciples,” Brother François responded. “Yes yes,” the man waved his hand. “I assumed that by your clothes. But why?” He looked at me like a cardboard American Happy Meal amidst his table of crusty bread and smelly cheeses as he waited for Brother François to finish translating. “Why have you come all the way across the ocean just to beg food from me?”
I hesitated and imagined myself answering him the way I had never been able to do when anyone asks me why?
Honestly.
“Because I’m gay,” I would say. “I have no other choice.” He would nod appreciatively and say how much better begging for ham sandwiches and smelly cheese on another continent must be than being gay on your own.
Most of my life I have not been able to articulate the reality beneath the surface. Nobody I knew ever wanted to know why gay people do the things we do, so I gave him the version I assumed he would like. “I may be a beggar, but I still have good taste.” I winked at him. “Where else would I come to eat besides France?”
As we left the man’s house Brother François and I said a prayer together in thanks for his generosity and God’s providence. God provides for our every need, if only we would ask. That is the promise I was putting to the test.
If you were told by those you trusted most that your sexuality was broken, was a threat to you and those you loved, how far would you go to protect the world from it? Would you hide it from your friends? Abandon anyone you ever fell in love with? Tell your family you had to leave them because you feared how you were hurting them? I did. I believed that promise. God will provide.
You could say I ended up begging on the other side of the world because I took the Catholic Church seriously about my being gay. Maybe that’s not entirely fair. France is not really the opposite side of the earth from Texas, even if substantively it is. But when you find yourself a gay Catholic man, you are told you only have three options. Become a priest for life. Become a monk for life. Or stay single for life. Celibacy — complete sexual abstinence — being a requirement for all of them. I guess I was someone sincere enough to try all of them.
Pope Francis shook the world’s assumptions about how the largest Christian denomination thinks about homosexuality with his famous “who am I to judge?” comment, though official doctrine shows little hope of changing. Catholic or not, millions of LGBT individuals and their families are impacted by an organization with such an extensive moral impact on the world. I tried the Church’s prescription for our gay lives, and what I can say definitively as one who actually followed it is, the official rules do not always work.
Growing up Catholic, I learned that life is about more than just you. There is more to existence than your own experience of it. More to worship than your personal tastes for it. More to human purpose than your imaginings of it.
They call it Tradition. Basically, people — mostly men, though with plenty of exceptions — had been thinking about this for a long time before you or I came along. And it is better to find a way to line yourself up with their consensus than to go your own way. That is what being a church and not just a belief was all about. Linking ourselves together in the faith that absent the egocentric leanings of the individual, we might actually recover a natural order to life. And what that consensus found in my case was that being gay was, well, not okay.
I found I was gay about the time most boys start to discover there is much in life to wonder and terrify them. Eleven, maybe twelve. I didn’t have any words for it, I just knew the way I looked at some of the boys differed from the way any of them ever looked back at me. When it dawned on me a few years later that the very worst insults those boys would call each other — gay, queer, fag — actually applied to me, I learned that even if there were words for how I felt, they were better left unspoken.
I did eventually come out to my folks and a few friends in high school, though it was far from the way I would have planned. There was no celebration or relief, and certainly no pride.
At that point I had never met a single gay person. Not knowingly, anyways. Tired of faking my way through girlfriends and tortuous school dances, I turned to the internet. Back before there were apps on your phone to tell you how close the nearest match might be, I lied about my age and found a college student a couple towns away who would buy me dinner and take me to a movie. I was sixteen and my leg could barely stop shaking I was so frightened.
On our second date I told my parents I would be staying the night at a friend’s house and instead spent the night with the first gay man I had ever met. It was Valentine’s Day and when I got in his car he handed me a dozen roses. I must have looked at him as if he had given me a baby giraffe. I never imagined someone in the world might buy me flowers.
When I woke up the next morning my phone had several dozen missed calls. In my haste I had forgotten to tell my friend to cover for me if anyone called and my parents had spent the whole night desperately looking for me. Arriving home, most everything came spilling out under my parents’ interrogation.
I had been with a boy. I am gay. I don’t know, the Church has been wrong about other things like Galileo, why can’t this be like that?
My parents seemed equal parts exasperated at the night I had put them through and concerned about what this coming out might forebode. The treatment for both, it seemed, would be to start taking church more seriously. Up until that point my family had gone to Mass most Sundays, but it was more akin to something inherited, like being Irish, than something chosen. Whether as punishment or remedy or both, my parents wanted church to become something personal.
And with some time, I genuinely grew to like it. The parish my family attended was another town over and had a big youth group which combined some of the more engaging practices of the surrounding nondenominational megachurches with the old school traditions of Catholicism. We had smoke machines and incense, adoration with our altar calls.
I had a genuine conversion experience and dedicated my life to God. Finding a new group of friends who were all finding a way to be Catholic and teenagers at the same time made me feel like I wasn’t so alone. Which was enough to help me set the gay stuff on the shelf for a while. Like a box I knew I could ignore but eventually find again if I ever needed to.
I didn’t really know what to make of the fact that I now felt closer to the Church that thought I was incapable of romantic love and intrinsically disordered. But I was seventeen. I knew not everything had to be figured out right then and there. No one at church needed to know I was gay. I could just keep that part hidden and see where things led.
So I started praying regularly. I tried therapy — not the conversion kind— but with a woman who told me I would only ever be happy in life as a celibate man. I got involved in leadership. And I did what I could to align my life with how the Church asked me to.
By the time my freshmen year of college rolled around, I started to feel a nagging in me, like an itch just out of reach, whenever I was alone, talking with God. I had gotten to know many priests and I saw the positive impact they were having on people’s lives. In time I started to feel like God was asking me to give it a shot.
I wish I could say exactly where this was coming from. Maybe it is just that so many of the priests I knew were genuinely honorable men with purpose to their lives. Maybe I rushed into it. But at nineteen I joined a seminary in Minnesota, to begin the eight year process of becoming a priest.
There were over one hundred of us. Men from all over the Midwest and South. My roommate when I arrived was a frat boy from Oklahoma with an infectiously charismatic perspective and played the banjo.
Officially, all of us were getting bachelor’s degrees in philosophy, though the daily schedule revealed a bigger plan. There was more to becoming a priest than classes. Prayers began at six a.m. There were times of “formation” and times of bonding. The rector — the priest in charge of the seminary — believed the American Catholic Church had undergone a crisis of leadership. Its cure must be a generation of priests who would remember what it meant to be real fathers for their flock. No more “liberal” theology. No more comfortable and insulated lives. Be a man and get out into your parishioners real lives.
When I arrived for my first weekend, the rector held a conference for all of us new seminarians. It covered the basics of his vision and what to expect, as well as some potential pitfalls for where life as a seminarian could burden a nineteen year old as unprepared to pastor a flock as he was to pass a philosophy class. How to navigate dry time in prayer and former girlfriends writing forlornly from home, new schedules and notorious professors. He treated us like the future front line soldiers in a battle for the very heart of the culture we sought to serve, and we loved him for it.
On the second day of talks he mentioned that, statistically speaking, a small portion of us were probably gay. Of course he didn’t use the word “gay.” Officially speaking, the Catholic Church uses the clinically dry term same-sex attracted. As in, “some of you probably struggle with same-sex attraction.” Identifying as gay is thought of as being a kind of all-encompassing characteristic with a whole behavior set of which the Church disapproves. But being same-sex attracted, the rector said, would be an inherently isolating quality, and he recommended talking to one of the priests on staff about it at some point.
So the first time I had a meeting with him in his office, I told him I was indeed struggling with an attraction to the same sex. My heart was pounding. It had been over two years since I had mentioned my sexuality to anyone. His response was one of genuine compassion. He looked me in the eyes and told me it must be hard and was nothing I had chosen on my own. Concerned about my well-being going forward, he suggested we develop a sort of not-so-subtle code. If I ever felt like life was becoming more than I could handle, I would simply say, “Father, I’m at Defcon 4.” Or three. Whatever the state of alert might be.
The concern for me was real, though I rarely felt he was someone I could — or should — confide in about my sexuality. He was a good priest who cared about me deeply, but I knew what type of man he wanted his seminarians to be. Was the comment when he and I were alone about how annoyingly gay a campus administrator was a hint for me or just something he felt he could confide because I would understand? I didn’t know, but I did my best to impress him and repress the parts of me I knew disappointed.
Wandering the campus alone late at night sometimes I would pray and cry and smoke a handful of cigarettes beneath the massive Marian statue behind the school chapel. I hated the habit but it felt good to finally have some kind of manifestation of the ugliness I felt inside. I begged for a change, for any glimpse of healing. And when the sun came up I would leave a pile of tobacco ash at the statue’s feet like some kind of intrinsically disordered offering of burnt incense.
Eventually the time came to decide if I would continue on to the next four years of seminary before becoming a priest. Despite my inner turmoil, I had achieved a certain kind of esteem in the seminary, a kind of big shot in a cassock. Leaning on my status, it was for those years surprisingly easy to overlook just where all of this was leading.
In the end I had to ask myself, did I actually want to spend my life in the daily tasks of a priest — hearing confessions, celebrating Mass, visiting the sick, and baptizing babies? When I finally sat down and looked honestly, after almost four years of preparation, I had to say that I liked being a seminarian more than I could ever appreciate being a priest. I liked the community, the studying, the hoorah sense of purpose. If it was God that was giving my life some direction, I knew there were no signals I should end up a priest.
After graduating I got a job back in Dallas teaching at a local Catholic high school. I was hired to teach morality and social justice, coaching the JV baseball team after hours. At the time, morality was a junior level course at the school, so I started tackling the principles of behavior with teens at the same age when I had first started to explore my own sexuality. The timing wasn’t lost on me.
This time I was all in on Catholic morality but set out crafting a class where my students were challenged to develop their own conscience even as I broke open official Church teaching. As any teacher will tell you, it was exhausting work. I would stay up late into the night planning a lesson on immigration only to find myself inevitably sitting on top of an empty desk, sleeves rolled up, guiding a vigorous discussion about whether extraterrestrials could have souls.
The bigger problem was life outside of the classroom. In seminary I had a built-in cover. When you are training to be a priest, your sexuality is out of bounds. Nicknames like Father What-A-Waste may have been joked about, but people respected the idea that you were off-limits.
Suddenly, back in Texas, I was forced to explain why I was so delaying jumping back into the dating life. Every mom in the church seemed to know of the perfect girl. I was young, good-looking enough, and I even used to be a seminarian. In church life, that’s the jackpot. Girls would openly admit being on the lookout for former seminarians like a forbidden fruit put back on the menu. I just wasn’t the least bit interested. And couldn’t tell a soul why.
Friends’ weddings were the most bittersweet of occasions. I was in my early twenties so there were plenty to attend, but I always knew they would be followed by a depressive funk. Most of my friends were involved in church, so they were not only a massive party, but had been marinating for years in the knowledge that this was a divine act. Not just a decision, but a vocation. The priest would preach on the heroic and beautiful sacrifice the spouses were making. They would be open to kids. They would live for each other. They would be the very foundation of humanity. I sat through those weddings wondering why I was incapable of all those things. What kind of person I must be to be incapable of such love.
As one wedding ended, when we all bowed our heads to pray, I closed my eyes and imagined what it would be like to be standing in front of the altar myself. Wearing a tuxedo for the first time since I took Sarah to prom. I pretended I was holding my fiancée’s hands, afraid to look away from his eyes for fear the moment might not last forever. My friends and family would all laugh because the priest was telling us to do something but we were too caught up to notice. I remember sitting down as my friends walked down the aisle, my head in my hands and tears streaming down my cheeks. To be honest, what I sensed imagining my own wedding was not relief. It was the first time I had ever actually allowed myself to picture it happening to me, and it felt like the dirtiest thing I had ever done.
I considered confiding in friends about being gay, but thought better. It was a small enough community that word would inevitably get back to the Catholic school where I worked. I would see news reports about a choir director or an English teacher was shown the door after administrators found out about a boyfriend or students just found out somehow. People from my church would usually share the story on Facebook with a warning about the creeping lack of religious freedom if anyone wanted the teacher reinstated.
But what kept me closeted even more than a fear of getting fired was a fear of losing my community as well. Texas has its progressive pockets, but they felt lifetimes away from my town. I didn’t know what would happen if people found out I was gay, but I could guarantee they wouldn’t stay the same. At least like this I had a happy life on the surface.
There was a lake nearby I would drive to when feeling depressed. I would go sit with my feet in the water and imagine a world where I wasn’t hopelessly broken. Sometimes a close friend or family member would casually remark how gross a gay kiss on TV was and it would be enough to send me hyperventilating to the water’s edge. How could I be so well-liked on the surface and reviled underneath? I loved my job and accepted that I would have to be single for life, but loneliness would gnaw away at me at night until I began to realize I would not be able to keep up this path for much longer.
A priest once told me that gay couples were much more violent than straight couples, that they had much higher occurrences of domestic abuse. I told him I didn’t know that. And it’s true, I didn’t. I’ve looked it up since and it turns out the statistics are incredibly inconclusive. But he seemed quite pleased to have discovered this fact. He didn’t explain why he thought it was important but I think I understand.
If gay relationships are inherently wrong, then there must be something wrong about them. Catholics can get pretty abstract when talking about this stuff. You start floating in a sea of terms like “procreative” and “unitive” and “telos.” It helps to just be able to say “Hey, romance makes them more violent.” It’s not true, but it’s helpful.
What I know is that listening to this priest I looked up to telling me about this violence I had curled up inside me like a dragon sleeping in his cave waiting for anyone foolish enough to say they loved me felt like I was being hollowed out. I didn’t know there was no good evidence to support his claim. I trusted him. I imagined myself cooking a meal as my partner came home, turning and punching him in the face as Tony Bennett crooned in the background because he forgot to pick up milk on the way home. I had never been in a fight before in my life. Is this what awaited me if were to fall try a relationship? Forget going to hell. Were those my only options? Stay single and alone or become a monster?
When I was in high school I once came close to driving my car into oncoming traffic. It was dusk and the steady stream of headlights whooshed by, each one like an invitation heading straight toward me only to miss at the last moment. I knew that would be an awful way to do it, probably taking a bunch of other lives just because I didn’t want keep on living mine. But the desire for some relief, any kind of break from how much I hated myself for the way I was — perverted and incapable of love — in that moment I would have welcomed the crash.
I made it home safe that night and even though for years I would wish I could die young instead of letting this loneliness go on, I knew deep down that I shouldn’t let myself get to that point again. Where the headlights seemed to be calling out to me. There had to be something better than killing myself. Even if it meant leaving my job teaching and doing something drastic. On the surface I was calm but inside the rubber bands of my stamina were being stretched to their raw ends. Soon, I could feel, they would snap.
During a semester studying abroad in Rome, I had gotten to know a religious community based in southern France. They were a new branch off a very old order and I immediately felt at home amongst them. Joy radiated from their bones even as they begged for their food and travelled by hitchhiking. They were like the old stories of the saints I had grown up with come to life. When I realized my life alone as a single, Catholic man was unsustainable, I wrote the order to ask if I could join.
To prepare for entering, I sold all my belongings and said goodbye to my friends, knowing I would probably never see them again and hugged my family not knowing when or where the next time together with them might come. They were an old school community in that respect, you left behind everything and everyone, sending a letter a month to keep in touch during your first year.
Photo by Cagatay Orhan on Unsplash
Nestled in the foothills of the Pyrenees, the motherhouse of the community was simple and beautiful, with living quarters on opposite sides of the property for the women and men who made up the order. I was given a room with a small, handmade desk and chair and a wooden chest that doubled as my bed. There was a small icon and a crucifix on the otherwise blank plaster walls. Sitting down on my bed at the end of my first night in France there was only one prayer on my lips. What the fuck have I done?
I decided I had come too far and given up too much not to be honest with the community. So I confided in just about anyone who would ask that I was near certain this was not going to work out. It was more than being homesick — I knew in my bones I wasn’t made to be a brother. The counsel I received was unanimous. Give it one year. It simply takes that long to know. Relax, and let things run their course.
But if there was one thing that I saw clearly now that I was walking through the tall grasses in those ancient hills, it was that I had run away from the problems that came with being gay. Five thousand miles and an ocean away, I hadn’t escaped who I was, only amplified it.
Between meals in silence and the hours each day spent quietly in work and prayer, I saw myself more clearly than ever. Saw my gifts and my weaknesses as they echoed around in my head. I didn’t need a lake or a late-night cigarette under Mary’s stoic gaze to see the whole me. My days and nights had become like a sense-deprivation tank for discernment. And in the silence I could hear the whispers of reality roaring.
There were plenty of times when I did think maybe I needed to stick it out. That I might have hidden my poor intentions in joining the community from even myself until they were staring at me from every corner of my bare cell on the first night, but what if God still had a plan for me with the community despite all that? I would sit in the quiet beneath a gentle paraffin lamp and watch the humble instincts of the brothers and sisters and realize there was something undeniably beautiful there.
Young girl in a Roma camp in France. Photo by the Baltimore Sun.
In the winter we built a tiny cabin out of a trailer for a group of the sisters in nearby Toulouse who had been invited to come live in a Roma — gypsy — camp there. They saw the sisters begging for food and recognizing kindred spirits, people who saw the world from their perspective, welcomed them into their camp on the outskirts of town. One of the most reclusive and reviled groups in all of Europe — seen by society as nothing more than foreign beggars and thieves — and the community had the humility to say it would be an honor to share a home with you.
How do you not see the very heart of the Gospel in that? How do you not fall in love?
But then I would have moments with the community that would remind me that I could never in my heart say the vows that would make me one of them. The foundress of the community told a handful of us a story of a time when a family close to the community lost a son who was openly gay to suicide. The family asked if the community would perform the ceremony of the funeral, an act that for the brothers and sisters, would be a great affair, keeping vigil the whole night in prayer with the body. When the funeral was over, another local woman came up to the foundress, concerned, and said, “Sister, I didn’t realize the Church approved of homosexuality now!” The foundress gently explained that a dignified funeral did not, in fact, signify a major change in Catholic teaching, but she then reflected to the rest of us gathered around for the story, that had she known it would have caused such scandal and confusion, she would never have agreed to allow the community to perform the funeral.
I understood a simple woman’s disorientation about the implications of the funeral. But I hugged my knees that night and rocked against the wall of my cell, wondering what kind of person I must be if this community I loved so much would willingly build a home in the mud on the tattered edges of a city with the Roma but wouldn’t bring my cold body before God in their church if the neighbors knew it had been with a man. How could I join for life a community that wouldn’t stand by me in my death?
After three months, I requested a meeting with the head of the brothers and in a small chapel huddled around the fireplace I spoke my best French and he his best English. I told him I thought it was time for me to leave, that I was gay and had realized that I had come here more to escape that reality than to embrace another. But, I told him, I didn’t want to leave without the community’s blessing.
I still had enough of those old Catholic instincts kicking around to remember even this decision was not just about me. Discernment in a religious order is a two-way street, with the community choosing the individual as much as they choose the community. With a great deal of affection in his eyes he asked for three days to pray about it, and told me he would get back to me with an answer. When we sat down again, he told me he agreed it was best for me to leave. And within two days I was back home in Texas.
It might seem reasonable to ask, why not try another community? If I were really committed to following Church teaching, just because one group did not fit, would that mean another could not be right? I suppose all I can say is, yes, it would. Ten years of emphatically imperfect submitting to Church authority and only being driven closer and closer to a hatred of self and hopelessness for any future I might have and I began to see those headlights calling out to me again.
One night I cooked a quiche for the brothers when a visiting Polish man interrupted the silence of dinner to praise me for how much he enjoyed it. I whispered a thank you to him, looking down at my hands laying in my lap. “You don’t get very many compliments, do you?” He said, baffled by my muted response. It wasn’t true. I was used to getting them all the time. But I realized then I had basically decided the best hope I had surviving celibacy was finding a corner of the world where I could disappear and kill off as many of my own desires and dreams as possible.
Which is not to say that a religious order inherently destroys personality, only that I had grown so distrustful of my own, that I found the most extreme place I could to lock mine away and minimize its expression.
You would think that when I arrived home in Texas I would feel relief. But after the joy of seeing my family and friends settled down, what was left was a kind of anger and frustration that had long simmered beneath the surface, and was now undeniable. I had done everything there was to be a good Catholic. Or at least a passable one. A Catholic who was irrevocably gay but desperate to avoid hell.
I tried to become a priest. I tried to live celibate and single. And I tried to join a religious order. Each led me farther from reality, farther into a twisted and masked version of myself.
Back home, I struggled to find a community and a routine that would help make sense of this new reality I found myself in. I tried writing, but when I took a position criticizing the way many Catholics were treating gay people on social media and in person during the firestorm surrounding the Supreme Court arguments on LGBT rights, the reaction in my hometown was quick and strong. Some agreed, but many claimed I had crossed a line and treated those just standing up for Church teaching unfairly.
I suppose that was a kind of line for me too. If I couldn’t suggest treating gay Catholics with a little more empathy without it causing controversy, then, I realized, I couldn’t pretend this was a healthy place for me to call home any longer. I needed to get out, and the farther the better.
I left the country again, but this time, instead of running away from myself, I was retreating in the literal sense. Regrouping to where I could learn to be me. That refuge just happened to be in the murder capital of the world — Honduras.
The Church I was so deeply a part of — and which was so profoundly a part of me — believed being gay was not actually how I was made to be. And yet no matter where I went, it seemed indisputably at odds with the life I was expected to live. I was convinced the key to figuring out who I really was — no matter how anyone felt I was made to be — would depend on getting back to Gospel basics.
Love. Humility. Service.
I felt far from God and from the Church, but maybe if I could just go be a companion to some orphans, away from everyone that wanted to tell me how much I didn’t belong, I might find some direction again. So I signed up as a two year volunteer at a children’s home on the northern coast of Honduras.
I went south with a plan. I gave myself a year to adapt to life in the tropics, on a Catholic home for abused and abandoned children. But once I had gotten a decent grip on the language and found a kind of balance amidst the new community where all my fellow volunteers knew I was gay and the kids had at least started to trust me, I got to work. It was time to to take off the shelf the box I had placed up there when I was sixteen. I was ready to dive deep into what the Catholic Church really teaches about homosexuality and not fear what I might find.
What most terrified me was not that I might agree with the Church’s logic, but that I would find it lacking. That the biggest part of my life might have a flaw. Where would that leave me then? I had spent a decade trying to position myself where the Church would approve of me. Finally I gave myself permission to examine where the Church stood with me.
I spent several weeks pouring over all the relevant Scripture passages, the Catechism quotes, the Catholic intellectuals. After my days with the kids of the children’s home, I would spend my nights with Ratzinger, Weigel, and Wojtyla, then wake up early before the day started with Neuhaus, George, and Congar. I analyzed and summarized the best arguments against gay marriage they and others had come up with, writing late into the night.
Then I read those who precisely because of their faith, disagreed. Catholics. Protestants. Anyone willing to take up their arguments on the merits.
Catholic analysis of homosexuality is more nuanced than it is often given credit. Probably because there is so much reductive and damning reactions coming from religious sources, it is lumped in with the larger gay = bad narrative. In reality, the Catholic Church does not teach that all gay people are bad, or even that they have chosen their same-sex attraction.
Rather, the language goes, they are “intrinsically disordered.” A distinction is made between the desires we experience, and the actions that might be taken to satisfy them. Sort of like the difference between feeling attracted to your neighbor’s wife and actually sleeping with her. Except instead of the prescription being waiting for the girl that’s right for you instead of stealing your neighbor’s, it turns out every girl in the world is already taken and your fate is to feel attractions that would always and everywhere be wrong to act upon. And that singling out of the gay experience was what I ultimately realized I couldn’t agree with.
The part about the Catholic Church’s line of thinking that had so crippled me emotionally, driving me both to think I was better off without my friends and family and holding me deep underwater in bouts of depression — was the belief that I was incapable of romantic love. I have often been told that I am more than just my sexuality. Catholic priests have to be celibate, why should I be so different? And it is true that there is so much more to a person than their desires for sex. But that’s exactly the point. To fall in love. To build a life together. To challenge each other — and if you are believers — to bring each other closer to God. To raise children in security and affection. To feel the peace of knowing that you will try to be there for each other through everything, no matter what. These are not small things.
Those instincts and emotions and desires are there in me just as intensely as anyone else, but I am told that I am incapable of all of them. If I feel them towards a man, then they are intrinsically disordered. That if I were to do what comes naturally to everyone else, it would be a most unnatural and abominable thing. In fact, it would be a threat to everyone else’s love and the Church must defend the entire society against it. That it would be self-destructive, not self-giving. That it would cut me off from God, not bring me closer to him. That, in truth, it would be better if I not even try. What does that really say about a person? And how is it supposed to make me a better Christian? The comparison with the celibate priest is irrelevant, for he is offering those things up to God. I, on the other hand, apparently have nothing to offer.
So I took an honest look at my own life. This was the one step I had been hesitant to do for so long. I know it would have come instinctively for most, but I had always resisted using my own experiences as evidence. It felt so subjective. Better to stay abstract. But finally I realized that if the abstractions have no grounding in reality, if they cannot play themselves out and actually work, then they are worthless.
There is a famous GK Chesterton quote where he writes, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and not tried.” Which is probably true on most fronts, but is also the type of adage that could be claimed by anyone not satisfied with how far someone else is willing to go. But what if there was a mandate that was found not difficult, but impossible?
Oh sure, I could have learned to clench my teeth and push on a little longer. But the truth is, I’m too Catholic for that. For one, I always knew deep down that if I was veering in the direction of desiring suicide, I had gone too far. That the road was leading to a place I was never meant to go. I refused to let myself follow a belief system that broke me so much I preferred death over life, and I could feel myself craving a quick exit.
But also, I knew that Grace, if real, should flow freely. That while nothing good in life is easy, if God is with you, he will help you. Yoked, you will manage the load. When I looked back on my years leading up to Honduras, I realized I had surely not managed. I was a living example that proved an exception to the official rule. You could do everything the Catholic Church asked of you, and still end up miserable, broken, and hopeless. It wasn’t until I returned home from Central America that I let myself try something I hadn’t done since I was sixteen — go on a date with someone I actually wanted to be with, and who wanted to be with the real me.
I want to be very clear, though. I am in no way trying to imply the paths chosen by other gay Catholics are false. Some gay men may be incredibly happy as priests. Some women and men may find a deep fulfillment in religious life or a celibate single one. My point is merely that I cannot in good faith claim one of those will work for all of us. It simply won’t.
I think there is a way forward for the Catholic Church as an institution which may not involve overnight change, but does learn to listen to those of us that have taken its prescriptions about our homosexuality seriously. What does that actually look like in our lives? Is it working or are the depression and suicide numbers silently disappearing sincere parishioners from amongst the pews around you?
And for those of us that have decided to stay Catholic and not demonize our sexuality, are we happier and healthier by the Church’s own standards? If you examine us by the fruits of our actions, looking at more than just our relationships but our whole lives, what do you see? There are many of us still amongst you. Pope Francis has ushered in a new tone of listening which parts of the Catholic Church are beginning to heed. But if you are afraid to truly look at our lives, what does it say about your own commitment to the truth?
The fact is, most Catholics I know will admit there’s some kind of gap between all that intrinsically disordered business and what they see in their gay friends and family members. Their children are not the monsters they have been told they are. They are a twelve year old girl or boy, in need of some love, and desperate to know they will have someone to love too.
Sometimes I imagine being given an option. I could go back and become that twelve year old child, but this time not born Catholic. Raised some belief that never taught me I was intrinsically disordered and that I could fall in love and raise kids just like the rest of the world. Or I could become that twelve year old boy, but still Catholic. Do it all over. Smoke cigarettes under Mary’s stony gaze and cry by the lake and be told my funeral would be a scandal best kept private. But the Church would learn something from it. And the next generation of gay kids raised Catholic would have it different. Have it better. Which would I choose? Without hesitation I would choose a whole lifetime of that pain and never know its relief if it meant those kids would be able to love themselves.
It would be worth every damn day.
Because after all, life is about more than just me. Being Catholic taught me that.
That time I spent knocking on strangers doors and asking for food, asking them to keep me alive, just because they could, would bring me back to a scripture passage about a foreign woman who asked for a small mercy for her child from Jesus. He tells her coldly, if accurately, that bread meant for children (the Jews), shouldn’t be given to dogs (the foreigners). She responds that even the dogs gather the scraps from under the table where the children eat. Knocking on doors with a empty stomach I would remind myself that. Even the dogs eat the crumbs.
To be honest, I don’t know exactly what all I hope the Catholic Church and Christianity in general will share with me. But I know I was under the table for a long time. I did my best to eat what was given to me, wherever it led. But like that woman in scripture, I am coming on behalf of someone else now. I don’t have any children of my own, but there are millions of kids within and influenced by the teachings of the Church.
To the parents and the pastors, the siblings and the strangers, will you share what you’ve got? Because what falls to the floor, I can say from my own life, it does not sustain. At your table you have something better than the inherently disordered shame and silence and loneliness off which we have been trying to survive.
Will you share dignity? Will you share love? Will you share marriage?
Because you can. Keep us alive. Just because you can. | https://medium.com/reaching-out/gay-and-catholic-30f7755a4726 | ['Patrick Flores'] | 2018-12-19 00:33:55.750000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Storytelling', 'Faithfullylgbt', 'LGBTQ', 'Writing'] | Title Thought Gay Celibacy Option — WrongContent difficult part convincing someone begging food figuring kind face make — appearing need deserving somehow Look desperate think might make grab purse ask move spare bedroom responsible they’ll wonder whether really need help begged France living religious order “We nothing eat anything could share” would smile hold strap backpack like earnest schoolboy Hungry honest never begged street struck humbling — asking stranger keep alive can’t “No” eighth woman asked scowled behind front door “Go away” wanted tell really food money don’t like option want feel stomach rumbling Check pocket wallet Eventually man invited companion house began making u sandwich thick slice cured ham Standing kitchen asked u traveling begging “We travel simply go two two like Jesus sent disciples” Brother François responded “Yes yes” man waved hand “I assumed clothes why” looked like cardboard American Happy Meal amidst table crusty bread smelly cheese waited Brother François finish translating “Why come way across ocean beg food me” hesitated imagined answering way never able anyone asks Honestly “Because I’m gay” would say “I choice” would nod appreciatively say much better begging ham sandwich smelly cheese another continent must gay life able articulate reality beneath surface Nobody knew ever wanted know gay people thing gave version assumed would like “I may beggar still good taste” winked “Where else would come eat besides France” left man’s house Brother François said prayer together thanks generosity God’s providence God provides every need would ask promise putting test told trusted sexuality broken threat loved far would go protect world Would hide friend Abandon anyone ever fell love Tell family leave feared hurting believed promise God provide could say ended begging side world took Catholic Church seriously gay Maybe that’s entirely fair France really opposite side earth Texas even substantively find gay Catholic man told three option Become priest life Become monk life stay single life Celibacy — complete sexual abstinence — requirement guess someone sincere enough try Pope Francis shook world’s assumption largest Christian denomination think homosexuality famous “who judge” comment though official doctrine show little hope changing Catholic million LGBT individual family impacted organization extensive moral impact world tried Church’s prescription gay life say definitively one actually followed official rule always work Growing Catholic learned life existence experience worship personal taste human purpose imaginings call Tradition Basically people — mostly men though plenty exception — thinking long time came along better find way line consensus go way church belief Linking together faith absent egocentric leaning individual might actually recover natural order life consensus found case gay well okay found gay time boy start discover much life wonder terrify Eleven maybe twelve didn’t word knew way looked boy differed way ever looked back dawned year later worst insult boy would call — gay queer fag — actually applied learned even word felt better left unspoken eventually come folk friend high school though far way would planned celebration relief certainly pride point never met single gay person knowingly anyways Tired faking way girlfriend tortuous school dance turned internet Back apps phone tell close nearest match might lied age found college student couple town away would buy dinner take movie sixteen leg could barely stop shaking frightened second date told parent would staying night friend’s house instead spent night first gay man ever met Valentine’s Day got car handed dozen rose must looked given baby giraffe never imagined someone world might buy flower woke next morning phone several dozen missed call haste forgotten tell friend cover anyone called parent spent whole night desperately looking Arriving home everything came spilling parents’ interrogation boy gay don’t know Church wrong thing like Galileo can’t like parent seemed equal part exasperated night put concerned coming might forebode treatment seemed would start taking church seriously point family gone Mass Sundays akin something inherited like Irish something chosen Whether punishment remedy parent wanted church become something personal time genuinely grew like parish family attended another town big youth group combined engaging practice surrounding nondenominational megachurches old school tradition Catholicism smoke machine incense adoration altar call genuine conversion experience dedicated life God Finding new group friend finding way Catholic teenager time made feel like wasn’t alone enough help set gay stuff shelf Like box knew could ignore eventually find ever needed didn’t really know make fact felt closer Church thought incapable romantic love intrinsically disordered seventeen knew everything figured right one church needed know gay could keep part hidden see thing led started praying regularly tried therapy — conversion kind— woman told would ever happy life celibate man got involved leadership could align life Church asked time freshman year college rolled around started feel nagging like itch reach whenever alone talking God gotten know many priest saw positive impact people’s life time started feel like God asking give shot wish could say exactly coming Maybe many priest knew genuinely honorable men purpose life Maybe rushed nineteen joined seminary Minnesota begin eight year process becoming priest one hundred u Men Midwest South roommate arrived frat boy Oklahoma infectiously charismatic perspective played banjo Officially u getting bachelor’s degree philosophy though daily schedule revealed bigger plan becoming priest class Prayers began six time “formation” time bonding rector — priest charge seminary — believed American Catholic Church undergone crisis leadership cure must generation priest would remember meant real father flock “liberal” theology comfortable insulated life man get parishioner real life arrived first weekend rector held conference u new seminarian covered basic vision expect well potential pitfall life seminarian could burden nineteen year old unprepared pastor flock pas philosophy class navigate dry time prayer former girlfriend writing forlornly home new schedule notorious professor treated u like future front line soldier battle heart culture sought serve loved second day talk mentioned statistically speaking small portion u probably gay course didn’t use word “gay” Officially speaking Catholic Church us clinically dry term samesex attracted “some probably struggle samesex attraction” Identifying gay thought kind allencompassing characteristic whole behavior set Church disapproves samesex attracted rector said would inherently isolating quality recommended talking one priest staff point first time meeting office told indeed struggling attraction sex heart pounding two year since mentioned sexuality anyone response one genuine compassion looked eye told must hard nothing chosen Concerned wellbeing going forward suggested develop sort notsosubtle code ever felt like life becoming could handle would simply say “Father I’m Defcon 4” three Whatever state alert might concern real though rarely felt someone could — — confide sexuality good priest cared deeply knew type man wanted seminarian comment alone annoyingly gay campus administrator hint something felt could confide would understand didn’t know best impress repress part knew disappointed Wandering campus alone late night sometimes would pray cry smoke handful cigarette beneath massive Marian statue behind school chapel hated habit felt good finally kind manifestation ugliness felt inside begged change glimpse healing sun came would leave pile tobacco ash statue’s foot like kind intrinsically disordered offering burnt incense Eventually time came decide would continue next four year seminary becoming priest Despite inner turmoil achieved certain kind esteem seminary kind big shot cassock Leaning status year surprisingly easy overlook leading end ask actually want spend life daily task priest — hearing confession celebrating Mass visiting sick baptizing baby finally sat looked honestly almost four year preparation say liked seminarian could ever appreciate priest liked community studying hoorah sense purpose God giving life direction knew signal end priest graduating got job back Dallas teaching local Catholic high school hired teach morality social justice coaching JV baseball team hour time morality junior level course school started tackling principle behavior teen age first started explore sexuality timing wasn’t lost time Catholic morality set crafting class student challenged develop conscience even broke open official Church teaching teacher tell exhausting work would stay late night planning lesson immigration find inevitably sitting top empty desk sleeve rolled guiding vigorous discussion whether extraterrestrial could soul bigger problem life outside classroom seminary builtin cover training priest sexuality bound Nicknames like Father WhatAWaste may joked people respected idea offlimits Suddenly back Texas forced explain delaying jumping back dating life Every mom church seemed know perfect girl young goodlooking enough even used seminarian church life that’s jackpot Girls would openly admit lookout former seminarian like forbidden fruit put back menu wasn’t least bit interested couldn’t tell soul Friends’ wedding bittersweet occasion early twenty plenty attend always knew would followed depressive funk friend involved church massive party marinating year knowledge divine act decision vocation priest would preach heroic beautiful sacrifice spouse making would open kid would live would foundation humanity sat wedding wondering incapable thing kind person must incapable love one wedding ended bowed head pray closed eye imagined would like standing front altar Wearing tuxedo first time since took Sarah prom pretended holding fiancée’s hand afraid look away eye fear moment might last forever friend family would laugh priest telling u something caught notice remember sitting friend walked aisle head hand tear streaming cheek honest sensed imagining wedding relief first time ever actually allowed picture happening felt like dirtiest thing ever done considered confiding friend gay thought better small enough community word would inevitably get back Catholic school worked would see news report choir director English teacher shown door administrator found boyfriend student found somehow People church would usually share story Facebook warning creeping lack religious freedom anyone wanted teacher reinstated kept closeted even fear getting fired fear losing community well Texas progressive pocket felt lifetime away town didn’t know would happen people found gay could guarantee wouldn’t stay least like happy life surface lake nearby would drive feeling depressed would go sit foot water imagine world wasn’t hopelessly broken Sometimes close friend family member would casually remark gross gay kiss TV would enough send hyperventilating water’s edge could wellliked surface reviled underneath loved job accepted would single life loneliness would gnaw away night began realize would able keep path much longer priest told gay couple much violent straight couple much higher occurrence domestic abuse told didn’t know it’s true didn’t I’ve looked since turn statistic incredibly inconclusive seemed quite pleased discovered fact didn’t explain thought important think understand gay relationship inherently wrong must something wrong Catholics get pretty abstract talking stuff start floating sea term like “procreative” “unitive” “telos” help able say “Hey romance make violent” It’s true it’s helpful know listening priest looked telling violence curled inside like dragon sleeping cave waiting anyone foolish enough say loved felt like hollowed didn’t know good evidence support claim trusted imagined cooking meal partner came home turning punching face Tony Bennett crooned background forgot pick milk way home never fight life awaited fall try relationship Forget going hell option Stay single alone become monster high school came close driving car oncoming traffic dusk steady stream headlight whooshed one like invitation heading straight toward miss last moment knew would awful way probably taking bunch life didn’t want keep living mine desire relief kind break much hated way — perverted incapable love — moment would welcomed crash made home safe night even though year would wish could die young instead letting loneliness go knew deep shouldn’t let get point headlight seemed calling something better killing Even meant leaving job teaching something drastic surface calm inside rubber band stamen stretched raw end Soon could feel would snap semester studying abroad Rome gotten know religious community based southern France new branch old order immediately felt home amongst Joy radiated bone even begged food travelled hitchhiking like old story saint grown come life realized life alone single Catholic man unsustainable wrote order ask could join prepare entering sold belonging said goodbye friend knowing would probably never see hugged family knowing next time together might come old school community respect left behind everything everyone sending letter month keep touch first year Photo Cagatay Orhan Unsplash Nestled foothill Pyrenees motherhouse community simple beautiful living quarter opposite side property woman men made order given room small handmade desk chair wooden chest doubled bed small icon crucifix otherwise blank plaster wall Sitting bed end first night France one prayer lip fuck done decided come far given much honest community confided anyone would ask near certain going work homesick — knew bone wasn’t made brother counsel received unanimous Give one year simply take long know Relax let thing run course one thing saw clearly walking tall grass ancient hill run away problem came gay Five thousand mile ocean away hadn’t escaped amplified meal silence hour day spent quietly work prayer saw clearly ever Saw gift weakness echoed around head didn’t need lake latenight cigarette Mary’s stoic gaze see whole day night become like sensedeprivation tank discernment silence could hear whisper reality roaring plenty time think maybe needed stick might hidden poor intention joining community even staring every corner bare cell first night God still plan community despite would sit quiet beneath gentle paraffin lamp watch humble instinct brother sister realize something undeniably beautiful Young girl Roma camp France Photo Baltimore Sun winter built tiny cabin trailer group sister nearby Toulouse invited come live Roma — gypsy — camp saw sister begging food recognizing kindred spirit people saw world perspective welcomed camp outskirt town One reclusive reviled group Europe — seen society nothing foreign beggar thief — community humility say would honor share home see heart Gospel fall love would moment community would remind could never heart say vow would make one foundress community told handful u story time family close community lost son openly gay suicide family asked community would perform ceremony funeral act brother sister would great affair keeping vigil whole night prayer body funeral another local woman came foundress concerned said “Sister didn’t realize Church approved homosexuality now” foundress gently explained dignified funeral fact signify major change Catholic teaching reflected rest u gathered around story known would caused scandal confusion would never agreed allow community perform funeral understood simple woman’s disorientation implication funeral hugged knee night rocked wall cell wondering kind person must community loved much would willingly build home mud tattered edge city Roma wouldn’t bring cold body God church neighbor knew man could join life community wouldn’t stand death three month requested meeting head brother small chapel huddled around fireplace spoke best French best English told thought time leave gay realized come escape reality embrace another told didn’t want leave without community’s blessing still enough old Catholic instinct kicking around remember even decision Discernment religious order twoway street community choosing individual much choose community great deal affection eye asked three day pray told would get back answer sat told agreed best leave within two day back home Texas might seem reasonable ask try another community really committed following Church teaching one group fit would mean another could right suppose say yes would Ten year emphatically imperfect submitting Church authority driven closer closer hatred self hopelessness future might began see headlight calling One night cooked quiche brother visiting Polish man interrupted silence dinner praise much enjoyed whispered thank looking hand laying lap “You don’t get many compliment you” said baffled muted response wasn’t true used getting time realized basically decided best hope surviving celibacy finding corner world could disappear kill many desire dream possible say religious order inherently destroys personality grown distrustful found extreme place could lock mine away minimize expression would think arrived home Texas would feel relief joy seeing family friend settled left kind anger frustration long simmered beneath surface undeniable done everything good Catholic least passable one Catholic irrevocably gay desperate avoid hell tried become priest tried live celibate single tried join religious order led farther reality farther twisted masked version Back home struggled find community routine would help make sense new reality found tried writing took position criticizing way many Catholics treating gay people social medium person firestorm surrounding Supreme Court argument LGBT right reaction hometown quick strong agreed many claimed crossed line treated standing Church teaching unfairly suppose kind line couldn’t suggest treating gay Catholics little empathy without causing controversy realized couldn’t pretend healthy place call home longer needed get farther better left country time instead running away retreating literal sense Regrouping could learn refuge happened murder capital world — Honduras Church deeply part — profoundly part — believed gay actually made yet matter went seemed indisputably odds life expected live convinced key figuring really — matter anyone felt made — would depend getting back Gospel basic Love Humility Service felt far God Church maybe could go companion orphan away everyone wanted tell much didn’t belong might find direction signed two year volunteer children’s home northern coast Honduras went south plan gave year adapt life tropic Catholic home abused abandoned child gotten decent grip language found kind balance amidst new community fellow volunteer knew gay kid least started trust got work time take shelf box placed sixteen ready dive deep Catholic Church really teach homosexuality fear might find terrified might agree Church’s logic would find lacking biggest part life might flaw would leave spent decade trying position Church would approve Finally gave permission examine Church stood spent several week pouring relevant Scripture passage Catechism quote Catholic intellectual day kid children’s home would spend night Ratzinger Weigel Wojtyla wake early day started Neuhaus George Congar analyzed summarized best argument gay marriage others come writing late night read precisely faith disagreed Catholics Protestants Anyone willing take argument merit Catholic analysis homosexuality nuanced often given credit Probably much reductive damning reaction coming religious source lumped larger gay bad narrative reality Catholic Church teach gay people bad even chosen samesex attraction Rather language go “intrinsically disordered” distinction made desire experience action might taken satisfy Sort like difference feeling attracted neighbor’s wife actually sleeping Except instead prescription waiting girl that’s right instead stealing neighbor’s turn every girl world already taken fate feel attraction would always everywhere wrong act upon singling gay experience ultimately realized couldn’t agree part Catholic Church’s line thinking crippled emotionally driving think better without friend family holding deep underwater bout depression — belief incapable romantic love often told sexuality Catholic priest celibate different true much person desire sex that’s exactly point fall love build life together challenge — believer — bring closer God raise child security affection feel peace knowing try everything matter small thing instinct emotion desire intensely anyone else told incapable feel towards man intrinsically disordered come naturally everyone else would unnatural abominable thing fact would threat everyone else’s love Church must defend entire society would selfdestructive selfgiving would cut God bring closer truth would better even try really say person supposed make better Christian comparison celibate priest irrelevant offering thing God hand apparently nothing offer took honest look life one step hesitant long know would come instinctively always resisted using experience evidence felt subjective Better stay abstract finally realized abstraction grounding reality cannot play actually work worthless famous GK Chesterton quote writes “Christianity tried found wanting found difficult tried” probably true front also type adage could claimed anyone satisfied far someone else willing go mandate found difficult impossible Oh sure could learned clench teeth push little longer truth I’m Catholic one always knew deep veering direction desiring suicide gone far road leading place never meant go refused let follow belief system broke much preferred death life could feel craving quick exit also knew Grace real flow freely nothing good life easy God help Yoked manage load looked back year leading Honduras realized surely managed living example proved exception official rule could everything Catholic Church asked still end miserable broken hopeless wasn’t returned home Central America let try something hadn’t done since sixteen — go date someone actually wanted wanted real want clear though way trying imply path chosen gay Catholics false gay men may incredibly happy priest woman men may find deep fulfillment religious life celibate single one point merely cannot good faith claim one work u simply won’t think way forward Catholic Church institution may involve overnight change learn listen u taken prescription homosexuality seriously actually look like life working depression suicide number silently disappearing sincere parishioner amongst pew around u decided stay Catholic demonize sexuality happier healthier Church’s standard examine u fruit action looking relationship whole life see many u still amongst Pope Francis ushered new tone listening part Catholic Church beginning heed afraid truly look life say commitment truth fact Catholics know admit there’s kind gap intrinsically disordered business see gay friend family member child monster told twelve year old girl boy need love desperate know someone love Sometimes imagine given option could go back become twelve year old child time born Catholic Raised belief never taught intrinsically disordered could fall love raise kid like rest world could become twelve year old boy still Catholic Smoke cigarette Mary’s stony gaze cry lake told funeral would scandal best kept private Church would learn something next generation gay kid raised Catholic would different better would choose Without hesitation would choose whole lifetime pain never know relief meant kid would able love would worth every damn day life Catholic taught time spent knocking stranger door asking food asking keep alive could would bring back scripture passage foreign woman asked small mercy child Jesus tell coldly accurately bread meant child Jews shouldn’t given dog foreigner responds even dog gather scrap table child eat Knocking door empty stomach would remind Even dog eat crumb honest don’t know exactly hope Catholic Church Christianity general share know table long time best eat given wherever led like woman scripture coming behalf someone else don’t child million kid within influenced teaching Church parent pastor sibling stranger share you’ve got fall floor say life sustain table something better inherently disordered shame silence loneliness trying survive share dignity share love share marriage Keep u alive canTags Life Storytelling Faithfullylgbt LGBTQ Writing |
2,721 | The Global Support Ecosystem for Women Entrepreneurs and Investors | The Global Support Ecosystem for Women Entrepreneurs and Investors
340+ VCs, accelerators, angel networks, conferences, platforms, and communities supporting women innovators and investors
Changelog: Last updated September 6, 2020 (+AIM-HI Accelerator Fund’s Women’s Venture Competition, Capital Access Lab by Kauffman Foundation, Chingona Ventures, Collab Capital, Diversity Rider Initiative by Act One Ventures, Diversity Innovation Hub, Dreamers & Doers, Firstboard.io, For Colored Girls Who Tech, Hadean Ventures, Hello Career Guru, Included VC, Ingressive Capital, Metrodora Ventures, OSEA Angel Investors, PledgeLA Summer Lab Fund, Startup-Investor Matching Tool, The Community Fund, The Venture Collective, Transparent Collective, WLOUNGE, -The Ventura); July 7, 2020 (+ 24 Hour Assembly, Anthemis, Array VC, Beta Boom, Consider Something Better, Eleanor Venture, Female Innovators Lab, FourthWave, Fund the Women Ventures, Her Corner, Launchpad2x, Lightship Capital, Talent x Opportunity Fund, Venture Forward, Women Founders Community, YSYS, Zane Venture Fund); June 1, 2020 (+ Daintree Capital, Financial Alliance for Women, Invest for Better, Nia Impact Capital, NNE WIN, OneTech, Teja Ventures, wiseHer, Women’s Innovation Fund Accelerator); May 25, 2020 (+ Bossy Chicago, The Capital Network’s Fellowship for Female Founders, Chooks SA, Code Like a Girl, CoworkHERS, DBL Partners, EllePod, Emerge, FD Global’s ScaleUP Programs, Found & Flourish, Girl Geek Academy, H Ventures, Halo Incubator, Heads Over Heels, Her Capital, How Women Invest, Impulse4women, Mums & Co, Rogue Women, Tech Ready Women Academy, WEConnect International, Wedbush Ventures, WeDemption, Women In Innovation; -SheStarts by Blue Chilli); May 11, 2020 (+ 23 Code Street, Female Founder School, Venturous Counsel, W Fund); May 5, 2020 (+ Camelback Ventures, Diana Capital Partners, Female Founder Collective, Female Ventures, Femstreet Membership, For Colored Girls Who Tech, GUILD Academy, Impact By Women, Impact Engine, Marigold Capital, NY Fashion Tech Lab, Scroobious, Women of Wearables)
An original version of this list in 2015 could fit on a single slide…
Maintaining this list over the last five years has been a labor of love, and one that has allowed me to witness the exponential growth of this support ecosystem for women that build and invest in early-stage companies. Over the last 12 years as the Vice President of Springboard Enterprises, a global network of women innovators transforming industries, I’ve met the leaders of many of the organizations included in this list and I’m honored to be part of a community of exceptional people that recognize this is not only a valuable mission but a lucrative one: there is big money to be made in finding and funding companies led by diverse teams.
Since the last edition of this list there is a significant amount of new funding in the hands of women, including funds that do and don’t focus on investing in women-led teams. I love how Jane VC’s Ann Bordetsky put this in a recent post on women-led VC funds: “The most exciting and transformative trend happening in the Tech community right now is a new generation of venture funds — founded, raised and led by experienced, badass women. This wave of Wonder Women will reshape Silicon Valley as we know it.”
COVID-19 is also reshaping the startup world and the way that all of us connect with and support those on the herculean mission to build a viable business. Communities are convening in new, virtual ways and evolving their support models. In the coming months, I will update this post to call out those organizations with virtual engagement opportunities.
If you’re part of a woman-led company, I hope this list makes your life easier by pointing you to valuable virtual resources and human capital you didn’t already know about. | https://medium.com/been-there-run-that/the-global-support-ecosystem-for-women-entrepreneurs-and-investors-961b3abc2c9b | ['Joshua Henderson'] | 2020-09-06 21:39:43.301000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Startup', 'Venture Capitalist', 'Venture Capital', 'Founders'] | Title Global Support Ecosystem Women Entrepreneurs InvestorsContent Global Support Ecosystem Women Entrepreneurs Investors 340 VCs accelerator angel network conference platform community supporting woman innovator investor Changelog Last updated September 6 2020 AIMHI Accelerator Fund’s Women’s Venture Competition Capital Access Lab Kauffman Foundation Chingona Ventures Collab Capital Diversity Rider Initiative Act One Ventures Diversity Innovation Hub Dreamers Doers Firstboardio Colored Girls Tech Hadean Ventures Hello Career Guru Included VC Ingressive Capital Metrodora Ventures OSEA Angel Investors PledgeLA Summer Lab Fund StartupInvestor Matching Tool Community Fund Venture Collective Transparent Collective WLOUNGE Ventura July 7 2020 24 Hour Assembly Anthemis Array VC Beta Boom Consider Something Better Eleanor Venture Female Innovators Lab FourthWave Fund Women Ventures Corner Launchpad2x Lightship Capital Talent x Opportunity Fund Venture Forward Women Founders Community YSYS Zane Venture Fund June 1 2020 Daintree Capital Financial Alliance Women Invest Better Nia Impact Capital NNE WIN OneTech Teja Ventures wiseHer Women’s Innovation Fund Accelerator May 25 2020 Bossy Chicago Capital Network’s Fellowship Female Founders Chooks SA Code Like Girl CoworkHERS DBL Partners EllePod Emerge FD Global’s ScaleUP Programs Found Flourish Girl Geek Academy H Ventures Halo Incubator Heads Heels Capital Women Invest Impulse4women Mums Co Rogue Women Tech Ready Women Academy WEConnect International Wedbush Ventures WeDemption Women Innovation SheStarts Blue Chilli May 11 2020 23 Code Street Female Founder School Venturous Counsel W Fund May 5 2020 Camelback Ventures Diana Capital Partners Female Founder Collective Female Ventures Femstreet Membership Colored Girls Tech GUILD Academy Impact Women Impact Engine Marigold Capital NY Fashion Tech Lab Scroobious Women Wearables original version list 2015 could fit single slide… Maintaining list last five year labor love one allowed witness exponential growth support ecosystem woman build invest earlystage company last 12 year Vice President Springboard Enterprises global network woman innovator transforming industry I’ve met leader many organization included list I’m honored part community exceptional people recognize valuable mission lucrative one big money made finding funding company led diverse team Since last edition list significant amount new funding hand woman including fund don’t focus investing womenled team love Jane VC’s Ann Bordetsky put recent post womenled VC fund “The exciting transformative trend happening Tech community right new generation venture fund — founded raised led experienced badass woman wave Wonder Women reshape Silicon Valley know it” COVID19 also reshaping startup world way u connect support herculean mission build viable business Communities convening new virtual way evolving support model coming month update post call organization virtual engagement opportunity you’re part womanled company hope list make life easier pointing valuable virtual resource human capital didn’t already know aboutTags Entrepreneurship Startup Venture Capitalist Venture Capital Founders |
2,722 | I Can’t BEAR to be Alone: Our Wholesale Fear of Our Own Thoughts | Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash
In a remarkable study by the British Psychological Society which revealed a great deal about Western society (https://digest.bps.org.uk/2018/10/12/what-are-we-like-10-psychology-findings-that-reveal-the-worst-of-human-nature)/, I read the following:
We would rather electrocute ourselves than spend time in our own thoughts
Maybe if we spent a little more time in contemplation we would not be so blinkered. Sadly, for many of us, it seems the prospect of spending time in our own thoughts is so anathema we’d actually rather electrocute ourselves. This was demonstrated dramatically in a 2014 study in which 67 per cent of male participants and 25 per cent of female participants opted to give themselves unpleasant electric shocks rather than spend 15 minutes in peaceful contemplation. Although others questioned the interpretation of the results, at least one other study has shown people’s preference for electrocuting themselves over monotony, and another found cross-cultural evidence for people’s greater enjoyment of doing some activity alone rather than merely thinking (also replicated here). The gist of these findings would seem to back up the verdict of the French philosopher Blaise Pascal who stated that “All of man’s troubles come from his inability to sit quietly in a room by himself”.
When I was the in the Army, somewhere around 1975 there was a huge popular movement- pushed in part by the Beatles- to learn Transcendental Meditation. The Beatles had gone to study under the tutelage of the Maharisihi Mahesh Yogi. What followed was a great wave of popularity. I was recovering from a series of rapes by a senior officer, was trapped in an ugly and abusive relationship (those things tend to follow one another) and the promise of some mental peace was hugely attractive.
I took the course. Got trained. Forty-three years later I can still drop myself off into very deep meditation in a matter of seconds. The result is that I feel as though I’ve had eight hours of sleep. It’s one hell of a life skill.
It wasn’t a fix-all. However learning how to meditate has been one of those intensely important skills that the great masters have taught as fundamental to our quality of life.
Yet this study points out that most of us in our Western world cannot bear to be alone, much less alone with our own thoughts.
While I understand how so many of us seek to drown out our sadness, our angst with noise, entertainment and compulsive shopping (hey, it’s December), I can’t help but wonder at the cost.
Photo by Jonathan Bowers on Unsplash
Growing up on a farm in Florida, one of the gifts was that we were surrounded by woods. A lake bordered the property. Back in the 1960s as I was just growing up, we had no air conditioning. When we had summer storms, the night was filled with tree frogs and every croaking, singing thing. It was a symphony. Those of us who grew up with the sounds of Nature also tend to appreciate her silence, but also the song that lies within it.
Nature’s silence is like a great curtain of calm.
Nowhere have I felt this so powerfully than in Iceland.
Driving around the Ring Road, there were times that I pulled off the side of the highway, surrounded by high rolling hills. Every so often a sheep would approach, then run. No other cars passed me for hours on end. I would simply stand in the cool, sometimes the mist, and breathe in the vastness of the landscape.
Photo by Seth Macey on Unsplash
There is an intensity to such silence, a feeling of great portents and promise. That kind of quiet is woven with hope, with grace, and the possibility to reflect upon ourselves, our lives, and what there is to be experienced.
Silence speaks to us. Our brains actually grow more cells in the presence of silence (https://www.lifehack.org/377243/science-says-silence-much-more-important-our-brains-than-thought). We heal when we learn to listen to nothing, and release all our thoughts, worries, concerns and -let’s face it- largely meaningless human bullshit to the greater Forces that touch us.
Trip Advisor
Some years ago I was in South Africa, in the Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park. The oldest preserve on the continent, you can take your rental car (at your own risk, thank you) through the park, and view all the animals up close and personal.
There’s a good-sized hill in the park, the only place it’s safe to get out of your car. On two occasions over the course of the years, I’ve driven to that lookout point to stand and view the animals, feel the wind and drink the African spices deeply into my lungs.
I have spoken to what I experience as the Universe, as God, whatever She or He may be. I’ve given myself up to those silences and the beauty of my surroundings. That kind of silence heals. You can release your petty, meaningless bullshit to vastly larger Forces, and be renewed, reinforced and revalued when humbled in the face of All of Creation.
When you and I can come to the realization of our meaninglessness, our nothingness, at that moment we can begin to do great work. It’s only in the letting go of our attachments to the ego-based desires that drive our basest selves that we can find true freedom. When I can release my grasping, my neediness ( I wanna be a thought leader!!! I wanna be famous!!!! I wanna be rich!!!! Nobody gives a shit, thank you), then the world opens up like a spring blossom in front of me.
If you’re short on examples, witness Nelson Mandela. For years in the silence of his cell in South Africa, this profoundly great man learned to be in his own space. Fill it with forgiveness, wisdom, and the fullness of his being. His ability to be with his own thoughts gave the world one of its greatest leaders and statesmen. You don’t earn that through comfort. You earn that through intensely difficult personal effort.(https://www.today.com/popculture/prison-was-mandela-s-greatest-teacher-wbna36087300) Silence is one of our greatest teachers.
In the face of silence, Nature’s great healer, we come to know our sacredness.
Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash
While vastly too many of us fear what we think, the truth is that in the heart of silence we can come to know that spark of Creation that exists in all of us. That animates us, gives us movement. Gives us wings, should we choose.
Rather than experience silence as terrifying, which our Western society uses to sell us stupid shit like all manner of devices which distract, damage, ruin our hearing and invade everyone else’s quiet space, the soft cushions of our inner world, the quality of our own thinking (or lack thereof) provide a training ground.
In his magnificent book The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, the great Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh writes that our emotions are like a great river. We can sit quietly on the bank and watch them flow by. Recognize each as they arise. “Ah,” we can say. “I am feeling anger.” “I am feeling sadness.” We can hold these mercurial feelings in our hands, and let them touch us deeply. We validate, feel, and honor our emotions, as valid aspects of our humanness. Then they can flow on. What we resist, persists. What we fear, we store inside us like a cancer. By allowing, those feelings, which we fear so deeply, can simply be, then pass, like so much morning fog.
For most of us, emotions are terrifying. Our sadness, our despair, our anger overwhelm us. It is far more common to want to medicate, deny or avoid our feelings completely, when to honor them allows us to recognize their sources. When we do that we can see if there is a place of suffering. Often in the study of the feeling we see the seeds of our release, whether it’s an attachment to a thing, a person, a way of being, or simply a feeling that flits through us the way a swallowtail butterfly delicately flutters through a garden.
ButterfliesatHome.com
The ability to allow the flow from our hearts is one of the secrets of peace. Everything we feel is valid. When we honor, experience and move through those feelings we learn to touch the outer boundaries of the self. This allows us to know ourselves, then push that boundary outward. Each time we allow our feelings, we build the strength to trust that they won’t overwhelm us. Our tendency is to want to control our feelings. That forces them to go underground and explode later in a spectacular display worthy of Yellowstone. And wholly unnecessary.
We fear being overwhelmed by our feelings. This is one of the drivers of the opioid epidemic, most certainly behind much of alcoholism and all the other addictions that serve as perfect distractions to the richness of our human experience. As long as we are in the throes of some kind of addiction, we don’t have to face the Self. And yet, sitting with the Self in the quiet of our hearts, we find little to fear. Little to be threatened by. Puff the Magic Dragon indeed.
Photo by Tarik Haiga on Unsplash
Peace- what so many say that they want- is available right here, right now, always and forever. It is borne of being able to be deeply inside the Self, leaning thoughtfully against the bedrock of the soul, that immutable and forever part of us that is expressed as the Kingdom Within. There is much to trust there, but when we don’t explore the quiet reaches of our hearts and souls, it’s easy to believe that darkness is full of monsters.
The quiet of our inner space is as vast as the Universe itself.
On a quiet, lonely beach in Eastern Madagascar, three hours by horse east of Brickaville (which is eight hours by car from the capital), I spent a week in silence. The early mornings were spent horse backriding from 5:30 to 9:30. Then, giving the horses over to the staff for a dip in the channel, I took up a spot against the brick building which was our baseops.
No electricity. No running water. Most everyone spoke French or Malagasy. Perfect.
Dawn on a Madagascar beach
From 10 am until I went to bed at sundown, I had the beach to myself. The only sounds were the breakers on the beach just over a grassy hill, the songs of birds as they constructed nests in the nearby palm trees. The quiet, gentle breathing of the two strays which I had adopted for the week. The onshore winds which made the heat bearable.
In an increasingly loud world where even the whales can’t communicate due to the noise (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/02/ships-noise-is-serious-problem-for-killer-whales-and-dolphins-report-finds), it’s hard for any of us- human, animal, insect, the like- to find our place in the industrialized world. There is no peace in man-made noise (and I don’t include music in this, although some types, let’s be clear, are bad enough to make anyone want to sail to the Hebrides forever). There is peace in Nature, in her sacred silences, and in the perfect music she creates. We are tearing more and more of that down, burning it and destroying it even as we increasingly, desperately need it.
Photo by Jared Rice on Unsplash
If silence scares you, that’s an invitation. In the perfect quiet of a deep forest — quiet for lack of someone’s playlist, their incessant chatter, the noise of cars and planes and ATVs — we have the opportunity to find peace. The truth of why we are here. What makes us human, and what makes us part of the larger movement of life on this planet. The more we isolate ourselves from Nature, the more we fear Her. And yet, in her embrace, lie more answers than questions.
No matter where you go, where you move, no matter where you travel, peace will always and forever elude you if you don’t go within. While finding a spot of nature is hugely helpful, the blessed peace and solace that so many of us so desperately want is forever abiding inside us. There is quiet. There is peace. The cathedral of the soul always has a seat for us, if we’re willing to sit down in the perfect quiet of the heart. | https://jhubbel.medium.com/i-cant-bear-to-be-alone-our-wholesale-fear-of-our-own-thoughts-103309e641f1 | ['Julia E Hubbel'] | 2018-12-07 13:03:49.963000+00:00 | ['Self-awareness', 'Self Improvement', 'Life Lessons', 'Wellness', 'Meditation'] | Title Can’t BEAR Alone Wholesale Fear ThoughtsContent Photo Anthony Tran Unsplash remarkable study British Psychological Society revealed great deal Western society httpsdigestbpsorguk20181012whatarewelike10psychologyfindingsthatrevealtheworstofhumannature read following would rather electrocute spend time thought Maybe spent little time contemplation would blinkered Sadly many u seems prospect spending time thought anathema we’d actually rather electrocute demonstrated dramatically 2014 study 67 per cent male participant 25 per cent female participant opted give unpleasant electric shock rather spend 15 minute peaceful contemplation Although others questioned interpretation result least one study shown people’s preference electrocuting monotony another found crosscultural evidence people’s greater enjoyment activity alone rather merely thinking also replicated gist finding would seem back verdict French philosopher Blaise Pascal stated “All man’s trouble come inability sit quietly room himself” Army somewhere around 1975 huge popular movement pushed part Beatles learn Transcendental Meditation Beatles gone study tutelage Maharisihi Mahesh Yogi followed great wave popularity recovering series rape senior officer trapped ugly abusive relationship thing tend follow one another promise mental peace hugely attractive took course Got trained Fortythree year later still drop deep meditation matter second result feel though I’ve eight hour sleep It’s one hell life skill wasn’t fixall However learning meditate one intensely important skill great master taught fundamental quality life Yet study point u Western world cannot bear alone much le alone thought understand many u seek drown sadness angst noise entertainment compulsive shopping hey it’s December can’t help wonder cost Photo Jonathan Bowers Unsplash Growing farm Florida one gift surrounded wood lake bordered property Back 1960s growing air conditioning summer storm night filled tree frog every croaking singing thing symphony u grew sound Nature also tend appreciate silence also song lie within Nature’s silence like great curtain calm Nowhere felt powerfully Iceland Driving around Ring Road time pulled side highway surrounded high rolling hill Every often sheep would approach run car passed hour end would simply stand cool sometimes mist breathe vastness landscape Photo Seth Macey Unsplash intensity silence feeling great portent promise kind quiet woven hope grace possibility reflect upon life experienced Silence speaks u brain actually grow cell presence silence httpswwwlifehackorg377243sciencesayssilencemuchmoreimportantourbrainsthanthought heal learn listen nothing release thought worry concern let’s face largely meaningless human bullshit greater Forces touch u Trip Advisor year ago South Africa Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Park oldest preserve continent take rental car risk thank park view animal close personal There’s goodsized hill park place it’s safe get car two occasion course year I’ve driven lookout point stand view animal feel wind drink African spice deeply lung spoken experience Universe God whatever may I’ve given silence beauty surroundings kind silence heals release petty meaningless bullshit vastly larger Forces renewed reinforced revalued humbled face Creation come realization meaninglessness nothingness moment begin great work It’s letting go attachment egobased desire drive basest self find true freedom release grasping neediness wanna thought leader wanna famous wanna rich Nobody give shit thank world open like spring blossom front you’re short example witness Nelson Mandela year silence cell South Africa profoundly great man learned space Fill forgiveness wisdom fullness ability thought gave world one greatest leader statesman don’t earn comfort earn intensely difficult personal efforthttpswwwtodaycompopcultureprisonwasmandelasgreatestteacherwbna36087300 Silence one greatest teacher face silence Nature’s great healer come know sacredness Photo Greg Rakozy Unsplash vastly many u fear think truth heart silence come know spark Creation exists u animates u give u movement Gives u wing choose Rather experience silence terrifying Western society us sell u stupid shit like manner device distract damage ruin hearing invade everyone else’s quiet space soft cushion inner world quality thinking lack thereof provide training ground magnificent book Heart Buddha’s Teaching great Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh writes emotion like great river sit quietly bank watch flow Recognize arise “Ah” say “I feeling anger” “I feeling sadness” hold mercurial feeling hand let touch u deeply validate feel honor emotion valid aspect humanness flow resist persists fear store inside u like cancer allowing feeling fear deeply simply pas like much morning fog u emotion terrifying sadness despair anger overwhelm u far common want medicate deny avoid feeling completely honor allows u recognize source see place suffering Often study feeling see seed release whether it’s attachment thing person way simply feeling flit u way swallowtail butterfly delicately flutter garden ButterfliesatHomecom ability allow flow heart one secret peace Everything feel valid honor experience move feeling learn touch outer boundary self allows u know push boundary outward time allow feeling build strength trust won’t overwhelm u tendency want control feeling force go underground explode later spectacular display worthy Yellowstone wholly unnecessary fear overwhelmed feeling one driver opioid epidemic certainly behind much alcoholism addiction serve perfect distraction richness human experience long throe kind addiction don’t face Self yet sitting Self quiet heart find little fear Little threatened Puff Magic Dragon indeed Photo Tarik Haiga Unsplash Peace many say want available right right always forever borne able deeply inside Self leaning thoughtfully bedrock soul immutable forever part u expressed Kingdom Within much trust don’t explore quiet reach heart soul it’s easy believe darkness full monster quiet inner space vast Universe quiet lonely beach Eastern Madagascar three hour horse east Brickaville eight hour car capital spent week silence early morning spent horse backriding 530 930 giving horse staff dip channel took spot brick building baseops electricity running water everyone spoke French Malagasy Perfect Dawn Madagascar beach 10 went bed sundown beach sound breaker beach grassy hill song bird constructed nest nearby palm tree quiet gentle breathing two stray adopted week onshore wind made heat bearable increasingly loud world even whale can’t communicate due noise httpswwwtheguardiancomenvironment2016feb02shipsnoiseisseriousproblemforkillerwhalesanddolphinsreportfinds it’s hard u human animal insect like find place industrialized world peace manmade noise don’t include music although type let’s clear bad enough make anyone want sail Hebrides forever peace Nature sacred silence perfect music creates tearing burning destroying even increasingly desperately need Photo Jared Rice Unsplash silence scare that’s invitation perfect quiet deep forest — quiet lack someone’s playlist incessant chatter noise car plane ATVs — opportunity find peace truth make u human make u part larger movement life planet isolate Nature fear yet embrace lie answer question matter go move matter travel peace always forever elude don’t go within finding spot nature hugely helpful blessed peace solace many u desperately want forever abiding inside u quiet peace cathedral soul always seat u we’re willing sit perfect quiet heartTags Selfawareness Self Improvement Life Lessons Wellness Meditation |
2,723 | How To Make The Coronavirus Work For You | Are you afraid or experiencing financial hardship during the coronavirus spread like I am? I can honestly say it gives me more of a reason to make my resume perfect, and it gives me the time to get the certification I’ve been wanting to further my career with. I can assure you, this is the perfect time to start doing the things you put off because you were too busy.
There are just so many things I can do to make this obstacle into the life raft I need to get ahead in the world.
This coronavirus is trying to split communities apart. It’s making people afraid to be be within 6 feet of each other. Maybe it’s time we start thinking of ways to communicate and feel that bond while still being quarantined. It is definitely possible with the technology we have today. When was the last time you wrote a nice letter to someone? We have email now! Or the “Marco Polo” app(not a sponsor), or called someone? Tell people what you are working on, what you’re grateful for.
The other day I called a friend up and just chatted with him for over an hour about nothing in particular, and felt a deep sense of friendship once the call ended. The kind I felt with him when we lived by each other and worked together. I haven’t felt that close of a bond with him in 7 years. Now I feel like calling all of my friends and just seeing how they are doing. It feels good.
Social media is a great way to connect but it’s also very intrusive and has built distrust within our social circles and communities. With all the companies spying on our psychological patterns and how we use social media, I understand why some of the older generation are wary to trust these corporations. I am the first one to say social media is not the healthiest way to communicate. But a time like this calls for thinking outside of that explanation and expand our communities through knowledge in the social media realm. Instead of fearing it, get to understand it and create your boundaries around it. Now is the time to pick up that phone and strengthen a bond with an old friend.
The impediment of self-quarantine is no reason to stop your life, it’s more reason to begin a new life. One where you do what you love to do as your work, that skill you dreamed of doing when you were a teenager, but instead chose a safer path. Create stronger bonds of friendship through the use of modern technology. Italians have been singing together and to each other. Their Air Force even put on a show for them to bring entertainment to their lives. When was the last time you got excited about seeing planes fly in the sky, I can surely say it’s been a long time for me.
And maybe sooner rather than later we will all understand what that ancient roman meant when he said: | https://medium.com/modernmeraki/how-to-make-the-coronavirus-work-for-you-3f5635d9f155 | [] | 2020-04-22 19:39:59.812000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Mental Health', 'Covid-19', 'Coronavirus', 'Philosophy'] | Title Make Coronavirus Work YouContent afraid experiencing financial hardship coronavirus spread like honestly say give reason make resume perfect give time get certification I’ve wanting career assure perfect time start thing put busy many thing make obstacle life raft need get ahead world coronavirus trying split community apart It’s making people afraid within 6 foot Maybe it’s time start thinking way communicate feel bond still quarantined definitely possible technology today last time wrote nice letter someone email “Marco Polo” appnot sponsor called someone Tell people working you’re grateful day called friend chatted hour nothing particular felt deep sense friendship call ended kind felt lived worked together haven’t felt close bond 7 year feel like calling friend seeing feel good Social medium great way connect it’s also intrusive built distrust within social circle community company spying psychological pattern use social medium understand older generation wary trust corporation first one say social medium healthiest way communicate time like call thinking outside explanation expand community knowledge social medium realm Instead fearing get understand create boundary around time pick phone strengthen bond old friend impediment selfquarantine reason stop life it’s reason begin new life One love work skill dreamed teenager instead chose safer path Create stronger bond friendship use modern technology Italians singing together Air Force even put show bring entertainment life last time got excited seeing plane fly sky surely say it’s long time maybe sooner rather later understand ancient roman meant saidTags Self Improvement Mental Health Covid19 Coronavirus Philosophy |
2,724 | How to Go No-Contact After a Breakup | Every heartbreak hurts. Every break up will shatter you in some way. But there’s nothing more heart-wrenching than surviving after a relationship with a narcissist. There exists a whole range of toxic people out there, ranging from energy vampires, average jerks, selfish and entitled individuals and, right at the other end of the scale, narcissists, psychopaths and sociopaths.
They are all dangerous and detrimental to your mental and emotional health. Relationships with such people are inevitably going to end — and either when you are breaking up with them, or when they discard you for the umpteenth time and you finally say it was enough. That’s when no contact comes into play.
Originally the no contact rule was made up by dating coaches who suggested no contact as a means of getting back with your ex. As if manipulating someone into wanting to be with you after they left you would really be a viable option for most of us. As if something utterly broken could be repaired by playing hot and cold.
I’m not saying it never works — some might need a wake-up call to realise how much they lost. But in most cases, it’s doesn’t.
No matter what kind of ideology or pseudo-science you put behind it, it’s still manipulation and it doesn’t work. It just not how it should be. There is usually a good reason that a relationship goes south, and in most cases, the breakup comes after you tried to solve your problems in a mature way.
In this case, manipulation is not the answer. But no contact shouldn’t be about manipulation. It is about self-preservation and survival, and it’s not selfish, but a necessary act. | https://medium.com/mind-cafe/how-to-go-no-contact-after-a-breakup-642523f110b7 | ['Zita Fontaine'] | 2020-01-23 17:21:43.158000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Self', 'Mental Health', 'Love', 'Psychology'] | Title Go NoContact BreakupContent Every heartbreak hurt Every break shatter way there’s nothing heartwrenching surviving relationship narcissist exists whole range toxic people ranging energy vampire average jerk selfish entitled individual right end scale narcissist psychopath sociopath dangerous detrimental mental emotional health Relationships people inevitably going end — either breaking discard umpteenth time finally say enough That’s contact come play Originally contact rule made dating coach suggested contact mean getting back ex manipulating someone wanting left would really viable option u something utterly broken could repaired playing hot cold I’m saying never work — might need wakeup call realise much lost case it’s doesn’t matter kind ideology pseudoscience put behind it’s still manipulation doesn’t work usually good reason relationship go south case breakup come tried solve problem mature way case manipulation answer contact shouldn’t manipulation selfpreservation survival it’s selfish necessary actTags Relationships Self Mental Health Love Psychology |
2,725 | How to create complex folder structures with just 1 click | Why you should proceed or not proceed reading this article:
Even if the next general principles could be applied to any folder structure on any digital support you are using, I unfortunately still don’t know how to create all the automations and the amazing hacks that the built-in Apple native app iOS Shortcuts are giving even to non programmers users.
All my articles and the tools I provide are always meant and thought to respect your precious time.
So if you are an Android or Windows Phone OS user I greatly respect you but I don’t want you to invest even a minute going on unless you are interested on giving a quick glance on what’s possible to do on iOS devices with little or no experience at all.
But if you are an Apple user you will find in the next few lines all the basics to create your own “1-click automated folder creation tool” and at the end of this article I will also provide a screen recording of the Shortcut in action and a link to a ready-to-go Video Creation Nested Folder Structure Shortcut that you can download and use as-is or even adapt it to your specific needs.
Anyone who is reading this, one day or another, probably has stumbled upon the same question that any content creator, whether is making videos or reportages, recording podcast, writing articles or books, giving courses, public speeches or just a simple presentation, has to confront:
“Where did I saved that piece of information, that note, that picture, that footage, that audio, that #*%’ (fill at your will!) I am now getting so mad at finding out again?”
Don’t break the flow while you are in “the zone”!
When you are planning or drafting your content, if you are somewhat like me, you are probably ending up with multiple browser tabs opened, many links, notes, pictures and contents that you have set apart to help you craft your next creation.
Even for relatively simple video content, the resources scenario could evolve so complex and intricate that without you are even realizing, it really could be too late to fix the structure; you will probably end up cluelessly scratching your head and wasting your time (and sometimes your patience too!) trying to figure out where you have put that missing piece of content that keeps you stuck.
Courtesy of https://unsplash.com/@karinacarvalho
You maybe have your B-rolls on a SD card, other footage on a local drive, some templates or general resources on Dropbox or iCloud, the audio or the voiceovers on your recorder, the music on different online services, the outline on a Google Doc or in Notes, some useful links in Evernote, pictures in the Image folder, and if you use mindmaps or even storyboards, you could have sketched them somewhere on your iPad.
I don’t know about you, but I used to really get annoyed and frustrated when I was in the middle of “The Zone” and I suddenly get stuck because I wasn’t able to immediately find that single missing piece to proceed at full steam ahead.
And sometimes when I get back from the “M.I.A. rescue recovery mission” I found myself having lost all the momentum; getting back to the creation or the editing part had become so hard that I eventually decided to stop and resume the work in a different moment.
Structure your resources before you start your next project!
If you are a professional content creator working everyday on multiple projects at the same time, I am quite sure that you have adopted the following tactics a long time ago, so probably you could skip this section without any worries.
But if you’re an occasional content creator just like me this simple strategy could really save you a lot of time and frustration waiting you down the road!
“ Please do your future self a real favor! “
Resist the temptation to dive-in immediately on the creative part for your next project and give this simple solution a try. I’m quite sure that you will heartfully thank yourself as I have already done not a long time ago. (Today! …as I am writing this)
Any real professional crafter (a cook, a painter, a craftsman, a mechanic,...you name it!) knows that the working place and the setup has to be made upfront the starting of the works and that it will be infinitely easier and better if you prepare your tools and all the “ingredients” of your recipe (or anything you will possibly need) in advance.
Speaking about content creation, anytime I start a new project, even for something like this article, I fire a very simple but really powerful iOS Shortcut that immediately creates inside iCloud a well organized nested folder structure that I will use to store anything that could relate to that specific project.
Courtesy of https://unsplash.com/@barnimages
I have invested a few minutes to plan and figure out what will be the ideal folder structure for any kind of project that involves resources; then I decided a specific and predetermined location for everything that I am sure I will later remember and also get used to, for whatever I will needed further down in the workflow.
So now, anytime I need for example to store B-Rolls footage, or screenshots for a tutorial, or adding content to an article outline, or storing an audio recording, I am sure that I already had setup in place the right and organized containers to store them without the risk of puzzling and mixing too much.
Whenever I am starting something new, having this preset Master Folder let me easily move it inside or outside of the filesystem or even from the device; I could also put it in shared cloud collaborative storage like Google Drive or Dropbox to easily get outside contributions while collecting all the raw materials.
The beneficial side effect of this simple strategy is that for every project you complete you are building some kind of “muscle memory” so when you gather together the various pieces and decide to store something, or anytime you need a piece of content, you already exactly know where it belongs and where you will find it later on.
Did you know you had the Ultimate Toolbox inside your iOS device?
For all the relevant information explaining what iOS Shortcuts are and how to use them you can refer to this Apple website section.
Just to put it down in really simple words, think about them as a full LEGO set: you have multiple pieces each with specific functions and outputs (these building blocks are called Actions) that you can combine, pile up and put together to execute a set of instructions, to manipulate a wide variety of contents or inputs, to choose between different options and so on.
Courtesy of https://unsplash.com/@krstne
And these combinations and possibilities are nearly infinite and extremely customizable for any of your specific need.
It’s like the Genie in The Bottle: you can quite really get whatever you want from your iOS device and, with the right knowledge and experience, even build your own apps and your automations that can go across almost the entire Apple devices ecosystem and that are fully integrated with Siri.
How to create nested folder structure with iOS:
This is how simple is to use the Shortcut:
You trigger it with voice control by saying out loud the Shortcut name after the “Hey Siri” or clicking on its tile-like button. (It can also be triggered automatically by other Shortcuts if it’s part of a chained or a multiple steps workflow!) You are prompted to choose the name of the Project that will be your new Master Folder. In one fraction of second it goes through the set of actions and it creates in iCloud/Shortcuts/ the structured nested folder you have planned. It notifies you that it successfully created a new project folder and it asks you to choose between opening the Files app or simply exiting with a Notification.
It’s done: you don’t even have to think about it more. | https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-create-complex-folder-structures-with-just-1-click-47f6909b86b4 | ['Giacomo Pasini'] | 2020-05-17 17:34:04.630000+00:00 | ['Apple', 'Automation', 'Shortcuts', 'Productivity', 'Filmmaking'] | Title create complex folder structure 1 clickContent proceed proceed reading article Even next general principle could applied folder structure digital support using unfortunately still don’t know create automation amazing hack builtin Apple native app iOS Shortcuts giving even non programmer user article tool provide always meant thought respect precious time Android Windows Phone OS user greatly respect don’t want invest even minute going unless interested giving quick glance what’s possible iOS device little experience Apple user find next line basic create “1click automated folder creation tool” end article also provide screen recording Shortcut action link readytogo Video Creation Nested Folder Structure Shortcut download use asis even adapt specific need Anyone reading one day another probably stumbled upon question content creator whether making video reportage recording podcast writing article book giving course public speech simple presentation confront “Where saved piece information note picture footage audio ’ fill getting mad finding again” Don’t break flow “the zone” planning drafting content somewhat like probably ending multiple browser tab opened many link note picture content set apart help craft next creation Even relatively simple video content resource scenario could evolve complex intricate without even realizing really could late fix structure probably end cluelessly scratching head wasting time sometimes patience trying figure put missing piece content keep stuck Courtesy httpsunsplashcomkarinacarvalho maybe Brolls SD card footage local drive template general resource Dropbox iCloud audio voiceovers recorder music different online service outline Google Doc Notes useful link Evernote picture Image folder use mindmaps even storyboards could sketched somewhere iPad don’t know used really get annoyed frustrated middle “The Zone” suddenly get stuck wasn’t able immediately find single missing piece proceed full steam ahead sometimes get back “MIA rescue recovery mission” found lost momentum getting back creation editing part become hard eventually decided stop resume work different moment Structure resource start next project professional content creator working everyday multiple project time quite sure adopted following tactic long time ago probably could skip section without worry you’re occasional content creator like simple strategy could really save lot time frustration waiting road “ Please future self real favor “ Resist temptation divein immediately creative part next project give simple solution try I’m quite sure heartfully thank already done long time ago Today …as writing real professional crafter cook painter craftsman mechanicyou name know working place setup made upfront starting work infinitely easier better prepare tool “ingredients” recipe anything possibly need advance Speaking content creation anytime start new project even something like article fire simple really powerful iOS Shortcut immediately creates inside iCloud well organized nested folder structure use store anything could relate specific project Courtesy httpsunsplashcombarnimages invested minute plan figure ideal folder structure kind project involves resource decided specific predetermined location everything sure later remember also get used whatever needed workflow anytime need example store BRolls footage screenshots tutorial adding content article outline storing audio recording sure already setup place right organized container store without risk puzzling mixing much Whenever starting something new preset Master Folder let easily move inside outside filesystem even device could also put shared cloud collaborative storage like Google Drive Dropbox easily get outside contribution collecting raw material beneficial side effect simple strategy every project complete building kind “muscle memory” gather together various piece decide store something anytime need piece content already exactly know belongs find later know Ultimate Toolbox inside iOS device relevant information explaining iOS Shortcuts use refer Apple website section put really simple word think full LEGO set multiple piece specific function output building block called Actions combine pile put together execute set instruction manipulate wide variety content input choose different option Courtesy httpsunsplashcomkrstne combination possibility nearly infinite extremely customizable specific need It’s like Genie Bottle quite really get whatever want iOS device right knowledge experience even build apps automation go across almost entire Apple device ecosystem fully integrated Siri create nested folder structure iOS simple use Shortcut trigger voice control saying loud Shortcut name “Hey Siri” clicking tilelike button also triggered automatically Shortcuts it’s part chained multiple step workflow prompted choose name Project new Master Folder one fraction second go set action creates iCloudShortcuts structured nested folder planned notifies successfully created new project folder asks choose opening Files app simply exiting Notification It’s done don’t even think moreTags Apple Automation Shortcuts Productivity Filmmaking |
2,726 | Please motivate your team, but responsibly | Years ago, I was devastated when a project I had poured so much passion into was one day unceremoniously cancelled. It hurt. And what was worse was I had encouraged my team to also emotionally invest themselves. I learned many lessons from that experience. I vowed never to put myself or anyone else in such a vulnerable emotional state again. Work was not worth it. Now I’m starting to rethinking that approach.
In the office, we are encouraged to take a rational, not passionate approach to our daily tasks. Emotions are for the home, especially undesirable ones like anger, jealousy, or stress.
The idea of having a version of yourself for work and another for the home has somehow become an internalised trait for the office worker. Nobody has told us to do this, so why do we lean into it? It’s not like the underlying characteristics of my professional conduct a.k.a. being a decent human being, ends at 6 PM.
I can only assume it’s a kind of defensive mechanism — a way of conserving mental energy for rigours outside of working hours. Why should you get excited about a project? It could fail or end for reasons outside your control. Who needs that drama in their lives?
Well …. I think you do.
The Inspiration ’Trick’
Enter the product manager. You find a problem, validate a hypothesis, test a solution, measure the impact, and repeat. No matter how emotionally unattached and objective a decision-maker, you think you are, you are slowly falling into an emotional trap. With each successive choice made, you are directly and indirectly tying the product's fate with your own. It becomes the most visual representation of your taste and judgement.
Now, this not necessarily a bad thing from my perspective. This means you have ‘skin in the game’ and should hopefully exercise a more considered strategy to improve your outcomes. The trick becomes knowing when that emotional component is more harmful than helpful.
Inspiration is an excellent example of this. People like to be inspired. It boosts productivity, stimulates creativity, and most importantly makes work worth waking up for. Enough inspiration can even distort the way you see the world into something where anything seems possible.
The “Reality Distortion Field” is a term first used to describe this effect based on observations of Steve Jobs’s management style. Jobs’ could convince himself, and others around him, to believe almost anything with a mix of charm, charisma, bravado, hyperbole, marketing, appeasement, and persistence. Great for motivation, but was also likely the source of much unnecessary misery when asked to achieve the impossible.
You need to take responsibility for the optimistic feelings you are leading others towards. Inspiration can be a potent productivity trick, but knowingly abusing it is an act of psychological sabotage. Don’t misguide people, don’t overstate rewards, don’t promise things you can’t deliver, and be realistic with problems you encounter.
Inspiration and optimism are like wind in the sails of any new idea. With the promise of treasure and riches you put together a crew, a ship, and set out on murky waters. When you take the first step on the journey of a thousand miles, it looks like a long way, and it really helps if someone is saying “We’re one step closer.”, “I promise it’s not just the siren songs and jagged rocks out there”.
Being the keeper and reiterator of the vision takes considerable will power and even self-delusion. If someone decides to invest their emotional energy in your vision, you better make sure you are making the best strategic decisions possible. Don’t be deceptive.
Another risk is becoming so enamoured in your own passion that it blinds you to the reality of the situation. The trick is not to let your own desires completely blind you to the faults behind an idea or perspective, nor allow those same shortcomings to impact your team.
Leveraging Emotion for the Unemotional
But, I understand leading by emotion is not for everyone. If you need to conserve energy and employ pragmatism to get the job done then fine. Try the following instead.
When describing your vision, by all means, make sure its purpose is practical, but be careful not to make it completely logical. Make its purpose of a sentimental or emotional type.
A logical problem, for example, is designing a “Sign In” experience and getting a visitor into their account. But emotionally, consider how frustrated you were that time when you couldn’t log in to a site you really needed. You wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone else, right? Build your product vision around minimising those kinds of feelings.
The Dark Side of Passion
What do you do when all this emotional investment brings out your worst characteristics? Resilience can take you far, but bad days will come, and anger, jealousy, and stress will raise their ugly heads. Our commitment to passion makes us vulnerable to these feelings. A single lousy episode can be enough to untangle a year’s worth of camaraderie. It’s wise to bear in mind that your teammates may not remember the excellent work they produced, but they will certainly remember how poorly you behaved under pressure.
To prevent this, we need to be actively conscious of our emotional state and leverage compassion to rein it in. Anyone who has been in a meeting filled with passionate voices knows what I’m talking about. You need to take a second, step back, consider the perspective of the person across from you, then respond.
What I’m discovering is we need to build a system of thinking that intentionally forces us to slow down. Take the time to mull over feelings and absorb a greater variety of logical pieces. It’s at high emotional points (both good and bad) when we should stop and reflect before making the next move. | https://uxdesign.cc/please-motivate-your-team-but-responsibly-b81db34791fb | ['Adrian H. Raudaschl'] | 2020-11-27 11:28:39.904000+00:00 | ['Product Management', 'User Experience', 'Psychology', 'Productivity', 'Product Design'] | Title Please motivate team responsiblyContent Years ago devastated project poured much passion one day unceremoniously cancelled hurt worse encouraged team also emotionally invest learned many lesson experience vowed never put anyone else vulnerable emotional state Work worth I’m starting rethinking approach office encouraged take rational passionate approach daily task Emotions home especially undesirable one like anger jealousy stress idea version work another home somehow become internalised trait office worker Nobody told u lean It’s like underlying characteristic professional conduct aka decent human end 6 PM assume it’s kind defensive mechanism — way conserving mental energy rigour outside working hour get excited project could fail end reason outside control need drama life Well … think Inspiration ’Trick’ Enter product manager find problem validate hypothesis test solution measure impact repeat matter emotionally unattached objective decisionmaker think slowly falling emotional trap successive choice made directly indirectly tying product fate becomes visual representation taste judgement necessarily bad thing perspective mean ‘skin game’ hopefully exercise considered strategy improve outcome trick becomes knowing emotional component harmful helpful Inspiration excellent example People like inspired boost productivity stimulates creativity importantly make work worth waking Enough inspiration even distort way see world something anything seems possible “Reality Distortion Field” term first used describe effect based observation Steve Jobs’s management style Jobs’ could convince others around believe almost anything mix charm charisma bravado hyperbole marketing appeasement persistence Great motivation also likely source much unnecessary misery asked achieve impossible need take responsibility optimistic feeling leading others towards Inspiration potent productivity trick knowingly abusing act psychological sabotage Don’t misguide people don’t overstate reward don’t promise thing can’t deliver realistic problem encounter Inspiration optimism like wind sail new idea promise treasure rich put together crew ship set murky water take first step journey thousand mile look like long way really help someone saying “We’re one step closer” “I promise it’s siren song jagged rock there” keeper reiterator vision take considerable power even selfdelusion someone decides invest emotional energy vision better make sure making best strategic decision possible Don’t deceptive Another risk becoming enamoured passion blind reality situation trick let desire completely blind fault behind idea perspective allow shortcoming impact team Leveraging Emotion Unemotional understand leading emotion everyone need conserve energy employ pragmatism get job done fine Try following instead describing vision mean make sure purpose practical careful make completely logical Make purpose sentimental emotional type logical problem example designing “Sign In” experience getting visitor account emotionally consider frustrated time couldn’t log site really needed wouldn’t wish experience anyone else right Build product vision around minimising kind feeling Dark Side Passion emotional investment brings worst characteristic Resilience take far bad day come anger jealousy stress raise ugly head commitment passion make u vulnerable feeling single lousy episode enough untangle year’s worth camaraderie It’s wise bear mind teammate may remember excellent work produced certainly remember poorly behaved pressure prevent need actively conscious emotional state leverage compassion rein Anyone meeting filled passionate voice know I’m talking need take second step back consider perspective person across respond I’m discovering need build system thinking intentionally force u slow Take time mull feeling absorb greater variety logical piece It’s high emotional point good bad stop reflect making next moveTags Product Management User Experience Psychology Productivity Product Design |
2,727 | The Myth of the Boiling Frog | How gradual change goes unnoticed until it’s far too late.
The idea goes like this: If you put a frog in boiling water, it will jump out. But if you put it in lukewarm water and gradually increase the temperature, it won’t notice and it will be cooked alive.
While this, of course, isn’t actually true, it paints a useful picture that feels far too familiar… And is rather disconcerting.
For it appears to be a common view — that the world around us is changing at an exponential rate — technologically, culturally, and politically.
As it seems to begin with scientific development (and rightly so), which then becomes technological innovation, which in turn affects us culturally, and finally leads to sudden political shifts, which would have been considered outrageous just barely a decade ago.
And, in fact, many of them were. Just as many more are today — at what seems to be an ever increasing pace.
But imagine this —have the so called ‘outrage’ or perhaps even ‘cancel’ culture been an inevitable, natural development?
If you’ve ever thought about the internet as a concept, then I expect your answer would be ‘yes’.
After all, neither the concepts of ‘outrage’, nor ‘cancelling’ are particularly new or unfamiliar to history, and yet, either they suddenly became popular, or we suddenly felt that the water is hot.
And if you break down what the internet actually is in simple terms — a method for near-instantaneous, world-wide communication that currently, more than half the human population is taking part in — you get your answer.
It’s both.
We were ‘suddenly’ given a platform to voice our thoughts, feelings, opinions, and analyses… And we could ‘suddenly’ see and hear everyone else’s, too.
But this, of course, wasn’t the case before the so-called ‘social media’ became prevalent… Which are what, exactly?
…An inevitable development of the internet, just as the internet is an inevitable development of computing.
And all of this was preceded by television and radio — except, you might say, that those methods of communication were not available for everyone to take part in… Perhaps you could be right.
…Except that, in reality, all that’s different about them is that the internet has simply become cheaper and more efficient at transmitting information.
After all, once you have a device and a connection, communication is practically free. The cost is in building and maintaining the infrastructure — not in sending the message.
As technology becomes more potent and efficient, it increases our capacity to develop more potent and efficient versions of itself.
And so, we end up witnessing the world pass us by, often without having time to think, say, or do anything about it.
It is almost as if the conditions for the development of an Artificial Super-intelligence were set in motion by the very development of human consciousness… Which, in turn, was set in motion by the very development of life on Earth.
And if that’s the case… Then what this means is that the idea of a technological singularity would also have been set in motion by those exact same events.
In other words, it is entirely possible that the path on which we are headed is, in fact, an inevitable consequence of evolution — that the ‘telos’ or ‘natural end’ of biological life is… Machine life.
Just as living beings are composed of things which are not ‘living’, and consciousness is composed of things which are not ‘conscious’, so would mechanical life be composed of things which are neither ‘mechanical’, nor ‘alive’. A human-machine symbiote… Which is precisely what humanity has always been — a monkey with a spear, a monkey with a gun.
A monkey with a screen, a monkey with the power of the sun.
And it is also to no surprise, that just as all previous methods of communication would regulate their content, and therefore censor what would jeopardise their broadcasting — so too would social media companies.
Except, that this time, nearly everyone is part of it, meaning that to censor is to exile — and to support is to sanction.
It is certainly the case that many of these companies already have enough power and influence that they could be listed as small nations. And at this point, there is nothing that can be done about it.
The water is already boiling hot.
What’s more, it is not that this ‘could not have been foreseen’ — it probably was by some — but rather, that it simply could not have been otherwise.
The very end goal of the internet is to digitize our lives… Entirely.
For if it can be digitized — it will be digitized. Since the advantages are overwhelming, and the disadvantages are sentimental at best — what will transpire is the complete digitization of the human mind.
And when it comes to our bodies, the same trend will continue as it always has — we will simply neglect them, until we finally leave them behind.
But there is nothing to lament here.
There is nothing lost, and nothing gained.
It is merely the nature of humanity emerging
in the shape of its own creation.
Some are beginning to realise where we are headed,
and in their panic ask us to turn back.
Others are staring far into a void,
and cynically dismissing the reality of our own condition.
But make no mistake —
it is a deeply human condition.
And if you ask at what point the water was too hot,
the answer is…
It was boiling much before we jumped into the pond. | https://medium.com/carre4/the-myth-of-the-boiling-frog-dc2e9427bd7b | ['Stan Daskalov'] | 2020-10-27 12:24:12.330000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Life', 'Psychology', 'Philosophy'] | Title Myth Boiling FrogContent gradual change go unnoticed it’s far late idea go like put frog boiling water jump put lukewarm water gradually increase temperature won’t notice cooked alive course isn’t actually true paint useful picture feel far familiar… rather disconcerting appears common view — world around u changing exponential rate — technologically culturally politically seems begin scientific development rightly becomes technological innovation turn affect u culturally finally lead sudden political shift would considered outrageous barely decade ago fact many many today — seems ever increasing pace imagine —have called ‘outrage’ perhaps even ‘cancel’ culture inevitable natural development you’ve ever thought internet concept expect answer would ‘yes’ neither concept ‘outrage’ ‘cancelling’ particularly new unfamiliar history yet either suddenly became popular suddenly felt water hot break internet actually simple term — method nearinstantaneous worldwide communication currently half human population taking part — get answer It’s ‘suddenly’ given platform voice thought feeling opinion analyses… could ‘suddenly’ see hear everyone else’s course wasn’t case socalled ‘social media’ became prevalent… exactly …An inevitable development internet internet inevitable development computing preceded television radio — except might say method communication available everyone take part in… Perhaps could right …Except reality that’s different internet simply become cheaper efficient transmitting information device connection communication practically free cost building maintaining infrastructure — sending message technology becomes potent efficient increase capacity develop potent efficient version end witnessing world pas u often without time think say anything almost condition development Artificial Superintelligence set motion development human consciousness… turn set motion development life Earth that’s case… mean idea technological singularity would also set motion exact event word entirely possible path headed fact inevitable consequence evolution — ‘telos’ ‘natural end’ biological life is… Machine life living being composed thing ‘living’ consciousness composed thing ‘conscious’ would mechanical life composed thing neither ‘mechanical’ ‘alive’ humanmachine symbiote… precisely humanity always — monkey spear monkey gun monkey screen monkey power sun also surprise previous method communication would regulate content therefore censor would jeopardise broadcasting — would social medium company Except time nearly everyone part meaning censor exile — support sanction certainly case many company already enough power influence could listed small nation point nothing done water already boiling hot What’s ‘could foreseen’ — probably — rather simply could otherwise end goal internet digitize lives… Entirely digitized — digitized Since advantage overwhelming disadvantage sentimental best — transpire complete digitization human mind come body trend continue always — simply neglect finally leave behind nothing lament nothing lost nothing gained merely nature humanity emerging shape creation beginning realise headed panic ask u turn back Others staring far void cynically dismissing reality condition make mistake — deeply human condition ask point water hot answer is… boiling much jumped pondTags Technology Artificial Intelligence Life Psychology Philosophy |
2,728 | Apache Airflow: A Real-life Use Case | Overview
Airflow is simply a tool for us to programmatically schedule and monitor our workflows. When dealing with complicate pipelines, in which many parts depend on each other, using Airflow can help us to write a clean scheduler in Python along with WebUI to visualize pipelines, monitor progress and troubleshoot issues when needed.
Real-life Example
The best way to comprehend the power of Airflow is to write a simple pipeline scheduler. A common use case for Airflow is to periodically check current file directories and run bash jobs based on those directories. In this post, I will write an Airflow scheduler that checks HDFS directories and run simple bash jobs according to the existing HDFS files. The high-level pipeline can be illustrated as below:
Pipeline Overview
As you can see, first we will try to check the today dir1 and dir2, if one of them does not exist (due to some failed jobs, corrupted data…) we will get the yesterday directory. We also have a rule for job2 and job3, they are dependent on job1. So if job1 fails, the expected outcome is that both job2 and job3 should also fail. This is one of the common pipeline pattern that can be easily done when using Airflow.
Setting Up
There are a lot of good source for Airflow installation and troubleshooting. Here, I just briefly show you how to set up Airflow on your local machine.
Installing Airflow using pip:
pip install apache-airflow
Initialize Airflow database:
airflow initdb
Start the webserver:
airflow webserver -p 8080
Run the scheduler:
airflow scheduler
If all run successfully, you can check out Airflow UI via: http://localhost:8080/
OK, let’s write it!
First we need to define a set of default parameters that our pipeline will use. Since our pipeline needs to check directory 1 and directory 2 we also need to specify those variables. Fortunately,
Airflow leverages the power of Jinja Templating and provides the pipeline author with a set of built-in parameters and macros. Airflow also provides hooks for the pipeline author to define their own parameters, macros and templates.
This is how we define it:
Define default parameters
Here is the brief description for each parameter:
owner: Owner of the pipeline, this will be shown on the webUI.
Owner of the pipeline, this will be shown on the webUI. depends_on_past: Whether or not this pipeline will be dependent on the past pipeline instance. So if your past pipeline had failed, this current pipeline will not be triggered.
Whether or not this pipeline will be dependent on the past pipeline instance. So if your past pipeline had failed, this current pipeline will not be triggered. start_date: The start date of your pipeline.
The start date of your pipeline. email: The email to notify.
The email to notify. email_on_failure: Specify the email that will be notified when your pipeline fails.
Specify the email that will be notified when your pipeline fails. email_on_retry: Whether or not to notify email when retries.
Whether or not to notify email when retries. retries: Number of retries.
Number of retries. catchup_by_default: Whether or not to run the all previous scheduled pipelines if you start date is from the past.
Whether or not to run the all previous scheduled pipelines if you start date is from the past. params: User-defined parameters for this pipeline, this will be accessed by Jinja template {{ params.my_param }}.
As for build_params functions, this function just loads the user-defined variable from yml file. This is a good practice to load variables from yml file:
Read user-defined variables from yml file
Since we need to decide whether to use the today directory or yesterday directory, we need to specify two variables (one for yesterday, one for today) for each directory. The yml file for the function to load from is simple:
yml file
After specifying the default parameters, we create our pipeline instance to schedule our tasks. In Airflow terminology, we call it DAG:
A DAG – or a Directed Acyclic Graph – is a collection of all the tasks you want to run, organized in a way that reflects their relationships and dependencies.
This is how we define it:
Define DAG
Here we want to schedule the DAG to run daily by using schedule_interval parameter.
Next we write how each of the job will be executed. Specifically, we want to write 2 bash jobs to check the HDFS directories and 3 bash jobs to run job1, job2 and job3. Here, the bash jobs are just simple commands but we can arbitrarily create more complicated jobs:
Bash job functions
Since we want to pass the checked directories to job1, we need some way to cross-communicate between operators. Luckily, Airflow does provide us feature for operator cross-communication, which is called XCom:
XComs let tasks exchange messages, allowing more nuanced forms of control and shared state. The name is an abbreviation of “cross-communication”. XComs are principally defined by a key, value, and timestamp, but also track attributes like the task/DAG that created the XCom and when it should become visible. Any object that can be pickled can be used as an XCom value, so users should make sure to use objects of appropriate size.
Here in check_dir1 and check_dir2 functions, we echo the directories for job1, we can get those directories by using this Jinja syntax:
{{ ti.xcom_pull(task_ids='Your task ID here') }}
The last thing we need to do is to instantiate airflow jobs and specify the order and dependency for each job:
The syntax [A, B] >> C means that C will need to wait for A and B to finish before running. Another way you can write this is to use set_downstream function: A.set_downstream(B) means that A needs to finish before B can run.
Each of the bash job instance has a trigger rule, which specifies a condition required for this job to run, in this code we use 2 types of trigger rule:
all_done: All previous operations have finished working no matter they are successful or not.
All previous operations have finished working no matter they are successful or not. all_success: All previous operations have finished successfully.
After you have created the whole pipeline, all you need to do is just start this scheduler:
python scheduler_demo.py
Note: The default DAG directory is ~/airflow/dags/. So all of your code should be in this folder.
You need to wait a couple of minutes and then log into http://localhost:8080/ to see your scheduler pipeline:
Airflow UI
You can manually trigger the DAG by clicking the play icon. You can also monitor your scheduler process, just click on one of the circles in the DAG Runs section:
Click DAG Runs section
After clicking on a process in DAG Runs, the pipeline process will appear:
Scheduler process
This indicates that the whole pipeline has successfully run.
This is how you can create a simple Airflow pipeline scheduler. The whole script can be found in this repo. Thank you for reading till the end, this is my first post in Medium, so any feedback is welcome! | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/apache-airflow-a-real-life-use-case-faf3b2439e86 | ['Bào Bùi'] | 2019-09-06 04:24:21.555000+00:00 | ['Airflow', 'Python', 'Data Science', 'Data Engineer', 'Big Data'] | Title Apache Airflow Reallife Use CaseContent Overview Airflow simply tool u programmatically schedule monitor workflow dealing complicate pipeline many part depend using Airflow help u write clean scheduler Python along WebUI visualize pipeline monitor progress troubleshoot issue needed Reallife Example best way comprehend power Airflow write simple pipeline scheduler common use case Airflow periodically check current file directory run bash job based directory post write Airflow scheduler check HDFS directory run simple bash job according existing HDFS file highlevel pipeline illustrated Pipeline Overview see first try check today dir1 dir2 one exist due failed job corrupted data… get yesterday directory also rule job2 job3 dependent job1 job1 fails expected outcome job2 job3 also fail one common pipeline pattern easily done using Airflow Setting lot good source Airflow installation troubleshooting briefly show set Airflow local machine Installing Airflow using pip pip install apacheairflow Initialize Airflow database airflow initdb Start webserver airflow webserver p 8080 Run scheduler airflow scheduler run successfully check Airflow UI via httplocalhost8080 OK let’s write First need define set default parameter pipeline use Since pipeline need check directory 1 directory 2 also need specify variable Fortunately Airflow leverage power Jinja Templating provides pipeline author set builtin parameter macro Airflow also provides hook pipeline author define parameter macro template define Define default parameter brief description parameter owner Owner pipeline shown webUI Owner pipeline shown webUI dependsonpast Whether pipeline dependent past pipeline instance past pipeline failed current pipeline triggered Whether pipeline dependent past pipeline instance past pipeline failed current pipeline triggered startdate start date pipeline start date pipeline email email notify email notify emailonfailure Specify email notified pipeline fails Specify email notified pipeline fails emailonretry Whether notify email retries Whether notify email retries retries Number retries Number retries catchupbydefault Whether run previous scheduled pipeline start date past Whether run previous scheduled pipeline start date past params Userdefined parameter pipeline accessed Jinja template paramsmyparam buildparams function function load userdefined variable yml file good practice load variable yml file Read userdefined variable yml file Since need decide whether use today directory yesterday directory need specify two variable one yesterday one today directory yml file function load simple yml file specifying default parameter create pipeline instance schedule task Airflow terminology call DAG DAG – Directed Acyclic Graph – collection task want run organized way reflects relationship dependency define Define DAG want schedule DAG run daily using scheduleinterval parameter Next write job executed Specifically want write 2 bash job check HDFS directory 3 bash job run job1 job2 job3 bash job simple command arbitrarily create complicated job Bash job function Since want pas checked directory job1 need way crosscommunicate operator Luckily Airflow provide u feature operator crosscommunication called XCom XComs let task exchange message allowing nuanced form control shared state name abbreviation “crosscommunication” XComs principally defined key value timestamp also track attribute like taskDAG created XCom become visible object pickled used XCom value user make sure use object appropriate size checkdir1 checkdir2 function echo directory job1 get directory using Jinja syntax tixcompulltaskidsYour task ID last thing need instantiate airflow job specify order dependency job syntax B C mean C need wait B finish running Another way write use setdownstream function AsetdownstreamB mean need finish B run bash job instance trigger rule specifies condition required job run code use 2 type trigger rule alldone previous operation finished working matter successful previous operation finished working matter successful allsuccess previous operation finished successfully created whole pipeline need start scheduler python schedulerdemopy Note default DAG directory airflowdags code folder need wait couple minute log httplocalhost8080 see scheduler pipeline Airflow UI manually trigger DAG clicking play icon also monitor scheduler process click one circle DAG Runs section Click DAG Runs section clicking process DAG Runs pipeline process appear Scheduler process indicates whole pipeline successfully run create simple Airflow pipeline scheduler whole script found repo Thank reading till end first post Medium feedback welcomeTags Airflow Python Data Science Data Engineer Big Data |
2,729 | Listening With Curiosity | Photo by Amy Hirschi on Unsplash
What is a Good Listener?
A good listener is someone who doesn’t talk over the other person. They are patient and pause in between sentences to allow others to speak. They address people by their names and make eye contact with them.
In May, I wrote an article called Talk Less, Say More where I talked about why you should invite others to share their perspectives with you. After all, people tend to be more attracted to those with good listening skills.
What I didn’t talk about were the techniques that I use for effective communication and what has helped me become a better listener over the years. If you have any tips you’d like to add, I’d love to hear from you below in the comments.
Be Curious About People | https://medium.com/the-partnered-pen/listening-with-curiosity-29389e96bf84 | ['Katy Velvet'] | 2019-07-28 22:55:03.523000+00:00 | ['Leadership', 'Self Improvement', 'Relationships', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology'] | Title Listening CuriosityContent Photo Amy Hirschi Unsplash Good Listener good listener someone doesn’t talk person patient pause sentence allow others speak address people name make eye contact May wrote article called Talk Less Say talked invite others share perspective people tend attracted good listening skill didn’t talk technique use effective communication helped become better listener year tip you’d like add I’d love hear comment Curious PeopleTags Leadership Self Improvement Relationships Mental Health Psychology |
2,730 | 當創新創業從傳奇故事變成科學實驗 | in In Fitness And In Health | https://medium.com/yiyi-network/startup-as-a-science-409787da9214 | [] | 2020-04-02 16:32:58.770000+00:00 | ['Steve Blank', 'Startup', 'Business Model Canvas', 'Customer Development', 'Science'] | Title 當創新創業從傳奇故事變成科學實驗Content Fitness HealthTags Steve Blank Startup Business Model Canvas Customer Development Science |
2,731 | How to Get Around Newspaper Paywalls in 2020 | A paywall is a method of restricting access to content via a paid subscription. Beginning in the mid-2010s, newspapers started implementing paywalls on their websites as a way to increase revenue after years of decline in paid print readership and advertising revenue. In academics, research papers are often subject to a paywall and are available via academic libraries that subscribe.
Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales has stated that he “would rather write [an opinion piece] where it is going to be read”, declaring that “putting opinion pieces behind paywalls [makes] no sense.” Without easy access to both read and share insights and opinions, the online news platform loses an essential characteristic of democratic exchange.
This article is not meant to debate the commodification of information. If you use a news-source regularly for work or personal use, and derive significant value from it, you should pay for it. But in an increasingly fragmented media landscape, it is not economically feasible for a casual reader to pay for a costly monthly or yearly subscription to dozens of news sites.
Below is a (nearly) comprehensive guide to the various methods allowing you get around paywalls, pop-ups, and adwalls, that are common on many news sites. There will always be one or two articles that you cannot access without a purchase or compromising your personal information, but you should be able to access at least 95% of news content for free using these tricks. These techniques will help you get around paywalls for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, and more, without requiring username and password logins credentials or illegal hacking.
One last note before you start hacking paywalls. If you only need access to these sites for a brief period of time, you may be better off taking advantage of the free trial periods many publications offer and cancelling your subscription before it renews:
Source: Paywall Hacks
How to Get Around Almost any Paywall Easily (UPDATED 12/2/19 with new WSJ Bypass)
I vowed to find a way around their paywall after they sent a cease and desist to Outline (still an amazing resource for many news sites). It took me a few tries to find something that works, but here you go:
1. Use The Following Firefox Browser Add-on
Link: https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-firefox/blob/master/README.md
Note: this add-on reportedly works on these other sites as well (although I have not tested all of them):
Baltimore Sun (baltimoresun.com)
Barron’s (barrons.com)
Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
Caixin (caixinglobal.com)
Chemical & Engineering News (cen.acs.org)
Central Western Daily (centralwesterndaily.com.au)
Chicago Tribune (chicagotribune.com)
Crain’s Chicago Business (chicagobusiness.com)
Corriere Della Sera (corriere.it)
Daily Press (dailypress.com)
Denver Post (denverpost.com)
De Tijd (tijd.be)
de Volkskrant (volkskrant.nl)
The Economist (economist.com)
Examiner (examiner.com.au)
Financial Times (ft.com)
Foreign Policy (foreignpolicy.com)
Glassdoor (glassdoor.com)
Haaretz (haaretz.co.il / haaretz.com)
Handelsblatt (handelsblatt.com)
Hartford Courant (courant.com)
Harvard Business Review (hbr.org)
Inc.com (inc.com)
Investors Chronicle (investorschronicle.co.uk)
Irish Times (irishtimes.com)
La Repubblica (repubblica.it)
Le Temps (letemps.ch)
Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
Medium (medium.com)
Medscape (medscape.com)
MIT Technology Review (technologyreview.com)
Mountain View Voice (mv-voice.com)
National Post (nationalpost.com)
New Statesman (newstatesman.com)
New York Magazine (nymag.com)
Nikkei Asian Review (asia.nikkei.com)
NRC (nrc.nl)
Orange County Register (ocregister.com)
Orlando Sentinel (orlandosentinel.com)
Palo Alto Online (paloaltoonline.com)
Quora (quora.com)
SunSentinel (sun-sentinel.com)
Tech in Asia (techinasia.com)
The Advocate (theadvocate.com.au)
The Age (theage.com.au)
The Australian (theaustralian.com.au)
The Australian Financial Review (afr.com)
The Boston Globe (bostonglobe.com)
The Globe and Mail (theglobeandmail.com)
The Herald (theherald.com.au)
The Japan Times (japantimes.co.jp)
TheMarker (themarker.com)
The Mercury News (mercurynews.com)
The Morning Call (mcall.com)
The Nation (thenation.com)
The New York Times (nytimes.com)
The New Yorker (newyorker.com)
The News-Gazette (news-gazette.com)
The Saturday Paper (thesaturdaypaper.com.au)
The Spectator (spectator.co.uk)
The Business Journals (bizjournals.com)
The Seattle Times (seattletimes.com)
The Sydney Morning Herald (smh.com.au)
The Telegraph (telegraph.co.uk)
The Times (thetimes.co.uk)
The Toronto Star (thestar.com)
The Washington Post (washingtonpost.com)
The Wall Street Journal (wsj.com)
Towards Data Science (towardsdatascience.com)
Vanity Fair (vanityfair.com)
Wired (wired.com)
You should see a page like this:
If you scroll down, you will see the following:
Click the download link. Accept the Firefox permission popups that appear.
Customize. You can customize the browser extension. If you have other existing logins, make sure you deselect these news sites as this add-on will log you out of them. | https://medium.com/paywall-hacks/how-to-bypass-virtually-every-news-paywall-705602c4c2ce | ['Casey Botticello'] | 2019-12-30 02:12:51.022000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Productivity', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Privacy', 'Social Media'] | Title Get Around Newspaper Paywalls 2020Content paywall method restricting access content via paid subscription Beginning mid2010s newspaper started implementing paywalls website way increase revenue year decline paid print readership advertising revenue academic research paper often subject paywall available via academic library subscribe Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales stated “would rather write opinion piece going read” declaring “putting opinion piece behind paywalls make sense” Without easy access read share insight opinion online news platform loses essential characteristic democratic exchange article meant debate commodification information use newssource regularly work personal use derive significant value pay increasingly fragmented medium landscape economically feasible casual reader pay costly monthly yearly subscription dozen news site nearly comprehensive guide various method allowing get around paywalls popups adwalls common many news site always one two article cannot access without purchase compromising personal information able access least 95 news content free using trick technique help get around paywalls Wall Street Journal New York Times Washington Post Financial Times without requiring username password logins credential illegal hacking One last note start hacking paywalls need access site brief period time may better taking advantage free trial period many publication offer cancelling subscription renews Source Paywall Hacks Get Around Almost Paywall Easily UPDATED 12219 new WSJ Bypass vowed find way around paywall sent cease desist Outline still amazing resource many news site took try find something work go 1 Use Following Firefox Browser Addon Link httpsgithubcomiamadamdevbypasspaywallsfirefoxblobmasterREADMEmd Note addon reportedly work site well although tested Baltimore Sun baltimoresuncom Barron’s barronscom Bloomberg bloombergcom Caixin caixinglobalcom Chemical Engineering News cenacsorg Central Western Daily centralwesterndailycomau Chicago Tribune chicagotribunecom Crain’s Chicago Business chicagobusinesscom Corriere Della Sera corriereit Daily Press dailypresscom Denver Post denverpostcom De Tijd tijdbe de Volkskrant volkskrantnl Economist economistcom Examiner examinercomau Financial Times ftcom Foreign Policy foreignpolicycom Glassdoor glassdoorcom Haaretz haaretzcoil haaretzcom Handelsblatt handelsblattcom Hartford Courant courantcom Harvard Business Review hbrorg Inccom inccom Investors Chronicle investorschroniclecouk Irish Times irishtimescom La Repubblica repubblicait Le Temps letempsch Los Angeles Times latimescom Medium mediumcom Medscape medscapecom MIT Technology Review technologyreviewcom Mountain View Voice mvvoicecom National Post nationalpostcom New Statesman newstatesmancom New York Magazine nymagcom Nikkei Asian Review asianikkeicom NRC nrcnl Orange County Register ocregistercom Orlando Sentinel orlandosentinelcom Palo Alto Online paloaltoonlinecom Quora quoracom SunSentinel sunsentinelcom Tech Asia techinasiacom Advocate theadvocatecomau Age theagecomau Australian theaustraliancomau Australian Financial Review afrcom Boston Globe bostonglobecom Globe Mail theglobeandmailcom Herald theheraldcomau Japan Times japantimescojp TheMarker themarkercom Mercury News mercurynewscom Morning Call mcallcom Nation thenationcom New York Times nytimescom New Yorker newyorkercom NewsGazette newsgazettecom Saturday Paper thesaturdaypapercomau Spectator spectatorcouk Business Journals bizjournalscom Seattle Times seattletimescom Sydney Morning Herald smhcomau Telegraph telegraphcouk Times thetimescouk Toronto Star thestarcom Washington Post washingtonpostcom Wall Street Journal wsjcom Towards Data Science towardsdatasciencecom Vanity Fair vanityfaircom Wired wiredcom see page like scroll see following Click download link Accept Firefox permission popups appear Customize customize browser extension existing logins make sure deselect news site addon log themTags Technology Productivity Entrepreneurship Privacy Social Media |
2,732 | Shoes and Shirt (and Pants) Required | Shoes and Shirt (and Pants) Required
When what we wear affects how we write
Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash
“Put your pants on, and come with me!” In good fun, this is what my father-in-law said he’d say if he ever caught me in bed with his daughter before we got married. Turns out, it’s great advice for writers. In a hobby and profession that lends itself to comfy clothes and couches, sometimes the best advice is to put on an actual pair of pants.
Today’s Covid world is getting a taste of the writer’s life. Daily showers, business wear, and shoes are a thing of the past, and in many instances, clothing is optional. All one has to do is turn off the alarm, roll out of bed, and log on.
As a measure of professionalism, one’s physical presentation has been replaced with zoom conduct (you’re on mute, you’re still on mute), and if there is video interaction, it’s from the waist up. So while some are still required to be business on top, it’s all casual down below.
Admittedly, this is one of the perks of being a writer. Sure, there’s the occasional face to face interview or the rendezvous with your skinny mocha and favorite lounge chair at the local coffee shop.
But the majority of writing can be done at home, alone, in your pajamas. And until recently, writers held sway in this corner of the market where quality output came with a clothing optional clause.
But at what point does clothing optional start to work against us?
I wonder if the haziness we experience in our mind, a bout of writer’s block or lack of inspiration, comes from the idleness we portray on our bodies. Does what we wear and how we present ourselves, even when no one is around, have an effect on the quality of our work?
The mind-body connection within the brain is complex. Think about what happens when a person you’re attracted to walks in the room. Your heartbeat ramps up and your breath quickens. Your focus narrows and whatever you were thinking is now in the past.
All your mental energy is centered on that one person, and while the world around you may be a blur, you’re also fully present and attentive. This and more from just one look.
So that begs the question, what are we telling ourselves as writers when we stay in our pajamas all day? If the interconnectedness of mind and body is such that one affects the other, perhaps the lackadaisical attire of our body is communicating futility to our mind — communicating that it’s not, in fact, time to write.
And if we still do so, do we risk not having a fully present, attentive, and focused mind? This not only affects our production rate, but the product itself.
Here, though, is where “put your pants on and come with me” stands as a rallying cry for motivation. The simple act of putting on a pair of pants made by someone other than lululemon or Hanes, a clean shirt, and dare I say a pair of shoes, may be the kick start our mind needs to get in gear and focus.
With our outward appearance, we’re communicating to our mind the seriousness of what we’re about to do, namely write, and that it needs to take it seriously too. Throughout the day, every look down or glance in the mirror at our body reinforces this seriousness to our mind.
And just like looking at the person we’re attracted to, our whole self becomes present, providing the focus we need for the task in front of us.
I’ll admit that putting on a proper outfit when I know I won’t be seeing anyone feels silly. Add to that a pair of shoes or boots while just sitting around the house, and it seems comical.
Especially when comfy pants, a sweatshirt, and slippers are more than acceptable. And if you’re the type of writer who’s able to be proficient in such home attire, more power to you. Keep doing you.
But if you ever find yourself in a funk, grasping for words and ideas that prove to be absent, perhaps putting on an actual pair of pants is the first step needed to make those words appear. You might be surprised at how good it makes you feel and how well your mind begins to work. | https://medium.com/inspired-writer/shoes-and-shirt-and-pants-required-b4426f958d8c | ['Greg Lusby'] | 2020-12-07 20:22:15.709000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Nonfiction', 'Life Lessons', 'Writing', 'Writing Tips'] | Title Shoes Shirt Pants RequiredContent Shoes Shirt Pants Required wear affect write Photo NordWood Themes Unsplash “Put pant come me” good fun fatherinlaw said he’d say ever caught bed daughter got married Turns it’s great advice writer hobby profession lends comfy clothes couch sometimes best advice put actual pair pant Today’s Covid world getting taste writer’s life Daily shower business wear shoe thing past many instance clothing optional one turn alarm roll bed log measure professionalism one’s physical presentation replaced zoom conduct you’re mute you’re still mute video interaction it’s waist still required business top it’s casual Admittedly one perk writer Sure there’s occasional face face interview rendezvous skinny mocha favorite lounge chair local coffee shop majority writing done home alone pajama recently writer held sway corner market quality output came clothing optional clause point clothing optional start work u wonder haziness experience mind bout writer’s block lack inspiration come idleness portray body wear present even one around effect quality work mindbody connection within brain complex Think happens person you’re attracted walk room heartbeat ramp breath quickens focus narrow whatever thinking past mental energy centered one person world around may blur you’re also fully present attentive one look begs question telling writer stay pajama day interconnectedness mind body one affect perhaps lackadaisical attire body communicating futility mind — communicating it’s fact time write still risk fully present attentive focused mind affect production rate product though “put pant come me” stand rallying cry motivation simple act putting pair pant made someone lululemon Hanes clean shirt dare say pair shoe may kick start mind need get gear focus outward appearance we’re communicating mind seriousness we’re namely write need take seriously Throughout day every look glance mirror body reinforces seriousness mind like looking person we’re attracted whole self becomes present providing focus need task front u I’ll admit putting proper outfit know won’t seeing anyone feel silly Add pair shoe boot sitting around house seems comical Especially comfy pant sweatshirt slipper acceptable you’re type writer who’s able proficient home attire power Keep ever find funk grasping word idea prove absent perhaps putting actual pair pant first step needed make word appear might surprised good make feel well mind begin workTags Self Improvement Nonfiction Life Lessons Writing Writing Tips |
2,733 | Partnering with Cloud Providers | Ryan Abernathey and Joe Hamman cowrote this blog post following discussion with the Pangeo Steering Council.
The basic ingredients for a Pangeo deployment are a fast parallel storage system, scalable high-performance compute nodes, access to the internet, and software which makes all these elements work together for an amazing interactive data-analysis experience.
Pangeo deployment architecture. Via http://pangeo.io/architecture.html
We have deployed Pangeo on a wide range of different systems, from small university clusters to Top 500 supercomputers. We have also found that commercial cloud environments (e.g. Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure) are a particularly good fit for Pangeo. The ability to quickly scale compute up and down on demand fits well with the workflow of interactive big-data analysis, and cloud object stores work very well with Xarray, Zarr, and Dask. Additionally, the cloud offers the ability to compose tailor-made computational environments that fit specific scientific workflows, allowing scientists to be more efficient with their resource consumption.
We have already benefitted from numerous partnerships with cloud providers, mostly in the form of grants of cloud credits. These credits have been invaluable in prototyping, debugging, and fine tuning the various components of our cloud architecture. Some cloud providers are understandably enthusiastic about Pangeo, as they see it as a way to attract new customers to their platforms. Moving forward, we think it is useful to articulate some general principles to guide potential future partnerships with cloud providers. In the spirit of Pangeo, we are sharing these principles openly and seeking feedback from both the the Pangeo community and the cloud providers.
We are keenly aware of some past friction between open-source projects and cloud providers. Examples include MongoDB, Redis, who chose to modify their licenses to prevent cloud providers from monetizing their work without contributing back to the project. Closer to home, some tension has evidently emerged between the open-source Project Jupyter and the very similar yet distinct proprietary product Google Colab.
We want to encourage cloud providers to collaborate with the Pangeo team. We wish to democratize the use of Pangeo within the scientific community by making the adoption and deployment of the platform easy, while maintaining the principles that keep Pangeo open. To that end, we hope that cloud providers who wish to improve the Pangeo experience for their customers pursue this goal through the open source process.
Principles for Pangeo Cloud Infrastructure
Here we articulate a few general principles which guide the more specific recommendations below. These principles mainly apply to academic research infrastructure. In contrast to, say, infrastructure for a startup, academic research infrastructure must consider relatively long timescales, unique challenges involving maintainability / sustainability, and a unique funding landscape. We believe that cloud-based academic research infrastructure, including Pangeo, should be
Community driven —The needs of different institutions are fundamentally very similar. By collaborating, we can be more effective. This means leveraging existing projects like Jupyter, Dask, Zarr, etc. which already have community buy-in, and starting new ones very reluctantly.
—The needs of different institutions are fundamentally very similar. By collaborating, we can be more effective. This means leveraging existing projects like Jupyter, Dask, Zarr, etc. which already have community buy-in, and starting new ones very reluctantly. Open source — In the cloud, infrastructure is code. In Pangeo, all our cloud infrastructure is essentially contained in an open source GitHub repo. There is no behind-the-scenes magic. Such code should be licensed in a way that enables the entire research community to reuse and build upon it.
— In the cloud, infrastructure is code. In Pangeo, all our cloud infrastructure is essentially contained in an open source GitHub repo. There is no behind-the-scenes magic. Such code should be licensed in a way that enables the entire research community to reuse and build upon it. Modular — “all in one” solutions are cumbersome difficult to maintain long term. Separation of concerns is a key principle of good software and systems engineering. The cloud infrastructure needs of climate scientists are mostly the same as those of neuroscientists; each group should not be building everything from scratch. For example, both groups may want to use JupyterLab, Dask for computing, and Zarr for cloud storage, but may require different high-level analysis libraries.
— “all in one” solutions are cumbersome difficult to maintain long term. Separation of concerns is a key principle of good software and systems engineering. The cloud infrastructure needs of climate scientists are mostly the same as those of neuroscientists; each group should not be building everything from scratch. For example, both groups may want to use JupyterLab, Dask for computing, and Zarr for cloud storage, but may require different high-level analysis libraries. Vendor neutral — The US currently has three main commercial cloud providers (AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure), plus many other smaller providers and academic clouds (e.g. NSF Jetstream). These providers compete with each other by rolling out unique new services. Academic research infrastructure should strive to use only vendor-neutral services APIs. (Kubernetes has been a game changer in this respect, allowing the orchestration of complex cloud services in a completely vendor neutral way.) If this principle is followed, it means we redeploy our infrastructure anywhere, preventing any one vendor from capturing the market, which could have negative consequences for the research enterprise.
The last point was expressed elegantly in a blog post by Yuvi Panda.
Pangeo Architecture is Still in Flux
As anyone who uses Pangeo knows, we are quite far from a “stable release” (in the software-development sense). This doesn’t mean the platform is buggy and unreliable; it means that the core elements are still under active development. A great example is Dask Gateway, a multi-tenant server for securely deploying and managing Dask clusters. Dask Gateway natively supports Dask on Kubernetes and offers something the current iteration of Pangeo doesn’t, a secure and centrally managed Dask service. While the advent of Dask Gateway is quite exciting, it is also quite new and we’re still working out how best it will fit with Pangeo. This is just one example — there are numerous other nascent development efforts that we expect to disrupt the current architecture of Pangeo.
How Can Cloud Providers Contribute?
If we can realize the potential of Pangeo, many scientific fields will begin to seriously consider moving their day-to-day interactive workflows to the commercial cloud. This is an outcome that would be beneficial to both scientists and cloud-providers. So how can cloud providers help make it happen?
Based on the discussion above, we have some concrete suggestions.
Improve managed services — Pangeo works best when we can leverage the managed services (e.g. Kubernetes) offered by cloud providers. Cloud providers can look to Pangeo to highlight areas these services can be improved. Hopefully, this leads to full-featured implementations of these services on all cloud platforms and enhanced performance for things like deployment, autoscaling, heterogeneous clusters, and the use of spot/preemptible instances.
Help develop deployment procedures — As we covered above, Pangeo is built on open infrastructure (e.g. Kubernetes). Cloud providers could contribute by documenting and streamlining the deployment procedure of Pangeo on their hosted infrastructure. We expect this would also lead to the cloud providers making some quality of life improvements to both their managed Kubernetes services and the Pangeo infrastructure.
Contribute to the tools that make up Pangeo — The Pangeo Cloud Platform is really just a collection of open source software projects (e.g. Jupyter, Dask, Zarr, Xarray). These project are developed and maintained by a community of stakeholders that includes scientists, software developers, and infrastructure providers. Cloud providers hoping to see increased use of these tools on their platform should view contributing to these projects as a way to enhance their customers’ experience. To provide a tangible example of what this might look like, cloud providers could contribute to the Dask-cloudprovider project by expanding the list of supported cloud APIs. On the storage side, cloud providers could engage with the zarr spec development process to help the Pangeo community optimize our interaction with cloud object storage.
Provide grants of credits — This is the obvious one, but it remains relevant. Many institutions are reluctant to invest in cloud until the value can be clearly demonstrated. But without credits to experiment, it’s hard to develop realistic demonstrations. So far, cloud providers have been very generous here, so that is an easy one and we hope to see this continue.
Host Public Datasets — Storage is a major cost for Pangeo. Many of our datasets have high public value and would be well suited for public dataset programs. We are very happy that several cloud providers have already expressed interest in this possibility.
Future Outlook
As the different components of Pangeo — i.e. JupyterHub, Dask, Zarr — mature and become more stable on different cloud platforms, it will become easier and easier to deploy Pangeo. It may require just a single simple configuration file, or a few clicks on a dashboard. Reaching this point will benefit everyone, from the academic research community, to the growing number of startups in the climate data science space, to the cloud providers themselves.
We hope we’ve provided a reasonably comprehensive overview of how the Pangeo Project can partner with cloud providers. We’re developing these thoughts in the open and encourage feedback from across the Pangeo community, including the cloud providers themselves. We believe that, by following the principles we outlined above, we can get buy-in from the more conservative sides of academia that are skeptical of commercial cloud as a research platform. We also feel it’s the best path for realizing the full potential of this still-young technology.
We welcome comments below or on our Discourse forum. | https://medium.com/pangeo/partnering-with-cloud-providers-c795b1203f1f | ['Ryan Abernathey'] | 2019-09-25 20:36:31.646000+00:00 | ['Cloud Computing', 'Science', 'Data Science', 'Pangeo'] | Title Partnering Cloud ProvidersContent Ryan Abernathey Joe Hamman cowrote blog post following discussion Pangeo Steering Council basic ingredient Pangeo deployment fast parallel storage system scalable highperformance compute node access internet software make element work together amazing interactive dataanalysis experience Pangeo deployment architecture Via httppangeoioarchitecturehtml deployed Pangeo wide range different system small university cluster Top 500 supercomputer also found commercial cloud environment eg Amazon Web Services Google Cloud Platform Microsoft Azure particularly good fit Pangeo ability quickly scale compute demand fit well workflow interactive bigdata analysis cloud object store work well Xarray Zarr Dask Additionally cloud offer ability compose tailormade computational environment fit specific scientific workflow allowing scientist efficient resource consumption already benefitted numerous partnership cloud provider mostly form grant cloud credit credit invaluable prototyping debugging fine tuning various component cloud architecture cloud provider understandably enthusiastic Pangeo see way attract new customer platform Moving forward think useful articulate general principle guide potential future partnership cloud provider spirit Pangeo sharing principle openly seeking feedback Pangeo community cloud provider keenly aware past friction opensource project cloud provider Examples include MongoDB Redis chose modify license prevent cloud provider monetizing work without contributing back project Closer home tension evidently emerged opensource Project Jupyter similar yet distinct proprietary product Google Colab want encourage cloud provider collaborate Pangeo team wish democratize use Pangeo within scientific community making adoption deployment platform easy maintaining principle keep Pangeo open end hope cloud provider wish improve Pangeo experience customer pursue goal open source process Principles Pangeo Cloud Infrastructure articulate general principle guide specific recommendation principle mainly apply academic research infrastructure contrast say infrastructure startup academic research infrastructure must consider relatively long timescales unique challenge involving maintainability sustainability unique funding landscape believe cloudbased academic research infrastructure including Pangeo Community driven —The need different institution fundamentally similar collaborating effective mean leveraging existing project like Jupyter Dask Zarr etc already community buyin starting new one reluctantly —The need different institution fundamentally similar collaborating effective mean leveraging existing project like Jupyter Dask Zarr etc already community buyin starting new one reluctantly Open source — cloud infrastructure code Pangeo cloud infrastructure essentially contained open source GitHub repo behindthescenes magic code licensed way enables entire research community reuse build upon — cloud infrastructure code Pangeo cloud infrastructure essentially contained open source GitHub repo behindthescenes magic code licensed way enables entire research community reuse build upon Modular — “all one” solution cumbersome difficult maintain long term Separation concern key principle good software system engineering cloud infrastructure need climate scientist mostly neuroscientist group building everything scratch example group may want use JupyterLab Dask computing Zarr cloud storage may require different highlevel analysis library — “all one” solution cumbersome difficult maintain long term Separation concern key principle good software system engineering cloud infrastructure need climate scientist mostly neuroscientist group building everything scratch example group may want use JupyterLab Dask computing Zarr cloud storage may require different highlevel analysis library Vendor neutral — US currently three main commercial cloud provider AWS Google Cloud Azure plus many smaller provider academic cloud eg NSF Jetstream provider compete rolling unique new service Academic research infrastructure strive use vendorneutral service APIs Kubernetes game changer respect allowing orchestration complex cloud service completely vendor neutral way principle followed mean redeploy infrastructure anywhere preventing one vendor capturing market could negative consequence research enterprise last point expressed elegantly blog post Yuvi Panda Pangeo Architecture Still Flux anyone us Pangeo know quite far “stable release” softwaredevelopment sense doesn’t mean platform buggy unreliable mean core element still active development great example Dask Gateway multitenant server securely deploying managing Dask cluster Dask Gateway natively support Dask Kubernetes offer something current iteration Pangeo doesn’t secure centrally managed Dask service advent Dask Gateway quite exciting also quite new we’re still working best fit Pangeo one example — numerous nascent development effort expect disrupt current architecture Pangeo Cloud Providers Contribute realize potential Pangeo many scientific field begin seriously consider moving daytoday interactive workflow commercial cloud outcome would beneficial scientist cloudproviders cloud provider help make happen Based discussion concrete suggestion Improve managed service — Pangeo work best leverage managed service eg Kubernetes offered cloud provider Cloud provider look Pangeo highlight area service improved Hopefully lead fullfeatured implementation service cloud platform enhanced performance thing like deployment autoscaling heterogeneous cluster use spotpreemptible instance Help develop deployment procedure — covered Pangeo built open infrastructure eg Kubernetes Cloud provider could contribute documenting streamlining deployment procedure Pangeo hosted infrastructure expect would also lead cloud provider making quality life improvement managed Kubernetes service Pangeo infrastructure Contribute tool make Pangeo — Pangeo Cloud Platform really collection open source software project eg Jupyter Dask Zarr Xarray project developed maintained community stakeholder includes scientist software developer infrastructure provider Cloud provider hoping see increased use tool platform view contributing project way enhance customers’ experience provide tangible example might look like cloud provider could contribute Daskcloudprovider project expanding list supported cloud APIs storage side cloud provider could engage zarr spec development process help Pangeo community optimize interaction cloud object storage Provide grant credit — obvious one remains relevant Many institution reluctant invest cloud value clearly demonstrated without credit experiment it’s hard develop realistic demonstration far cloud provider generous easy one hope see continue Host Public Datasets — Storage major cost Pangeo Many datasets high public value would well suited public dataset program happy several cloud provider already expressed interest possibility Future Outlook different component Pangeo — ie JupyterHub Dask Zarr — mature become stable different cloud platform become easier easier deploy Pangeo may require single simple configuration file click dashboard Reaching point benefit everyone academic research community growing number startup climate data science space cloud provider hope we’ve provided reasonably comprehensive overview Pangeo Project partner cloud provider We’re developing thought open encourage feedback across Pangeo community including cloud provider believe following principle outlined get buyin conservative side academia skeptical commercial cloud research platform also feel it’s best path realizing full potential stillyoung technology welcome comment Discourse forumTags Cloud Computing Science Data Science Pangeo |
2,734 | How to Overcome the Fear of Failure | How to Overcome the Fear of Failure
Start by changing how you see failure. It’s not your enemy — it’s your greatest ally.
Photo by Elijah Hiett on Unsplash
The fear of failure is what leads to failure. We all suffer from it. There are no exceptions. But for each one of us, failure means an entirely different thing.
Being afraid to fail is not bad. But you’re afraid of the wrong kind of failure, and it’s holding you back. You fear not being good enough. You fear failing despite your best efforts. You fear losing way more than you love winning.
You let that irrational fear take control over your life. You may end up having less tomorrow than you have today and this prevents you from trying. But you completely miss the fact that what you have today is far less than you deserve.
It’s time to redirect that fear and use it to your advantage.
Don’t try to get rid of your fear
Understand that the fear of failure is more damaging than failure itself. If you want to succeed, you need to deal with that fear.
But here’s the catch. I don’t mean you should overcome your fear. Instead, embrace your fear. Feel it. It’s an important part of you.
Because this fear will keep you on your toes. It will keep you awake at night and force you to go over things again and again. It will push you to train harder and work better.
Fear will be the reason you re-evaluate your plans time and time again. The fear of failure is your motivation to prepare for combat.
It is what ultimately fuels your success. But you have to use it the right way. And you need to understand what real failure is. What you should be afraid of.
Redefine your failure
Getting rejected by your crush, losing your job, wasting money on a bad investment, not being able to do 20 push-ups. Stop seeing these things as a failure. Even if others keep calling them that.
Those things aren’t failures. They are setbacks. Unless you give up on yourself, you’re not quite there yet.
But you know what real failure is? Doing nothing!
If you fear a bad outcome so much that you are terrified of taking a step, you will never reach any of your goals.
And that is the failure you should be afraid of. Waking up in a week, a month, a year, or even a decade and not being any closer to your goals than you are today. That is failure.
That’s what you should fear. That’s what pushes you to move forward. You need to start taking risks. You need to start taking action.
I fear failure. Every single day. I fear that I wake up another day and have achieved nothing. That’s what I’m afraid of.
Failure is doing nothing.
Then learn to accept setbacks
Things don’t always go as planned. Sometimes we hit a wall. Sometimes we lose the game. And that’s when growth happens. If you’re afraid to fail, you’re afraid to grow.
So learn to deal with setbacks in a positive manner. Learn from your mistakes. But more importantly, try again with that knowledge.
If you fall, get back up. You weren’t afraid of falling as a kid, were you? You wouldn’t be able to ride a bicycle if you were.
Ask any daytrader on the stock market. They all burned at least one trading account in the beginning. $5000 or more, gone. But they are also the ones now making hundreds of thousands of dollars per day.
Because they learned to accept it as a setback, not a failure. They all were afraid of making the same mistake again. But instead of giving up on the idea, they tried again. And their past failures helped them become better at it.
And the same is true for every discipline. Whether that is sports, finance, relationships, or at work. You will inevitably fail at least once or twice. But it’s not failure as long as you get back up.
Don’t be afraid of trying and not succeeding. Be afraid of not trying at all.
Successful people work hard
I’m sure you heard that a lot, and it’s true. But have you ever gave it any thought? What does it mean? Does it mean that successful people always work 80-hour weeks? That successful people always lift 10 pounds more than the rest?
Yes and no. Working hard means working through failure. Everyone fails. Everyone loses. Sometimes you do everything right and still fail. Working hard at this moment means getting back up.
It’s not about how many hours you put into your project, or how many reps you do on the bench. It’s that one moment in which your mind and body break down where it’s decided whether you are working hard or not.
When you grab that towel, you have two choices. You can throw it, or you can take it, wipe the sweat off your forehead, and push yourself further.
Successful people work hard because they don’t give up in the face of failure. They ask themselves why they failed and how they can prevent failing again. Then they try again. That’s what hard work means. Pushing through. Not giving in to self-doubt.
Giving up is easy. That’s why not giving up is hard work.
Understand your true potential
One of the main reasons we fear failure is because we make ourselves small. We think we’re not that special. We’re not meant to be what we want to be. We don’t have what it takes.
We think that if we try, we’re imposters, nothing more.
We are not imposters!
If you do it, and you keep doing it and you push through, you are everything but an imposter!
I’ve seen friends of mine grow into beasts of men because they kept pushing themselves. They were pushovers before, now they could choke me with one hand.
There’s no such thing as talent. Only hard work. And hard work means to push on in the one moment you’re on your knees. What you do up until that point doesn’t matter.
The guy who’s lifting 50 pounds more than you isn’t working harder than you. The one who pushes through the pain, the one who comes back the next day to continue. That’s the one who works harder.
Who you have to be or who you can become is not decided.
Stop seeing yourself as an imposter. Stop seeing yourself as unfit. Work on yourself and discover your true potential.
You have to take risks
That’s the only thing that can lead to success. Taking risks. Leaving your comfort zone. Accepting setbacks. Pushing through.
If you never risk anything, you will be in the exact same spot tomorrow as you are today. If you don’t take action, you fail. If you want to do something, do it. Yes, you can fall down. In fact, you will fall down. If you can pull it off on your first attempt, you’re really lucky.
Two times I took an incredible risk in my life.
The first time, I gave up my whole life to move halfway across the world to be with someone I only knew for a few months. If it failed, I would have wasted $4000 on travel costs, a broken heart, and my professional future.
I sold everything I owned, quit my job, left my home. Imagine if it hadn’t worked out. My life would be in pieces. Instead, I live in a wonderful country, am married, and have a beautiful daughter.
The second time, I quit my last job over a fight with management. Instead of looking for another job, I took the last $1000 savings I had to buy a computer. I wanted to become a freelancer and work from home. Be my own boss. But I had no experience whatsoever. Now I’m almost in my 6th year working from home.
Both times I risked a lot, without knowing if I’d even make it. And because of this fear, I worked the hardest to not fail. Every setback I had back then, every problem that stood in my way, was one I could not accept.
I was afraid. At times I was angry at myself. But I had to push through. I never worked as hard in my life as I did in these two situations. I put myself in a spot where giving up was not an option.
Ever since then, I stopped believing in that “play it safe” mentality. Only if I take risks, I can really achieve something.
So even if you think it sounds stupid, I’d encourage you to do the same. If you’re a quitter like me, you can find true strength by putting yourself in such a position.
Final thoughts
Overcoming your fear of failure is the wrong approach. But by redefining what failure means to you, you can shift your goals. Instead of fearing potential losses, learn to fear zero gains.
Push through the pain. If you are the type of guy who throws in the towel, create a situation in which you can’t, no matter how much you’d like to.
You should always have fear of failure. Because fear is an instinct. It raises your awareness and helps you make the right decisions in split-seconds. It will fuel your progress more than any dreams or hopes ever could.
But you need to learn to fear the right things. Don’t fear setbacks. Instead, fear settling for less. Fear not taking action. Fear staying ordinary.
Doing nothing is failure. So fear doing nothing. | https://medium.com/curious/how-to-overcome-the-fear-of-failure-72d78eaa3a3b | ['Kevin Buddaeus'] | 2020-11-14 20:03:16.183000+00:00 | ['Life', 'Mental Health', 'Fear Of Failure', 'Motivation', 'Self Improvement'] | Title Overcome Fear FailureContent Overcome Fear Failure Start changing see failure It’s enemy — it’s greatest ally Photo Elijah Hiett Unsplash fear failure lead failure suffer exception one u failure mean entirely different thing afraid fail bad you’re afraid wrong kind failure it’s holding back fear good enough fear failing despite best effort fear losing way love winning let irrational fear take control life may end le tomorrow today prevents trying completely miss fact today far le deserve It’s time redirect fear use advantage Don’t try get rid fear Understand fear failure damaging failure want succeed need deal fear here’s catch don’t mean overcome fear Instead embrace fear Feel It’s important part fear keep toe keep awake night force go thing push train harder work better Fear reason reevaluate plan time time fear failure motivation prepare combat ultimately fuel success use right way need understand real failure afraid Redefine failure Getting rejected crush losing job wasting money bad investment able 20 pushup Stop seeing thing failure Even others keep calling thing aren’t failure setback Unless give you’re quite yet know real failure nothing fear bad outcome much terrified taking step never reach goal failure afraid Waking week month year even decade closer goal today failure That’s fear That’s push move forward need start taking risk need start taking action fear failure Every single day fear wake another day achieved nothing That’s I’m afraid Failure nothing learn accept setback Things don’t always go planned Sometimes hit wall Sometimes lose game that’s growth happens you’re afraid fail you’re afraid grow learn deal setback positive manner Learn mistake importantly try knowledge fall get back weren’t afraid falling kid wouldn’t able ride bicycle Ask daytrader stock market burned least one trading account beginning 5000 gone also one making hundred thousand dollar per day learned accept setback failure afraid making mistake instead giving idea tried past failure helped become better true every discipline Whether sport finance relationship work inevitably fail least twice it’s failure long get back Don’t afraid trying succeeding afraid trying Successful people work hard I’m sure heard lot it’s true ever gave thought mean mean successful people always work 80hour week successful people always lift 10 pound rest Yes Working hard mean working failure Everyone fails Everyone loses Sometimes everything right still fail Working hard moment mean getting back It’s many hour put project many rep bench It’s one moment mind body break it’s decided whether working hard grab towel two choice throw take wipe sweat forehead push Successful people work hard don’t give face failure ask failed prevent failing try That’s hard work mean Pushing giving selfdoubt Giving easy That’s giving hard work Understand true potential One main reason fear failure make small think we’re special We’re meant want don’t take think try we’re imposter nothing imposter keep push everything imposter I’ve seen friend mine grow beast men kept pushing pushover could choke one hand There’s thing talent hard work hard work mean push one moment you’re knee point doesn’t matter guy who’s lifting 50 pound isn’t working harder one push pain one come back next day continue That’s one work harder become decided Stop seeing imposter Stop seeing unfit Work discover true potential take risk That’s thing lead success Taking risk Leaving comfort zone Accepting setback Pushing never risk anything exact spot tomorrow today don’t take action fail want something Yes fall fact fall pull first attempt you’re really lucky Two time took incredible risk life first time gave whole life move halfway across world someone knew month failed would wasted 4000 travel cost broken heart professional future sold everything owned quit job left home Imagine hadn’t worked life would piece Instead live wonderful country married beautiful daughter second time quit last job fight management Instead looking another job took last 1000 saving buy computer wanted become freelancer work home bos experience whatsoever I’m almost 6th year working home time risked lot without knowing I’d even make fear worked hardest fail Every setback back every problem stood way one could accept afraid time angry push never worked hard life two situation put spot giving option Ever since stopped believing “play safe” mentality take risk really achieve something even think sound stupid I’d encourage you’re quitter like find true strength putting position Final thought Overcoming fear failure wrong approach redefining failure mean shift goal Instead fearing potential loss learn fear zero gain Push pain type guy throw towel create situation can’t matter much you’d like always fear failure fear instinct raise awareness help make right decision splitseconds fuel progress dream hope ever could need learn fear right thing Don’t fear setback Instead fear settling le Fear taking action Fear staying ordinary nothing failure fear nothingTags Life Mental Health Fear Failure Motivation Self Improvement |
2,735 | Python Jupyter Notebooks in Excel | Python Jupyter Notebooks in Excel
Embed Jupyter into Microsoft Excel and write Python instead of VBA
Jupyter Notebooks in Microsoft Excel. Image by the author.
It used to be an “either/or” choice between Excel and Python Jupyter Notebooks. With the introduction of the PyXLL-Jupyter package now you can use both together, side by side.
In this article I’ll show you how to set up Jupyter Notebooks running inside Excel. Share data between the two and even call Python functions written in your Jupyter notebook from your Excel workbook!
Jupyter Notebooks in Microsoft Excel. Video by the author.
Getting Started
First off, to run Python code in Excel you need the PyXLL add-in. The PyXLL add-in is what lets us integrate Python into Excel and use Python instead of VBA. To install the PyXLL Excel add-in “pip install pyxll” and then use the PyXLL command line tool to install the Excel add-in:
>> pip install pyxll
>> pyxll install
If you’re new to PyXLL then take a look at the online documentation for first time users to help get you started.
Please note, PyXLL is commercial software. It includes a free 30 day trial but requires a license to be used after the evaluation period.
Once you have the PyXLL Excel add-in installed the next step is to install the pyxll-jupyter package. This package provides the glue between PyXLL and Jupyter so that we can use our Jupyter notebooks inside of Excel.
The pyxll-jupyter package is installed using pip:
>> pip install pyxll-jupyter
Once both the PyXLL Excel add-in and the PyXLL-Jupyter package are installed start Excel and you will see a new “Jupyter” button in the PyXLL tab.
Jupyter Notebooks in Microsoft Excel. Image by the author.
Clicking this button opens the Jupyter notebook in a side panel in your Excel workbook. This panel is part of the Excel interface and can be un-docked or docked in a different location by dragging it.
In the Jupyter panel you can select an existing notebook or create a new one. To create a new notebook select the “New” button followed by “Python 3”.
Jupyter Notebooks in Microsoft Excel. Image by the author.
Jupyter Notebooks in Microsoft Excel. Image by the author.
How is this useful?
Now you have a complete Jupyter notebook running inside of Excel! But what is this good for? How is this better than running a notebook outside of Excel?
Well, now you can use Excel for working with your data and use Python to work on the same data. Use Excel as an interactive playground for organizing and visualizing your data, seamlessly switching to Python for more sophisticated tools.
Use a Jupyter notebook as a scratch-pad for trying out Python code. Write Excel functions entirely in Python in a Jupyter notebook and test them out in real-time. Once you’ve developed a useful re-usable function add it to your PyXLL Python project. That way you can use the same function every time you use Excel.
In the rest of this article I’ll show you how to:
Share data between Excel and Python using your Jupyter notebook
Write Excel worksheet functions (UDFs) in your notebook
Script Excel with Python instead of VBA
Getting data from Excel into Python
Because PyXLL runs Python in the same process as Excel, accessing Excel data in Python and calling between Python and Excel is fast.
To make things as easy as possible, the pyxll-jupyter package comes with some IPython “magic” functions for you to use in your Jupyter notebooks.
%xl_get
Excel data to Pandas DataFrames in Jupyter Notebook. Image by the author.
Use the magic function “%xl_get” to get the current Excel selection in Python. Have a table of data in Excel? Select the top left corner (or the whole range) and type “%xl_get” in your Jupyter notebook and voila! the Excel table is now a pandas DataFrame.
The %xl_get magic function as several options:
-c or --cell . Pass the address of the cell(s) to get the value of, eg %xl_get --cell A1:D5 .
or . Pass the address of the cell(s) to get the value of, eg . -t or --type . Specify a data type to use when getting the value, eg %xl_get --type numpy_array .
or . Specify a data type to use when getting the value, eg . -x or --no-auto-resize . Only get the data for the selected or given range. Don’t expand to include the surrounding range of data.
PyXLL has other ways of interacting with Excel to read data into Python. The “%xl_get” magic function is just a shortcut to make things easier! As the Jupyter notebook is running in Excel, all other methods (eg using the XLCell class, Excel’s COM API or even xlwings) are still available.
TIP: You can assign a variable to the result of a magic function! For example, try “df = %xl_get”.
Moving data in Python back to Excel
Transfering data the other way around, from Python to Excel, works just as well. Whether you’ve used Python to load a dataset and want to transfer it to your Excel workbook, or if you’ve manipulated a data set from Excel and want the results back in Excel, copying data to Excel from Python is easy.
%xl_set
Pandas Dataframe to Excel range. Image by the author.
The magic function “%xl_set” takes a Python object and writes it to Excel. Have a dataframe “df” that you want in Excel? No problem, just use “%xl_set df” and it will be written to the current selection in Excel.
Like %xl_get, %xl_set has a range of options to control its behaviour. You can even use PyXLL’s cell formatting feature to automatically apply formatting at the same time as writing results to Excel.
-c or --cell . Address of cell(s) to write the value to, eg %xl_set VALUE --cell A1 .
or . Address of cell(s) to write the value to, eg . -t or --type . Datatype specifier to use when writing the value to Excel, eg %xl_set VALUE --type dataframe<index=False> .
or . Datatype specifier to use when writing the value to Excel, eg . -f or --formatter . PyXLL cell formatter object, eg %xl_set VALUE --formatter DataFrameFormatter() . See cell formatting.
or . PyXLL cell formatter object, eg . See cell formatting. -x or --no-auto-resize . Don’t auto-resize the range to fit the data. Only write values to the current selection or specified range.
As with %xl_get, %xl_set is meerly a shortcut and all the other ways of writing back to Excel that you might have used with PyXLL will still work in a Jupyter notebook.
Use Python plots (matplotlib/plotly etc) in Excel
One of the great things about working with data is the powerful plotting packages available. Being able to plot a pandas DataFrame with a simple “df.plot()” is awesome!
PyXLL has integration with all of the main plotting libraries so you can make the most of these in Excel too. This includes matplotlib (used by pandas), plotly, bokeh and altair.
%xl_plot
Plotting charts in a Jupyter Notebook and Excel. Image by the author.
Use “%xl_plot” to draw any Python chart in Excel. Pass it any figure object from one of the supported plotting libraries, or use the last pyplot figure. Using pandas plot works great, eg. %xl_plot df.plot(kind='scatter') .
The %xl_plot magic function has some options to control how it works:
-n or --name . Name of the picture object in Excel. If using a name of a picture that already exists that picture will be replaced.
or . Name of the picture object in Excel. If using a name of a picture that already exists that picture will be replaced. -c or --cell . Cell address to use as the location for the new picture. If the picture already exists this has no effect.
or . Cell address to use as the location for the new picture. If the picture already exists this has no effect. -w or --width . Width of the picture in Excel in points. This has no effect if updating an existing picture.
or . Width of the picture in Excel in points. This has no effect if updating an existing picture. -h or --height . Height of the picture in Excel in points. This has no effect if updating an existing picture.
%xl_plot is a shortcut for the pyxll.plot function.
Call Python functions from Excel
Rather than constantly moving data between Excel and Jupyter and then running some Python code, you can call Python function directly from the Excel workbook!
One of the main use-cases for PyXLL is writing custom Excel worksheet functions (or “UDFs”) in Python. This is used for building models in Excel built from Python functions, which can of course themselves use other Python toolkits like pandas and scipy.
How to Call Python Functions in Excel. Video by the author.
You can write Excel worksheet functions in your Jupyter notebook too. This is a really great way of trying out ideas without leaving Excel to go to a Python IDE.
Try it out for yourself. Write a simple function and then add the “pyxll.xl_func” decorator to your function:
After you’ve entered the code and run the cell in Jupyter that Python function will immediately be available to call from the Excel workbook.
It’s not just for simple functions. You can pass whole ranges of data to your function as pandas DataFrames and return any Python type, including numpy arrays and DataFrames! You can tell PyXLL what types to expect by giving the @xl_func decorator a signature string.
For example, try out the following:
Now you can write complex Python functions to do data transformation and analysis, but orchestrate how those functions are called or sequenced in Excel. Changing the inputs results in the functions be called and the calculated outputs update in real-time, just as you would expect!
Script Excel with Python instead of VBA
Did you know that everything you can do in VBA can also be done in Python? The Excel Object Model is what you use when writing VBA, but the same API is available in Python as well.
See Python as a VBA Replacement from the PyXLL documentation for details of how this is possible.
In a Jupyter notebook running in Excel the entire Excel Object Model is available and so you can script Excel in exactly the same way you might do in the Excel VBA Editor.
Because PyXLL runs Python inside the Excel process there is no performance penalty for calling into Excel from Python. It is also possible to call into Excel from an external Python process, but this is generally much slower. Having a Jupyter notebook running in Excel makes everything more convenient too!
Use PyXLL’s xl_app function to get the “Excel.Application” object, which is equivalent to the Application object in VBA. Try something like getting the current selection and changing the cell interior color. A great way of figuring out how to do something with the Excel Object Model is to record a VBA Macro and then translate that macro into Python! The PyXLL docs page Python as a VBA Replacement has some tips on how to do that.
Scripting Excel using Python in a Jupyter Notebook. Image by the author.
Summary
Python makes a poweful alternative to VBA. With PyXLL you can write fully featured Excel add-ins entirely in Python. Excel is an amazing tool for interactive computation. Adding Python and Jupyter takes Excel to a whole new level.
Code written in Jupyter notebooks can easily be refactored into standalone Python packages to create Excel tool-kits to power intutitive workbooks and dashboards. Any Excel user will be able to take advantage of Python tools written using PyXLL without needing any knowledge of Python.
If you want to find out more then download and try PyXLL for yourself or contact me. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have and find out how PyXLL can help you!
Links | https://towardsdatascience.com/python-jupyter-notebooks-in-excel-5ab34fc6439 | ['Tony Roberts'] | 2020-12-23 15:30:07.957000+00:00 | ['Python', 'Jupyter Notebook', 'Excel', 'Microsoft Office', 'Programming'] | Title Python Jupyter Notebooks ExcelContent Python Jupyter Notebooks Excel Embed Jupyter Microsoft Excel write Python instead VBA Jupyter Notebooks Microsoft Excel Image author used “eitheror” choice Excel Python Jupyter Notebooks introduction PyXLLJupyter package use together side side article I’ll show set Jupyter Notebooks running inside Excel Share data two even call Python function written Jupyter notebook Excel workbook Jupyter Notebooks Microsoft Excel Video author Getting Started First run Python code Excel need PyXLL addin PyXLL addin let u integrate Python Excel use Python instead VBA install PyXLL Excel addin “pip install pyxll” use PyXLL command line tool install Excel addin pip install pyxll pyxll install you’re new PyXLL take look online documentation first time user help get started Please note PyXLL commercial software includes free 30 day trial requires license used evaluation period PyXLL Excel addin installed next step install pyxlljupyter package package provides glue PyXLL Jupyter use Jupyter notebook inside Excel pyxlljupyter package installed using pip pip install pyxlljupyter PyXLL Excel addin PyXLLJupyter package installed start Excel see new “Jupyter” button PyXLL tab Jupyter Notebooks Microsoft Excel Image author Clicking button open Jupyter notebook side panel Excel workbook panel part Excel interface undocked docked different location dragging Jupyter panel select existing notebook create new one create new notebook select “New” button followed “Python 3” Jupyter Notebooks Microsoft Excel Image author Jupyter Notebooks Microsoft Excel Image author useful complete Jupyter notebook running inside Excel good better running notebook outside Excel Well use Excel working data use Python work data Use Excel interactive playground organizing visualizing data seamlessly switching Python sophisticated tool Use Jupyter notebook scratchpad trying Python code Write Excel function entirely Python Jupyter notebook test realtime you’ve developed useful reusable function add PyXLL Python project way use function every time use Excel rest article I’ll show Share data Excel Python using Jupyter notebook Write Excel worksheet function UDFs notebook Script Excel Python instead VBA Getting data Excel Python PyXLL run Python process Excel accessing Excel data Python calling Python Excel fast make thing easy possible pyxlljupyter package come IPython “magic” function use Jupyter notebook xlget Excel data Pandas DataFrames Jupyter Notebook Image author Use magic function “xlget” get current Excel selection Python table data Excel Select top left corner whole range type “xlget” Jupyter notebook voila Excel table panda DataFrame xlget magic function several option c cell Pass address cell get value eg xlget cell A1D5 Pass address cell get value eg type Specify data type use getting value eg xlget type numpyarray Specify data type use getting value eg x noautoresize get data selected given range Don’t expand include surrounding range data PyXLL way interacting Excel read data Python “xlget” magic function shortcut make thing easier Jupyter notebook running Excel method eg using XLCell class Excel’s COM API even xlwings still available TIP assign variable result magic function example try “df xlget” Moving data Python back Excel Transfering data way around Python Excel work well Whether you’ve used Python load dataset want transfer Excel workbook you’ve manipulated data set Excel want result back Excel copying data Excel Python easy xlset Pandas Dataframe Excel range Image author magic function “xlset” take Python object writes Excel dataframe “df” want Excel problem use “xlset df” written current selection Excel Like xlget xlset range option control behaviour even use PyXLL’s cell formatting feature automatically apply formatting time writing result Excel c cell Address cell write value eg xlset VALUE cell A1 Address cell write value eg type Datatype specifier use writing value Excel eg xlset VALUE type dataframeindexFalse Datatype specifier use writing value Excel eg f formatter PyXLL cell formatter object eg xlset VALUE formatter DataFrameFormatter See cell formatting PyXLL cell formatter object eg See cell formatting x noautoresize Don’t autoresize range fit data write value current selection specified range xlget xlset meerly shortcut way writing back Excel might used PyXLL still work Jupyter notebook Use Python plot matplotlibplotly etc Excel One great thing working data powerful plotting package available able plot panda DataFrame simple “dfplot” awesome PyXLL integration main plotting library make Excel includes matplotlib used panda plotly bokeh altair xlplot Plotting chart Jupyter Notebook Excel Image author Use “xlplot” draw Python chart Excel Pass figure object one supported plotting library use last pyplot figure Using panda plot work great eg xlplot dfplotkindscatter xlplot magic function option control work n name Name picture object Excel using name picture already exists picture replaced Name picture object Excel using name picture already exists picture replaced c cell Cell address use location new picture picture already exists effect Cell address use location new picture picture already exists effect w width Width picture Excel point effect updating existing picture Width picture Excel point effect updating existing picture h height Height picture Excel point effect updating existing picture xlplot shortcut pyxllplot function Call Python function Excel Rather constantly moving data Excel Jupyter running Python code call Python function directly Excel workbook One main usecases PyXLL writing custom Excel worksheet function “UDFs” Python used building model Excel built Python function course use Python toolkits like panda scipy Call Python Functions Excel Video author write Excel worksheet function Jupyter notebook really great way trying idea without leaving Excel go Python IDE Try Write simple function add “pyxllxlfunc” decorator function you’ve entered code run cell Jupyter Python function immediately available call Excel workbook It’s simple function pas whole range data function panda DataFrames return Python type including numpy array DataFrames tell PyXLL type expect giving xlfunc decorator signature string example try following write complex Python function data transformation analysis orchestrate function called sequenced Excel Changing input result function called calculated output update realtime would expect Script Excel Python instead VBA know everything VBA also done Python Excel Object Model use writing VBA API available Python well See Python VBA Replacement PyXLL documentation detail possible Jupyter notebook running Excel entire Excel Object Model available script Excel exactly way might Excel VBA Editor PyXLL run Python inside Excel process performance penalty calling Excel Python also possible call Excel external Python process generally much slower Jupyter notebook running Excel make everything convenient Use PyXLL’s xlapp function get “ExcelApplication” object equivalent Application object VBA Try something like getting current selection changing cell interior color great way figuring something Excel Object Model record VBA Macro translate macro Python PyXLL doc page Python VBA Replacement tip Scripting Excel using Python Jupyter Notebook Image author Summary Python make poweful alternative VBA PyXLL write fully featured Excel addins entirely Python Excel amazing tool interactive computation Adding Python Jupyter take Excel whole new level Code written Jupyter notebook easily refactored standalone Python package create Excel toolkits power intutitive workbook dashboard Excel user able take advantage Python tool written using PyXLL without needing knowledge Python want find download try PyXLL contact I’ll happy answer question might find PyXLL help LinksTags Python Jupyter Notebook Excel Microsoft Office Programming |
2,736 | Why Subnautica is one of the best games I’ve played this year | Why Subnautica is one of the best games I’ve played this year
A unique setting, an engaging story, and intentional design make this game stand out
I can count on a few fingers the number of times that playing a video game has left me truly terrified. There are a few scenes in The Last of Us and its sequel that would be on the list, as well as a few other games that boast equally scary moments. But the thing about video games is that they’re often designed so you can beat them, which means that (usually) even the biggest bad guys can be beaten down with enough time and energy.
However, there are some games where the most threatening enemies can’t be beaten. All you can do is hope to avoid them. Subnautica is one of those games (though it’s also much more, which I’ll explain below).
Subnautica is definitely not a scary game, but it has moments of pure terror and adrenaline that have already terrified me multiple times. The atmosphere in the game is incredible, and its design has kept me coming back many times. I love when video games break off from genre tropes and create something truly unique. Through its detailed setting and close commitment to engaging gameplay, Subnautica cements itself as one of those rare games.
What Subnautica is and how you play it
First, a quick description. Subnautica is an open-world (ish) survival game set on a planet where water is everywhere. The game opens as your character’s ship goes up in flames, prompting a crash landing in the middle of this mysterious ocean. The ship is beyond repair, so within a few minutes of playing you realize that long-term survival on the planet is your only hope of living. And well over 90% of that survival will take place underwater.
There isn’t much exposition — the entire opening of the game doesn’t take long at all — so you’re dropped into the world pretty quickly. There’s a list of things to find and craft, and the more you find the more opens up pretty quickly. It’s also worth noting that Subnautica is not procedurally-generated. There are dangerous, terrifying areas to find, but they’re intentionally mapped pretty far away from where you start out.
The mechanics of the game involve swimming to ever-greater depths to find materials and resources. With these in hand, you can build an underwater base, pipe in breathable air from the surface, and even build underwater vehicles. The world is tough and inhospitable, but before long you can make it much more inviting.
Why I love Subnautica
Swimming through the waves and exploring the world have been one of the most enjoyable video game experiences I’ve had in forever. Most of the planet is bright and colorful, and the varied topography of the ocean floor keeps the gameplay from getting too repetitive. There’s a sense of wonder that’s so enthralling, and even though I’ve played for several hours I don’t feel like I’ve come anywhere close to finding even half of what’s out there.
I bought Subnautica because it was on sale and because I wanted something to scratch the itch that Outer Wilds left me with a few months ago. The games are different in many ways: Outer Wilds is based purely on story, is much shorter, and is a game about exploring in space. But the themes of exploration, searching for answers, and navigating incredible worlds are present in each title.
There’s a story in Subnautica, and what I’ve found of it so far has been pretty interesting. However, it’s clearly complementary to the survival experience rather than the sole objective like it is in Outer Wilds. I have to wait for new message to come to my radio before I can progress much further, giving me plenty of time to work on my base and find materials for vehicles. When that next message comes, though, I’ll be ready.
Why Subnautica is like nothing else out there
But what I keep coming back to in Subnautica is the sense of wonder that I get by swimming through its world. The plant and sea life is so varied, so incredible, that it’s easy to see how much work went into its design. And since progression has been so well designed, I’m rarely wondering what I should build next or where I should be exploring. You can do everything at your own pace, but the game is pretty generous with hints and tips.
And the moments of pure terror are exhilarating in ways no other game can match (at least for me). I don’t play horror games often, so I’m used to levels where even the biggest bad guys will eventually be conquered. And in truth, that’s a pretty unrealistic setting for a science fiction survival game.
Here, there are underwater creatures called “leviathan class predators” that I just can’t do anything against. I can avoid them by staying in more shallow waters, but I need to go deeper to find everything and progress the story. When I see one in the distance, it reminds me how small and weak my character is. No other game has done that for me. | https://medium.com/the-coastline-is-quiet/why-subnautica-is-one-of-the-best-games-ive-played-this-year-65fd6359c263 | ['Thomas Jenkins'] | 2020-09-21 17:03:57.617000+00:00 | ['Gaming', 'Design', 'Culture', 'Writing', 'Videogames'] | Title Subnautica one best game I’ve played yearContent Subnautica one best game I’ve played year unique setting engaging story intentional design make game stand count finger number time playing video game left truly terrified scene Last Us sequel would list well game boast equally scary moment thing video game they’re often designed beat mean usually even biggest bad guy beaten enough time energy However game threatening enemy can’t beaten hope avoid Subnautica one game though it’s also much I’ll explain Subnautica definitely scary game moment pure terror adrenaline already terrified multiple time atmosphere game incredible design kept coming back many time love video game break genre trope create something truly unique detailed setting close commitment engaging gameplay Subnautica cement one rare game Subnautica play First quick description Subnautica openworld ish survival game set planet water everywhere game open character’s ship go flame prompting crash landing middle mysterious ocean ship beyond repair within minute playing realize longterm survival planet hope living well 90 survival take place underwater isn’t much exposition — entire opening game doesn’t take long — you’re dropped world pretty quickly There’s list thing find craft find open pretty quickly It’s also worth noting Subnautica procedurallygenerated dangerous terrifying area find they’re intentionally mapped pretty far away start mechanic game involve swimming evergreater depth find material resource hand build underwater base pipe breathable air surface even build underwater vehicle world tough inhospitable long make much inviting love Subnautica Swimming wave exploring world one enjoyable video game experience I’ve forever planet bright colorful varied topography ocean floor keep gameplay getting repetitive There’s sense wonder that’s enthralling even though I’ve played several hour don’t feel like I’ve come anywhere close finding even half what’s bought Subnautica sale wanted something scratch itch Outer Wilds left month ago game different many way Outer Wilds based purely story much shorter game exploring space theme exploration searching answer navigating incredible world present title There’s story Subnautica I’ve found far pretty interesting However it’s clearly complementary survival experience rather sole objective like Outer Wilds wait new message come radio progress much giving plenty time work base find material vehicle next message come though I’ll ready Subnautica like nothing else keep coming back Subnautica sense wonder get swimming world plant sea life varied incredible it’s easy see much work went design since progression well designed I’m rarely wondering build next exploring everything pace game pretty generous hint tip moment pure terror exhilarating way game match least don’t play horror game often I’m used level even biggest bad guy eventually conquered truth that’s pretty unrealistic setting science fiction survival game underwater creature called “leviathan class predators” can’t anything avoid staying shallow water need go deeper find everything progress story see one distance reminds small weak character game done meTags Gaming Design Culture Writing Videogames |
2,737 | Python HOW: Image processing for OCR using OpenCV | If your image has random noise, uneven illumination, holes in front objects, etc. There are few things that you can do before posting your image to a computer vision API. In this article, we go through few processing techniques to boost OCR results using OpenCV
TL;DR: full code
Install OpenCV
Install OpenCV using your preferred package manager
You might want to create a virtual environment first
Read the image
I will use the cover of the 1st edition of one of my favorite books as an example. Let’s first read the image, specifying the colour type of the image to coloured. This will read the image in the default colour format in OpenCV which is BGR (Blue-Green-Red). We will then convert the colour space to the more common RGB order (and for visualisation), and finally, write a small function to show the image without any interpolation:
Docs for imread , cvtColor, imshow. To convert to gray, use code=cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY in line 14
Original: Image shape: 1360H x 1036W x 3C
Crop image
Mostly, you either have a box coordinates around the text (from a labelling tool), or you are only interested in part of your image. Our image is a 3D numpy array. To crop it, we can simply slice along the height and width:
Cropped: Image shape: 580H x 900W x 3C
Add border (i.e. padding) (doc)
This might be useful for APIs with OCR models trained on documents (documents usually have white border) | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/python-how-image-processing-for-ocr-using-opencv-966acfae07a6 | ['Gabriel Harris Ph.D.'] | 2020-09-17 12:44:42.852000+00:00 | ['Optical Character Recogn', 'Python', 'Opencv', 'Image Processing', 'Programming'] | Title Python Image processing OCR using OpenCVContent image random noise uneven illumination hole front object etc thing posting image computer vision API article go processing technique boost OCR result using OpenCV TLDR full code Install OpenCV Install OpenCV using preferred package manager might want create virtual environment first Read image use cover 1st edition one favorite book example Let’s first read image specifying colour type image coloured read image default colour format OpenCV BGR BlueGreenRed convert colour space common RGB order visualisation finally write small function show image without interpolation Docs imread cvtColor imshow convert gray use codecv2COLORBGR2GRAY line 14 Original Image shape 1360H x 1036W x 3C Crop image Mostly either box coordinate around text labelling tool interested part image image 3D numpy array crop simply slice along height width Cropped Image shape 580H x 900W x 3C Add border ie padding doc might useful APIs OCR model trained document document usually white borderTags Optical Character Recogn Python Opencv Image Processing Programming |
2,738 | Artificial intelligence holds great potential for both students and teachers — but only if used wisely | Published with Simon Knight in The Conversation: July 24, 2017 6.09am AEST
Artificial intelligence (AI) enables Siri to recognise your question, Google to correct your spelling, and tools such as Kinect to track you as you move around the room.
Data big and small have come to education, from creating online platforms to increasing standardised assessments. But how can AI help us use and improve it?
AI has a long history with education
Researchers in AI in education have been investigating how the two intersect for several decades. While it’s tempting to think that the primary dream for AI in education is to reduce marking load — a prospect made real through automated essay scoring — the breadth of applications goes beyond this.
For example, researchers in AI in education have:
developed intelligent tutoring systems that use student test responses to personalise how they navigate through material and assessments, targeting the skills they need to develop;
investigated automatic detection of affect — including whether students are bored or confused — and used that to adapt materials they use; and
built conversational agents or chatbots that can engage in discussions with students, even to support student-to-student collaboration.
Artificial intelligence or intelligence amplification?
These are new approaches to learning that rely heavily on students engaging with new kinds of technology. But researchers in AI, and related fields such as learning analytics, are also thinking about how AI can provide more effective feedback to students and teachers.
One perspective is that researchers should worry less about making AI ever more intelligent, instead exploring the potential that relatively “stupid” (automated) tutors might have to amplify human intelligence.
So, rather than focusing solely on building more intelligent AI to take humans out of the loop, we should focus just as much on intelligence amplification — or, going back to its intellectual roots, intelligence augmentation. This is the use of technology — including AI — to provide people with information that helps them make better decisions and learn more effectively.
This approach combines computing sciences with human sciences. It takes seriously the need for technology to be integrated into everyday life.
Keeping people in the loop is particularly important when the stakes are high, and AI is far from perfect. So, for instance, rather than focusing on automating the grading of student essays, some researchers are focusing on how they can provide intelligent feedback to students that helps them better assess their own writing.
And while some are considering if they can replace nurses with robots, we are seeking to design better feedback to help them become high-performance nursing teams.
UCL Professor Rose Luckin on artificial intelligence and the future of learning.
Impacts on what we teach
But for the use of AI to be sustainable, education also needs a second kind of change: what we teach.
To be active citizens, students need a sound understanding of AI, and a critical approach to assessing the implications of the “datafication” of our lives — from the use of Facebook data to influence voting, to Google DeepMind’s access to medical data.
Students also need the skills to manage this complexity, to work collaboratively and to innovate in a changing environment. These are qualities that could perhaps be amplified through effective use of AI.
The potential is not only for education to be more efficient, but to think about how we teach: to keep revolution in sight, alongside evolution.
Another response to AI’s perceived threat is to harness the technologies that will automate some forms of work, to cultivate those higher-order qualities that make humans distinctive from machines.
Simon Buckingham Shum on learning analytics versus cognitive automation. (talk starts at 20mins)
Algorithmic accountability
Amid growing concerns about the pervasive role of algorithms in society, we must understand what “algorithmic accountability” means in education.
Consider, for example, the potential for “predictive analytics” in flexi-pricing degrees based on a course-completion risk-rating built on online study habit data. Or the possibility of embedding existing human biases into university offers, or educational chatbots that seek to discern your needs.
If AI delivers benefits only to students who have access to specific technologies, then inevitably this has the potential to marginalise some groups.
Significant work is under way to clarify how ethics and privacy principlescan underpin the use of AI and data analytics in education. Intelligence amplification helps counteract these concerns by keeping people in the loop.
A further concern is AI’s potential to result in a de-skilling or redundancy of teachers. This could possibly fuel a two-tier system where differing levels of educational support are provided.
What does the future hold?
The future of learning with AI, and other technologies, should be targeted not only at learning subject content, but also at cultivating curiosity, creativity and resilience.
The ethical development of such innovations will require both teachers and students to have a robust understanding of how to work with data and AI to support their participation in society and across the professions. | https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/artificial-intelligence-holds-great-potential-for-both-students-and-teachers-but-only-if-used-3c0a212f81db | ['Simon Buckingham Shum'] | 2020-04-23 09:39:24.875000+00:00 | ['Big Data', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Learning Analytics', 'Data Science', 'Education'] | Title Artificial intelligence hold great potential student teacher — used wiselyContent Published Simon Knight Conversation July 24 2017 609am AEST Artificial intelligence AI enables Siri recognise question Google correct spelling tool Kinect track move around room Data big small come education creating online platform increasing standardised assessment AI help u use improve AI long history education Researchers AI education investigating two intersect several decade it’s tempting think primary dream AI education reduce marking load — prospect made real automated essay scoring — breadth application go beyond example researcher AI education developed intelligent tutoring system use student test response personalise navigate material assessment targeting skill need develop investigated automatic detection affect — including whether student bored confused — used adapt material use built conversational agent chatbots engage discussion student even support studenttostudent collaboration Artificial intelligence intelligence amplification new approach learning rely heavily student engaging new kind technology researcher AI related field learning analytics also thinking AI provide effective feedback student teacher One perspective researcher worry le making AI ever intelligent instead exploring potential relatively “stupid” automated tutor might amplify human intelligence rather focusing solely building intelligent AI take human loop focus much intelligence amplification — going back intellectual root intelligence augmentation use technology — including AI — provide people information help make better decision learn effectively approach combine computing science human science take seriously need technology integrated everyday life Keeping people loop particularly important stake high AI far perfect instance rather focusing automating grading student essay researcher focusing provide intelligent feedback student help better ass writing considering replace nurse robot seeking design better feedback help become highperformance nursing team UCL Professor Rose Luckin artificial intelligence future learning Impacts teach use AI sustainable education also need second kind change teach active citizen student need sound understanding AI critical approach assessing implication “datafication” life — use Facebook data influence voting Google DeepMind’s access medical data Students also need skill manage complexity work collaboratively innovate changing environment quality could perhaps amplified effective use AI potential education efficient think teach keep revolution sight alongside evolution Another response AI’s perceived threat harness technology automate form work cultivate higherorder quality make human distinctive machine Simon Buckingham Shum learning analytics versus cognitive automation talk start 20mins Algorithmic accountability Amid growing concern pervasive role algorithm society must understand “algorithmic accountability” mean education Consider example potential “predictive analytics” flexipricing degree based coursecompletion riskrating built online study habit data possibility embedding existing human bias university offer educational chatbots seek discern need AI delivers benefit student access specific technology inevitably potential marginalise group Significant work way clarify ethic privacy principlescan underpin use AI data analytics education Intelligence amplification help counteract concern keeping people loop concern AI’s potential result deskilling redundancy teacher could possibly fuel twotier system differing level educational support provided future hold future learning AI technology targeted learning subject content also cultivating curiosity creativity resilience ethical development innovation require teacher student robust understanding work data AI support participation society across professionsTags Big Data Artificial Intelligence Learning Analytics Data Science Education |
2,739 | Easily build a REST API with Spring Framework | # The Concept
Before I even start explaining how to create an API, you should first know what this thing called “API” is.
To begin with, API stands for Application Programming Interface, Wikipedia explains it as:
A computing interface that defines interactions between multiple software intermediaries. It defines the kinds of calls or requests that can be made, how to make them, the data formats that should be used, the conventions to follow, etc.
Let’s try mapping it to a specific example: Imagine you have a portfolio web page, where you share some information about yourself, like interests, side-jobs, professional experience, projects, and so on. Now you want people who follow you, to be always up to speed about your Spotify preferences.
You may think about manually going to your Spotify account and copy your liked songs, it may work if you are an inactive user, however if not, it will quickly become a cumbersome task.
That’s when the API word comes in, Spotify and a lot of other companies already developed their APIs, so people like you can avoid problems like this.
developer.spotify.com
In such a context, you will simply need to contact their API and request all the data that may fulfill your needs. In this case, your liked songs.
An API can be described as an application that exposes services without the need of having a front end.
Let’s now create our API example so we can easily understand what has been explained so far. | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/easily-build-your-rest-api-with-spring-framework-80941c359d44 | ['Rafael Martins'] | 2020-12-18 16:09:02.383000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Software Engineering', 'Java', 'Spring Framework', 'Programming'] | Title Easily build REST API Spring FrameworkContent Concept even start explaining create API first know thing called “API” begin API stand Application Programming Interface Wikipedia explains computing interface defines interaction multiple software intermediary defines kind call request made make data format used convention follow etc Let’s try mapping specific example Imagine portfolio web page share information like interest sidejobs professional experience project want people follow always speed Spotify preference may think manually going Spotify account copy liked song may work inactive user however quickly become cumbersome task That’s API word come Spotify lot company already developed APIs people like avoid problem like developerspotifycom context simply need contact API request data may fulfill need case liked song API described application expose service without need front end Let’s create API example easily understand explained farTags Technology Software Engineering Java Spring Framework Programming |
2,740 | Is Medium’s New Logo A Sign Of Bigger Problems? | Is Medium’s New Logo A Sign Of Bigger Problems?
A quick look at what’s happened with Medium over the last week
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
Medium has implemented a lot of changes over the last week. New personal profile designs, writers on the front page now (finally) have their names listed and a new logo was launched.
But what concerns me most is the new logo.
When I first saw the logo, I thought my webpage had an error and didn’t fully load.
Clearly, I’m not alone.
This logo is so bad it makes me question everything about Medium. It appears logic and common sense have gone out the window.
Why would I say something that extreme?
Because if your branding isn’t clear, you failed.
It appears Medium is just changing things to change them, and there is no clear vision. That’s really scary.
Say you share a self-published post with someone from Medium. It’s their very first time encountering the website. What do they see?
They see this.
Medium has no branding on the page other than the weird … logo. It makes a self-published post look like a blog with a free Wordpress theme.
Wordpress.org
Doesn’t that look pretty familiar? Just hide the side bar and they are almost identical.
These web pages are not unique. In fact, they are just BORING. It’s just plain vanilla ice cream in a rocky road world. More on this concept here.
And that’s a problem.
Is it possible I’m overreacting? Sure. I could be. But branding matters. End user experience matters.
Here’s the homepage if you’re not logged into an account.
Okay, that’s better. I guess that’s a spotlight made of words… maybe?
Here’s what a post in a post in a publication looks like for a first time reader.
I like the Write Stuff logo there, because that really helps the overall experience. But the funky … Medium logo really looks like an error. It looks like a mistake right there in the top corner.
This new change makes publications even more important than ever before. And there was already a serious publication problem on Medium, which I go into more detail about in the post below.
A Final Word
What concerns me most about the new logo is the disconnect with the end users. Medium is nothing without the writers. Medium will cease to exist without people having fresh content to read on the website.
Let me ask you a question. How do you feel being a writer on Medium? Do you feel like you are valued, or are you always playing catch up to the constant changes that don’t really seem to help you as a writer?
I love Medium, but I’m very concerned about Medium’s future.
As a writer, I’d love to see some real improvements, such as really customizing your homepage to see content that you want to see. Maybe having the ability to tip writers for a great post (because payment is not based on claps or engagement anymore). Using more than the bogus time-based metric for posts where anyone writing poetry or anything shorter is not immediately penalized.
Even tiered subscription levels could be good (instead of $5 per month you could pay $10 or $20 per month) where you are able to pay writers better while also supporting the growth of Medium.
As an end user and reader, I’d love for Medium to just have more clarity and stop making things more confusing.
It will be interesting to see how this all pans out in the future. | https://medium.com/the-partnered-pen/is-mediums-new-logo-is-a-sign-of-bigger-problems-101f8dd84b44 | ['Jim Woods'] | 2020-10-21 17:03:24.098000+00:00 | ['Marketing', 'Content Marketing', 'Medium', 'Writer', 'Writing'] | Title Medium’s New Logo Sign Bigger ProblemsContent Medium’s New Logo Sign Bigger Problems quick look what’s happened Medium last week Photo Ben White Unsplash Medium implemented lot change last week New personal profile design writer front page finally name listed new logo launched concern new logo first saw logo thought webpage error didn’t fully load Clearly I’m alone logo bad make question everything Medium appears logic common sense gone window would say something extreme branding isn’t clear failed appears Medium changing thing change clear vision That’s really scary Say share selfpublished post someone Medium It’s first time encountering website see see Medium branding page weird … logo make selfpublished post look like blog free Wordpress theme Wordpressorg Doesn’t look pretty familiar hide side bar almost identical web page unique fact BORING It’s plain vanilla ice cream rocky road world concept that’s problem possible I’m overreacting Sure could branding matter End user experience matter Here’s homepage you’re logged account Okay that’s better guess that’s spotlight made words… maybe Here’s post post publication look like first time reader like Write Stuff logo really help overall experience funky … Medium logo really look like error look like mistake right top corner new change make publication even important ever already serious publication problem Medium go detail post Final Word concern new logo disconnect end user Medium nothing without writer Medium cease exist without people fresh content read website Let ask question feel writer Medium feel like valued always playing catch constant change don’t really seem help writer love Medium I’m concerned Medium’s future writer I’d love see real improvement really customizing homepage see content want see Maybe ability tip writer great post payment based clap engagement anymore Using bogus timebased metric post anyone writing poetry anything shorter immediately penalized Even tiered subscription level could good instead 5 per month could pay 10 20 per month able pay writer better also supporting growth Medium end user reader I’d love Medium clarity stop making thing confusing interesting see pan futureTags Marketing Content Marketing Medium Writer Writing |
2,741 | Three Ways to Start Building Your Email List | Writers need email lists.
I can’t state that any more plainly.
If you are a writer, you need a way to connect with your readers. You need to start thinking about that now. Today.
I mean, it would be nice if you thought about it ten years ago.
But if you didn’t, then today is next best.
I wrote about why you need an email list and also the two things you need to get started. In case you missed those posts, here they are:
Once you’re convinced you need an email list and you’re set up to start building one, the next question is how to find readers who want to give you permission to connect with them.
Because what we’re talking about is permission marketing. It’s showing up in front of people who have asked you to be there. Not spamming unsuspecting folks who probably will never open one of your emails anyway.
Email marketing has changed in the last few years. A lot. Remember when people used to eagerly open their emails? That doesn’t happen so much anymore. So even a well curated email list full of people who asked to be there and actually want the information will have what feels like a dismally low open rate.
If half of the people on your list actually open your email, you’re absolutely killing it. Average is closer to 20 or 25 percent.
But as you work on your email list, as you connect with your readers, you’ll notice something happen. You’ll have a subset of readers who always open. Who always click your links. Whose names you see come up again and again in comments on your posts.
Those are your true fans. And when that starts to happen, it’s so exciting.
But you have to get started with your list building if you want to connect with them.
Today, I’m going to share a few relatively easy, obvious ways to start adding folks to your email list.
Ask people who already like you.
Obviously, right? Start with the low hanging fruit.
Text your friends. Let them know that you’ve started writing about (your topic) and you thought they might be interested. Ask if they’d like to join your list.
If they say yes, send them a link to a sign up form. (This post shows you how to do that.)
Post on your social media feeds. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram — where ever you already connect with people.
Add a simple call to action to your posts.
Write a short bio to add to the bottom of all of your posts — here on Medium, on your own blog, or where ever you write. Add a line that asks folks to follow you to stay in touch.
I mean, eventually you want something more effective than “let’s stay in touch,” and in a minute I’m going to show you how to do that. But for now, even that simple line will get your ball rolling.
Shannon Ashley uses something very similar and has built her email list to 600 in just a couple of months.
Don’t be afraid to ask people to do what you’d like them to do. In this case, join your email list so that you can stay in touch with them.
Come up with one high-value, easy-to-digest thing to send in exchange for an email.
When you’re ready for something a little more sophisticated (and effective) than “let’s stay in touch,” it’s time to create something to give your new followers.
Your thing should be something that your readers can use right away. Something that’s a no-brainer — like getting ketchup with your fries. Something that won’t make readers feel like they’re committing to a huge amount of time or effort.
When I first started doing this, I tried to use an eight-week novel-plotting course as my give away. It didn’t work. It was too big of an undertaking for people who don’t know me.
So I pulled out the very first exercise. It’s my favorite anyway. Thousands — tens of thousands — of people have joined my email list in order to get that exercise.
In my bio at the bottom of my email posts, I give away a secret weapon.
That’s it. One simple exercise. One tool. I’ve used the two of them for three years and they are still effective.
Occasionally, I’ll come up with something that ties directly into a specific post. For instance, maybe you’d be interested in signing up for a free seven-lesson anti-blogging for creatives class — since you’re clearly interested in connecting with readers.
Or I might have a printable or some other sort of tool that I think some readers might find interesting.
WARNING
It’s so tempting, as a fiction writer, to offer a free short story or a chapter of your novel as your opt-in.
Unless you already have a following, that’s unlikely to work very well.
Ask yourself when the last time was that you gave up your email address in exchange for a short story from a writer you don’t already love. (Or even one you already love. Be honest!)
You should be writing (blogging) about something other than your own fiction writing. No one wants to hear all about your process. I know that’s harsh, but it’s true. Your opt-in needs to tie into that.
A short story is a good opt-in to put at the back of a novel. It’s not a great idea for the bottom of a blog post. You’d do better with “let’s stay in touch” because at least that promises more of the kind of post your reader just read — and doesn’t obligate them to read your short story.
If you remember that your reader is the most important part of this whole equation, you’ll do fine. | https://medium.com/the-write-brain/three-ways-to-start-building-your-email-list-5dca9b584ecb | ['Shaunta Grimes'] | 2019-04-19 18:42:31.908000+00:00 | ['Email', 'Work', 'Writing', 'Marketing', 'Success'] | Title Three Ways Start Building Email ListContent Writers need email list can’t state plainly writer need way connect reader need start thinking Today mean would nice thought ten year ago didn’t today next best wrote need email list also two thing need get started case missed post you’re convinced need email list you’re set start building one next question find reader want give permission connect we’re talking permission marketing It’s showing front people asked spamming unsuspecting folk probably never open one email anyway Email marketing changed last year lot Remember people used eagerly open email doesn’t happen much anymore even well curated email list full people asked actually want information feel like dismally low open rate half people list actually open email you’re absolutely killing Average closer 20 25 percent work email list connect reader you’ll notice something happen You’ll subset reader always open always click link Whose name see come comment post true fan start happen it’s exciting get started list building want connect Today I’m going share relatively easy obvious way start adding folk email list Ask people already like Obviously right Start low hanging fruit Text friend Let know you’ve started writing topic thought might interested Ask they’d like join list say yes send link sign form post show Post social medium feed Facebook Twitter Instagram — ever already connect people Add simple call action post Write short bio add bottom post — Medium blog ever write Add line asks folk follow stay touch mean eventually want something effective “let’s stay touch” minute I’m going show even simple line get ball rolling Shannon Ashley us something similar built email list 600 couple month Don’t afraid ask people you’d like case join email list stay touch Come one highvalue easytodigest thing send exchange email you’re ready something little sophisticated effective “let’s stay touch” it’s time create something give new follower thing something reader use right away Something that’s nobrainer — like getting ketchup fry Something won’t make reader feel like they’re committing huge amount time effort first started tried use eightweek novelplotting course give away didn’t work big undertaking people don’t know pulled first exercise It’s favorite anyway Thousands — ten thousand — people joined email list order get exercise bio bottom email post give away secret weapon That’s One simple exercise One tool I’ve used two three year still effective Occasionally I’ll come something tie directly specific post instance maybe you’d interested signing free sevenlesson antiblogging creatives class — since you’re clearly interested connecting reader might printable sort tool think reader might find interesting WARNING It’s tempting fiction writer offer free short story chapter novel optin Unless already following that’s unlikely work well Ask last time gave email address exchange short story writer don’t already love even one already love honest writing blogging something fiction writing one want hear process know that’s harsh it’s true optin need tie short story good optin put back novel It’s great idea bottom blog post You’d better “let’s stay touch” least promise kind post reader read — doesn’t obligate read short story remember reader important part whole equation you’ll fineTags Email Work Writing Marketing Success |
2,742 | Growth Hacking Workflow: 5 Steps to Go from Cold to Warm Emails | In the past few months, as a Growth Hacker at NUMA Bengaluru and Co-founder of The Young Thinker, I’ve been experimenting with cold emailing. I’m telling you, emailing is still one of the most effective way to reach out and leverage a community. I developed a 5-step process to go from cold to warm emails:
1) Get targeted email lists
Once you proficiently understand who your target audience is, you need to reach out to them in order to demonstrate how you can solve their problem. Emailing is still one of the best ways to do it, and here is how you can build that email list:
Hunter on Linkedin
By downloading the hunter chrome plugin, you will be able to get emails directly from Linkedin profiles. Let’s say you are targeting every CEO in Bangalore: start by searching for your preferences and grab every email you need using the hunter plugin. This plugin provides you with 150 email addresses for free per month.
Serp Digger to scrap the web
This tool is my favorite. You will be able to extract emails from Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and almost every website. No need to code — it’s simple and fast.
Let’s take you through the process of scrapping Instagram to get entrepreneur’s emails in Bangalore:
1) Start your free trial on Serp Digger
2) Download Serp Digger plugin
3) Go on Google Custom Search Engine
4) Add a new search engine and copy paste http://instagram.com
5) Once created, click on a public URL to get the URL of your new search engine
6) Launch Serp Digger plugin on this new page and target your audience
Then download your email list and copy-paste it onto a google spreadsheet.
2) Verify your email list
Now that you have a huge email list of potential leads, you will probably be impatient to contact them. Wait though, we are not sure that all these emails are clean. You need to check if each of them are deliverable to, to avoid bounces. Indeed if your bounce rate is high, your email reputation will decrease and your chances to land in a spam box increase.
Neverbounce to check and clean your email list
Neverbounce is a great tool to verify and clean your email list. They will allow you to analyse your email list for free and give you an estimated bounce rate. You can then clean it by paying a fee depending on the number of emails you have.
3) Build emails, which convert
Now you that you have a clean email list, it’s time to write the content of your email. Here are my 6 steps to build a mail that converts:
Personalize your emails as much as you can. Start with who you are, show your target that you are not a bot. Display the credibility of your company. Explain the purpose of the email. Provide a Call to Action. It should be one link, be single minded. Offer to answer any doubts (show that you are available).
1)Hello <<First Name>>,
2)My name is Pierre, I am “role” at “Company name”. 3)“Company name” is an international company with 10+ years of experiences in… 4)We have built a product which allow users to….I invite you to check it through a free trial, I truly believe that you could benefit from it:
5)Start a free trial : “Link tracked”
6)If you have any questions, let me know, I will answer ASAP :).
Kind regards,
Pierre
If you are not confident about the target, change the purpose and ask for recommendations:
Instead of: I invite you to check it through a free trial, I truly believe that you could benefit from it.
Use: I am contacting you, because I think you might know someone in your network who could find a real value in this product and might benefit from it.
4) Send your emails to the main box
While it’s not hard to send emails today, it’s quite another thing to make sure people receive them in their main inbox.
Yet Another Mail Merge to reach the main inbox
Go back to your spreadsheet, where you copied and pasted your email list. Click on Add-ons and add YAMM for free. This tool connects your email list to your gmail account. You simply have to draft your email in gmail, as I showed you above, and YAMM will find it in order to send to your list.
Furthermore, YAMM allows you to personalize your emails by naming each column in your spreadsheet. For example: Column A is “First Name”, if you put <<First Name>> on your draft, every email will be personalized with the first name (row by row).
You can send 400 emails per day for free or 1500 emails per day, if you upgrade your plan and have a GSuite account.
If you are facing troubles setting up your Gsuit account with YAMM, use CheckMX to see how to fix it.
5) Convert your leads
Some of these cold leads will open your email and a part of them will even click on your unique link. It should drive them to a Landing page optimized to convert them (I wrote an article about Landing Page Optimizaiton here). Provide them with enough value, thus they would want to subscribe with the help of a powerful Call to Action. Make it clear, make it simple: LESS IS MORE.
Convertkit to convert your leads
Convertkit helps with creating a landing page or just the form that allows your visitors to subscribe. You’ll be able to personalize it as well as receive a data report.
When you get a new subscriber, you can then enrol him in a sequence to send a drip email campaign — using automation processes. Finally, you can build a referral process to develop your acquisitions faster.
Here is the workflow you should look for:
1st email: Free value (Instant value for what he subscribed)
2nd email: Free value (tips, pdf, ebook, articles…)
3rd email: Soft sales (Call to Action: Discover the product)
4th email: Free value (tips, pdf, ebook, articles…)
5th email: Hard sales (Call to Action: Buy the product)
6th email: Follow-up (Feedback if they bought, discount if they didn’t)
Sending cold emails is not spamming. Sending cold emails to someone who doesn’t care about your offer is. The warm up process will start at the moment you show the right product, to the right people, with the right content. As soon as they will click and subscribe to your drip email campaign, 50% of the work is done. Then you’ll need to show them real value for free to build trust and position your company as the best solution to solve their problem. | https://medium.com/nookspot/growth-hacking-workflow-5-steps-to-go-from-cold-to-warm-emails-b1bdd7074234 | ['Pierre Guilbaud'] | 2018-10-02 09:32:29.469000+00:00 | ['Email Marketing', 'Startup', 'Digital Marketing', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Growth Hacking'] | Title Growth Hacking Workflow 5 Steps Go Cold Warm EmailsContent past month Growth Hacker NUMA Bengaluru Cofounder Young Thinker I’ve experimenting cold emailing I’m telling emailing still one effective way reach leverage community developed 5step process go cold warm email 1 Get targeted email list proficiently understand target audience need reach order demonstrate solve problem Emailing still one best way build email list Hunter Linkedin downloading hunter chrome plugin able get email directly Linkedin profile Let’s say targeting every CEO Bangalore start searching preference grab every email need using hunter plugin plugin provides 150 email address free per month Serp Digger scrap web tool favorite able extract email Instagram Pinterest Facebook almost every website need code — it’s simple fast Let’s take process scrapping Instagram get entrepreneur’s email Bangalore 1 Start free trial Serp Digger 2 Download Serp Digger plugin 3 Go Google Custom Search Engine 4 Add new search engine copy paste httpinstagramcom 5 created click public URL get URL new search engine 6 Launch Serp Digger plugin new page target audience download email list copypaste onto google spreadsheet 2 Verify email list huge email list potential lead probably impatient contact Wait though sure email clean need check deliverable avoid bounce Indeed bounce rate high email reputation decrease chance land spam box increase Neverbounce check clean email list Neverbounce great tool verify clean email list allow analyse email list free give estimated bounce rate clean paying fee depending number email 3 Build email convert clean email list it’s time write content email 6 step build mail convert Personalize email much Start show target bot Display credibility company Explain purpose email Provide Call Action one link single minded Offer answer doubt show available 1Hello First Name 2My name Pierre “role” “Company name” 3“Company name” international company 10 year experience in… 4We built product allow user to…I invite check free trial truly believe could benefit 5Start free trial “Link tracked” 6If question let know answer ASAP Kind regard Pierre confident target change purpose ask recommendation Instead invite check free trial truly believe could benefit Use contacting think might know someone network could find real value product might benefit 4 Send email main box it’s hard send email today it’s quite another thing make sure people receive main inbox Yet Another Mail Merge reach main inbox Go back spreadsheet copied pasted email list Click Addons add YAMM free tool connects email list gmail account simply draft email gmail showed YAMM find order send list Furthermore YAMM allows personalize email naming column spreadsheet example Column “First Name” put First Name draft every email personalized first name row row send 400 email per day free 1500 email per day upgrade plan GSuite account facing trouble setting Gsuit account YAMM use CheckMX see fix 5 Convert lead cold lead open email part even click unique link drive Landing page optimized convert wrote article Landing Page Optimizaiton Provide enough value thus would want subscribe help powerful Call Action Make clear make simple LESS Convertkit convert lead Convertkit help creating landing page form allows visitor subscribe You’ll able personalize well receive data report get new subscriber enrol sequence send drip email campaign — using automation process Finally build referral process develop acquisition faster workflow look 1st email Free value Instant value subscribed 2nd email Free value tip pdf ebook articles… 3rd email Soft sale Call Action Discover product 4th email Free value tip pdf ebook articles… 5th email Hard sale Call Action Buy product 6th email Followup Feedback bought discount didn’t Sending cold email spamming Sending cold email someone doesn’t care offer warm process start moment show right product right people right content soon click subscribe drip email campaign 50 work done you’ll need show real value free build trust position company best solution solve problemTags Email Marketing Startup Digital Marketing Entrepreneurship Growth Hacking |
2,743 | Depression Explained | Keep climbing: the view from the top is always worth the effort. Photo by Samantha Sophia on Unsplash
What to do about depression
As I write this, I’m aware that everyone’s circumstances and means are different. So while some people may be able to afford private therapy or even inpatient healthcare (and I’m one of these people), these are by no means an option for everyone. But happily (!) in my experience the most effective remedies for depression are affordable or even free. Here they are:
1) Hang tight
All of the books, studies and doctors agree: depression does not last forever. When you’re in it, it feels like there’s no end in sight — no matter how many people try to reassure you otherwise. But once you’re out of it, the experience gradually recedes into a distant nightmare. It takes immense personal strength to find the will to keep pushing through it, day by day. But like climbing any strenuous mountain, the view from the top is worth the effort. You’ve just got to keep focusing on putting one step in front of the other. The world will keep on turning and everything will be waiting for you to rebuild on the other side, when you’re ready. I know all this because I’ve been there, many times.
2) Find some sort of purpose
If you’re unable to carry out your normal work, find something you can do — and make yourself do it. You will feel better for it. I was lucky because I found staying at home unbearable anyway — some people can’t bear to get out of bed, but it’s worth it. The best thing I found to do was volunteering in a charity shop / thrift store, which are busy during the day so offer contact with people, but where the tasks are sufficiently menial, and the atmosphere positive (this last bit is important). You could also do a short course in something you’ve not done before that doesn’t require cognitive ability (eg pottery).
3) Force yourself to exercise
Exercise produces endorphins, which make you feel good: it’s as simple as that. Unfortunately, exercise may be one of the last things you feel like doing if you’re depressed. So it’s just another one of those things you need to force yourself to do, even if it’s just a walk (preferably somewhere green). But the best thing you can do is get your heart rate going, as regularly as possible — you’ll notice the difference immediately.
4) Get therapy if possible
But at the right time and with the right person. They say that therapy like CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) is less effective when you’re in a full-blown depressive episode — but even then it’s still good to have the supportive ear of a therapist you connect with and respect. It’s particularly helpful when you’re recovering and looking to make changes to prevent depression happening again. If you can’t afford private therapy, see if there’s any online or free therapy you can do (eg through the NHS in the UK, or a charity).
5) Improve your sleep
Bedtime was my favourite time when I was depressed — the chance for some respite and escape from the world for a few hours. But sleep disturbance is a key feature of depressive episodes, so do everything you can to help aid it. I listened to sleep hypnosis and meditations on youtube to get off to sleep and found them comforting and helpful.
6) Consider medication
This is a difficult one. I’ve taken many different antidepressants over the past few years — enough to strongly recommend proceeding with caution. They can be very effective (after starting on one particular drug, I felt almost fully better within three days) but also dangerous (I believe that same drug tipped me into a manic episode a few months later). Other side-effects are common and grim, including the inability to go to the toilet, sexual dysfunction and much else besides. It’s a personal choice — one which is easy to make when you’re feeling desperate in depression, and one which can help give you a boost out of it. But it’s not a solution to be pursued in isolation of making the other changes listed here. And if you do take medication, make sure you’re monitored and supervised by a doctor, and taper off slowly when you want to stop.
7) Look after your gut
It’s recently come to light that gut health and mental health are closely linked. So if you are feeling depressed, look into probiotics, glutamine or other health supplements that may make a big difference in helping you to feel better.
8) Cling on to whatever — and whoever — makes you feel good
Wherever you find enjoyment when you’re depressed, pursue and savour it. Spend time with friends and family who love you without judgement. They will carry you through this. Sit in companionable silence watching escapist films. Don’t beat yourself up about eating chocolate or smoking cigarettes. In my view, it’s such a miserable time you deserve any precious small relief! | https://medium.com/invisible-illness/depression-explained-f2b177c740a4 | ['Claire Leveson'] | 2019-05-31 15:38:40.240000+00:00 | ['Depression', 'Life Lessons', 'Mental Health', 'Mental Illness', 'Psychology'] | Title Depression ExplainedContent Keep climbing view top always worth effort Photo Samantha Sophia Unsplash depression write I’m aware everyone’s circumstance mean different people may able afford private therapy even inpatient healthcare I’m one people mean option everyone happily experience effective remedy depression affordable even free 1 Hang tight book study doctor agree depression last forever you’re feel like there’s end sight — matter many people try reassure otherwise you’re experience gradually recedes distant nightmare take immense personal strength find keep pushing day day like climbing strenuous mountain view top worth effort You’ve got keep focusing putting one step front world keep turning everything waiting rebuild side you’re ready know I’ve many time 2 Find sort purpose you’re unable carry normal work find something — make feel better lucky found staying home unbearable anyway — people can’t bear get bed it’s worth best thing found volunteering charity shop thrift store busy day offer contact people task sufficiently menial atmosphere positive last bit important could also short course something you’ve done doesn’t require cognitive ability eg pottery 3 Force exercise Exercise produce endorphin make feel good it’s simple Unfortunately exercise may one last thing feel like you’re depressed it’s another one thing need force even it’s walk preferably somewhere green best thing get heart rate going regularly possible — you’ll notice difference immediately 4 Get therapy possible right time right person say therapy like CBT cognitive behavioural therapy le effective you’re fullblown depressive episode — even it’s still good supportive ear therapist connect respect It’s particularly helpful you’re recovering looking make change prevent depression happening can’t afford private therapy see there’s online free therapy eg NHS UK charity 5 Improve sleep Bedtime favourite time depressed — chance respite escape world hour sleep disturbance key feature depressive episode everything help aid listened sleep hypnosis meditation youtube get sleep found comforting helpful 6 Consider medication difficult one I’ve taken many different antidepressant past year — enough strongly recommend proceeding caution effective starting one particular drug felt almost fully better within three day also dangerous believe drug tipped manic episode month later sideeffects common grim including inability go toilet sexual dysfunction much else besides It’s personal choice — one easy make you’re feeling desperate depression one help give boost it’s solution pursued isolation making change listed take medication make sure you’re monitored supervised doctor taper slowly want stop 7 Look gut It’s recently come light gut health mental health closely linked feeling depressed look probiotic glutamine health supplement may make big difference helping feel better 8 Cling whatever — whoever — make feel good Wherever find enjoyment you’re depressed pursue savour Spend time friend family love without judgement carry Sit companionable silence watching escapist film Don’t beat eating chocolate smoking cigarette view it’s miserable time deserve precious small reliefTags Depression Life Lessons Mental Health Mental Illness Psychology |
2,744 | Importance Of Containers and Virtualization in Cloud Computing | We will now talk about virtualization and containers, which have become a very important topic in the software engineering field, primarily because there’s a lot of focus on it when it comes to cloud computing.
But when these ideas came from?
Initially, what used to happen is when you used to write code, you would have a DevOps steam or finance steam, which would ask you which box do you want to buy for this code?
Capacity Planning
So you would do something called capacity planning, which is basically a bunch of guesses. So you make a bunch of guesses and you tell that this is the amount of computing I need, this is the kind of memory I’ll be required for this application. I’ll be needing this much storage. Finally, you go to the shop and you buy a computer.
Now, this is an investment, of course, you’re buying a computer. If you buy a small computer, the problem is what if your business scales up? So you went to the shop, you bought the computer, you made all that time and effort in investment and then what? Your business scaled up and you need to do this all over again. So what do you want to do is you don’t want to buy a small computer because that investment doesn’t make sense. You want to buy a large computer or a reasonably safe computer so that you don’t need to do this again and again. But the problem with this is that the initial hardware investment is very large. If you wanted a horizontal scale just on the basis of hardware, you would need to buy as many computers as possible.
Better Approach
So one of the approaches that organizations took was to let their employees use that single computer.
But if you have multiple people using the same resource then, there’s going to be some contention. So you want to isolate resource usage as much as possible.
The question was, can we do this for applications?
Working Module
Now, you have a program that requires a number of resources, which are usually memory, IO, processing, and disk. So that’s how you can think of your computer also. It’s a bunch of these four resources which can be used for running your program. Obviously, the more programs you have, the more resources you need, but you also want to do some sort of boundary management, which means that A does not interfere with B’s memory and C doesn’t interfere with A’s IO. And that responsibility is going to be taken up by the operating system. So now the operating system is the sole manager of these resources. When you write a program, you talk to the operating system saying that through your interface, I would like to book X amount of memory, Y amount of IO, and so on.
So you’ve seen the diagram, that this program over there with the interface, is picking up some of the space in terms of resources. Similarly, you can have multiple programs that are going to be taking up slices of the resources that the operating system can provide and the remaining is going to be unused.
The problem with this is that you can still have the same problems with shared compute, where, if the memory runs out because let’s say yellow takes up all the memory, then everyone else is upset.
Virtual Machines
What we would prefer to have is something like a very strong boundary, which is provided by something called virtual machines. And this concept is super interesting because the Virtual machine is like an operating system in itself. So it’s an operating system running on top of an operating system.
Technically, you can have the Blue box in the diagram as a hypervisor, but let’s assume that it’s an operating system and you’re running this on top of it. So it’s like the matrix effect. The real world is being hidden from you and you can interact with this fake world that you have without concerning yourself with what other programs are running on the same hardware. You’re now mainly concerned with the virtual machine that you have been assigned, which has been given a set of resources. This concept makes a new business model possible, which is called cloud computing.
Pros Of Virtual Machines
The basic idea is huge companies like Amazon and Google have a lot of hardware laying about what they can do is take all of the spare hardware and rent it out to small businesses. For example, InterviewReady. I can go to Google or Amazon and say that “Hey, please run my site.” I’m going to pay you some rent money, but I’m not going to be making that big investment of maintenance and upfront cost of buying a computer like where I am going to place it. So that is the rent cost of placing the computer, of maintaining that computer is taken care of.
I’m going to pay you some rent money, but I’m not going to be making that big investment of maintenance and upfront cost of buying a computer like where I am going to place it. So that is the rent cost of placing the computer, of maintaining that computer is taken care of. The other good thing is that my code doesn’t need to be platform dependent. I can think of a Windows computer and run Linux on top of it. So I have a 64 GB Windows computer, I can run let’s say, four or five Linux computers on top of it and my code doesn’t need to know that deep down there are windows running.
The third thing is that this is very flexible, the provisioning of these resources is quite dynamic. All I need to do is shut down my Virtual machine and restart a new machine. I don’t need to go to the shop and buy a different computer.
Amongst these three, I think platform independence is probably the game-changer here because if you remember Java when it came as a language so many people adopted because you no longer had to take OS considerations, you could push that onto the off steam. You just needed the .class file and you could run the program on any operating system.
Cons Of Virtual Machines
So this was a big deal because people could just go to these cloud providers and ask them for a virtual machine and they would get it very cheap. But one of the problems with the virtual machine is that when you’re running a program, you don’t want to start an entire virtual machine. It’s like booting up your computer. It takes some time. It takes a few seconds. And then the idea came up that, hey, you just need processing power, memory, disk, IO these four sources.
Containers
Taking all this into consideration, there came something like a lightweight Oses. They were a precursor for something called containers. Containers are effectively a form of virtualization. What they let you do is app isolation. You’re not going to be having all the features of OS isolation, you know virtual machines, but you don’t really need that. And the benefit is that you just need to tear down and build this lightweight container. So that’s faster when it comes to boom times. Interestingly, this process of building and tear down is called mounting and unmounting a desk.
Pros Of Container
In school, if you guys worked on CDs and stuff, we would mount and unmount disks that would be like a virtual machine, which would be allowing you to read the contents of the disk. Similarly, in a container, you actually specify the operating system and your disk requirements, and then the mounting process figures out the filesystem. Underlying file system, which you will be using through the interface of the container.
So technologies like Docker have done the same thing that Java did for programming languages. It’s a way for us to move all OS considerations back to the developer. The developer can actually specify that these are the resources they need. This is the operating system I’ll be running on. And you don’t need to worry about the hardware so much. Docker will handle that. It’ll create an interface that will be interacting with the hardware or the virtual machine, whatever be the case. It will create a container on top of it and let your programming interact with the interface. When it needs more memory, it just asks and gets it.
Cons Of Container
So the advantage of using containers is clear, but the major disadvantage that I can see is that containers also considered a little slow. There are also possible firewall issues that come up because you have containers, although it’s much lesser in containers than a virtual machine in my personal experience. Overhead of container management is also not worth it really for simple applications like places where you know that you don’t need containers as such. | https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/importance-of-containers-and-virtualization-in-cloud-computing-b0e312b78a77 | ['Vishnu Aravindhan'] | 2020-12-24 02:55:23.574000+00:00 | ['Virtualization', 'Software Engineering', 'Storage', 'Containers', 'Cloud Computing'] | Title Importance Containers Virtualization Cloud ComputingContent talk virtualization container become important topic software engineering field primarily there’s lot focus come cloud computing idea came Initially used happen used write code would DevOps steam finance steam would ask box want buy code Capacity Planning would something called capacity planning basically bunch guess make bunch guess tell amount computing need kind memory I’ll required application I’ll needing much storage Finally go shop buy computer investment course you’re buying computer buy small computer problem business scale went shop bought computer made time effort investment business scaled need want don’t want buy small computer investment doesn’t make sense want buy large computer reasonably safe computer don’t need problem initial hardware investment large wanted horizontal scale basis hardware would need buy many computer possible Better Approach one approach organization took let employee use single computer multiple people using resource there’s going contention want isolate resource usage much possible question application Working Module program requires number resource usually memory IO processing disk that’s think computer also It’s bunch four resource used running program Obviously program resource need also want sort boundary management mean interfere B’s memory C doesn’t interfere A’s IO responsibility going taken operating system operating system sole manager resource write program talk operating system saying interface would like book X amount memory amount IO you’ve seen diagram program interface picking space term resource Similarly multiple program going taking slice resource operating system provide remaining going unused problem still problem shared compute memory run let’s say yellow take memory everyone else upset Virtual Machines would prefer something like strong boundary provided something called virtual machine concept super interesting Virtual machine like operating system it’s operating system running top operating system Technically Blue box diagram hypervisor let’s assume it’s operating system you’re running top it’s like matrix effect real world hidden interact fake world without concerning program running hardware You’re mainly concerned virtual machine assigned given set resource concept make new business model possible called cloud computing Pros Virtual Machines basic idea huge company like Amazon Google lot hardware laying take spare hardware rent small business example InterviewReady go Google Amazon say “Hey please run site” I’m going pay rent money I’m going making big investment maintenance upfront cost buying computer like going place rent cost placing computer maintaining computer taken care I’m going pay rent money I’m going making big investment maintenance upfront cost buying computer like going place rent cost placing computer maintaining computer taken care good thing code doesn’t need platform dependent think Windows computer run Linux top 64 GB Windows computer run let’s say four five Linux computer top code doesn’t need know deep window running third thing flexible provisioning resource quite dynamic need shut Virtual machine restart new machine don’t need go shop buy different computer Amongst three think platform independence probably gamechanger remember Java came language many people adopted longer take OS consideration could push onto steam needed class file could run program operating system Cons Virtual Machines big deal people could go cloud provider ask virtual machine would get cheap one problem virtual machine you’re running program don’t want start entire virtual machine It’s like booting computer take time take second idea came hey need processing power memory disk IO four source Containers Taking consideration came something like lightweight Oses precursor something called container Containers effectively form virtualization let app isolation You’re going feature OS isolation know virtual machine don’t really need benefit need tear build lightweight container that’s faster come boom time Interestingly process building tear called mounting unmounting desk Pros Container school guy worked CDs stuff would mount unmount disk would like virtual machine would allowing read content disk Similarly container actually specify operating system disk requirement mounting process figure filesystem Underlying file system using interface container technology like Docker done thing Java programming language It’s way u move OS consideration back developer developer actually specify resource need operating system I’ll running don’t need worry hardware much Docker handle It’ll create interface interacting hardware virtual machine whatever case create container top let programming interact interface need memory asks get Cons Container advantage using container clear major disadvantage see container also considered little slow also possible firewall issue come container although it’s much lesser container virtual machine personal experience Overhead container management also worth really simple application like place know don’t need container suchTags Virtualization Software Engineering Storage Containers Cloud Computing |
2,745 | Reduce Your Footprint To Save Yourself, Not The Planet | Improve Your Future By Looking To The Past:
I could spout on and on about why reducing your carbon footprint will benefit you. But I’ll keep my reasoning simple:
Anytime you can apply an understanding of human evolution to your present-day life, you will be better off.
We evolved to live in harmony with nature. We evolved to mostly eat lower on the food chain — think fruits and vegetables, not factory-bred meat and sugar-laden processed foods. We evolved to be on our feet, not on a comfortable couch or an ergonomic desk chair. We evolved to spend time outside. We evolved to derive pleasure from the simple things in life — socializing with friends and loved ones, not scrolling on a screen to find edited pictures to like or things to buy that you don’t need and are probably ecologically harmful. We evolved to live life in the slow lane, not the fast lane. We evolved to live surrounded by plants and rocks, not concrete and asphalt.
Your ancestors lived very sustainable lifestyles. It was good for them, their neighbors, and the finite planet they lived on.
The more you can emulate your ancestors in this respect, the better off you’ll be. Maybe that goes against the gospel of progress and futurism, but I’m a bit skeptical that many of the technological advancements we’ve made lately as a civilization — cars, TVs, smartphones, etc — have truly heightened our sense of well-being.
Call me crazy, but sometimes I wish I could enter a time machine and go back 10,000 or 20,000 years. Sure, Stone Age people had hard, risky lives back in the day. They toiled to find clean food and water. They faced harsh conditions and were always vulnerable to violence and predation. Trouble awaited them with every step and every breath.
Nonetheless, I don’t think they were significantly worse off than we are today.
They didn’t pollute their air and poison their water with deadly chemicals. They didn’t stare at screens all day and play dangerous fake comparison games with each other. They didn’t ‘buy’ things they didn’t need. They didn’t eat processed crap. They didn’t lounge around and sit on their asses. They didn’t build concrete cages divorced from nature.
They lived life to the fullest.
And so can you.
You can choose to adopt many of their wise practices, but you can benefit from the cars, antibiotics, supermarkets, and smartphones we take for granted.
You can choose to embrace the aspects of modern life that are good for you and embrace the aspects of ancient life that are good for you.
You have the best deck of cards any generation has ever had. If you play your hand correctly, you can live a better life than anyone ever has.
And your lifestyle will become a smaller slice of the carbon footprint pie.
Spend some time thinking deeply about what aspects of modern life truly benefit you. Then, think about what the ancients did that you too can do to cultivate your well-being.
Take advantage of the pandemic to reconnect with nature and thereby reconnect with yourself. You may never have a better opportunity to bridge the gap between your authentic self and the inauthentic aspects of your self you present to the world. | https://medium.com/climate-conscious/reduce-your-footprint-to-save-yourself-not-the-planet-901944d2a928 | ['Danny Schleien'] | 2020-11-04 13:03:21.202000+00:00 | ['Evolution', 'Self', 'Environment', 'Carbon Footprint', 'Psychology'] | Title Reduce Footprint Save PlanetContent Improve Future Looking Past could spout reducing carbon footprint benefit I’ll keep reasoning simple Anytime apply understanding human evolution presentday life better evolved live harmony nature evolved mostly eat lower food chain — think fruit vegetable factorybred meat sugarladen processed food evolved foot comfortable couch ergonomic desk chair evolved spend time outside evolved derive pleasure simple thing life — socializing friend loved one scrolling screen find edited picture like thing buy don’t need probably ecologically harmful evolved live life slow lane fast lane evolved live surrounded plant rock concrete asphalt ancestor lived sustainable lifestyle good neighbor finite planet lived emulate ancestor respect better you’ll Maybe go gospel progress futurism I’m bit skeptical many technological advancement we’ve made lately civilization — car TVs smartphones etc — truly heightened sense wellbeing Call crazy sometimes wish could enter time machine go back 10000 20000 year Sure Stone Age people hard risky life back day toiled find clean food water faced harsh condition always vulnerable violence predation Trouble awaited every step every breath Nonetheless don’t think significantly worse today didn’t pollute air poison water deadly chemical didn’t stare screen day play dangerous fake comparison game didn’t ‘buy’ thing didn’t need didn’t eat processed crap didn’t lounge around sit ass didn’t build concrete cage divorced nature lived life fullest choose adopt many wise practice benefit car antibiotic supermarket smartphones take granted choose embrace aspect modern life good embrace aspect ancient life good best deck card generation ever play hand correctly live better life anyone ever lifestyle become smaller slice carbon footprint pie Spend time thinking deeply aspect modern life truly benefit think ancient cultivate wellbeing Take advantage pandemic reconnect nature thereby reconnect may never better opportunity bridge gap authentic self inauthentic aspect self present worldTags Evolution Self Environment Carbon Footprint Psychology |
2,746 | Finished | Haiku is a form of poetry usually inspired by nature, which embraces simplicity. We invite all poetry lovers to have a go at composing Haiku. Be warned. You could become addicted.
Follow | https://medium.com/house-of-haiku/finished-a85ec630947 | ['J.W. Parr'] | 2020-12-14 03:22:14.435000+00:00 | ['Poetry', 'Haiku', 'Books', 'Writing', 'Publishing'] | Title FinishedContent Haiku form poetry usually inspired nature embrace simplicity invite poetry lover go composing Haiku warned could become addicted FollowTags Poetry Haiku Books Writing Publishing |
2,747 | Void: Self-Discovery Oracle Card | The void is the womb that births you into a truer version of yourself. It’s the hole in your heart where the infinite lives.
The void is where you let go of the illusions that no longer serve you. Even though it feels like dying, the void is not where you die, it is where the lies you tell about yourself die.
The void is the tunnel you pass through as you become both your future self and your original self all at once.
Only that which serves you is allowed to through the tunnel. You must leave behind all that is toxic.
Consider your time in the void sacred, for the void is where you meet the infinite.
The void is where you meet yourself. | https://medium.com/just-jordin/void-self-discovery-oracle-card-d2bd31c2d247 | ['Jordin James'] | 2020-11-02 22:22:16.143000+00:00 | ['Self', 'Mental Health', 'Inspiration', 'Spirituality', 'Psychology'] | Title Void SelfDiscovery Oracle CardContent void womb birth truer version It’s hole heart infinite life void let go illusion longer serve Even though feel like dying void die lie tell die void tunnel pas become future self original self serf allowed tunnel must leave behind toxic Consider time void sacred void meet infinite void meet yourselfTags Self Mental Health Inspiration Spirituality Psychology |
2,748 | I’m Suffering From LOPS—Maybe You Are, Too | I’m Suffering From LOPS—Maybe You Are, Too
The emotions of the pandemic hit me late
I remember where I was the night my friend texted me to tell me that “this coronavirus thing” was serious. They said I should have two weeks’ worth of nonperishable groceries on hand. I was in Brooklyn, and I scheduled a food delivery on Amazon Prime from my phone — mostly beans, rice, and pasta — as I walked to a bar to watch one of the Democratic primary debates. That was back in late February—approximately 4,000 years ago.
The night I placed a laughably insufficient grocery order when I heard the pandemic might actually be serious. I still thought Warren might have a real shot at the nomination. How young we were!
In the beginning, it felt novel. Yes, trips to get essentials were harrowing affairs, but for a while, nights hunkered down at home, drinking wine on social Zoom calls with friends, felt like a giant experiment.
We were facing the unknown, but we were in it together. We sewed our own masks. We learned how to regrow scallions. We baked and baked and baked. Even the difficult parts of working remotely had a certain freshness; I carefully curated an aesthetically pleasing workspace in the nook by my kitchen window. For those of us privileged enough to experience the pandemic safely ensconced inside our apartments with plenty of groceries, this was fine.
Now we’re within arm’s reach of setting our clocks back and weathering the season of early darkness, and it’s clear that most of us aren’t okay. I think I’m suffering from LOPS: late-onset pandemic sadness. I am not a clinical psychologist, and this is not a diagnosis — it’s just an acronym I made up. But I think many of us are feeling it.
We burned through our reserves of “powering through” and “coming together” and “self-care” months ago. And sadness and loneliness and hopelessness have been leaking, drop by drop, into those empty tanks where our resolve used to be. | https://humanparts.medium.com/i-am-suffering-from-l-o-p-s-and-you-probably-are-too-8262834c6dc3 | ['Elizabeth Cauvel'] | 2020-10-20 16:03:20.294000+00:00 | ['Depression', 'Mental Health', 'This Is Us', 'Happiness', 'Coronavirus'] | Title I’m Suffering LOPS—Maybe TooContent I’m Suffering LOPS—Maybe emotion pandemic hit late remember night friend texted tell “this coronavirus thing” serious said two weeks’ worth nonperishable grocery hand Brooklyn scheduled food delivery Amazon Prime phone — mostly bean rice pasta — walked bar watch one Democratic primary debate back late February—approximately 4000 year ago night placed laughably insufficient grocery order heard pandemic might actually serious still thought Warren might real shot nomination young beginning felt novel Yes trip get essential harrowing affair night hunkered home drinking wine social Zoom call friend felt like giant experiment facing unknown together sewed mask learned regrow scallion baked baked baked Even difficult part working remotely certain freshness carefully curated aesthetically pleasing workspace nook kitchen window u privileged enough experience pandemic safely ensconced inside apartment plenty grocery fine we’re within arm’s reach setting clock back weathering season early darkness it’s clear u aren’t okay think I’m suffering LOPS lateonset pandemic sadness clinical psychologist diagnosis — it’s acronym made think many u feeling burned reserve “powering through” “coming together” “selfcare” month ago sadness loneliness hopelessness leaking drop drop empty tank resolve used beTags Depression Mental Health Us Happiness Coronavirus |
2,749 | The Future of Artificial Intelligence | Last month I got the opportunity to pick the brain of some of the T500 nominees during The Next Web Conference 2018. In this article, I’ll share their views on a frequently recurring presentation topic at the event: Artificial Intelligence (AI). Not only did I ask them about the opportunities they saw, but also about the — at least as important — challenges and risks they identified.
Daniëlle Tump (25)
What are your opinions on Elon Musk’s view that AI could become more intelligent than the humans that created it?
I’m in two minds. On the one hand, I do believe that AI can teach itself to become smarter than humans. But on the other hand, I think that if a human creates AI it can therefore control the limits in which it functions. For Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) I don’t see any problems because it requires humans to read brainwaves. BCI still has a long way to go, before being able to function in a more complex manner. At present, BCI can be used in the healthcare system, for example. It can help people move, eat or steer their wheelchair. But it can also be used for entertainment purposes: changing the song you’re listening to just by thinking about it, instead of typing it on your phone or computer.
Do you think there is sufficient knowledge about the brain to make optimum use out of BCI?
Understanding the brain is a huge challenge on itself, let alone understanding each individual brain. Each brain is different, depending on the person and their surroundings. But I don’t believe we should delay further development of BCI, just because we don’t understand everything yet. There are already several useful applications, despite not having a complete understanding of the brain and its capacities. That said, it will become necessary to develop policies when BCI is used in daily life. If used for a polygraph, for example. | https://medium.com/the-outlier/the-future-of-artificial-intelligence-6c0200387ace | ['Roy Klaasse Bos'] | 2020-05-05 10:34:25.979000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Study', 'Data Science'] | Title Future Artificial IntelligenceContent Last month got opportunity pick brain T500 nominee Next Web Conference 2018 article I’ll share view frequently recurring presentation topic event Artificial Intelligence AI ask opportunity saw also — least important — challenge risk identified Daniëlle Tump 25 opinion Elon Musk’s view AI could become intelligent human created I’m two mind one hand believe AI teach become smarter human hand think human creates AI therefore control limit function Brain Computer Interfaces BCI don’t see problem requires human read brainwave BCI still long way go able function complex manner present BCI used healthcare system example help people move eat steer wheelchair also used entertainment purpose changing song you’re listening thinking instead typing phone computer think sufficient knowledge brain make optimum use BCI Understanding brain huge challenge let alone understanding individual brain brain different depending person surroundings don’t believe delay development BCI don’t understand everything yet already several useful application despite complete understanding brain capacity said become necessary develop policy BCI used daily life used polygraph exampleTags Technology Artificial Intelligence Entrepreneurship Study Data Science |
2,750 | Learn To Adapt: 5 Ways To Boost Your Adaptability | 1. Get out of your comfort zone
What forced us to grow adaptable in the first place was the lack of a comfort zone. Predators would hunt us in our favorite spots, food wouldn’t just wait for us in the refrigerator, and every wrong move was often deadly.
But nowadays, we have monotonous lives, a stable income, a secure home, and no conflict. This is our comfort zone. We can live in it today and in 30 years. As long as nothing changes, we have all we essentially need.
You aren’t looking for a better job right now, though you’re not entirely happy with the one you got.
You aren’t looking for a new home, though you still hate that the living room gets quite cold in the winter and you have to let the heater run 24/7.
And that’s what is keeping you in the same spot. Comfort.
If you were to lose your job or home tomorrow, your first reaction would be shock. What to do now? You are unprepared.
The comfort zone is a psychological state in which one feels familiar, safe, at ease, and secure. You never change your life until you step out of your comfort zone; change begins at the end of your comfort zone.
― Roy T. Bennett
But if you stop accepting your current comfortable situation as given and constantly search for ways to challenge the status quo, you will grow more flexible and adaptable to change. Not only that, but you will learn to constantly improve your system.
Start small. Go to a different restaurant next time. One that you’ve never been to before. They don’t offer any food items you like? Then order something new.
The goal is to make changes — however small — to your routine. Routine is your enemy. If you get used to something, you need to try something else. Do not settle within the status quo.
2. Change the way you think
One problem with the above is the way we usually think about tasks and outcomes. “That’s the way we’ve always done it” is a common phrase. But is it really the most effective way to do it?
Quick thinkers are resourceful. And lazy. But not in a bad way. They are lazy as in, if there’s an easier or more efficient way to do something, they will find it.
The trick is to first move outside your comfort zone, and then start working on making your new zone a new comfort zone. Then rinse and repeat.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
— Albert Einstein
You need to change the way you think when deciding what to do and how to do it. Don’t take your current approach for the right way, the best way, or the true way. Look for flaws, find ways to improve it.
Almost every system in the world can still be improved upon today. And those who dare to try it are often the pioneers of success and change.
If you get used to change on a constant basis, then you will find it much easier to react to unforeseen changes. This will allow you to adapt quickly to new situations.
3. Accept failure and learn from it
How you deal with failure is a direct catalyst for your ability to adapt. Do you give up? Then you’re dead. Do you try again without making any changes to your approach? Then you’re still dead.
Do you analyze your mistakes and search for an alternative with better chances? That’s adapting. Learning from your mistakes and trying to improve on your past failure is adaption in progress.
Adapting is for a big part trial and error. Where there’s no trial, there won’t be any errors, but also no progress.
You don’t learn from successes; you don’t learn from awards; you don’t learn from celebrity; you only learn from wounds and scars and mistakes and failures. And that’s the truth.
— Jane Fonda
Growing a thick skin and being able to accept failure as a part of the process can help you with becoming more efficient.
You need to stay resilient when things don’t go as planned. Because when you want to test your newfound adaptability in a real situation, that’s exactly what you’ll need to do.
Many people have incredible problems with accepting failure. They try to ride a dead horse and refuse to move on. At the same time, they become hesitant to try new things, fearing it could only result in another failure.
Accept failure and siphon it for valuable experience and knowledge. Don’t get caught up with the fact something went wrong, but look at why it did. Then use that to do it better next time.
4. Know your values
As Sun Tzu once said: “If you know your enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.”
In order to achieve change — the battle — you need to know yourself as much as you need to know your enemy. What is important to you? What are you willing to do in order to get where you want to be?
If your will to remain the same is stronger than your will to change, then you will ultimately fail in your mission. Use your values as pivot points to set the machine in motion. It’s the leverage that will keep you motivated and engaged.
It’s very important for people to know themselves and understand what their value system is, because if you don’t know what your value system is, then you don’t know what risks are worth taking and which ones are worth avoiding.
— Ben Carson
To really get to know your values, you need to analyze yourself thoroughly. Your values are more than your basic sense of justice or common sense. Your values are both intrinsic and conditioned priorities you set in life every single day.
They define how ambitious you are, how resilient you are, and when you take risks, leaps of faith, and chances.
Mark Manson — the author of “the subtle art of not giving a f*ck” — wrote a great article to help you find your personal values, here on Medium.
Get to know your values. Because no matter how much change happens around you, your values remain the same. And they help you with taking the next step in a new situation.
5. Take a look at the bigger picture
When we’re caught up with a task, we tend to become self-centered, our vision limited. We don’t think ahead. But being able to see the entire forest is important if you want to adapt to a new situation efficiently.
You need to constantly remind yourself that there is always a bigger picture. Whether you are working as a creative for a client, or you are an author working on your next book. We always need to keep the entire picture in the frame.
If you’re working in a company, you’re working as a part of a big system. If you can understand and improve not only your own tasks but the system as a whole, you will be able to make bigger changes.
And if you understand how the entire system works, you can predict any changes that may affect you down the line. You can adapt before you will be forced to adapt.
You definitely have to think of the perception of things before you actually do certain things. It may not seem like it’s a big deal to you yourself, but there’s a bigger picture.
— Ezekiel Elliott
Being able to adapt means being able to understand the whole system. If something changes, but we don’t know why or how, it will catch us off-guard. And then we might stumble and fall.
Whenever a company or entrepreneur has written a success story, they did so by seeing the bigger picture. They did not only adapt to their immediate environment or situation, but to a whole ecosystem of change.
Learn to understand the entire system. Question how and why things are interweaved, and you will have a much easier time adapting to certain changes. | https://medium.com/the-innovation/learn-to-adapt-5-ways-to-boost-your-adaptability-666142da5315 | ['Kevin Buddaeus'] | 2020-11-11 22:02:57.422000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Psychology', 'Self Improvement', 'Life Lessons', 'Change'] | Title Learn Adapt 5 Ways Boost AdaptabilityContent 1 Get comfort zone forced u grow adaptable first place lack comfort zone Predators would hunt u favorite spot food wouldn’t wait u refrigerator every wrong move often deadly nowadays monotonous life stable income secure home conflict comfort zone live today 30 year long nothing change essentially need aren’t looking better job right though you’re entirely happy one got aren’t looking new home though still hate living room get quite cold winter let heater run 247 that’s keeping spot Comfort lose job home tomorrow first reaction would shock unprepared comfort zone psychological state one feel familiar safe ease secure never change life step comfort zone change begin end comfort zone ― Roy Bennett stop accepting current comfortable situation given constantly search way challenge status quo grow flexible adaptable change learn constantly improve system Start small Go different restaurant next time One you’ve never don’t offer food item like order something new goal make change — however small — routine Routine enemy get used something need try something else settle within status quo 2 Change way think One problem way usually think task outcome “That’s way we’ve always done it” common phrase really effective way Quick thinker resourceful lazy bad way lazy there’s easier efficient way something find trick first move outside comfort zone start working making new zone new comfort zone rinse repeat cannot solve problem thinking used created — Albert Einstein need change way think deciding Don’t take current approach right way best way true way Look flaw find way improve Almost every system world still improved upon today dare try often pioneer success change get used change constant basis find much easier react unforeseen change allow adapt quickly new situation 3 Accept failure learn deal failure direct catalyst ability adapt give you’re dead try without making change approach you’re still dead analyze mistake search alternative better chance That’s adapting Learning mistake trying improve past failure adaption progress Adapting big part trial error there’s trial won’t error also progress don’t learn success don’t learn award don’t learn celebrity learn wound scar mistake failure that’s truth — Jane Fonda Growing thick skin able accept failure part process help becoming efficient need stay resilient thing don’t go planned want test newfound adaptability real situation that’s exactly you’ll need Many people incredible problem accepting failure try ride dead horse refuse move time become hesitant try new thing fearing could result another failure Accept failure siphon valuable experience knowledge Don’t get caught fact something went wrong look use better next time 4 Know value Sun Tzu said “If know enemy know need fear result hundred battles” order achieve change — battle — need know much need know enemy important willing order get want remain stronger change ultimately fail mission Use value pivot point set machine motion It’s leverage keep motivated engaged It’s important people know understand value system don’t know value system don’t know risk worth taking one worth avoiding — Ben Carson really get know value need analyze thoroughly value basic sense justice common sense value intrinsic conditioned priority set life every single day define ambitious resilient take risk leap faith chance Mark Manson — author “the subtle art giving fck” — wrote great article help find personal value Medium Get know value matter much change happens around value remain help taking next step new situation 5 Take look bigger picture we’re caught task tend become selfcentered vision limited don’t think ahead able see entire forest important want adapt new situation efficiently need constantly remind always bigger picture Whether working creative client author working next book always need keep entire picture frame you’re working company you’re working part big system understand improve task system whole able make bigger change understand entire system work predict change may affect line adapt forced adapt definitely think perception thing actually certain thing may seem like it’s big deal there’s bigger picture — Ezekiel Elliott able adapt mean able understand whole system something change don’t know catch u offguard might stumble fall Whenever company entrepreneur written success story seeing bigger picture adapt immediate environment situation whole ecosystem change Learn understand entire system Question thing interweaved much easier time adapting certain changesTags Entrepreneurship Psychology Self Improvement Life Lessons Change |
2,751 | Digital Prototypes after a weekend? Yes, please! | The latest version of the Digital Prototyping Weekend took place at Holvi last Saturday and Sunday (13–14 October)
A team working on their prototype. Photo credit: Pedro Cunha
There were 8 amazing ideas, and if you missed what they were, here is a summary for you:
Teamify acknowledges the utter importance of having a good team in order to succeed and taking ideas further. With Teamify you would be able to find people that possess the skills that your team is lacking.
CryptoGallery is an app for art lovers that allows to buy art with cryptocurrency with swipe function to yay or nay your favorite art and that would be algorithm based and VR assisted.
Car Doctor tackles on the problem of car mechanics, what if your car were to be treated as a patient and its “illnesses” were to be recorded on a unique profile? Transparent information and no surprises in bills.
Talent Rocket focuses the attention on the shortage of tech professionals and offers an auction platform solution that helps mid and large companies to find and hire special tech talent.
Sharbel Dahlan facilitating the event. Photo credit: Pedro Cunha
OnGo Talk is an app that facilitates face to face conversations for travelers while they wait to continue their train or plane journey. Anything to alleviate the pain of waiting while traveling, right?
Chill at Work focuses on getting the most of those seemingly dead times during a business trip by allowing users to connect with local events and activities of their interest.
FloweRescue unites flower lovers and middle age flowers to avoid them going to the bin. How does it work? Florists offer their not-so-fresh flowers on an online platform, they find and lighten a new home. This environmentally friendly idea won the first place on the DPW due to its readiness and applicability. Good luck at Junction, you guys!
Winner teams. Photo credit: Pedro Cunha
Wolnut, a tool to help life and business coaches and their clients to achieve real transformation by closer tracking of progress and personal capability. So long procrastination and self-sabotage, hello goals! This idea is the winner of the second place with thumbs up for being a transferable concept.
Thanks to all for the hard work! Great ideas that we certainly hope to see materialized in the near future.
Besides Digital Prototyping Weekend, The Shortcut arranges a variety of other highly interesting events! Subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on Facebook to learn more. | https://medium.com/the-shortcut/digital-prototypes-after-a-weekend-yes-please-5bbf60441639 | ['Yesmith Sanchez'] | 2018-10-17 13:52:45.984000+00:00 | ['Hackathons', 'Startup', 'Event', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Prototyping'] | Title Digital Prototypes weekend Yes pleaseContent latest version Digital Prototyping Weekend took place Holvi last Saturday Sunday 13–14 October team working prototype Photo credit Pedro Cunha 8 amazing idea missed summary Teamify acknowledges utter importance good team order succeed taking idea Teamify would able find people posse skill team lacking CryptoGallery app art lover allows buy art cryptocurrency swipe function yay nay favorite art would algorithm based VR assisted Car Doctor tackle problem car mechanic car treated patient “illnesses” recorded unique profile Transparent information surprise bill Talent Rocket focus attention shortage tech professional offer auction platform solution help mid large company find hire special tech talent Sharbel Dahlan facilitating event Photo credit Pedro Cunha OnGo Talk app facilitates face face conversation traveler wait continue train plane journey Anything alleviate pain waiting traveling right Chill Work focus getting seemingly dead time business trip allowing user connect local event activity interest FloweRescue unites flower lover middle age flower avoid going bin work Florists offer notsofresh flower online platform find lighten new home environmentally friendly idea first place DPW due readiness applicability Good luck Junction guy Winner team Photo credit Pedro Cunha Wolnut tool help life business coach client achieve real transformation closer tracking progress personal capability long procrastination selfsabotage hello goal idea winner second place thumb transferable concept Thanks hard work Great idea certainly hope see materialized near future Besides Digital Prototyping Weekend Shortcut arranges variety highly interesting event Subscribe newsletter follow u Facebook learn moreTags Hackathons Startup Event Entrepreneurship Prototyping |
2,752 | What’s Really in the Way of Healing Your Traumas | What’s Really in the Way of Healing Your Traumas
Unlearn these harmful mindsets that keep you stuck
Photo: Camila Lorca/EyeEm/Getty Images
Picture this: For years, you’re working on yourself, doing all sorts of therapy, healing ceremonies, meditations, and other obscure practices, only to find yourself triggered by an unforeseen event and back in a rut.
You thought you figured out all your relationship issues and believed you were ready for The One, only to repeat the same patterns and end up frustrated and more self-critical than ever.
Then, on top of everything, your mind gives you unsolicited advice: I should know better by now.
When you believe that voice in your head, it’s easy to feel defeated and lose sight of the progress you’ve made in your healing journey. It’s frustrating, but you’re not alone.
Over the last seven years as an embodiment coach, I’ve worked with hundreds of clients. There are three main reasons that people stay stuck in their traumas — and how to become unstuck.
1. Let go of false expectations. There is no end goal.
Most people go through life working toward whatever they feel they need to have finally “made it” and “have it all together.” I’m sorry to tell you this, but you will never end up in a place where “it” is done. Every time you reach the end, you will uncover another layer of the onion. And peeling onions, as we know, will make us cry.
The first step of healing trauma is really about false expectations. We’re setting ourselves up for failure if we expect to never be triggered or fuck up ever again. The antidote for this is simply acceptance; accept that you will always be sensitive, or needy, or a little bit controlling, or immature, or whatever it is.
Welcome to the human experience! Practice acceptance and then watch what happens.
2. Stop playing the shame game.
If there is one thing that keeps trauma in your life, it’s shame. Shame is the voice that says “there is something wrong with me” or “I’m not good enough.”
Trauma is frozen energy stuck in your body. We can experience this energy as negative, paranoid, obsessive thinking. As fears and self-sabotaging narratives. As feelings of disempowerment, collapse, and de-motivation. Or as feelings of rigidity, perfectionism, and addiction.
These feelings are a manifestation of the disconnect from our core, and an identification with the frozen energy of trauma we have inside, and that may feel excruciatingly painful to us. It may, indeed, make us misinterpret our rather “innocent” symptoms and believe there is something wrong with us.
So what to do?
The key lies in the concept of “I.” When there is something fundamentally wrong with “me,” then I’m doomed for life. Because the flaw is fundamental to myself, nothing I could ever do would take me beyond the feeling of not being good enough and not belonging. That’s really a scary place to live from.
If, however, we change our perspective just a little bit, shift our focus slightly sideways, so to speak, and start perceiving our negative inner monologue as the symptoms of a wound that happened to an innocent child, a whole new dimension of feeling opens up. We can call it compassion.
Compassion allows for space between the observer and the experience. It allows us to question the ideas that our inner monologue sets forth as true: What if it’s not true that I am broken and unworthy? What if I’m okay exactly the way I am, warts and all?
It allows for regulating our fear response by breathing deeper. It allows for the courage to meet the frozen energy inside that so often feels like it is too big for us. Terrifying as it may be, when we don’t identify with that frozen energy, and instead find a resource in our acceptance and compassion for ourselves, we create space for that energy to unravel.
Which brings me to the third point:
3. Create internal safety.
Recently a client of mine asked me, “How do I know it’s safe to trust?”
The truth is you don’t know until you do. Overcoming the fear response doesn’t happen by waiting for the fear to subside before you can trust. It happens by becoming intimately familiar with the fear in your system, so you can start creating a healthy distance to it and make space for curiosity instead.
Start creating internal safety by honoring your feelings of unsafety.
The idea is that if you have always felt X and reacted with Y and the result was Z, maybe you can react differently to feeling X and see if there will be a different result.
This process of experiencing safety cannot be forced, however. That just puts pressure on yourself, and creates false expectations that lands you back in the cycle of shame.
Instead, start creating internal safety by honoring your feelings of unsafety.
It’s taken me years to acknowledge the fact that I am sensitive and that being in large groups of people overwhelms my nervous system. Only now am I starting to truly honor my need for my space when I’m in those environments, which involves saying “no” to certain interactions.
My internal narrative went from:
What’s wrong with me? Why am I feeling so insecure and small when I’m around those people? I need to force myself to be good enough by overgiving and overcaring.
to:
I honor my sensitivity. I know it’s okay to be vulnerable and not have it all together. What do I need right now? Do I need to be in nature, or ask for support?
I feel safe because I am in touch with myself.
This has been a slow process. There is no silver bullet for building trust. There is only the willingness to explore your assumptions, to experiment, and your ability to stay in connection with yourself.
Staying in connection with yourself becomes more potent when you can express it and share it with others. That’s the true test: Can you honor your truth in the face of the other?
When we do that, we are able to change the story of “I’m not good enough” into “I feel safe because I own all of me.” This reinforces that safety comes from within ourselves. | https://humanparts.medium.com/whats-really-in-the-way-of-healing-your-traumas-46f3012a297f | ['Kasia Patzelt'] | 2020-04-02 16:42:45.899000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Mental Health', 'Life Lesson', 'Personal Growth', 'Psychology'] | Title What’s Really Way Healing TraumasContent What’s Really Way Healing Traumas Unlearn harmful mindset keep stuck Photo Camila LorcaEyeEmGetty Images Picture year you’re working sort therapy healing ceremony meditation obscure practice find triggered unforeseen event back rut thought figured relationship issue believed ready One repeat pattern end frustrated selfcritical ever top everything mind give unsolicited advice know better believe voice head it’s easy feel defeated lose sight progress you’ve made healing journey It’s frustrating you’re alone last seven year embodiment coach I’ve worked hundred client three main reason people stay stuck trauma — become unstuck 1 Let go false expectation end goal people go life working toward whatever feel need finally “made it” “have together” I’m sorry tell never end place “it” done Every time reach end uncover another layer onion peeling onion know make u cry first step healing trauma really false expectation We’re setting failure expect never triggered fuck ever antidote simply acceptance accept always sensitive needy little bit controlling immature whatever Welcome human experience Practice acceptance watch happens 2 Stop playing shame game one thing keep trauma life it’s shame Shame voice say “there something wrong me” “I’m good enough” Trauma frozen energy stuck body experience energy negative paranoid obsessive thinking fear selfsabotaging narrative feeling disempowerment collapse demotivation feeling rigidity perfectionism addiction feeling manifestation disconnect core identification frozen energy trauma inside may feel excruciatingly painful u may indeed make u misinterpret rather “innocent” symptom believe something wrong u key lie concept “I” something fundamentally wrong “me” I’m doomed life flaw fundamental nothing could ever would take beyond feeling good enough belonging That’s really scary place live however change perspective little bit shift focus slightly sideways speak start perceiving negative inner monologue symptom wound happened innocent child whole new dimension feeling open call compassion Compassion allows space observer experience allows u question idea inner monologue set forth true it’s true broken unworthy I’m okay exactly way wart allows regulating fear response breathing deeper allows courage meet frozen energy inside often feel like big u Terrifying may don’t identify frozen energy instead find resource acceptance compassion create space energy unravel brings third point 3 Create internal safety Recently client mine asked “How know it’s safe trust” truth don’t know Overcoming fear response doesn’t happen waiting fear subside trust happens becoming intimately familiar fear system start creating healthy distance make space curiosity instead Start creating internal safety honoring feeling unsafety idea always felt X reacted result Z maybe react differently feeling X see different result process experiencing safety cannot forced however put pressure creates false expectation land back cycle shame Instead start creating internal safety honoring feeling unsafety It’s taken year acknowledge fact sensitive large group people overwhelms nervous system starting truly honor need space I’m environment involves saying “no” certain interaction internal narrative went What’s wrong feeling insecure small I’m around people need force good enough overgiving overcaring honor sensitivity know it’s okay vulnerable together need right need nature ask support feel safe touch slow process silver bullet building trust willingness explore assumption experiment ability stay connection Staying connection becomes potent express share others That’s true test honor truth face able change story “I’m good enough” “I feel safe me” reinforces safety come within ourselvesTags Self Improvement Mental Health Life Lesson Personal Growth Psychology |
2,753 | If You Want to Be a Succesful Writer, You Need to Try Copywriting | Like a whole bunch of people (and probably you, if you’re reading this!) I have always wanted to be a paid author, even since I was six and read my first work of fiction, The Magic Treehouse. But there was one small hiccup in my great plan: I thought I was bad at writing, and I didn’t know how to get better.
I was way too intimidated to try to write fiction, but I’d never been interested in writing non-fiction. So I quietly shelved my goals of seeing my name on a book someday and dreamed smaller, less ambitious dreams.
Then I ran across the concept of copywriting.
What is copywriting?
Have you ever read the product description of a bidet? Did you think, like me, that these spontaneously came into existence?
Guess what: someone actually has to sit down and write those product descriptions. Same with a big, big chunk of the text you come across online.
Copywriting means someone provides you with a brief — maybe a blog post, an ad, a product description — and you write it for them. You try to make it engaging, descriptive, filled with keywords so it will rank well on Google. You try to fit it in with the brand’s style.
It’s an exercise in writing to a description. It’s challenging, it’s fun, and it’s rewarding.
Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash
Not only financially rewarding but to me, copywriting was a way to gain validation that I was good at writing. It was my first paid writing gig before I’d ever blogged or heard about Medium.
By spending maybe ten minutes a week writing a little 200 to 500-word blurb about a product, service, or experience, I funded most my pub trips.
The math goes like this: I got paid around 1.5 pennies per word, I could write about 100 words per minute, and I usually researched the topic for about five minutes beforehand. If you do the math, this works out to around $7.50 every ten minutes, or $45/hour.
I was a Masters student at the time, so the ability to work at a flexible rate for that kind of pay was tremendous for me. It wasn’t that much but it meant I could treat myself a bit more often than I would otherwise.
And it taught me how to write to a deadline, how to write about anything (including, but not limited to, descriptions of toilets) and how to write well and quickly.
Was I qualified?
No. I was doing a Masters in bird conservation, so I had no history of writing copy, nor did I have any qualifications for writing. All I had was some free time and a liking for words.
Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash
The most important thing though, more than the money, was the idea that someone would pay me to write. At that point, to me, that was the ultimate form of validation for my writing. And it was awesome.
Did that matter?
Even without qualifications, the process was very straightforward. I applied on a website called copify.com by writing a short, 200-word copy example about a vacation spot. A week later, I was approved to write on their site.
I gained access to a list of around 50 briefs submitted by clients. Each had a title, description, and word count. All I had to do was click on one, see if it was something I felt I could write about, and submit my draft.
What kinds of things did I write about?
Personally, I wrote an awful lot of product descriptions for furniture stores. It was easy to hit the minimum word count and the work was fairly repetitive, so I could write similar paragraphs for various products.
However, occasionally I was more in the mood to write a longer, more interesting post. There were lots of options for that — some on health, some on travel, beauty and more.
My screenshot from copify.com.
There were so many options — it was rare I’d go on the site and not find anything to write about. And if I did, that just challenged me to broaden my horizons and write about something new. | https://zulie.medium.com/if-you-want-to-be-a-succesful-writer-you-need-to-try-copywriting-186cb497d047 | ['Zulie Rane'] | 2019-05-22 15:32:47.152000+00:00 | ['Entrepreneurship', 'Blogging', 'Freelancing', 'Copywriting', 'Writing'] | Title Want Succesful Writer Need Try CopywritingContent Like whole bunch people probably you’re reading always wanted paid author even since six read first work fiction Magic Treehouse one small hiccup great plan thought bad writing didn’t know get better way intimidated try write fiction I’d never interested writing nonfiction quietly shelved goal seeing name book someday dreamed smaller le ambitious dream ran across concept copywriting copywriting ever read product description bidet think like spontaneously came existence Guess someone actually sit write product description big big chunk text come across online Copywriting mean someone provides brief — maybe blog post ad product description — write try make engaging descriptive filled keywords rank well Google try fit brand’s style It’s exercise writing description It’s challenging it’s fun it’s rewarding Photo Kaitlyn Baker Unsplash financially rewarding copywriting way gain validation good writing first paid writing gig I’d ever blogged heard Medium spending maybe ten minute week writing little 200 500word blurb product service experience funded pub trip math go like got paid around 15 penny per word could write 100 word per minute usually researched topic five minute beforehand math work around 750 every ten minute 45hour Masters student time ability work flexible rate kind pay tremendous wasn’t much meant could treat bit often would otherwise taught write deadline write anything including limited description toilet write well quickly qualified Masters bird conservation history writing copy qualification writing free time liking word Photo rawpixel Unsplash important thing though money idea someone would pay write point ultimate form validation writing awesome matter Even without qualification process straightforward applied website called copifycom writing short 200word copy example vacation spot week later approved write site gained access list around 50 brief submitted client title description word count click one see something felt could write submit draft kind thing write Personally wrote awful lot product description furniture store easy hit minimum word count work fairly repetitive could write similar paragraph various product However occasionally mood write longer interesting post lot option — health travel beauty screenshot copifycom many option — rare I’d go site find anything write challenged broaden horizon write something newTags Entrepreneurship Blogging Freelancing Copywriting Writing |
2,754 | 5 Design Patterns every Software Engineer should know | When software engineers talk about Design Patterns, they usually talk about established and reusable constructs or architectures that address specific problems. For the most part, Design Patterns are defined independently of programming languages. If you are new to programming, you probably still don’t know, what I am talking about. Anyway, you probably used a Design Pattern at some point without knowing it. In the following, I introduce five Design Patterns that every Software Engineer should know about.
Who creates and who uses Design Patterns?
Well, everyone can. If we take a brief look into the history of Design Patterns, we will find out that it originates back to Christopher Alexander, an architect who wrote articles and books like “The Pattern of streets” or “A Pattern Language” in which he talks about actual architectural concepts, materials, and tools.
At the core […] is the idea people should design their homes, streets, and communities. This idea […] comes from the observation most of the wonderful places of the world were not made by architects, but by the people.
— Christopher Alexander et al., A Pattern Language, front bookflap
This is, in my opinion, a very fitting metaphor because everyone can define a Design Pattern even though this is usually done by more experienced developers. You would expect an experienced software architect to build a highly sophisticated Design Patterns; however, each and every developer is in a unique situation and dealing with problems that require tailor-made solutions. Not every problem has to be solved by a Design Pattern, but an experienced Software Engineer recognizes a good opportunity.
If you are relatively new to programming, you will probably not start to define Design Patterns after producing some “Hello Worlds”. It is more likely that you begin to gain experience through learning and “consuming” certain frameworks like Vue, Angular, or ASP. And while you do that you will probably learn about Design Patterns. When you climb up the technology proficiency ladder, you will learn even more until, at some point, you will no longer only consume technology frameworks and Design Patterns but also begin to create your own.
But enough with the introduction. Let’s get to my list of the five must-know Design Patterns for software engineers. | https://medium.com/neotiv-gmbh/5-design-patterns-every-software-engineer-should-know-470c8b6c0b54 | ['Martin Leuckert'] | 2020-11-30 15:36:48.323000+00:00 | ['Software Engineering', 'Clean Code', 'Software Architecture', 'Programming', 'Design Patterns'] | Title 5 Design Patterns every Software Engineer knowContent software engineer talk Design Patterns usually talk established reusable construct architecture address specific problem part Design Patterns defined independently programming language new programming probably still don’t know talking Anyway probably used Design Pattern point without knowing following introduce five Design Patterns every Software Engineer know creates us Design Patterns Well everyone take brief look history Design Patterns find originates back Christopher Alexander architect wrote article book like “The Pattern streets” “A Pattern Language” talk actual architectural concept material tool core … idea people design home street community idea … come observation wonderful place world made architect people — Christopher Alexander et al Pattern Language front bookflap opinion fitting metaphor everyone define Design Pattern even though usually done experienced developer would expect experienced software architect build highly sophisticated Design Patterns however every developer unique situation dealing problem require tailormade solution every problem solved Design Pattern experienced Software Engineer recognizes good opportunity relatively new programming probably start define Design Patterns producing “Hello Worlds” likely begin gain experience learning “consuming” certain framework like Vue Angular ASP probably learn Design Patterns climb technology proficiency ladder learn even point longer consume technology framework Design Patterns also begin create enough introduction Let’s get list five mustknow Design Patterns software engineersTags Software Engineering Clean Code Software Architecture Programming Design Patterns |
2,755 | 10 Ways to Avoid Bad Writing According To a New York Literary Agent | According to a New York literary agent, it only takes 5 pages to reject a book. Seems his taste is on point — his clients include Pulitzer Prize nominees, NYT best-selling authors and American Book Award winners.
Having spent 2 years reading manuscript submissions at an indie publisher, I can relate. So many people have a great story to tell — and so many of them tell it very badly. Having a good story and telling it well aren’t the same.
I saw an American Idol clip of JLo crying about sending someone home.
It’s hard, she sobbed. You feel like you’re killing their dreams.
That’s how I felt every time I read bad writing.
How do you tell them?
Because they think it’s good.
You know what the problem is, right?
Good writing is subjective…
Problem is, there’s no such thing as good writing. Good is subjective. I might love a book — you think it’s a dud. Taste is personal. And on top of preference and taste, no two people read the same book.
That’s why no one can teach good writing. College can’t. Writing classes can’t. Take as many classes as you want, they can’t teach you good writing because what makes writing good is entirely subjective.
All they can do is teach you not to write badly.
What trips up writers…
The subjective nature of “good writing” trips up writers. When an agent or a publisher (or a publication) rejects their work, they think it’s subjective. Well, “that” person didn’t like it. So they submit elsewhere.
Sometimes that is the case. Sometimes a piece of writing just isn’t a good fit, whether it’s for a publication or a publisher.
Other times, it’s bad writing, but no one wants to say that. No one wants to be JLo telling a singer they’re not good enough yet. So they use the boilerplate rejection and say it’s not a good fit.
You only need to read 5 pages to spot bad writing…
I read a book called The First Five Pages, written by New York literary agent, Noah Lukeman, who says he only needs to read 5 pages of a manuscript to know whether to reject it or not.
5 pages.
Think about it. You write an entire book.
All that work — rejected in 5 pages.
According to Lukeman, some of the most common reasons manuscripts get rejected are things I talk about over and over. Like:
— A weak opening
— Overuse of adjectives and adverbs
— Lack of progression (pace)
— Weak tropes and cliches
— Rambling lack of focus
When the book came out, the Editorial Director of Kirkus Reviews said it should be read by all novice writers.
The book doesn’t tell writers what to do.
It tells them what not to do.
That’s the key to good writing; avoiding the most glaring mistakes.
It’s not about “rules” for good writing.
There aren’t any rules for good writing. I’m not fond of rules to begin with, least of all in writing. There’s little more dreadful than formulaic writing.
Some of the best and most creative artists are the ones who break the rules mercilessly. They don’t just break them, they bend, twist and mutilate them until they are unrecognizable. That’s how art evolves. Writing included.
The best writing advice doesn’t tell you what to do.
It tells you what not to do.
10 Ways to Avoid Bad Writing
The most common advice people give is “write more” — which is horrible advice because if you’re making mistakes, you’re going to keep making the same mistakes. And the habits become more deeply entrenched.
Bad writing isn’t limited to using too many exclamation marks, run on sentences or grammatical errors. Often, bad writing boils down to lazy little habits that are easy to correct once you know them.
So here you go. 10 ways to avoid bad writing.
1. Show, don’t tell.
Writing is seeing. Don’t tell me he was disheveled. Tell me his shirt was half unbuttoned, his eyes were wild and there was blood above his right ear.
Don’t tell me she was sobbing hysterically, tell me there was mascara running down her face as she wiped tears, snot and lipstick across her sleeve.
And don’t tell me about the sleeve, it’s not important. Writers often describe too much. It minimizes the tears. If someone you loved was sobbing does what she’s wearing matter? Only if she’s crying about the clothing.
Only describe what you need to. Good writing starts in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.
Writing is seeing. You cannot paint with words if you don’t see in the first place. Good writing comes from good observation. | https://medium.com/the-partnered-pen/10-ways-to-avoid-bad-writing-according-to-a-new-york-literary-agent-b6e16f3c830f | ['Linda Caroll'] | 2020-01-18 07:14:19.515000+00:00 | ['Books', 'Writing', 'Reading', 'Advice', 'Inspiration'] | Title 10 Ways Avoid Bad Writing According New York Literary AgentContent According New York literary agent take 5 page reject book Seems taste point — client include Pulitzer Prize nominee NYT bestselling author American Book Award winner spent 2 year reading manuscript submission indie publisher relate many people great story tell — many tell badly good story telling well aren’t saw American Idol clip JLo cry sending someone home It’s hard sobbed feel like you’re killing dream That’s felt every time read bad writing tell think it’s good know problem right Good writing subjective… Problem there’s thing good writing Good subjective might love book — think it’s dud Taste personal top preference taste two people read book That’s one teach good writing College can’t Writing class can’t Take many class want can’t teach good writing make writing good entirely subjective teach write badly trip writers… subjective nature “good writing” trip writer agent publisher publication reject work think it’s subjective Well “that” person didn’t like submit elsewhere Sometimes case Sometimes piece writing isn’t good fit whether it’s publication publisher time it’s bad writing one want say one want JLo telling singer they’re good enough yet use boilerplate rejection say it’s good fit need read 5 page spot bad writing… read book called First Five Pages written New York literary agent Noah Lukeman say need read 5 page manuscript know whether reject 5 page Think write entire book work — rejected 5 page According Lukeman common reason manuscript get rejected thing talk Like — weak opening — Overuse adjective adverb — Lack progression pace — Weak trope cliche — Rambling lack focus book came Editorial Director Kirkus Reviews said read novice writer book doesn’t tell writer tell That’s key good writing avoiding glaring mistake It’s “rules” good writing aren’t rule good writing I’m fond rule begin least writing There’s little dreadful formulaic writing best creative artist one break rule mercilessly don’t break bend twist mutilate unrecognizable That’s art evolves Writing included best writing advice doesn’t tell tell 10 Ways Avoid Bad Writing common advice people give “write more” — horrible advice you’re making mistake you’re going keep making mistake habit become deeply entrenched Bad writing isn’t limited using many exclamation mark run sentence grammatical error Often bad writing boil lazy little habit easy correct know go 10 way avoid bad writing 1 Show don’t tell Writing seeing Don’t tell disheveled Tell shirt half unbuttoned eye wild blood right ear Don’t tell sobbing hysterically tell mascara running face wiped tear snot lipstick across sleeve don’t tell sleeve it’s important Writers often describe much minimizes tear someone loved sobbing she’s wearing matter she’s cry clothing describe need Good writing start writer’s imagination finish reader’s Writing seeing cannot paint word don’t see first place Good writing come good observationTags Books Writing Reading Advice Inspiration |
2,756 | 7 Best Websites for Freelancers in 2020 | 7 Best Websites for Freelancers in 2020
Some of the best freelancer marketplaces to get you started or get some extra gigs.
Photo by Kristin Wilson on Unsplash
As its name suggests, a freelancer has complete freedom to choose what and when to work. But, it has some serious drawbacks if done wrong. If you are someone who can efficiently manage work and life balance then freelancing can be a game-changer for you.
Today, I’m here to talk about the best websites from where you can start your freelancing career.
Before getting started, you need to understand the basic idea behind freelancing. It’s very important because it helps you find out whether you can be an online freelancer or not.
Freelancing requires you to have a skill that you offer to clients and earn money in exchange. If you have a skill then you can be hired for specific tasks. Now, it depends on the task whether it requires physical presence or can be done remotely.
For example, freelancing jobs for Handyman, Home Cleaning, Gardening, or Furniture Assembly requires physical presence. Whereas there are many digital skills (e.g. App Development, Graphic Designing, Content Writing, etc.) that can be offered from home.
The websites I mentioned below are for those who want to work from home. Because it’s easier to provide digital services online and scale your business. So, without any further ado let’s have a look at my recommended freelancing job sites.
Full disclaimer: I’m not a freelancer myself, though I have many friends freelancing. The sites here collected are recommendations from people with more experience than me on the field, I simply compiled them and presented them into the blog. I also have, at the moment of writing, no affiliations to any of the websites here listed.
Additionally, the list is in no particular order, they are all great resources filling different needs and markets. | https://medium.com/the-innovation/7-best-websites-for-freelancers-in-2020-78112de6f7e9 | ['Juan Cruz Martinez'] | 2020-09-15 01:01:01.356000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Productivity', 'Data Science', 'Programming', 'Freelancing'] | Title 7 Best Websites Freelancers 2020Content 7 Best Websites Freelancers 2020 best freelancer marketplace get started get extra gig Photo Kristin Wilson Unsplash name suggests freelancer complete freedom choose work serious drawback done wrong someone efficiently manage work life balance freelancing gamechanger Today I’m talk best website start freelancing career getting started need understand basic idea behind freelancing It’s important help find whether online freelancer Freelancing requires skill offer client earn money exchange skill hired specific task depends task whether requires physical presence done remotely example freelancing job Handyman Home Cleaning Gardening Furniture Assembly requires physical presence Whereas many digital skill eg App Development Graphic Designing Content Writing etc offered home website mentioned want work home it’s easier provide digital service online scale business without ado let’s look recommended freelancing job site Full disclaimer I’m freelancer though many friend freelancing site collected recommendation people experience field simply compiled presented blog also moment writing affiliation website listed Additionally list particular order great resource filling different need marketsTags Startup Productivity Data Science Programming Freelancing |
2,757 | UX Writing 101- Part 1 | UX Writing 101- Part 1
What are UX writers, and how do they fit with the design process.
The role of a content strategist/writer continues to evolve into its new form, which is a UX writer.
As content is a vital part of the design process and the user journey, the role of a UX writer has never been more critical. And in this two-part article, I want to share with you what I discovered through my journey of learning and how UX writers create more tangible user experiences.
Let’s begin, shall we?
What is a UX writer?
An interesting question. Isn’t a UX writer the same as a content strategist/writer. Well, for a long time, I held this view.
Simply put, a UX writer is someone who writes for the user experience. Whereas a content strategist/writer typically creates content for the web.
The role of a UX writer
The role of the UX writer is to help connect the dots, guide and encourage the user to complete an action during the user journey.
“Bringing writers in at the end of the creative process is like trying to put toothpaste into a tube.” — John Steinbeck
And done effectively, UX writers help create a frictionless journey by writing clear and concise copy while maintaining your brand’s personality. As the text is designed and tested throughout the design process, placing your brand in a better position that can help drive more value.
3 top tips for UX writing
#1 Be crystal clear
Make your content easy to read and understandable. Remove any jargon words and offer context. Writers, in general, need to shift from using software language to language recognised by the everyday consumer.
Tip: It’s always good to focus on the action that you want the user to complete. And use doing words, verbs, to craft the copy so that it relates to the action.
#2 Be concise
Get to the point. This doesn’t always mean shorter is better. But the words you put on a page have a job to do, so make them count.
Tip: Put the most relevant content at the beginning of the sentence. Examine how your users consume your content. You’ll find that most, will read the first sentence, and then they’ll scan read.
#3 Be useful
A call to action is there to guide the user to the next step or complete a task. Use your copy to help your user reach the end goal.
Tip: Make your call to actions resonate with what you want the user to do. And think about the journey. Is the user in discovery mode, and do they want to explore other useful content? Or are they in a transactional flow, in which case remove all obstacles and get out of their way?
“Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.” — Mark Twain
Tone of voice
So it’s all great that your UX writer is crafting copy that is clear, concise and useful. But how do you make your copy stand out?
Do you remember in the film Sister Act, where Sister Mary Clarence is teaching the choir to sing? She points to Sister Mary Robert and coaches her to find her voice so she can be heard.
Well, that’s what your tone of voice is for. Your tone of voice helps give your brand it’s personality, or it’s attitude as Sister Mary Clarence puts it.
You want your brand to stand out against all the chit chat. And so your tone of voice needs to strike a balance of being clear and concise while being true to your brand’s personality.
So there you go. A quick overview of what a UX writer is, what they do, and how they can elevate your design process. Helping you to craft better experiences for your user.
Check out my follow up article, UX writing 101 — part 2, coming soon. Where we’ll explore how UX writers can help build on the design, who they work with, and how they help connect the dots. | https://medium.com/nyc-design/ux-writing-101-part-1-629d8b3a1d26 | ['Jas Deogan'] | 2020-04-21 13:34:35.606000+00:00 | ['Product Design', 'Design', 'New York', 'Ux Writing', 'UX'] | Title UX Writing 101 Part 1Content UX Writing 101 Part 1 UX writer fit design process role content strategistwriter continues evolve new form UX writer content vital part design process user journey role UX writer never critical twopart article want share discovered journey learning UX writer create tangible user experience Let’s begin shall UX writer interesting question Isn’t UX writer content strategistwriter Well long time held view Simply put UX writer someone writes user experience Whereas content strategistwriter typically creates content web role UX writer role UX writer help connect dot guide encourage user complete action user journey “Bringing writer end creative process like trying put toothpaste tube” — John Steinbeck done effectively UX writer help create frictionless journey writing clear concise copy maintaining brand’s personality text designed tested throughout design process placing brand better position help drive value 3 top tip UX writing 1 crystal clear Make content easy read understandable Remove jargon word offer context Writers general need shift using software language language recognised everyday consumer Tip It’s always good focus action want user complete use word verb craft copy relates action 2 concise Get point doesn’t always mean shorter better word put page job make count Tip Put relevant content beginning sentence Examine user consume content You’ll find read first sentence they’ll scan read 3 useful call action guide user next step complete task Use copy help user reach end goal Tip Make call action resonate want user think journey user discovery mode want explore useful content transactional flow case remove obstacle get way “Writing easy cross wrong words” — Mark Twain Tone voice it’s great UX writer crafting copy clear concise useful make copy stand remember film Sister Act Sister Mary Clarence teaching choir sing point Sister Mary Robert coach find voice heard Well that’s tone voice tone voice help give brand it’s personality it’s attitude Sister Mary Clarence put want brand stand chit chat tone voice need strike balance clear concise true brand’s personality go quick overview UX writer elevate design process Helping craft better experience user Check follow article UX writing 101 — part 2 coming soon we’ll explore UX writer help build design work help connect dotsTags Product Design Design New York Ux Writing UX |
2,758 | I Left My Job At Google And Started My Own Business — Here’s The Truth About Entrepreneurship. | Lovers of The Sea has been in business for 8 months now. I’ve been working on it for a total of 11 months.
I have learned so much in the process of building it and growing it and I want to shed some honest light on what it really means to be a solo entrepreneur in your late twenties building a completely bootstrapped business.
Here are the five realities of the entrepreneurial journey:
1. Entrepreneurship is not Glamorous.
No, it is not. It is a lonely grueling process of just keep going.
We’ve been wired by the media to only see the result.
You only hear about the entrepreneur who went from zero-to-seven-figures in her first year of business or the two-man startup team that just sold their business for $300,000,000.
But when you dig deep into these stories, you realize the sheer number of years of failures, pivot points, and “figuring it out” 99.9% of startups must go through before “making it”. You uncover all the personal sacrifices, late nights, long weekends, self-doubts, criticism, financial insecurities, and troubles an entrepreneur endures throughout the process of building their business.
We are bombarded with these glamorous headlines that we’ve become fine-tuned to only see — and think of — the result.
But greatness is not in the result. Greatness is in the process.
Reality #1: There will be so many tough days, so many zero-sale days, so many costs incurred without consistent revenue, so many glitches to fix, and much more uncertainty to maneuver. You will be crushed with self-doubt countless times, but you will carry on, and you will keep pushing because you’ll begin to understand that greatness is in the process, not the result.
2. Entrepreneurship will give you a true taste of what it means to sacrifice.
Building on my previous point, get ready to say goodbye to your old life’s luxuries. You will not have the time (or money) to go out on dinner dates. Or to the movies. Or to festivals. Or to hang out with friends for drinks after work.
Your mind will be consumed with so many problems, dilemmas, worries, and questions: How should we price this product? Why is our conversion rate so low? How do we grow our Instagram audience? How can we lower our shipping costs? How can we reach more people? What if we try this new approach to our email marketing campaign…
This is all you’re going to think about, religiously for the first few months post-launch. There’s so much to learn and to figure out, that you will feel guilty socializing and spending money (which you don’t really have — especially if you don’t have a day job).
For every dollar you spend on social activities, there’s one less dollar to spend on the business. For every hour you spend watching Netflix, that’s one less hour of reading on content marketing strategy.
Reality #2: The sacrifice is necessary. It’s part of the equation.
It was hard for me to accept this sudden change in lifestyle.
At first, I thought it would only be temporary, and that soon things will flourish.
But with time I’ve come to realize that this is the new reality of how things will be because it will take years of commitment to build a thriving sustainable business. And only when I came to accept this perspective that my thinking began to shift. I’ve now learned to see this sacrifice as an investment in myself, in my growth, in my journey to who I wish to become and where I want to take my life.
Entrepreneurship will teach you that all great things are built by people with three qualities: an unparalleled self-belief, a willpower of commitment, and an ability to really cut-back and sacrifice for a greater ambition.
3. (Solo)Entrepreneurship is lonely.
You are alone in this, and you are in it alone. This is especially true if you’re going at it solo.
You will feel so lonely because your non-entrepreneur friends are still in their corporate jobs, still with that paycheque of security, traveling, partying, living life. And you can’t join them. They will invite you to chime in the fun and they won’t understand why you keep declining — which you will obviously do for three reasons: (1) you can’t afford it (2) you don’t have the time and (3) you have better things to do and focus on — you eat, sleep, work, repeat trying to build this thing you care so much about.
You’re lonely because you’re marching through the struggles alone.
In the grand scheme of things though, you’re sacrificing so much in your life now, with the dream of succeeding tomorrow. So, in the meantime, you’ll grow and learn to live in companionship with yourself.
Reality #3: You will become your new best friend. Which isn’t so bad, considering how much more you’ll get to learn about yourself in the process.
4. Entrepreneurship isn’t about the “starting”, it’s about the “just keep going”.
Starting is easy.
We live in the easiest era in human history to start a business.
It took me 15 minutes to get started: I registered my company, bought a domain online, and signed-up for an e-commerce online store.
Boom. I just got started.
All the tools to get started are online.
Reality #4: Entrepreneurship isn’t about starting, it’s about the just keep going. Just keep pushing. Keep figuring out new ways of doing things and solving the never-ending problems that will arise.
Greatness is in the process, not the result. This should be your mantra — a daily reminder that things will take time, so keep showing up today and stop obsessing about the future.
5. Entrepreneurship is an emotional rollercoaster riding straight into the unknown.
There will be more tough times than good times.
Get ready for this.
That first sale will be so joyous. Five-star customer reviews will make you feel as happy as a kid licking an ice-cream on a hot summer day.
Realty #5: For every great day there’s a series of incredibly difficult days you’ve got to deal with.
And more than that, you’re literally swimming into the horizon. There is a massive opportunity ahead of you, but you don’t know if you will reach it. All you can do is believe in yourself and keep trying.
So my advice to deal with these emotions of stress and anxiety would be to focus on learning. Ask yourself every day: am I still learning?
You will immediately conclude that you are because you will look back to who you were when you first started this journey and you’ll realize this: I’ve come a long way. | https://medium.com/be-unique/i-left-my-job-at-google-and-started-my-own-business-heres-the-truth-about-entrepreneurship-55c3a4551902 | ['Omar Itani'] | 2020-07-28 20:20:11.501000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Life Lessons', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Personal Growth', 'Inspiration'] | Title Left Job Google Started Business — Here’s Truth EntrepreneurshipContent Lovers Sea business 8 month I’ve working total 11 month learned much process building growing want shed honest light really mean solo entrepreneur late twenty building completely bootstrapped business five reality entrepreneurial journey 1 Entrepreneurship Glamorous lonely grueling process keep going We’ve wired medium see result hear entrepreneur went zerotosevenfigures first year business twoman startup team sold business 300000000 dig deep story realize sheer number year failure pivot point “figuring out” 999 startup must go “making it” uncover personal sacrifice late night long weekend selfdoubts criticism financial insecurity trouble entrepreneur endures throughout process building business bombarded glamorous headline we’ve become finetuned see — think — result greatness result Greatness process Reality 1 many tough day many zerosale day many cost incurred without consistent revenue many glitch fix much uncertainty maneuver crushed selfdoubt countless time carry keep pushing you’ll begin understand greatness process result 2 Entrepreneurship give true taste mean sacrifice Building previous point get ready say goodbye old life’s luxury time money go dinner date movie festival hang friend drink work mind consumed many problem dilemma worry question price product conversion rate low grow Instagram audience lower shipping cost reach people try new approach email marketing campaign… you’re going think religiously first month postlaunch There’s much learn figure feel guilty socializing spending money don’t really — especially don’t day job every dollar spend social activity there’s one le dollar spend business every hour spend watching Netflix that’s one le hour reading content marketing strategy Reality 2 sacrifice necessary It’s part equation hard accept sudden change lifestyle first thought would temporary soon thing flourish time I’ve come realize new reality thing take year commitment build thriving sustainable business came accept perspective thinking began shift I’ve learned see sacrifice investment growth journey wish become want take life Entrepreneurship teach great thing built people three quality unparalleled selfbelief willpower commitment ability really cutback sacrifice greater ambition 3 SoloEntrepreneurship lonely alone alone especially true you’re going solo feel lonely nonentrepreneur friend still corporate job still paycheque security traveling partying living life can’t join invite chime fun won’t understand keep declining — obviously three reason 1 can’t afford 2 don’t time 3 better thing focus — eat sleep work repeat trying build thing care much You’re lonely you’re marching struggle alone grand scheme thing though you’re sacrificing much life dream succeeding tomorrow meantime you’ll grow learn live companionship Reality 3 become new best friend isn’t bad considering much you’ll get learn process 4 Entrepreneurship isn’t “starting” it’s “just keep going” Starting easy live easiest era human history start business took 15 minute get started registered company bought domain online signedup ecommerce online store Boom got started tool get started online Reality 4 Entrepreneurship isn’t starting it’s keep going keep pushing Keep figuring new way thing solving neverending problem arise Greatness process result mantra — daily reminder thing take time keep showing today stop obsessing future 5 Entrepreneurship emotional rollercoaster riding straight unknown tough time good time Get ready first sale joyous Fivestar customer review make feel happy kid licking icecream hot summer day Realty 5 every great day there’s series incredibly difficult day you’ve got deal you’re literally swimming horizon massive opportunity ahead don’t know reach believe keep trying advice deal emotion stress anxiety would focus learning Ask every day still learning immediately conclude look back first started journey you’ll realize I’ve come long wayTags Startup Life Lessons Entrepreneurship Personal Growth Inspiration |
2,759 | Implementing different kernels of SVC Algorithm on the Iris Dataset | Code
Here, we will go through the coding segment. The dataset used for this implementation is the iris dataset which can be imported from the sklearn library.
Importing Dataset and Relevant Libraries/Modules
Firstly, we will import the numpy and matplotlib for mathematical manipulation of data and plotting the graphs. Then we will import the svm classifier and the iris dataset from the sklearn library.
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from sklearn import svm, datasets iris = datasets.load_iris()
The Iris Dataset (Image by Author)
The Iris Dataset consists of 150 samples, each having 4 features listed: sepal length, sepal width, petal length, and petal width.
Features in the Iris Dataset (Image by Author)
The data has 3 classes: setosa, versicolor and virginica.
Classes of Iris: Setosa, Versicolor and Virginica (Images from Wikipedia)
Features & Target Numpy Array
Next, we will take the first two features of the iris data, which are its sepal length and sepal width, both in cm.
Our X variable will contain the features and y variable will contain the target.
X = iris.data[:, :2]
y = iris.target
The Features & Target Numpy Arrays (Image by Auhtor)
Model Creation
Next, we will create models of the svm algorithms on the Iris dataset and use different kernels to observe the results.
We will keep the value of C = 1.0 for all the models.
C = 1.0 # SVM regularization parameter
models = (svm.SVC(kernel='linear', C=C),
svm.LinearSVC(C=C, max_iter=10000),
svm.SVC(kernel='rbf', gamma=0.7, C=C),
svm.SVC(kernel='poly', degree=3, gamma='auto', C=C))
models = (clf.fit(X, y) for clf in models)
We have created 4 models:
svm.SVC with linear kernel and value of C kept at 1.0 svm.LinearSVC (which uses the liblinear), with same value of C svm.SVC with rbf kernel svm.SVC with kernel = ‘poly’, degree = 3, gamma = ‘auto’ and default value of C
Make Meshgrid
Next, we will define a function to create a meshgrid to plot our 4 models.
def make_meshgrid(x, y, h=.02):
x_min, x_max = x.min() - 1, x.max() + 1
y_min, y_max = y.min() - 1, y.max() + 1
xx, yy = np.meshgrid(np.arange(x_min, x_max, h),
np.arange(y_min, y_max, h))
return xx, yy
Plotting Contours
This function will be called to plot the decision boundaries for the classifiers.
def plot_contours(ax, clf, xx, yy, **params):
Z = clf.predict(np.c_[xx.ravel(), yy.ravel()])
Z = Z.reshape(xx.shape)
out = ax.contourf(xx, yy, Z, **params)
return out
Plotting
Next, we will define the titles of each plot and set up a 2x2 grid to plot our 4 classifiers plots.
Then, we will fit the model one by one on the Iris Dataset and plot the results:
# title for the plots
titles = ('SVC with linear kernel',
'LinearSVC (linear kernel)',
'SVC with RBF kernel',
'SVC with polynomial (degree 3) kernel') # Set-up 2x2 grid for plotting.
fig, sub = plt.subplots(2, 2)
plt.subplots_adjust(wspace=0.4, hspace=0.4) X0, X1 = X[:, 0], X[:, 1]
xx, yy = make_meshgrid(X0, X1) for clf, title, ax in zip(models, titles, sub.flatten()):
plot_contours(ax, clf, xx, yy,
cmap=plt.cm.coolwarm, alpha=0.8)
ax.scatter(X0, X1, c=y, cmap=plt.cm.coolwarm, s=20, edgecolors='k')
ax.set_xlim(xx.min(), xx.max())
ax.set_ylim(yy.min(), yy.max())
ax.set_xlabel('Sepal length')
ax.set_ylabel('Sepal width')
ax.set_xticks(())
ax.set_yticks(())
ax.set_title(title) plt.show()
The following is the plot:
Plot of SVC using various kernels (Image by Author)
The sepal length has been taken on the x-axis whereas the sepal width has been taken on the y-axis. | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/implementing-different-kernels-of-svc-algorithm-on-the-iris-dataset-90908e55048a | ['Mahnoor Javed'] | 2020-12-01 16:31:32.673000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Python', 'Sklearn', 'Data Science'] | Title Implementing different kernel SVC Algorithm Iris DatasetContent Code go coding segment dataset used implementation iris dataset imported sklearn library Importing Dataset Relevant LibrariesModules Firstly import numpy matplotlib mathematical manipulation data plotting graph import svm classifier iris dataset sklearn library import numpy np import matplotlibpyplot plt sklearn import svm datasets iris datasetsloadiris Iris Dataset Image Author Iris Dataset consists 150 sample 4 feature listed sepal length sepal width petal length petal width Features Iris Dataset Image Author data 3 class setosa versicolor virginica Classes Iris Setosa Versicolor Virginica Images Wikipedia Features Target Numpy Array Next take first two feature iris data sepal length sepal width cm X variable contain feature variable contain target X irisdata 2 iristarget Features Target Numpy Arrays Image Auhtor Model Creation Next create model svm algorithm Iris dataset use different kernel observe result keep value C 10 model C 10 SVM regularization parameter model svmSVCkernellinear CC svmLinearSVCCC maxiter10000 svmSVCkernelrbf gamma07 CC svmSVCkernelpoly degree3 gammaauto CC model clffitX clf model created 4 model svmSVC linear kernel value C kept 10 svmLinearSVC us liblinear value C svmSVC rbf kernel svmSVC kernel ‘poly’ degree 3 gamma ‘auto’ default value C Make Meshgrid Next define function create meshgrid plot 4 model def makemeshgridx h02 xmin xmax xmin 1 xmax 1 ymin ymax ymin 1 ymax 1 xx yy npmeshgridnparangexmin xmax h nparangeymin ymax h return xx yy Plotting Contours function called plot decision boundary classifier def plotcontoursax clf xx yy params Z clfpredictnpcxxravel yyravel Z Zreshapexxshape axcontourfxx yy Z params return Plotting Next define title plot set 2x2 grid plot 4 classifier plot fit model one one Iris Dataset plot result title plot title SVC linear kernel LinearSVC linear kernel SVC RBF kernel SVC polynomial degree 3 kernel Setup 2x2 grid plotting fig sub pltsubplots2 2 pltsubplotsadjustwspace04 hspace04 X0 X1 X 0 X 1 xx yy makemeshgridX0 X1 clf title ax zipmodels title subflatten plotcontoursax clf xx yy cmappltcmcoolwarm alpha08 axscatterX0 X1 cy cmappltcmcoolwarm s20 edgecolorsk axsetxlimxxmin xxmax axsetylimyymin yymax axsetxlabelSepal length axsetylabelSepal width axsetxticks axsetyticks axsettitletitle pltshow following plot Plot SVC using various kernel Image Author sepal length taken xaxis whereas sepal width taken yaxisTags Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Python Sklearn Data Science |
2,760 | You Can Beat Procrastination in 10 Minutes | You Can Beat Procrastination in 10 Minutes
Using time constraints to become more productive.
Procrastination is one of the biggest, if not THE biggest challenge for daily productivity. Everyone struggles with it to some degree or another, and if taken to an extreme, procrastination can completely paralyze your life.
While some people might have to turn to therapy to understand and overcome the deep seated reasons for their extreme procrastination, most people can beat it on a daily basis using a combination of discipline, willpower and a few simple exercises.
Notice inspiration and motivation aren’t part of that procrastination-busting combo. That’s because inspiration and motivation are harder resources to come by than discipline and willpower. Inspiration and motivation are flakey and untrainable; discipline and willpower, however, are the exact opposite.
Contrary to what most people believe, time constraints are incredibly effective strategies to beat procrastination, strengthen willpower and reinforce discipline.
Time constraints are useful because the more time you allow yourself to finish a task, the more you’ll procrastinate and the longer you’ll take. This phenomenon is effectively described by the Parkinson’s law: “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
This means, of course, that a simple task will become incredibly complex the more time you allow yourself to do it. A task that would normally take you three hours will suddenly expand to take over your entire week — if you give yourself a week to do it.
The Parkinson’s law is, of course, more of a funny saying than a scientifically proven law. It’s a lot closer to Murphy’s law than to Newton’s laws of physics, but it’s main tenet resonates because, joke or not, deep down you know Parkinson is right.
That’s why time constraints are so useful to beating procrastination and becoming more productive: when you restrict the time you have to do a given task, you have to get it done. No excuses. Just think of all the work you’ve always done last-minute, the famous inspiration provided by the pressure of an approaching deadline.
Both self-imposed and external deadlines are helpful to boost productivity, but if you’d like to beat procrastination on your own, one day at a time, all you need are 10 minutes.
The 10 minutes exercise is an effective creative writing technique that can be adapted to all kinds of work, as well as to solving problems in your personal life.
The exercise is simple: set a timer for 10 minutes and just get started. All you have to do is make yourself work for those 10 minutes.
If it’s a writing project, you have to write for 10 minutes. It doesn’t have to be good, you just have to get it done. If you’re trying to get your work day started, make your 10 minutes about answering emails, or returning phone calls, or drafting a few lines of the next project you have coming up.
Again, it doesn’t have to be good work. You just have to make yourself do it for 10 minutes.
No looking at your phone, no open a new tab on your browser to check the latest news or Twitter. Exclusively work.
Once the 10 minutes are up, you’re free to do whatever you want. But here’s the beauty of this exercise: once time is up, you’re going to be on such a roll you won’t want to stop what you’re doing. You’ll just keep going.
10 minutes are all it takes to get warm up your engines for the day, and from then all, it’s all momentum. The 10 minutes exercise is great because it isn’t daunting. It’s not asking you to have a productive day from morning to evening, all it’s asking is that you sit your butt on a chair and get something done for 10 quick minutes.
“I can do 10 minutes,” you’ll think. And before you’ll know it, it will have been an hour. Trust me.
This exercise wasn’t my idea. I first learned about it in a creative writing class, and I’ve seen it replicated and talked about in all sorts of places. It’s tricky to tell who first came up with it. My guess? A frustrated writer who couldn’t figure out how to fill a blank page until she realized all she had to do is get started.
That’s all you have to do as well, get started.
The pomodoro technique is a very popular productivity strategy. | https://medium.com/a-life-of-words/you-can-beat-procrastination-in-10-minutes-88839d4716be | ['Renata Gomes'] | 2020-11-03 19:33:02.098000+00:00 | ['Self Improvement', 'Life Lessons', 'Writing', 'Self', 'Productivity'] | Title Beat Procrastination 10 MinutesContent Beat Procrastination 10 Minutes Using time constraint become productive Procrastination one biggest biggest challenge daily productivity Everyone struggle degree another taken extreme procrastination completely paralyze life people might turn therapy understand overcome deep seated reason extreme procrastination people beat daily basis using combination discipline willpower simple exercise Notice inspiration motivation aren’t part procrastinationbusting combo That’s inspiration motivation harder resource come discipline willpower Inspiration motivation flakey untrainable discipline willpower however exact opposite Contrary people believe time constraint incredibly effective strategy beat procrastination strengthen willpower reinforce discipline Time constraint useful time allow finish task you’ll procrastinate longer you’ll take phenomenon effectively described Parkinson’s law “work expands fill time available completion” mean course simple task become incredibly complex time allow task would normally take three hour suddenly expand take entire week — give week Parkinson’s law course funny saying scientifically proven law It’s lot closer Murphy’s law Newton’s law physic it’s main tenet resonates joke deep know Parkinson right That’s time constraint useful beating procrastination becoming productive restrict time given task get done excuse think work you’ve always done lastminute famous inspiration provided pressure approaching deadline selfimposed external deadline helpful boost productivity you’d like beat procrastination one day time need 10 minute 10 minute exercise effective creative writing technique adapted kind work well solving problem personal life exercise simple set timer 10 minute get started make work 10 minute it’s writing project write 10 minute doesn’t good get done you’re trying get work day started make 10 minute answering email returning phone call drafting line next project coming doesn’t good work make 10 minute looking phone open new tab browser check latest news Twitter Exclusively work 10 minute you’re free whatever want here’s beauty exercise time you’re going roll won’t want stop you’re You’ll keep going 10 minute take get warm engine day it’s momentum 10 minute exercise great isn’t daunting It’s asking productive day morning evening it’s asking sit butt chair get something done 10 quick minute “I 10 minutes” you’ll think you’ll know hour Trust exercise wasn’t idea first learned creative writing class I’ve seen replicated talked sort place It’s tricky tell first came guess frustrated writer couldn’t figure fill blank page realized get started That’s well get started pomodoro technique popular productivity strategyTags Self Improvement Life Lessons Writing Self Productivity |
2,761 | Why You Should Read Every Day | You get ideas in and you get ideas out — it’s called thinking. When you read, you are being immersed in ideas, whether they are fictional or non-fictional. You are in a world of rhetorical thinking. You are using the language being written down to consider what is going on in the written world you are reading.
Reading is an exercise for the mind! Any mental stimulation is good for the brain and helps as you get older. Many studies have shown that reading improves memory, brain elasticity, and overall brain function. A study done at the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation found that those who participated in mentally challenging activities (like reading) most often had a much slower rate of decline in memory compared to those who didn’t do mentally challenging activities.
Reading is relaxing. Reading can be a stress reducer in one’s life. Grab a cup of tea (or coffee) and just take a moment to read before your day starts or right before your day ends. It will reduce some stress in your life.
Reading enhances your vocab skills. Who doesn’t love to sound smart? Reading — especially diverse books — will help to enhance your vocabulary skills. It will also help your writing skills. Just make sure you are reading a diverse set of books and not the same thing over and over again!
Reading is free entertainment. You can greatly reduce your fun/entertainment budget and save some money! Go to your local library and grab a book or two a week. Read in your free time and voilà you just save so much money by not going to the movies. Do you have presents to buy during the holiday season? Save money this way. Tightening your budget to contribute more to retirement savings? Save money this way! | https://medium.com/curious/why-you-should-read-every-day-c450a9535245 | ['Sm Sommer'] | 2020-08-18 17:29:57.234000+00:00 | ['Literacy', 'Reading Community', 'Mental Health', 'Books', 'Reading'] | Title Read Every DayContent get idea get idea — it’s called thinking read immersed idea whether fictional nonfictional world rhetorical thinking using language written consider going written world reading Reading exercise mind mental stimulation good brain help get older Many study shown reading improves memory brain elasticity overall brain function study done Fisher Center Alzheimer’s Research Foundation found participated mentally challenging activity like reading often much slower rate decline memory compared didn’t mentally challenging activity Reading relaxing Reading stress reducer one’s life Grab cup tea coffee take moment read day start right day end reduce stress life Reading enhances vocab skill doesn’t love sound smart Reading — especially diverse book — help enhance vocabulary skill also help writing skill make sure reading diverse set book thing Reading free entertainment greatly reduce funentertainment budget save money Go local library grab book two week Read free time voilà save much money going movie present buy holiday season Save money way Tightening budget contribute retirement saving Save money wayTags Literacy Reading Community Mental Health Books Reading |
2,762 | Gestures and MVVM | Programming
Gestures and MVVM
How to properly propagate gesture updates in an MVVM architecture
I have never worked with gestures in iOS. Seems weird, but it’s the truth. This week, I had to integrate a gesture in an app to test a couple of things that we are developing, but I struggled a bit to make it work properly with our MVVM architecture.
At Bending Spoons we are extremely eager to help out our colleagues and to share what we know. Lucky for me, I have a colleague who worked on that same issue before and shared a nice trick to solve the problem elegantly. I thought that if I benefitted from this hint, someone else could as well.
The trick consists of using the gesture recognizer to keep track of the starting situation instead of using a variable in our VM. Let’s see how it can be done!
The Architecture
In a Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) architecture, we would like for our View to be an exact representation of the data contained in the View Model (VM) .
When changes in the VM are discrete, everything works beautifully: if we have a VM with a var name: String and a UILabel in the View to render that name, the MVVM architecture provides an automatic way to update the view when the name changes.
However, when things get updated in a continuum, as it happens for the gestures, things can get a little bit messy. In this situation, there are continuous updates to the VM and you may have to work with differential values considering the VM in the previous iteration and the new one. But we don’t have the concept of a previous iteration! In my case, I wanted to move an element on the screen, based on a pan gesture performed by the user.
Here are my View Model and the function of the view that layout the elements.
The VM contains just a CGPoint that represents an offset, the displacement of the ball from the center of the screen.
The layout is performed by setting the center of the ball in the center of the screen, summing it up with the offset property in my VM . To simplify the sum operations, I wrote a straightforward extension for CGPoint :
Of course, when the model changes, we want to redraw the screen and move the ball into the eventually new position. This can be done easily with a property observer and an update(...) method in our view:
Thanks to this code, whenever the VM is set, the update function is invoked and we instruct UIKit that the View needs to be layout again: in the new layout cycle, the layoutSubviews method will be invoked to redraw the screen.
Connecting the View to the VC
At this point, we need to implement the gesture and to connect it with our view.
To implement a gesture, we need to add a GestureRecognizer. In this specific case, we will use a UIPanGestureRecognizer . The UIPanGestureRecognizer is an object that is able to detect when the user is dragging a finger on the screen, how much are they drag it, and how fast. The pattern to connect a gesture recognizer to an element is the standard Target-Action iOS pattern. Here the code to create a gesture recognizer, assign it to the view, and connect it to the view model:
In this snippet, you can see:
the declaration of the ball we need to move (line 4) the declaration of the interaction to connect the gesture with the VC (line 7) how to add the ball view to the View (line 10) how to declare a gesture recognizer and how to add it to the view (line 13 and 14) how to handle when the gesture is actually recognized (the method panGestureRecognized at line 17 )
In the panGestureRecognized method, we handle the gesture. Every gesture recognizer has a state variable that tells us in which state of the recognition we are.
If we have just detected the gesture, we are in the began state.
state. If the user is still dragging, we are in the changed state.
state. If the gesture is finished, we could be in the ended state in the canceled state, depending on what the user did.
In this method, we can notify the VC that a gesture has been correctly recognized so that it can update the VM accordingly. For sake of completeness, here the VC code that updates the VM :
Implementing The Gesture
Finally, let’s see how to properly implement gesture recognition. I’ll show the code first, and then we will analyze it together:
I added a comment on all the lines to let everyone follow the code with ease.
The most interesting chunk is the began block. Here we detect that the interaction has started. What we want is to move the ball from its current position. This is given by the center of the screen plus the current offset, as it is set in the VM .
Then, we need to know how much the user dragged the ball with respect to the parent's view. Line 15 does exactly that: it asks the gesture recognizer to retrieve the translation in the parent’s view coordinate system. With those two values, we can compute the new offset from the center, by just summing them up.
Then, here the trick: we set this new value as the current translation of the gesture recognizer (line 21) !
If we analyze the GestureRecognizer documentation, in fact, we know that whenever a new gesture is recognized, the gesture recognizer will start the computation from 0 . So, if you are recognizing a translation and you move the ball from the center of the view on the right, the translation will be of
(+x, +0) , independently from the previous position of the element. If you are rotating an object, it will always start from 0 , despite you already rotate it before, and so on for each other gesture recognizer.
This simple trick, instead, let you set the initial translation, rotation, or zoom so that every other value obtained by the gesture recognizer will be computed with respect to that new initial value instead of 0 .
The rest of the snippet is pretty straightforward: we just notify the VC about the translation. Also, after we set the new starting point, implementing the changed and ended state is as trivial as getting the new value and notifying the VC . And this is the result:
Note: if you try this code in a playground, the performances would be sluggish. I think that the Playgrounds perform some other operations and they do not render the screen with the same frequency of the simulator. However, a real device or even an iOS simulator will work like a charm.
The whole code for this screen ( VC , VM , View ) can be found in this gist.
Conclusion
Today we have seen how to plug gesture recognition in a MVVM architecture. To achieve a readable and elegant code, we leveraged the setTranslation API to set into the gesture recognizer the initial point for the gesture. All the gesture recognizers have their own version of this API: for example, the UIRotateGestureRecognizer has a setRotation method.
Thanks to this trick we are now able to write all our interactions in a very clean way, leveraging what the platform offers, avoiding glitches, and keeping our architecture neat.
I am working on iOS for 5 years now, and every week there is some new trick I learn. And this continues to amaze me, every day. And you? What are some tricks that you use and that may be unknown to many others? I would be extremely happy to learn them! | https://medium.com/swlh/gestures-and-mvvm-9f8147b94db1 | ['Riccardo Cipolleschi'] | 2020-11-18 11:55:55.454000+00:00 | ['Mobile App Development', 'Apple', 'iOS', 'UI', 'Swift'] | Title Gestures MVVMContent Programming Gestures MVVM properly propagate gesture update MVVM architecture never worked gesture iOS Seems weird it’s truth week integrate gesture app test couple thing developing struggled bit make work properly MVVM architecture Bending Spoons extremely eager help colleague share know Lucky colleague worked issue shared nice trick solve problem elegantly thought benefitted hint someone else could well trick consists using gesture recognizer keep track starting situation instead using variable VM Let’s see done Architecture ModelViewViewModel MVVM architecture would like View exact representation data contained View Model VM change VM discrete everything work beautifully VM var name String UILabel View render name MVVM architecture provides automatic way update view name change However thing get updated continuum happens gesture thing get little bit messy situation continuous update VM may work differential value considering VM previous iteration new one don’t concept previous iteration case wanted move element screen based pan gesture performed user View Model function view layout element VM contains CGPoint represents offset displacement ball center screen layout performed setting center ball center screen summing offset property VM simplify sum operation wrote straightforward extension CGPoint course model change want redraw screen move ball eventually new position done easily property observer update method view Thanks code whenever VM set update function invoked instruct UIKit View need layout new layout cycle layoutSubviews method invoked redraw screen Connecting View VC point need implement gesture connect view implement gesture need add GestureRecognizer specific case use UIPanGestureRecognizer UIPanGestureRecognizer object able detect user dragging finger screen much drag fast pattern connect gesture recognizer element standard TargetAction iOS pattern code create gesture recognizer assign view connect view model snippet see declaration ball need move line 4 declaration interaction connect gesture VC line 7 add ball view View line 10 declare gesture recognizer add view line 13 14 handle gesture actually recognized method panGestureRecognized line 17 panGestureRecognized method handle gesture Every gesture recognizer state variable tell u state recognition detected gesture began state state user still dragging changed state state gesture finished could ended state canceled state depending user method notify VC gesture correctly recognized update VM accordingly sake completeness VC code update VM Implementing Gesture Finally let’s see properly implement gesture recognition I’ll show code first analyze together added comment line let everyone follow code ease interesting chunk began block detect interaction started want move ball current position given center screen plus current offset set VM need know much user dragged ball respect parent view Line 15 exactly asks gesture recognizer retrieve translation parent’s view coordinate system two value compute new offset center summing trick set new value current translation gesture recognizer line 21 analyze GestureRecognizer documentation fact know whenever new gesture recognized gesture recognizer start computation 0 recognizing translation move ball center view right translation x 0 independently previous position element rotating object always start 0 despite already rotate gesture recognizer simple trick instead let set initial translation rotation zoom every value obtained gesture recognizer computed respect new initial value instead 0 rest snippet pretty straightforward notify VC translation Also set new starting point implementing changed ended state trivial getting new value notifying VC result Note try code playground performance would sluggish think Playgrounds perform operation render screen frequency simulator However real device even iOS simulator work like charm whole code screen VC VM View found gist Conclusion Today seen plug gesture recognition MVVM architecture achieve readable elegant code leveraged setTranslation API set gesture recognizer initial point gesture gesture recognizers version API example UIRotateGestureRecognizer setRotation method Thanks trick able write interaction clean way leveraging platform offer avoiding glitch keeping architecture neat working iOS 5 year every week new trick learn continues amaze every day trick use may unknown many others would extremely happy learn themTags Mobile App Development Apple iOS UI Swift |
2,763 | The life of a story | I never understood what writers meant when they said stories take a life of their own.
I can string words. Make coherent sentences. Occasionally, coherent paragraphs. But when it comes to writing an entire story, I tend to be a micro-manager. I am governed by details and my immediate perception of reality, most of the time. My stories do not reach their fullest potential.
I attended a story slam yesterday. They had a theme, “Fathers”. I was there to support a friend. I came without a story. The evening threatened to end early, I put my name in for Open Mic.
I jotted pieces of funny anecdotes and discoveries, cloaked with lightheartedness into my phone. As I stood in front of the crowd, words came flowing, I forgot about my notes. My mind scavenged for the next sentence until it finally got to one that made my throat choked. I looked for more words, it is the only way to stop me crying and suddenly it came, “I am still discovering my dad. Watching him evolving as a person.”
I returned to my seat, a little shell-shocked. My neighbour said he liked the vulnerability. I smiled.
“It happens.”
The story took a life of its own. It dropped the cloak of lightheartedness I had tenderly draped across its shoulders, took me its broad strong arms and showed me what I have always needed to know, I still am my discovering my dad. | https://medium.com/100-naked-words/the-life-of-a-story-f03756e0cb0b | [] | 2016-06-27 08:01:01.736000+00:00 | ['Storytelling', 'Writing', 'Love', 'Writer', 'Fiction'] | Title life storyContent never understood writer meant said story take life string word Make coherent sentence Occasionally coherent paragraph come writing entire story tend micromanager governed detail immediate perception reality time story reach fullest potential attended story slam yesterday theme “Fathers” support friend came without story evening threatened end early put name Open Mic jotted piece funny anecdote discovery cloaked lightheartedness phone stood front crowd word came flowing forgot note mind scavenged next sentence finally got one made throat choked looked word way stop cry suddenly came “I still discovering dad Watching evolving person” returned seat little shellshocked neighbour said liked vulnerability smiled “It happens” story took life dropped cloak lightheartedness tenderly draped across shoulder took broad strong arm showed always needed know still discovering dadTags Storytelling Writing Love Writer Fiction |
2,764 | How to Deal With Chronic Illness and Do Your Job | How to Deal With Chronic Illness and Do Your Job
A crash course in employment with mental illness.
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
Having a mental or chronic illness and holding down a job can be a challenge. In addition to managing your illness, you manage the aspects of your job and coworkers. For many, this can be incredibly draining.
One way to combat this is to put yourself into a routine. I’ve found that when a given task is on an automatic routine, it consumes fewer spoons. The goal is to put as much of your life on routine as possible to reduce spoon consumption.
During the workweek, I do my best to go to bed at the same time every night. I find that I fall asleep better and quicker if I do it at the same time every night. If sleep knows where and when to find you, it’ll often come faster.
That said, I have an office job that doesn’t take a lot of physical effort and has a regular schedule. Service jobs are much different and require a different approach. If you have a regular schedule than build your sleep schedule around that. Go to bed at the same time before your shifts, even if it means going to bed at 10:30 one night and 8:00 the next.
If your shifts are unpredictable but fall within a certain set of hours (daytime business hours, for example), you can wire your sleep patterns around that timeframe with the understanding that some days, you wake up and go straight to work, and other days, you come home from work and go straight to bed.
For quite a while, I had two jobs where my schedule was 5 AM-12:30 on Friday and Saturday, 12:30–8:00 PM on Sunday, and 7:00 AM-3:30 on Monday and Tuesday. Whenever I could manage, I went to bed at the same times for the same shifts. This meant that I went to bed at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 1:00 a.m. on Saturday.
As for the times outside of work and sleep, I find routines work for me. Eat meals at roughly the same time every day if you can. Make time for yourself to do things that rest and refresh you. Never feel obligated to do social things if you aren’t up for it.
For me, social activities are draining, so if I find I have too much on my plate, I try to pare down. Make peace with the fact that something may not get done today, and do your best to get it done tomorrow.
At the same time, don’t let yourself descend too far into procrastination. Try to manage your energy in ways that end in a net positive. If you have a good day and have some energy when you get home, tackle the dishes that you’ve been putting off.
Alternatively, invest small amounts of energy into doing little bits regularly. Get in the habit of spritzing your shower with cleaner and rinsing it off right after you get done. It will take 30 seconds, but your shower will stay clean out of pure habit.
On the opposite end, learn where you can afford to cut corners to conserve energy. If you hate shaving, get an electric razor. If it’s hard to shower, figure out if you can afford to skip a day and invest in dry shampoo. Learn hairstyles that look good but take two minutes. Start minimizing your makeup routine. Keep protein bars around if you aren’t feeling like making breakfast.
Put your wardrobe on automatic: I have a dedicated row for each of my clothing items (shirts, pants, etc.) that I cycle through in order. They are all generic enough that everything goes with everything, but because they are in odd numbers, it looks like I picked out my clothes every day.
In reality, all I’m doing is pulling the next item in line off of the hanger and putting it on with zero choices on my end. I don’t invest any energy in picking my clothes unless there is a particular thing that I must do which requires a particular clothing choice.
On the flip side, find things that give you energy and do them. Develop rituals that are calming and either don’t consume much energy or give you energy and focus. Learn to shave with a straight razor. Take up meditation. Teach yourself to knit. Find a small hobby or thing that puts your mind at rest, even for a little.
If you can afford it, go to therapy. There are a number of nonprofits in my town that accept appointments on a sliding fee scale based on income; do a little digging to find a place near you that does this. Medication helps but isn’t for everyone. If you want to but can’t afford it, look into options for insurance, whether through a job, through the Marketplace, or through Medicaid and Medicare.
If you are having trouble holding a job, try to find alternative means. There are numerous apps that offer fee-for-service tasks and let you set your own hours, like driving for Uber, Postmates, or Amazon. If you took up a craft, try to find a place to sell what you make, either online or through craft shows.
If you need supplemental income, there are a number of legitimate ways to make small amounts of money online, such as Amazon Mechanical Turk. You can self-publish books on Amazon, articles here on Medium, or a number of other places if you’re writing-inclined.
There are apps where you can pet-sit or do odd jobs. There are data entry jobs that can be done entirely from home and don’t require a degree. If you have a degree in a particular area, try to turn it into a contract-based gig. People are always looking for freelancers, and the ability to work when you are able can be helpful. | https://medium.com/the-ascent/how-to-deal-with-chronic-illness-and-do-your-job-8d3a246f93d3 | ['Matthew Maniaci'] | 2019-09-12 14:12:39.583000+00:00 | ['Life Lessons', 'Work', 'Self', 'Mental Health', 'Productivity'] | Title Deal Chronic Illness JobContent Deal Chronic Illness Job crash course employment mental illness Photo Thought Catalog Unsplash mental chronic illness holding job challenge addition managing illness manage aspect job coworkers many incredibly draining One way combat put routine I’ve found given task automatic routine consumes fewer spoon goal put much life routine possible reduce spoon consumption workweek best go bed time every night find fall asleep better quicker time every night sleep know find it’ll often come faster said office job doesn’t take lot physical effort regular schedule Service job much different require different approach regular schedule build sleep schedule around Go bed time shift even mean going bed 1030 one night 800 next shift unpredictable fall within certain set hour daytime business hour example wire sleep pattern around timeframe understanding day wake go straight work day come home work go straight bed quite two job schedule 5 AM1230 Friday Saturday 1230–800 PM Sunday 700 AM330 Monday Tuesday Whenever could manage went bed time shift meant went bed 800 pm Thursday Friday 100 Saturday time outside work sleep find routine work Eat meal roughly time every day Make time thing rest refresh Never feel obligated social thing aren’t social activity draining find much plate try pare Make peace fact something may get done today best get done tomorrow time don’t let descend far procrastination Try manage energy way end net positive good day energy get home tackle dish you’ve putting Alternatively invest small amount energy little bit regularly Get habit spritzing shower cleaner rinsing right get done take 30 second shower stay clean pure habit opposite end learn afford cut corner conserve energy hate shaving get electric razor it’s hard shower figure afford skip day invest dry shampoo Learn hairstyle look good take two minute Start minimizing makeup routine Keep protein bar around aren’t feeling like making breakfast Put wardrobe automatic dedicated row clothing item shirt pant etc cycle order generic enough everything go everything odd number look like picked clothes every day reality I’m pulling next item line hanger putting zero choice end don’t invest energy picking clothes unless particular thing must requires particular clothing choice flip side find thing give energy Develop ritual calming either don’t consume much energy give energy focus Learn shave straight razor Take meditation Teach knit Find small hobby thing put mind rest even little afford go therapy number nonprofit town accept appointment sliding fee scale based income little digging find place near Medication help isn’t everyone want can’t afford look option insurance whether job Marketplace Medicaid Medicare trouble holding job try find alternative mean numerous apps offer feeforservice task let set hour like driving Uber Postmates Amazon took craft try find place sell make either online craft show need supplemental income number legitimate way make small amount money online Amazon Mechanical Turk selfpublish book Amazon article Medium number place you’re writinginclined apps petsit odd job data entry job done entirely home don’t require degree degree particular area try turn contractbased gig People always looking freelancer ability work able helpfulTags Life Lessons Work Self Mental Health Productivity |
2,765 | Logistic Regression Explained | Logistic Regression Explained
[ — Logistic Regression explained simply — ]
In this post, I will explain Logistic Regression in simple terms. It could be considered a Logistic Regression for dummies post, however, I’ve never really liked that expression.
Before we start, here you have some additional resources to skyrocket your Machine Learning career:
Lets get to it and learn it all about Logistic Regression.
Logistic Regression Explained for Beginners
In the Machine Learning world, Logistic Regression is a kind of parametric classification model, despite having the word ‘regression’ in its name.
This means that logistic regression models are models that have a certain fixed number of parameters that depend on the number of input features, and they output categorical prediction, like for example if a plant belongs to a certain species or not.
In reality, the theory behind Logistic Regression is very similar to the one from Linear Regression, so if you don’t know what Linear Regression is, take 5 minutes to read this super easy guide:
In Logistic Regression, we don’t directly fit a straight line to our data like in linear regression. Instead, we fit a S shaped curve, called Sigmoid, to our observations.
Sigmoid function fitted to some data
Let's examine this figure closely.
First of all, like we said before, Logistic Regression models are classification models; specifically binary classification models (they can only be used to distinguish between 2 different categories — like if a person is obese or not given its weight, or if a house is big or small given its size). This means that our data has two kinds of observations (Category 1 and Category 2 observations) like we can observe in the figure.
Note: This is a very simple example of Logistic Regression, in practice much harder problems can be solved using these models, using a wide range of features and not just a single one.
Secondly, as we can see, the Y-axis goes from 0 to 1. This is because the sigmoid function always takes as maximum and minimum these two values, and this fits very well our goal of classifying samples in two different categories. By computing the sigmoid function of X (that is a weighted sum of the input features, just like in Linear Regression), we get a probability (between 0 and 1 obviously) of an observation belonging to one of the two categories.
The formula for the sigmoid function is the following:
If we wanted to predict if a person was obese or not given their weight, we would first compute a weighted sum of their weight (sorry for the lexical redundancy) and then input this into the sigmoid function:
1) Calculate weighted sum of inputs
Weighted sum of the input features (feature in this case)
2) Calculate the probability of Obese
Use of the sigmoid equation for this calculation
Alright, this looks cool and all, but isn’t this meant to be a Machine Learning model? How do we train it? That is a good question. There are multiple ways to train a Logistic Regression model (fit the S shaped line to our data). We can use an iterative optimisation algorithm like Gradient Descent to calculate the parameters of the model (the weights) or we can use probabilistic methods like Maximum likelihood.
If you don’t know what any of these are, Gradient Descent was explained in the Linear Regression post, and an explanation of Maximum Likelihood for Machine Learning can be found here:
Once we have used one of these methods to train our model, we are ready to make some predictions. Let's see an example of how the process of training a Logistic Regression model and using it to make predictions would go:
First, we would collect a Dataset of patients who have and who have not been diagnosed as obese, along with their corresponding weights. After this, we would train our model, to fit our S shape line to the data and obtain the parameters of the model. After training using Maximum Likelihood, we got the following parameters:
Parameters and equation of X
3. Now, we are ready to make some predictions: imagine we got two patients; one is 120 kg and one is 60 kg. Let's see what happens when we plug these numbers into the model:
Results of using the fitted model to predict obesity given patient weight
As we can see, the first patient (60 kg) has a very low probability of being obese, however, the second one (120 kg) has a very high one.
Logistic Regression results for the previous examples.
In the previous figure, we can see the results given by the Logistic Regression model for the discussed examples. Now, given the weight of any patient, we could calculate their probability of being obese, and give our doctors a quick first round of information!
Conclusion and Other resources
Logistic regression is one of the most simple Machine Learning models. They are easy to understand, interpretable, and can give pretty good results. The goal of this post was to provide an easy way to understand logistic regression in a non-mathematical manner for people who are not Machine Learning practitioners, so if you want to go deeper, or are looking for a more profound of mathematical explanation, take a look at the following video, it explains very well everything we have mentioned in this post.
That is all, I hope you liked the post. Feel free to follow me on Twitter at @jaimezorno. Also, you can take a look at my posts on Data Science and Machine Learning here. Have a good read!
For further resources on Machine Learning and Data Science check out the following repository: How to Learn Machine Learning! For career resources (jobs, events, skill tests) go to AIgents.co — A career community for Data Scientists & Machine Learning Engineers.
Also, for more posts like this one follow me on Medium, and stay tuned!
Also, to go further into Logistic Regression and Machine Learning in general, take a look at the book described in the following article: | https://towardsdatascience.com/logistic-regression-explained-9ee73cede081 | ['Jaime Zornoza'] | 2020-11-02 14:28:54.544000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Startup', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Data Science', 'Programming'] | Title Logistic Regression ExplainedContent Logistic Regression Explained — Logistic Regression explained simply — post explain Logistic Regression simple term could considered Logistic Regression dummy post however I’ve never really liked expression start additional resource skyrocket Machine Learning career Lets get learn Logistic Regression Logistic Regression Explained Beginners Machine Learning world Logistic Regression kind parametric classification model despite word ‘regression’ name mean logistic regression model model certain fixed number parameter depend number input feature output categorical prediction like example plant belongs certain specie reality theory behind Logistic Regression similar one Linear Regression don’t know Linear Regression take 5 minute read super easy guide Logistic Regression don’t directly fit straight line data like linear regression Instead fit shaped curve called Sigmoid observation Sigmoid function fitted data Lets examine figure closely First like said Logistic Regression model classification model specifically binary classification model used distinguish 2 different category — like person obese given weight house big small given size mean data two kind observation Category 1 Category 2 observation like observe figure Note simple example Logistic Regression practice much harder problem solved using model using wide range feature single one Secondly see Yaxis go 0 1 sigmoid function always take maximum minimum two value fit well goal classifying sample two different category computing sigmoid function X weighted sum input feature like Linear Regression get probability 0 1 obviously observation belonging one two category formula sigmoid function following wanted predict person obese given weight would first compute weighted sum weight sorry lexical redundancy input sigmoid function 1 Calculate weighted sum input Weighted sum input feature feature case 2 Calculate probability Obese Use sigmoid equation calculation Alright look cool isn’t meant Machine Learning model train good question multiple way train Logistic Regression model fit shaped line data use iterative optimisation algorithm like Gradient Descent calculate parameter model weight use probabilistic method like Maximum likelihood don’t know Gradient Descent explained Linear Regression post explanation Maximum Likelihood Machine Learning found used one method train model ready make prediction Lets see example process training Logistic Regression model using make prediction would go First would collect Dataset patient diagnosed obese along corresponding weight would train model fit shape line data obtain parameter model training using Maximum Likelihood got following parameter Parameters equation X 3 ready make prediction imagine got two patient one 120 kg one 60 kg Lets see happens plug number model Results using fitted model predict obesity given patient weight see first patient 60 kg low probability obese however second one 120 kg high one Logistic Regression result previous example previous figure see result given Logistic Regression model discussed example given weight patient could calculate probability obese give doctor quick first round information Conclusion resource Logistic regression one simple Machine Learning model easy understand interpretable give pretty good result goal post provide easy way understand logistic regression nonmathematical manner people Machine Learning practitioner want go deeper looking profound mathematical explanation take look following video explains well everything mentioned post hope liked post Feel free follow Twitter jaimezorno Also take look post Data Science Machine Learning good read resource Machine Learning Data Science check following repository Learn Machine Learning career resource job event skill test go AIgentsco — career community Data Scientists Machine Learning Engineers Also post like one follow Medium stay tuned Also go Logistic Regression Machine Learning general take look book described following articleTags Machine Learning Startup Artificial Intelligence Data Science Programming |
2,766 | Why Do Married Men Watch Porn? | People view porn for a complex number of reasons.
· Loneliness — Some unattached men — temporarily or permanently — seek a temporary fantasied partner. Sexual desires fluctuate, and in married couples, those fluctuations aren’t synchronous. Spouses may experience physical or mental problems. If a man travels for work, he will often pull out a webcam to shorten those lonely, long evenings in their hotel rooms.
· Relationships — The passionate sex of a new relationship has a shelf life of about one year. Yet, we expect it to endure forever. As it diminishes, we question our sexual competence and find fault with our partners.
Relationships are complicated. Sometimes sex is not the primary problem. It may be a symptom of more significant relationship problems. A conflict that has not been addressed may cause withdrawal from sex. That is more common than all the other explanations. Men most typically describe this pattern: Their spouse wishes to go to bed. The male partner says I’ll be up in a bit. I must finish this on my computer.
· Self-confidence — Men also sometimes feel they’re not enough. Men avoid sex because of enormous anxiety about it. Men worry about the size of their penises, the firmness of erections, and staying hard. Will I cum too quickly or not be able to cum at all? Am I a lousy lover if my partner doesn’t have an orgasm.
Porn can restore some self-confidence, even if it’s all fantasy. Porn is a natural antidote because it is conflict-free. There is no negotiation, no partner’s feelings to consider. You are in control of all the variables. That ideal sexual partner who wants you is one click away. And if tomorrow that ideal completely changes, it’s just another tick.
· Anxiety and Boredom — Our minds can’t think of two things at the same time. Sexual fantasies push worries about mortgage payments and job dissatisfaction out of our heads. Masturbation is an excellent way to relieve stress. Sexual fantasies creep into our thinking when the mind is bored or idle. Porn seduces us away from the boredom of ordinary life by its novelty. Porn is a way to escape the discomfort of being where you are.
· Fetishes and Kink — Searching a porn site is like walking into a candy store with endless choices. It can create a paralysis of choices. It’s a truism that if something exists, there is porn for it. In the privacy behind their keyboards, people can explore their sexual secrets. They have little fear of real-life consequences.
Fetishes are alternative sexual practices that enhance the sexual experience. They are a preference, not a necessity. In a moralistic society, fetishists expect prejudice. They experience it from most of the community, including their spouses. They may be afraid to discuss it for fear their spouse will see their fantasy as sick, deviant, and perverted. The kink that is lacking in long-term relationships is one click away.
· Conflicts about sexual orientation — Men in heterosexual relationships with recurring same-sex desires may use porn to act out those fantasies. Men search for gay-male porn in about 5% of their searches. The percentage is even higher in states with a low acceptance of same-sex activity. More men in those states live closeted lives, often married to women. For some, it is a compromise to remain in a mixed-orientation relationship.
· Aging — An aging population has high numbers of unattached people. Some turn to porn. As men age, their sexual desire diminishes, and erections become more unpredictable. Porn can help restore sexual vigor and combat anxieties about sexual performance.
· Technology — People are spending time on social media and playing video games. But they are also watching porn instead of interacting with each other in the real world. A correlation exists between people having less sex and watching more porn. Correlations do not prove causality. Is technology a cause or an effect of social isolation from cell phones and the internet? | https://medium.com/hello-love/why-do-married-men-watch-porn-2693b1ffeeed | ['Loren A Olson Md'] | 2020-10-26 08:24:32.419000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Self', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology', 'Sexuality'] | Title Married Men Watch PornContent People view porn complex number reason · Loneliness — unattached men — temporarily permanently — seek temporary fantasied partner Sexual desire fluctuate married couple fluctuation aren’t synchronous Spouses may experience physical mental problem man travel work often pull webcam shorten lonely long evening hotel room · Relationships — passionate sex new relationship shelf life one year Yet expect endure forever diminishes question sexual competence find fault partner Relationships complicated Sometimes sex primary problem may symptom significant relationship problem conflict addressed may cause withdrawal sex common explanation Men typically describe pattern spouse wish go bed male partner say I’ll bit must finish computer · Selfconfidence — Men also sometimes feel they’re enough Men avoid sex enormous anxiety Men worry size penis firmness erection staying hard cum quickly able cum lousy lover partner doesn’t orgasm Porn restore selfconfidence even it’s fantasy Porn natural antidote conflictfree negotiation partner’s feeling consider control variable ideal sexual partner want one click away tomorrow ideal completely change it’s another tick · Anxiety Boredom — mind can’t think two thing time Sexual fantasy push worry mortgage payment job dissatisfaction head Masturbation excellent way relieve stress Sexual fantasy creep thinking mind bored idle Porn seduces u away boredom ordinary life novelty Porn way escape discomfort · Fetishes Kink — Searching porn site like walking candy store endless choice create paralysis choice It’s truism something exists porn privacy behind keyboard people explore sexual secret little fear reallife consequence Fetishes alternative sexual practice enhance sexual experience preference necessity moralistic society fetishist expect prejudice experience community including spouse may afraid discus fear spouse see fantasy sick deviant perverted kink lacking longterm relationship one click away · Conflicts sexual orientation — Men heterosexual relationship recurring samesex desire may use porn act fantasy Men search gaymale porn 5 search percentage even higher state low acceptance samesex activity men state live closeted life often married woman compromise remain mixedorientation relationship · Aging — aging population high number unattached people turn porn men age sexual desire diminishes erection become unpredictable Porn help restore sexual vigor combat anxiety sexual performance · Technology — People spending time social medium playing video game also watching porn instead interacting real world correlation exists people le sex watching porn Correlations prove causality technology cause effect social isolation cell phone internetTags Relationships Self Mental Health Psychology Sexuality |
2,767 | Will Write For Donuts | Will Write For Donuts
Medium’s new compensation system
[Update 4/25: This story, about the writers of The Grammar Games searching compensation for their efforts, has become the most popular story in the entire Grammar Games saga. Proving once again that while the pen is mightier than the sword, the donut is mightier than the pen. Look for my self-improvement must-read articles, “You can either be the donut or the hole,” “8 secrets the donut can teach your start up company,” and “I am a donut and this is my story of sexual abuse.”]
Update 5/12: Inspired by the quest for donuts, I’ve started a new collaborative book and publication titled “The Tao of Blogging.” Please follow our efforts here:
And if you’ve written, or read a really great quote that is humorous or thought provoking, please come to the publication and submit it in the comments section of one of the articles. Thanks!]
We, the undersigned cynics, humorists, absurdists, anarchists, and other assorted deviants, have contributed to a new collaborative short but possibly long story called The Grammar Games.
What started as a satiric revolt against the overwhelming waves of self-improvement, life hacking, and entrepreneurship articles has meta-morphosed into a symbolic battle against the corporate forces that keep us writers oppressed.
Therefore, we will develop a kickstarter program to fund a novel that has given pleasure to tens of… well tens of. Because of the magnitude of the response, we thought “why not reach for the stars?” And so, our campaign will ask the public not to contribute some crappy overbrewed coffee stolen from your nearest twelve-step meeting, but to support the arts with the biggest prize of all… donuts!
Show your solidarity! Click to tweet “Will Write For Donuts” | https://medium.com/the-word-is-not-enough/will-write-for-donuts-88f9d4545350 | ['Lon Shapiro'] | 2016-05-24 07:31:31.561000+00:00 | ['Humor', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Writing', 'The Grammar Games'] | Title Write DonutsContent Write Donuts Medium’s new compensation system Update 425 story writer Grammar Games searching compensation effort become popular story entire Grammar Games saga Proving pen mightier sword donut mightier pen Look selfimprovement mustread article “You either donut hole” “8 secret donut teach start company” “I donut story sexual abuse” Update 512 Inspired quest donut I’ve started new collaborative book publication titled “The Tao Blogging” Please follow effort you’ve written read really great quote humorous thought provoking please come publication submit comment section one article Thanks undersigned cynic humorist absurdists anarchist assorted deviant contributed new collaborative short possibly long story called Grammar Games started satiric revolt overwhelming wave selfimprovement life hacking entrepreneurship article metamorphosed symbolic battle corporate force keep u writer oppressed Therefore develop kickstarter program fund novel given pleasure ten of… well ten magnitude response thought “why reach stars” campaign ask public contribute crappy overbrewed coffee stolen nearest twelvestep meeting support art biggest prize all… donut Show solidarity Click tweet “Will Write Donuts”Tags Humor Entrepreneurship Writing Grammar Games |
2,768 | How Venture Capital Firms Can Diversify — And Mean It | How Venture Capital Firms Can Diversify — And Mean It BX3 Follow Jul 18 · 5 min read
by Anne Szustek Talbot, VP of Content, BX3
There’s an adage among journalists, writers, and generally any other creatives who tend to do things with words: write about what you know. While subject-area knowledge certainly helps when writing for, say, a medical drama script team, at the same time, writers and journalists often are better off, both in terms of subject matter and career fulfillment, if they push the boundaries of their knowledge.
Consumers Need More Than What’s in Venture Capital’s Usual Scope
If the types of startups that tend to receive funding from Silicon Valley venture capital firms are any indication, venture capital firms are hewing to the former aforementioned writer’s adage. The boardrooms of Sand Hill Road are populated with former software engineers. venture capital firms tend to turn out plenty of professed software “solutions.” While the market certainly can stand to benefit from some such products, at the same time, the consumers of the US need more than another project management SaaS.
While not necessarily bearing that tag of ESG or SRI, startup funding, if done with a qualitative, holistic view, can be a form of impact investing; with the impact in question being that Silicon Valley holy grail of a buzzword: disruption.
Yet, for true disruption and positive impact to happen in entrepreneurship, perhaps we need to disrupt how that funding happens.
Disrupting The Disruptors
If there were any silver linings to have come out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been the extra time for introspection and examination of our ways of working. Part of this is taking a deeper dive at our supply chains: Why is there such a shortage of testing kits in the US? What is behind our approval process for pharmaceuticals? And, as Elizabeth MacBride, a longtime business and financial journalist and founder of startup publication Times of Entrepreneurship, points out for MIT Technology Review, why hasn’t the venture capital community funded these pharmaceuticals or PPE?
Good ideas do get funded; yes. But not unlike a publication that values easy clicks over slow-boil, long-form journalism, venture capital often rewards the types of companies that can scale quickly, preferably to IPO size, meaning fast returns for the venture capital firms that fund them and the institutional investors upstream that are investing in these companies. Often, the companies that meet these requirements are software companies. And, as MacBride’s sources in the article point out, on some level, this venture capital funding goes to the same type of founder. Quoting John Doerr of marquee Silicon Valley VC firm Kleiner Perkins in 2008: many of the top-funded founders “all seem to be white, male nerds who’ve dropped out of Harvard or Stanford and they absolutely have no social life.”
Just more than 2 percent of VC money in the US went to female founders in 2017 and 2018, she writes. This study, quoted in Crunchbase in 2019, shows women-founded startups getting 9 percent of investments; black VC-funded founders only accounted for 1 percent of investments. Said Brittany Davis, a black woman who is head of the deal flow team at diversity-centered VC firm Backstage Capital in Crunchbase in 2019, “Even when funds do encounter more diverse founders, they often don’t see the opportunity because either the founder or their business doesn’t fit into their box of what they predict will be successful.”
Underpinning The Recovery
Diversity in founders makes sense: Rather than some minuscule subset of the US workforce dictating what is relevant enough to society to warrant a $10 million tranche of Series A, many diverse founders’ ideas often come battle-tested in the field, showing their resilience and demand in their target market.
One company in the portfolio of LOUD Capital, an early-stage VC headquartered in Columbus, is minority woman-founded SHARE, an on-demand microtransit service that since its launch in 2016, has grown from a local operation in Ohio’s capital city to a service spanning 75 cities across the US. Founded to provide commuting accessibility for thousands of people, many of whom live in smaller communities where public transit coverage may be spotty to non-existent, the startup has expanded its service offerings amid the pandemic to provide delivery services and fulfillment, a lifeline for smaller cities. LOUD has also made recent headlines for the launch of Pride Fund 1, a venture capital fund dedicated expressly for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs and founders creating funds specifically geared towards the LGBTQ+ community, including potentially a couple of fashion brands, as mentioned in Vogue Business.
Under a traditional VC investment rubric, these projects might not pass muster. But in terms of societal relevance, funding has made a positive impact: on a diverse founder, for people who need mobility; and for uninterrupted flow of goods and services. The journalistic thesis statement is there; as is the investment one.
Think of it this way: when you read an article that grabs your attention and makes you think, do you recall the statistics underpinning the argument, or are you more likely to remember how someone was directly impacted by those numbers?
For example, you might understand that COVID is wreaking an unprecedented economic toll on small business owners and that it’s imperative for communities to support small businesses. But a story on a specific entrepreneur in small-town Virginia and what she’s done to save her small business will imprint this issue in your memory for much longer than a graph or chart ever could. And the impact any such funding will make on this company will have more immediate positive repercussions in this community than another tech startup with a purposely misspelled name.
For this reason, it is imperative that if VC actually wants to live up to its often espoused ideals of funding for change, the sector needs to bring on more people that bring the local and industry knowledge and nuance to be sure the startups that stand a chance to serve societal needs get a chance to present, never mind funded, get the due diligence and attention they deserve. Bring in VCs from the South Side of Chicago. Recruit a woman from rural Appalachia and train her in the economic and financial chops needed to assess a new company’s bona fides. Disrupting the status quo is what venture capital purports to be all about. Now let’s see if — quite literally — they can put their money where their mouth is.
Originally published at https://www.valuewalk.com on July 18, 2020. | https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/how-venture-capital-firms-can-diversify-and-mean-it-valuewalk-73fb8c23d98d | [] | 2020-07-28 13:04:12.244000+00:00 | ['Funding', 'Venture Capital', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Diversity', 'Startup'] | Title Venture Capital Firms Diversify — Mean ItContent Venture Capital Firms Diversify — Mean BX3 Follow Jul 18 · 5 min read Anne Szustek Talbot VP Content BX3 There’s adage among journalist writer generally creatives tend thing word write know subjectarea knowledge certainly help writing say medical drama script team time writer journalist often better term subject matter career fulfillment push boundary knowledge Consumers Need What’s Venture Capital’s Usual Scope type startup tend receive funding Silicon Valley venture capital firm indication venture capital firm hewing former aforementioned writer’s adage boardroom Sand Hill Road populated former software engineer venture capital firm tend turn plenty professed software “solutions” market certainly stand benefit product time consumer US need another project management SaaS necessarily bearing tag ESG SRI startup funding done qualitative holistic view form impact investing impact question Silicon Valley holy grail buzzword disruption Yet true disruption positive impact happen entrepreneurship perhaps need disrupt funding happens Disrupting Disruptors silver lining come COVID19 pandemic it’s extra time introspection examination way working Part taking deeper dive supply chain shortage testing kit US behind approval process pharmaceutical Elizabeth MacBride longtime business financial journalist founder startup publication Times Entrepreneurship point MIT Technology Review hasn’t venture capital community funded pharmaceutical PPE Good idea get funded yes unlike publication value easy click slowboil longform journalism venture capital often reward type company scale quickly preferably IPO size meaning fast return venture capital firm fund institutional investor upstream investing company Often company meet requirement software company MacBride’s source article point level venture capital funding go type founder Quoting John Doerr marquee Silicon Valley VC firm Kleiner Perkins 2008 many topfunded founder “all seem white male nerd who’ve dropped Harvard Stanford absolutely social life” 2 percent VC money US went female founder 2017 2018 writes study quoted Crunchbase 2019 show womenfounded startup getting 9 percent investment black VCfunded founder accounted 1 percent investment Said Brittany Davis black woman head deal flow team diversitycentered VC firm Backstage Capital Crunchbase 2019 “Even fund encounter diverse founder often don’t see opportunity either founder business doesn’t fit box predict successful” Underpinning Recovery Diversity founder make sense Rather minuscule subset US workforce dictating relevant enough society warrant 10 million tranche Series many diverse founders’ idea often come battletested field showing resilience demand target market One company portfolio LOUD Capital earlystage VC headquartered Columbus minority womanfounded SHARE ondemand microtransit service since launch 2016 grown local operation Ohio’s capital city service spanning 75 city across US Founded provide commuting accessibility thousand people many live smaller community public transit coverage may spotty nonexistent startup expanded service offering amid pandemic provide delivery service fulfillment lifeline smaller city LOUD also made recent headline launch Pride Fund 1 venture capital fund dedicated expressly LGBTQ entrepreneur founder creating fund specifically geared towards LGBTQ community including potentially couple fashion brand mentioned Vogue Business traditional VC investment rubric project might pas muster term societal relevance funding made positive impact diverse founder people need mobility uninterrupted flow good service journalistic thesis statement investment one Think way read article grab attention make think recall statistic underpinning argument likely remember someone directly impacted number example might understand COVID wreaking unprecedented economic toll small business owner it’s imperative community support small business story specific entrepreneur smalltown Virginia she’s done save small business imprint issue memory much longer graph chart ever could impact funding make company immediate positive repercussion community another tech startup purposely misspelled name reason imperative VC actually want live often espoused ideal funding change sector need bring people bring local industry knowledge nuance sure startup stand chance serve societal need get chance present never mind funded get due diligence attention deserve Bring VCs South Side Chicago Recruit woman rural Appalachia train economic financial chop needed ass new company’s bona fides Disrupting status quo venture capital purport let’s see — quite literally — put money mouth Originally published httpswwwvaluewalkcom July 18 2020Tags Funding Venture Capital Entrepreneurship Diversity Startup |
2,769 | Is the world flat? | Is Earth really round? Maybe we’re actually living on a pancake-shaped planet? Or perhaps it resembles a triangular prism?
These questions form the basis of a debate that has raged on for centuries. Many ancient civilizations subscribed to the belief that Earth is flat. Then science came along and seemingly squashed any notion of this idea — at least, it seemed it did.
I recently watched an eye-opening documentary about modern flat-Earth theorists, known as “flat-Earthers”. This growing community of people vehemently defends the concept that the Earth is flat (if that wasn’t obvious enough to you).
Does this seem too ridiculous to be true? Then you’ll love this post.
As someone who is obsessed with seeking the truth, I was in awe throughout the entire movie. I also couldn’t help but have a ton of questions:
Why did these beliefs form? How do they propagate? And what does this mean for the future of humankind?
I’ll aim to answer these lofty questions and highlight some of the insights I picked up from the movie in the rest of this post.
Do these people actually exist?
I honestly had no idea the flat-Earth movement was a thing until recently. It all started one day during lunch with the TruStory team.
While gathered around the table, we were discussing and laughing about some of the fun, quirky debates happening on the TruStory app. Out of the blue, one of our team members said,
“Let’s hope we never have a flat-Earther trying to debate that the Earth is flat.”
That certainly caught my attention — to the point that I almost spit out my food.
“Flat-Earthers? What… on Earth is that?” I asked.
He chuckled and replied,
“People who believe the Earth is flat! You never heard of ‘em?” “Um… no?” I replied.
My eyes opened wide at this point. I wasn’t really sure what to make of this. Was this some new fad I was unaware of, like the floss dance or fidget spinners? Was I (gasp) getting old?!
My teammate’s eyebrows furrowed. He looked somewhat uncomfortable.
“Yeah, well, they exist,” he said in a serious tone.
I assumed this meant he didn’t want to get into this topic, so I didn’t press it too much more after this.
Instead, I quickly finished up my lunch, saw I had a few minutes to spare before my next meeting, and raced on over to my computer to do some quick Googling about flat-Earthers.
After a few curious search queries, I stood there in shock. “Is this real?” I asked myself incredulously. “These people have to be faking it!” From then on, my research completely consumed my thoughts and time.
Minutes turned to hours. Hours turned to days. Countless nights passed. The sun rose and set numerous times as the Earth spun around it. OR was the sun spinning around the Earth?! I didn’t know what was right or wrong anymore… the ground felt flat beneath my feet. But then why couldn’t I see past the horizon?!
Okay, okay, let’s rewind — I didn’t really spend days researching this. But my Googling did take me down a few rabbit holes. And they left me feeling less and less hopeful for the future of humanity. I had no choice but to figure this thing out.
Fortunately, one of these rabbit holes led me to a documentary about the flat-Earth movement called “Behind the Curve”. Of course, I stayed up later that night to watch it. And I’m glad I did.
How biases affect our beliefs
The movie does an incredible job of documenting the key people behind the movement and how they spread their message. For me, the most fascinating part was trying to comprehend how these people formed these beliefs in the first place.
But to understand why this group of people were able to form these beliefs, it’s important to first understand how humans form their beliefs in general.
A belief is “an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists.”
Fundamentally, there are two ways to form a belief.
One way is to take a set of inputs, study and understand the inputs, and produce an output (i.e., the belief). This is formally known as the “scientific method” — a process for experimentation that is used to explore observations and answer questions.
Inputs → Belief
The overarching goal of science is to discover cause-and-effect relationships. This is achieved by asking questions, carefully gathering and examining the evidence, and seeing if all the information available can be combined into a logical answer.
The other way to form a belief is to first establish the belief and then look for evidence in support of it afterward. In other words, construct a belief and then later try to rationalize it with explanations and supporting evidence.
Belief ← Inputs
As the writer Michael Sherman says in the scientific journal Nature:
As a ‘belief engine’, the brain is always seeking to find meaning in the information that pours into it. Once it has constructed a belief, it rationalizes it with explanations, almost always after the event. The brain thus becomes invested in the beliefs and reinforces them by looking for supporting evidence while blinding itself to anything contrary. Shermer describes this process as “belief-dependent realism” — what we believe determines our reality, not the other way around. Problems arise when thinking like this is unconstrained. Passionate investment in beliefs can lead to intolerance and conflict, as history tragically attests. Shermer gives chilling examples of how dangerous belief can be when it is maintained against all evidence.
The flat-Earth theory is the perfect example of this type of belief-forming taken too far. Flat-Earth theorists look out on the horizon and see flat land. They experience flatness when they walk. This gives them the intuition that the world is flat. This belief then gets propagated as widespread truth.
But you might be wondering, “What if we just showed them scientific proof that the Earth is not flat?”
Well, cognitive bias makes this easier said than done.
The dangers of not recognizing your biases
There’s an interesting concept known as the Dunning-Kruger effect. In case you don’t know what it means, here’s a quick definition:
“A cognitive bias in which people mistakenly assess their cognitive ability as greater than it is. It is related to the cognitive bias of illusory superiority and comes from the inability of people to recognize their lack of ability. Without the self-awareness of metacognition, people cannot objectively evaluate their competence or incompetence. People with substantial, measurable deficits in their knowledge or expertise lack the ability to recognize those deficits and therefore, despite potentially making error after error, tend to think they are performing competently when they are not: ‘In short, those who are incompetent, for lack of a better term, should have little insight into their incompetence — an assertion that has come to be known as the Dunning–Kruger effect.‘”
We all have biases. What we think and experience everyday are based on the stories we tell ourselves to explain what’s happening or what has already happened. Stories are how we make sense of the world.
For example, last weekend, I was chatting with my boyfriend, and he was recounting our experience at Bikram Yoga that morning.
“Man, it was 200-degrees in there. That’s probably why I feel so tired today.”
Meanwhile, I was thinking to myself,
“Yeah, actually it was like 90 degrees in there. You’re probably tired because you got no sleep last night and drank alcohol, which probably made you dehydrated.”
He was telling himself a story to explain how he was feeling. Some of it may have been true, but the rest is mostly rationalization to make sense of his reality.
Now, this type of story-telling is completely natural. It’s actually human nature.
However, stories are inherently subjective. They are full of biases. When these biases cannot be recognized for what they are — that’s when they become dangerous.
In the case of flat-Earthers, they think they know everything there is to know about how the Earth is shaped. Consequently, they disregard any science that disproves this belief. Their lack of ability to recognize this gap in their logic leads them to continue to believe it.
Cognitive biases, if not recognized for what they are, eventually turn into propaganda.
At this point, you may be wondering, “How does someone ever end up thinking that they know everything there is to know?” After all, some of us here are suffering from the opposite problem: Imposter Syndrome.
Well, it usually starts with a lack of trust in conventional wisdom. Some people are educated in such a way that they distrust authority on a regular basis. This spirals inwards on itself and causes a snowball effect to the point that they don’t believe anything.
When you don’t trust anyone or anything, you start to form conspiracies to explain different phenomena you’re observing but can’t explain. You latch on to some noise, turn it into data, then call it a fact.
I see this sometimes in the Crypto space, unfortunately. People are educated and told not to trust the government. In fact, they’re educated to not trust anything. “Don’t Trust. Verify” is the mantra everyone preaches. As a result, everything is then seen through the lens of “Don’t Trust. Verify.”
But even this gets dangerous if taken too far. The point of crypto is NOT to distrust anything a government or centralized entity does. We can’t deny that the government provides useful functions which otherwise could not be purely done by sovereign individuals. If we stopped trusting the government and every centralized entity altogether, we’d likely end up with much bigger problems, such as the tragedy of commons.
Taking the “Don’t Trust. Verify” mantra too far could take us off the deep end and lead us to some dark outcomes. It’s okay to be skeptical of the government and centralized entities and seek more efficient ways. It’s not okay to be in complete denial of their usefulness in some regards.
There’s a big difference between being skeptical and being in denial. It’s subtle but important:
Being skeptical is okay because it usually means you’re willing to find evidence and understand the truth. Being in denial means you’re not willing to accept anything that is contrary to your beliefs.
If the beliefs don’t align with reality, those in denial will change reality and not beliefs. This type of close-mindedness is dangerous.
It is delusion in its most volatile state.
It’s what leads to extreme beliefs like thinking Earth is flat.
The key to solving bias?
A community of critical thinkers.
Do you know what frightens me the most about all of this? It’s not just about flat-Earthers; it’s about the world at large. We’ve got a growing population of people who simply aren’t encouraged to think critically and evaluate expert resources.
When human thinking is left to itself, it often gravitates toward prejudice, over-generalization, common fallacies, self-deception, rigidity, and narrowness. [1]
We live in a world where we have advanced our understanding of science to a point where we can send humans to the moon. So when you have a group of people who all of a sudden defy all science and go against it, it’s hard not to get frustrated.
But getting frustrated or annoyed at people isn’t going to fix the problem. And neither is shaming them. We must develop empathy and see things from their perspective.
It’s imperative that we understand where they are stuck and get them unstuck. This means teaching them how to think critically.
We must teach people how to acknowledge their own biases so that they can fairly judge both the merits and faults of an idea.
But modern social networks don’t incentivize people to think. They incentivize people to consume and react. I believe this is where TruStory is fundamentally different.
TruStory is a social network to debate ideas. The community is incentivized to write arguments that convey the merits of their ideas. Others are then encouraged to jump in and find faults in those ideas. This back-and-forth process of debate allows us to flush out our viewpoints and get closer to discovering truths.
It’s been amazing to see this community of critical thinkers come together to form a movement. The last thing we want is a world full of people who are easy to manipulate and end up making bad decisions based on flawed logic and thinking.
TruStory is our contribution to helping this cause. What about you?
This post was originally published here.
Join us on TruStory!
Subscribe to our YouTube
Follow us on Twitter | https://medium.com/trustory-app/is-the-world-flat-635e48d0e4d7 | ['Preethi Kasireddy'] | 2019-12-07 00:01:06.067000+00:00 | ['Debate', 'Social Media', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Psychology', 'Science'] | Title world flatContent Earth really round Maybe we’re actually living pancakeshaped planet perhaps resembles triangular prism question form basis debate raged century Many ancient civilization subscribed belief Earth flat science came along seemingly squashed notion idea — least seemed recently watched eyeopening documentary modern flatEarth theorist known “flatEarthers” growing community people vehemently defends concept Earth flat wasn’t obvious enough seem ridiculous true you’ll love post someone obsessed seeking truth awe throughout entire movie also couldn’t help ton question belief form propagate mean future humankind I’ll aim answer lofty question highlight insight picked movie rest post people actually exist honestly idea flatEarth movement thing recently started one day lunch TruStory team gathered around table discussing laughing fun quirky debate happening TruStory app blue one team member said “Let’s hope never flatEarther trying debate Earth flat” certainly caught attention — point almost spit food “FlatEarthers What… Earth that” asked chuckled replied “People believe Earth flat never heard ‘em” “Um… no” replied eye opened wide point wasn’t really sure make new fad unaware like floss dance fidget spinner gasp getting old teammate’s eyebrow furrowed looked somewhat uncomfortable “Yeah well exist” said serious tone assumed meant didn’t want get topic didn’t press much Instead quickly finished lunch saw minute spare next meeting raced computer quick Googling flatEarthers curious search query stood shock “Is real” asked incredulously “These people faking it” research completely consumed thought time Minutes turned hour Hours turned day Countless night passed sun rose set numerous time Earth spun around sun spinning around Earth didn’t know right wrong anymore… ground felt flat beneath foot couldn’t see past horizon Okay okay let’s rewind — didn’t really spend day researching Googling take rabbit hole left feeling le le hopeful future humanity choice figure thing Fortunately one rabbit hole led documentary flatEarth movement called “Behind Curve” course stayed later night watch I’m glad bias affect belief movie incredible job documenting key people behind movement spread message fascinating part trying comprehend people formed belief first place understand group people able form belief it’s important first understand human form belief general belief “an acceptance statement true something exists” Fundamentally two way form belief One way take set input study understand input produce output ie belief formally known “scientific method” — process experimentation used explore observation answer question Inputs → Belief overarching goal science discover causeandeffect relationship achieved asking question carefully gathering examining evidence seeing information available combined logical answer way form belief first establish belief look evidence support afterward word construct belief later try rationalize explanation supporting evidence Belief ← Inputs writer Michael Sherman say scientific journal Nature ‘belief engine’ brain always seeking find meaning information pours constructed belief rationalizes explanation almost always event brain thus becomes invested belief reinforces looking supporting evidence blinding anything contrary Shermer describes process “beliefdependent realism” — believe determines reality way around Problems arise thinking like unconstrained Passionate investment belief lead intolerance conflict history tragically attests Shermer give chilling example dangerous belief maintained evidence flatEarth theory perfect example type beliefforming taken far FlatEarth theorist look horizon see flat land experience flatness walk give intuition world flat belief get propagated widespread truth might wondering “What showed scientific proof Earth flat” Well cognitive bias make easier said done danger recognizing bias There’s interesting concept known DunningKruger effect case don’t know mean here’s quick definition “A cognitive bias people mistakenly ass cognitive ability greater related cognitive bias illusory superiority come inability people recognize lack ability Without selfawareness metacognition people cannot objectively evaluate competence incompetence People substantial measurable deficit knowledge expertise lack ability recognize deficit therefore despite potentially making error error tend think performing competently ‘In short incompetent lack better term little insight incompetence — assertion come known Dunning–Kruger effect‘” bias think experience everyday based story tell explain what’s happening already happened Stories make sense world example last weekend chatting boyfriend recounting experience Bikram Yoga morning “Man 200degrees That’s probably feel tired today” Meanwhile thinking “Yeah actually like 90 degree You’re probably tired got sleep last night drank alcohol probably made dehydrated” telling story explain feeling may true rest mostly rationalization make sense reality type storytelling completely natural It’s actually human nature However story inherently subjective full bias bias cannot recognized — that’s become dangerous case flatEarthers think know everything know Earth shaped Consequently disregard science disproves belief lack ability recognize gap logic lead continue believe Cognitive bias recognized eventually turn propaganda point may wondering “How someone ever end thinking know everything know” u suffering opposite problem Imposter Syndrome Well usually start lack trust conventional wisdom people educated way distrust authority regular basis spiral inwards cause snowball effect point don’t believe anything don’t trust anyone anything start form conspiracy explain different phenomenon you’re observing can’t explain latch noise turn data call fact see sometimes Crypto space unfortunately People educated told trust government fact they’re educated trust anything “Don’t Trust Verify” mantra everyone preaches result everything seen lens “Don’t Trust Verify” even get dangerous taken far point crypto distrust anything government centralized entity can’t deny government provides useful function otherwise could purely done sovereign individual stopped trusting government every centralized entity altogether we’d likely end much bigger problem tragedy common Taking “Don’t Trust Verify” mantra far could take u deep end lead u dark outcome It’s okay skeptical government centralized entity seek efficient way It’s okay complete denial usefulness regard There’s big difference skeptical denial It’s subtle important skeptical okay usually mean you’re willing find evidence understand truth denial mean you’re willing accept anything contrary belief belief don’t align reality denial change reality belief type closemindedness dangerous delusion volatile state It’s lead extreme belief like thinking Earth flat key solving bias community critical thinker know frightens It’s flatEarthers it’s world large We’ve got growing population people simply aren’t encouraged think critically evaluate expert resource human thinking left often gravitates toward prejudice overgeneralization common fallacy selfdeception rigidity narrowness 1 live world advanced understanding science point send human moon group people sudden defy science go it’s hard get frustrated getting frustrated annoyed people isn’t going fix problem neither shaming must develop empathy see thing perspective It’s imperative understand stuck get unstuck mean teaching think critically must teach people acknowledge bias fairly judge merit fault idea modern social network don’t incentivize people think incentivize people consume react believe TruStory fundamentally different TruStory social network debate idea community incentivized write argument convey merit idea Others encouraged jump find fault idea backandforth process debate allows u flush viewpoint get closer discovering truth It’s amazing see community critical thinker come together form movement last thing want world full people easy manipulate end making bad decision based flawed logic thinking TruStory contribution helping cause post originally published Join u TruStory Subscribe YouTube Follow u TwitterTags Debate Social Media Cryptocurrency Psychology Science |
2,770 | 5 Books That Grapple with the Thorny Issue of Genetics and Race | 5 Books That Grapple with the Thorny Issue of Genetics and Race
These scholars of color combine scientific inquiry and social justice.
By Georgia Frances King
Though scientists have been studying (and debating) the intersection of race and genetics for decades, the reignition of police brutality protests in the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s murders has sparked new interest in old research. Is race genetic? What’s the biological difference between ancestry, ethnicity, and race? What is race-based medicine? What is intergenerational trauma?
These aren’t new topics. Whether it’s phrenology or eugenics, there is a long and deeply disturbing history of racism in the field of genetics.
Those same inequalities on the patient level — poorer health outcomes, reduced access to care, racial bias in medical data, etc. — persist on the lab level, too. Less than a tenth of STEM workers are Black, and they only make up 3% of physical sciences doctorates. Many put these dismal figures down to discrimination in both the college and job application processes, as well as fewer financial resources. For those who do manage to snag decent research jobs, they are met with prejudice in the field, which just starts the cycle all over again.
We wanted to know what the leading scholars of color had to say on the topic, so we decided to put together a short reading list that helps us all better understand the intersection of race, biology, and genetics. Please tweet us more suggestions here!
In order to not let the Bunsen burner’s flame go out, the science community needs to continue to care about — and fund — this research long after the media scrum has died down.
Book club, anyone?
The Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-first Century by Dorothy Roberts
Roberts is a professor of law and sociology at Penn who is a widely read author on the subjects of social justice and the law. In this book, she documents the “invention of race” and warns against classifying race as a biological category. She has also been a big voice in tearing down notions of race-based medicine; here’s her groundbreaking TED talk on it. Her earlier book, Killing the Black Body, specifically focuses on Black maternal mortality and reproductive rights, which have unfortunately gotten worse, not better, since she wrote it 20 years ago.
People’s Science: Bodies and Rights on the Stem Cell Frontier by Ruha Benjamin
Benjamin is an associate professor in the Department of African American Studies at Princeton and the founder of the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab. In this book, she puts stem cell research under the microscope to inquire whether it will eradicate or further engrain systemic inequalities. She’s more recently the author of Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code, for which she won the Oliver Cromwell Cox Book Award for anti-racist scholarship.
Social By Nature: The Promise and Peril of Sociogenomics by Catherine Bliss
Bliss is an associate professor of sociology at Rutgers University who explores the sociology of race, gender, and sexuality in science, medicine, and society. This book explains how both social and genetic factors affect our life outcomes — an interdisciplinary field called sociogenomics — along with the troubling, eugenics-like underpinnings of such ideas. It’s a fresh and insightful look at how the nature vs. nurture debate plays out from a social justice lens. (Her previous book was Race Decoded: The Genomic Fight for Social Justice, if you want even more Bliss.)
My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem
Menakem is a behavioral health expert who has been a trauma counselor for a diverse group of organizations from Minneapolis Public Schools to the U.S. Armed Forces. This popular and very readable book uses the story of his grandmother as the vehicle to explore the notion of intergenerational trauma and “body supremacy” from the cellular level. A surge of new readers found Menakem’s work in the wake of the most recent Black Lives Matter protests, leading to interviews like this one with Krista Tippett on the popular On Being podcast.
Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing by Joy Degruy
Degruy is a social worker and mental health researcher who focuses on the intersection of racism and trauma. This seminal book is the culmination of more than 10 years of her research in this space, which explores how African-American families have continued to pass down trauma in a post-Jim Crow world. | https://medium.com/neodotlife/5-books-that-grapple-with-the-thorny-issue-of-genetics-and-race-3d189f85974e | [] | 2020-11-26 01:49:12.163000+00:00 | ['Books', 'BlackLivesMatter', 'Race', 'Science', 'Book Review'] | Title 5 Books Grapple Thorny Issue Genetics RaceContent 5 Books Grapple Thorny Issue Genetics Race scholar color combine scientific inquiry social justice Georgia Frances King Though scientist studying debating intersection race genetics decade reignition police brutality protest wake George Floyd Breonna Taylor’s murder sparked new interest old research race genetic What’s biological difference ancestry ethnicity race racebased medicine intergenerational trauma aren’t new topic Whether it’s phrenology eugenics long deeply disturbing history racism field genetics inequality patient level — poorer health outcome reduced access care racial bias medical data etc — persist lab level Less tenth STEM worker Black make 3 physical science doctorate Many put dismal figure discrimination college job application process well fewer financial resource manage snag decent research job met prejudice field start cycle wanted know leading scholar color say topic decided put together short reading list help u better understand intersection race biology genetics Please tweet u suggestion order let Bunsen burner’s flame go science community need continue care — fund — research long medium scrum died Book club anyone Fatal Invention Science Politics Big Business Recreate Race Twentyfirst Century Dorothy Roberts Roberts professor law sociology Penn widely read author subject social justice law book document “invention race” warns classifying race biological category also big voice tearing notion racebased medicine here’s groundbreaking TED talk earlier book Killing Black Body specifically focus Black maternal mortality reproductive right unfortunately gotten worse better since wrote 20 year ago People’s Science Bodies Rights Stem Cell Frontier Ruha Benjamin Benjamin associate professor Department African American Studies Princeton founder Ida B Wells Data Lab book put stem cell research microscope inquire whether eradicate engrain systemic inequality She’s recently author Race Technology Abolitionist Tools New Jim Code Oliver Cromwell Cox Book Award antiracist scholarship Social Nature Promise Peril Sociogenomics Catherine Bliss Bliss associate professor sociology Rutgers University explores sociology race gender sexuality science medicine society book explains social genetic factor affect life outcome — interdisciplinary field called sociogenomics — along troubling eugenicslike underpinnings idea It’s fresh insightful look nature v nurture debate play social justice lens previous book Race Decoded Genomic Fight Social Justice want even Bliss Grandmother’s Hands Racialized Trauma Pathway Mending Hearts Bodies Resmaa Menakem Menakem behavioral health expert trauma counselor diverse group organization Minneapolis Public Schools US Armed Forces popular readable book us story grandmother vehicle explore notion intergenerational trauma “body supremacy” cellular level surge new reader found Menakem’s work wake recent Black Lives Matter protest leading interview like one Krista Tippett popular podcast PostTraumatic Slave Syndrome America’s Legacy Enduring Injury Healing Joy Degruy Degruy social worker mental health researcher focus intersection racism trauma seminal book culmination 10 year research space explores AfricanAmerican family continued pas trauma postJim Crow worldTags Books BlackLivesMatter Race Science Book Review |
2,771 | ML-Mania: Progress in Review As a New Decade Dawns | With 2019 forming the end as well as the beginning of a new decade, I have been reviewing the machine learning investments we at La Famiglia have made over the past years. As the turn of the year provides an opportunity for reflection, I have summarised general trends, new frontiers and limitations, as well as three methodologies for framing the commercial potential of machine learning in the wild.
I) General Trends
A year ago, KDNuggets summarised ML in 2018 as “the year of refinement” with “low hanging fruits having been plucked” and media pushing “overblown fears” of the omnipotence of ML. At the same time, a “reckoning of applied machine learning” took place “as there are just some limits to what we can do with pattern matching alone”. Well, 2019 was something of an elegant albeit non-climatic continuation of these findings: clear progress without a drastic step change. While we have seen a few key advancements in research, such as BERT in NLP (end of 2018, more to follow later), this year was marked by the absence of manifold game-changing breakthroughs and instead presented a phase of maturity and refinement. It seems that ML is now growing up.
Macro trends: At a macro level, same as every year: the cost for sensors, compute and networking continues to decrease, building the foundation for ML’s steady commercial progress.
AI Chips: A range of companies have achieved key advancements in developing novel chips specialised in AI operations, from architectures optimised for data centres to edge devices, making 2019 a hot year for semiconductors (see Groq announcing the world’s first architecture capable of 1,000,000,000,000,000 operations per second on a single chip/ 250 teraFLOPS (compared to Nvidia x Amazon at 100 teraFLOPS), Intel potentially snapping up Habana Labs for >$1Bn , Graphcore & Microsoft announcing an AI cloud partnership, and Cerebras claiming to have the world’s fastest supercomputer due to a 400,000 core processor).
Self-supervised learning: In continuation of advancements in ML research at the end of 2018, 2019 saw the “quiet revolution of semi-supervised learning” , with new progress in semi-supervised learning (alternatively called self-supervised learning) promising to remove the cumbersome bottleneck of labelled data. Through the development of proxy tasks, self-supervised learning enables systems to learn without explicit supervision by learning relevant contextual information instead, thus not requiring pre-existing labeled data.
Why is that a big deal? Many companies still stuffer from barriers to automation due to a lack of appropriate data. There are three common barriers to ML automation, starting with a lack of digital data (1st barrier to automation), structured data (2nd barrier to automation), and labelled data (3rd barrier to automation and often the most cumbersome one since scaling labelling efforts remains difficult). Hence, the advent of systems that can be fed on structured digital data alone allures.
Due to a range of methodological improvements, self-supervised learning is now hitting its stride. With research teams publishing new methodologies (such as Google’s BERT and Allen Institute’s Elmo) self-supervised learning has had the biggest effect on Natural Language Processing so far, achieving the same performance as supervised learning with a 10x lower amount of training data. It was rolled out on Google in mid-2019, one of the largest changes to search ever, helping to provide more nuance and context in search results.
In May 2019, Yann LeCun stated accordingly: “The next AI revolution will not be supervised or purely reinforced. The future is self-supervised learning with massive amounts of data and very large networks.”
At the same time, since self-supervised learning also enables scaling with lower amounts of labelled data, together with ever decreasing total costs to run ML in the wild, the next decade promises ML at the edge, ML at scale and ML with less (labelled) data, getting us closer to the paradigm of “ML everywhere” than we might currently anticipate.
Exploring sensory frontiers: Ian Goodfellow’s introduction of GANs (Generative adversarial networks — the idea that neural networks contest and thereby improve each other) in 2014 provided a breakthrough in photorealistic image synthesis. In 2018, Deepmind provided more advancement through their work on BigGANs, which essentially scale up GAN models to enhance performance (for a history of GANs, check out this post). This year was marked by further progress of GANs and Variational Auto Encoders (VAE) for audio, image and video synthesis, focusing on first use cases such as fashion model creation for e-commerce sites (e.g. DataGrid), though commercial scale remains low.
Overall, through recent advancements, such as machines learning to smell (Google research) and image face generation now being indistinguishable from real photos (see Ian Goodfellow’s comparison), the next decade will further raise questions about the meaning of privacy and authenticity in a sensory world that can be manipulated at the click of a button, while also highlighting unprecedented potential for cost-saving and automation across creative industries.
Federated learning: Heralded as a potential breakthrough for machine learning in the previous year, federated learning has disappointed this drastic expectation, yet is also showing promising early application. Federated learning enables ML without direct access to training data — data remains in its location and only computed abstractions are shared with a central model. While providing a method to soothe privacy concerns and more easily process large amounts of data (see e.g. recent news of Nvidia’s use of the technology within hospitals), the commercial reality of federated ML is still marked by key limitations, such as edge device performance and coordination, which is aggravated by a lack of standardised infrastructure and resources on client/edge site, as well as back-tracing of local data. Nevertheless, federated learning is already in production in certain environments that allow access and control over the entire infrastructure, such as Google Keyboard, enabling accurate text predictions and autocorrect without data being shared back to Google (how’s that for win-win?).
AutoML: When it comes to AutoML, no big breakthroughs either. AutoML enables computers to automatically generate and test neural networks, thus creating better results than humans would. If leveraged at scale, this could solve a key human bottleneck, and at much lower cost (think about the beauty of ML model generation 24/7 with no breaks needed). Despite commercial releases by Google, the performance of AutoML still lags behind expectations of tech automation hopefuls. While research results are promising, showing that certain tasks can be automated, the key to strong ML performance still lies in the human element (i.e. hyperparameter tuning, architectural and loss function design). “Humans have lots of knowledge that I don’t think AutoML will be able to figure out,” said Quoc Le, lead researcher and creator of AutoML earlier this year.
Autonomous driving: There was a hype — and this year it evaporated definitively. Or as a founder in this space put it to me on a more positive note: “2019 has been a wonderful phase of increased realism — so far the kids were playing, now we’ve grown up”. As investment continues to be high, consolidation pressures among autonomous vehicle companies are picking up and new partnerships continue to be announced regularly (e.g. most recently BMW & Daimler). Across the industry, the reality of autonomous driving in the wild lags behind initial expectations: missed launch dates have become the norm and many players struggle to ramp up driven miles. While Waymo remains far ahead of the curve and Tesla works hard to show the world new form factors as well as its superior data collection and algorithmic capabilities, putting out a bold vision of enabling L5 without Lidar sensors, in 2019 the world agreed that L5 autonomous cars in mega cities remain far in the future. Still, we anticipate that other use cases in more structured and controlled environments (trucking lanes, warehouses, etc.) will provide promising business cases in the next few years.
Tooling: Great news for productivity junkies: On the tooling front, steady progress has been made, with a range of tools now making the work of engineers and data scientists more productive (see here for an overview).
Talent: As sought after as ever, ML talent remains a rare good that is worth fighting for, though Europe still is nowhere close to winning the battle. In 2019, a report from the Centre for Data Innovation concluded that the United States is leading in AI, followed by China and then the EU. While the US and China each lead in several categories (talent, development, hardware, research vs. adoption and data, respectively), the EU does not achieve any category leadership (oy gevalt!). Already frequently lamented by politicians and business professionals, I believe the next decade will escalate tensions in the race to AI supremacy, with Europe’s wish to be at the forefront remaining as vulnerable as ever. However, with the topic of ethics and governance becoming more important, as shown by several research initiatives across European universities (e.g. Facebook & TU Munich, Stephen Schwarzman’s historical $188M donation to the University of Oxford; both for the purpose of funding research about ethics in AI) the scales might soon tip more into Europe’s favour again.
II) Method I of III: Categorising the Potential of Automation
To help provide structure in discussing the potential of data and ML for automation, delineating areas in which humans vs. machines excel is key. While a lot of the public discourse focuses on AI totalitarianism, predicting drastic takeovers from machines and robots in all walks of life, the reality of how automation is embedded into our work and private lives is more nuanced. Depending on how well processes are defined, the availability of structured and labelled data, as well as ability to provide production-ready products, form important prerequisites for machine automation potential (note that automation can be driven by ML, but also the orchestration of digital workflows alone, which often provides much lower hanging fruits).
As reported by MMC Ventures in 2019, 1600 AI startups call Europe home. Most of them focus on the verticals of health, fintech, and media, as well as the business functions of marketing, BI & analytics. When assessing the ability of machines to take an ever bigger role in our daily lives, it is worth considering the strength of human capabilities versus the readiness of automation.
As the graph below depicts, the potential for automation can be categorised alongside a theoretical productive balance between humans and machines, with further productivity pathways delineating human as well as machine prevalence. Based on three such theoretical productivity lines, four fields emerge:
The Field of Tooling: In this area, human capabilities remain far superior to machines. Humans use machines as a mere tools that have little to no influence on the quality of the output. In this field, machine impact is low, and human impact high. Examples would be software tools for writing (i.e. a best-seller will not be decided by using Word or Pages), or creating a musical masterpiece.
In this area, human capabilities remain far superior to machines. Humans use machines as a mere tools that have little to no influence on the quality of the output. In this field, machine impact is low, and human impact high. Examples would be software tools for writing (i.e. a best-seller will not be decided by using Word or Pages), or creating a musical masterpiece. The Field of Assistance: In this area, the human is assisted by a machine. Machine impact is medium because the human in the loop still crucial to the final output (e.g. managing a sales relationship). Here, machine impact is low to medium and human input is important. Examples include voice and text assistants, chatbots, L3 autonomous driving. We count portfolio companies like Affinity (ML-enabled CRM) and Impira (ML-enabled asset management system) into this category.
In this area, the human is assisted by a machine. Machine impact is medium because the human in the loop still crucial to the final output (e.g. managing a sales relationship). Here, machine impact is low to medium and human input is important. Examples include voice and text assistants, chatbots, L3 autonomous driving. We count portfolio companies like Affinity (ML-enabled CRM) and Impira (ML-enabled asset management system) into this category. The Field of Augmentation: In this field, the capabilities of machines exceed those of humans, enabling humans to do things much more effectively. Humans are still needed as a final control layer, but not crucial to overall quality of the output, which is mainly driven by machine performance. Here, machine impact is medium to high, whereas human impact is low but still necessary for seamless operations or near-perfect results. Examples include product recommendations, state of the art OCR functionality, predictive maintenance, L4 autonomy, and production optimisation platforms. We count companies like Fox Robotics (automated forklifts), Omnius (streamlined workflows for insurances), Alcemy (cement optimisation platform), and BigFinite (manufacturing optimisation for the process industry) into this category.
In this field, the capabilities of machines exceed those of humans, enabling humans to do things much more effectively. Humans are still needed as a final control layer, but not crucial to overall quality of the output, which is mainly driven by machine performance. Here, machine impact is medium to high, whereas human impact is low but still necessary for seamless operations or near-perfect results. Examples include product recommendations, state of the art OCR functionality, predictive maintenance, L4 autonomy, and production optimisation platforms. We count companies like Fox Robotics (automated forklifts), Omnius (streamlined workflows for insurances), Alcemy (cement optimisation platform), and BigFinite (manufacturing optimisation for the process industry) into this category. The Field of Automation: In this field, machines have achieved prevalence: Human input is near obsolete — human work can be fully automated, with machines often achieving results far superior to human capabilities. In this field, machine impact is high and human impact low to nonexistent. Examples include fraud and cancer detection, image/video-based quality control, as well as specialised manufacturing processes. In our portfolio, we count companies like Osaro (automated picking and assembly) and CloudNC (autonomous machining) into this category.
At La Famiglia, we believe big businesses can be built across all four categories, albeit scalability concerns exist for the tooling space, as well as potential price pressure in the field of automation for low-complexity tasks, as has already happened across API-based business models.
In 2019, the fields of assistance and enablement got us most excited, since this is where great products make a difference to human workflows (the famous 10x), providing clever yet often simple ways for both to work together seamlessly. Moreover, the two areas cannot be fully separated, with many platforms showing characteristics of both areas (e.g. an ML-enabled CRM like Affinity providing augmentation through streamlined relationship information, yet still requiring the human in the loop for key relationship management). Looking at the next year, we will continue our hunt for companies tackling complex automation through best-in-class tech teams, as well as augmentation and assistance through companies that understand how to create 10x impact through streamlined workflows and superior analytical insights.
III) Method II of III: Dress to Impress But Better Low-ball for Success: Anticipating Human Expectation
To evaluate why some products have underwhelmed rather than overwhelmed on the automation expectation scale, examining human expectation is key. Primed by darwinistic survival instinct, negative events impact humans more strongly than positive events of the same magnitude (the negative feeling of losing $1 weighs more strongly than the happy feeling of gaining $1).
As the scale of measuring automation success is not one-dimensional, but often impacted by at least two aspects (overall quality & overall cost) this Negativity Bias has resulted in certain products remaining below expectation levels of the past decade.
The status quo being the point of reference for assessments of new automation products, machine translation, despite strong progress not being perfect yet, has found wide adoption since the expectation level for many languages was no or only very expensive translation — making even patchy translation a strong improvement.
On the other hand, interactions with voice assistants and chatbots continue to underwhelm customers. Rarely able to move beyond simple interactions, when comparing human-to-machine with human-to-human conversation, a clear gap to the status quo remains, driven by a lack of meaningful interactivity.
To examine ML’s past and future potential, we hence always ask ourselves whether ML-driven automation features of a product will delight and raise the bar, rather than underwhelm and annoy in comparison to the status quo, despite potentially promising other optimisation criteria, e.g. potential to decrease overall cost.
IV) Method III of III: Understanding What Moves the Needle of Your Business — Where Is the Money?
While I felt that AI-bullshit bingo has decreased in 2019, we still saw a range of companies this year that utilised AI and ML as a buzzword to jazz up their deck, rather than a technology that can drive meaningful value for their customers, i.e. help solve their problems. When determining if and how ML can add meaningful value to businesses, we find it helpful to separate three categories.
Scale: Will the business benefit from driving higher scale through automation (100x more items processed, no need to rest)? E.g. generation of additional business where operational capacity is a key bottleneck (e.g. in labour-constrained markets); alleviating cost pressure in stagnating or declining businesses
Will the business benefit from driving higher scale through automation (100x more items processed, no need to rest)? E.g. generation of additional business where operational capacity is a key bottleneck (e.g. in labour-constrained markets); alleviating cost pressure in stagnating or declining businesses Quality: Can ML achieve better results than humans could? E.g. driving better quality in high-value and high-risk environments, such as cybersecurity or health. Important note: often the combination of ML and humans achieve best quality (i.e. humans providing context to pre-analysed ML results)
Can ML achieve better results than humans could? E.g. driving better quality in high-value and high-risk environments, such as cybersecurity or health. Important note: often the combination of ML and humans achieve best quality (i.e. humans providing context to pre-analysed ML results) Time: Often, ML can achieve results much faster than humans by quickly sorting through thousands of possible options. Does moving closer to real-time functionality actually add value to clients though? E.g. ML enabling servicing clients faster, thus generating higher customer happiness and driving retention
Good founders will have thought about the underlying business need of their clients, knowing exactly why automation features make sense and drive value.
V) Outlook
What will the 2020s hold? The 2010s have been the decade of unmet expectations on both ends of the innovation bullishness scale, disappointing harsh critics and strong enthusiasts alike. Coming after decade that moved from cries of “all hail the almighty algorithm” and computers beating humans in a range of complex tasks to an awakenings across the board, including chatbots still being shitty and the far away reality of fully autonomous vehicles, I believe the 2020s will move us into a world in which human-machine interaction becomes the de-facto status quo everywhere. Pioneers will achieve significant levels of advanced automation in select areas (e.g. warehousing), and even laggards will steadily exploit assistance and augmentation opportunities.
All in all, while the robots aren’t coming for us (yet), I look back at the past decade with a sense of deep serenity over the fact that novels won’t be written by computers any time soon. This serenity is met by excitement in the wake of a new age of automation and the benefits this would entail if executed correctly, yet also staggering unease in light of many societal challenges that will arise.
Products built by empathetic and purpose-driven founders will likely provide some answers — and even more new questions. So onto more golden ML years!
(Recommended Reads for ML research / investment overviews in 2019:
Thanks to great ML startups https://luminovo.ai/ & https://recogni.com for your valuable feedback on writing this review! | https://medium.com/swlh/ml-mania-progress-in-review-as-a-new-decade-dawns-56e493d895d8 | ['Judith Dada'] | 2019-12-09 20:12:54.933000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Automation', 'Venture Capital', 'Entrepreneurship'] | Title MLMania Progress Review New Decade DawnsContent 2019 forming end well beginning new decade reviewing machine learning investment La Famiglia made past year turn year provides opportunity reflection summarised general trend new frontier limitation well three methodology framing commercial potential machine learning wild General Trends year ago KDNuggets summarised ML 2018 “the year refinement” “low hanging fruit plucked” medium pushing “overblown fears” omnipotence ML time “reckoning applied machine learning” took place “as limit pattern matching alone” Well 2019 something elegant albeit nonclimatic continuation finding clear progress without drastic step change seen key advancement research BERT NLP end 2018 follow later year marked absence manifold gamechanging breakthrough instead presented phase maturity refinement seems ML growing Macro trend macro level every year cost sensor compute networking continues decrease building foundation ML’s steady commercial progress AI Chips range company achieved key advancement developing novel chip specialised AI operation architecture optimised data centre edge device making 2019 hot year semiconductor see Groq announcing world’s first architecture capable 1000000000000000 operation per second single chip 250 teraFLOPS compared Nvidia x Amazon 100 teraFLOPS Intel potentially snapping Habana Labs 1Bn Graphcore Microsoft announcing AI cloud partnership Cerebras claiming world’s fastest supercomputer due 400000 core processor Selfsupervised learning continuation advancement ML research end 2018 2019 saw “quiet revolution semisupervised learning” new progress semisupervised learning alternatively called selfsupervised learning promising remove cumbersome bottleneck labelled data development proxy task selfsupervised learning enables system learn without explicit supervision learning relevant contextual information instead thus requiring preexisting labeled data big deal Many company still stuffer barrier automation due lack appropriate data three common barrier ML automation starting lack digital data 1st barrier automation structured data 2nd barrier automation labelled data 3rd barrier automation often cumbersome one since scaling labelling effort remains difficult Hence advent system fed structured digital data alone allure Due range methodological improvement selfsupervised learning hitting stride research team publishing new methodology Google’s BERT Allen Institute’s Elmo selfsupervised learning biggest effect Natural Language Processing far achieving performance supervised learning 10x lower amount training data rolled Google mid2019 one largest change search ever helping provide nuance context search result May 2019 Yann LeCun stated accordingly “The next AI revolution supervised purely reinforced future selfsupervised learning massive amount data large networks” time since selfsupervised learning also enables scaling lower amount labelled data together ever decreasing total cost run ML wild next decade promise ML edge ML scale ML le labelled data getting u closer paradigm “ML everywhere” might currently anticipate Exploring sensory frontier Ian Goodfellow’s introduction GANs Generative adversarial network — idea neural network contest thereby improve 2014 provided breakthrough photorealistic image synthesis 2018 Deepmind provided advancement work BigGANs essentially scale GAN model enhance performance history GANs check post year marked progress GANs Variational Auto Encoders VAE audio image video synthesis focusing first use case fashion model creation ecommerce site eg DataGrid though commercial scale remains low Overall recent advancement machine learning smell Google research image face generation indistinguishable real photo see Ian Goodfellow’s comparison next decade raise question meaning privacy authenticity sensory world manipulated click button also highlighting unprecedented potential costsaving automation across creative industry Federated learning Heralded potential breakthrough machine learning previous year federated learning disappointed drastic expectation yet also showing promising early application Federated learning enables ML without direct access training data — data remains location computed abstraction shared central model providing method soothe privacy concern easily process large amount data see eg recent news Nvidia’s use technology within hospital commercial reality federated ML still marked key limitation edge device performance coordination aggravated lack standardised infrastructure resource clientedge site well backtracing local data Nevertheless federated learning already production certain environment allow access control entire infrastructure Google Keyboard enabling accurate text prediction autocorrect without data shared back Google how’s winwin AutoML come AutoML big breakthrough either AutoML enables computer automatically generate test neural network thus creating better result human would leveraged scale could solve key human bottleneck much lower cost think beauty ML model generation 247 break needed Despite commercial release Google performance AutoML still lag behind expectation tech automation hopeful research result promising showing certain task automated key strong ML performance still lie human element ie hyperparameter tuning architectural loss function design “Humans lot knowledge don’t think AutoML able figure out” said Quoc Le lead researcher creator AutoML earlier year Autonomous driving hype — year evaporated definitively founder space put positive note “2019 wonderful phase increased realism — far kid playing we’ve grown up” investment continues high consolidation pressure among autonomous vehicle company picking new partnership continue announced regularly eg recently BMW Daimler Across industry reality autonomous driving wild lag behind initial expectation missed launch date become norm many player struggle ramp driven mile Waymo remains far ahead curve Tesla work hard show world new form factor well superior data collection algorithmic capability putting bold vision enabling L5 without Lidar sensor 2019 world agreed L5 autonomous car mega city remain far future Still anticipate use case structured controlled environment trucking lane warehouse etc provide promising business case next year Tooling Great news productivity junky tooling front steady progress made range tool making work engineer data scientist productive see overview Talent sought ever ML talent remains rare good worth fighting though Europe still nowhere close winning battle 2019 report Centre Data Innovation concluded United States leading AI followed China EU US China lead several category talent development hardware research v adoption data respectively EU achieve category leadership oy gevalt Already frequently lamented politician business professional believe next decade escalate tension race AI supremacy Europe’s wish forefront remaining vulnerable ever However topic ethic governance becoming important shown several research initiative across European university eg Facebook TU Munich Stephen Schwarzman’s historical 188M donation University Oxford purpose funding research ethic AI scale might soon tip Europe’s favour II Method III Categorising Potential Automation help provide structure discussing potential data ML automation delineating area human v machine excel key lot public discourse focus AI totalitarianism predicting drastic takeover machine robot walk life reality automation embedded work private life nuanced Depending well process defined availability structured labelled data well ability provide productionready product form important prerequisite machine automation potential note automation driven ML also orchestration digital workflow alone often provides much lower hanging fruit reported MMC Ventures 2019 1600 AI startup call Europe home focus vertical health fintech medium well business function marketing BI analytics assessing ability machine take ever bigger role daily life worth considering strength human capability versus readiness automation graph depicts potential automation categorised alongside theoretical productive balance human machine productivity pathway delineating human well machine prevalence Based three theoretical productivity line four field emerge Field Tooling area human capability remain far superior machine Humans use machine mere tool little influence quality output field machine impact low human impact high Examples would software tool writing ie bestseller decided using Word Pages creating musical masterpiece area human capability remain far superior machine Humans use machine mere tool little influence quality output field machine impact low human impact high Examples would software tool writing ie bestseller decided using Word Pages creating musical masterpiece Field Assistance area human assisted machine Machine impact medium human loop still crucial final output eg managing sale relationship machine impact low medium human input important Examples include voice text assistant chatbots L3 autonomous driving count portfolio company like Affinity MLenabled CRM Impira MLenabled asset management system category area human assisted machine Machine impact medium human loop still crucial final output eg managing sale relationship machine impact low medium human input important Examples include voice text assistant chatbots L3 autonomous driving count portfolio company like Affinity MLenabled CRM Impira MLenabled asset management system category Field Augmentation field capability machine exceed human enabling human thing much effectively Humans still needed final control layer crucial overall quality output mainly driven machine performance machine impact medium high whereas human impact low still necessary seamless operation nearperfect result Examples include product recommendation state art OCR functionality predictive maintenance L4 autonomy production optimisation platform count company like Fox Robotics automated forklift Omnius streamlined workflow insurance Alcemy cement optimisation platform BigFinite manufacturing optimisation process industry category field capability machine exceed human enabling human thing much effectively Humans still needed final control layer crucial overall quality output mainly driven machine performance machine impact medium high whereas human impact low still necessary seamless operation nearperfect result Examples include product recommendation state art OCR functionality predictive maintenance L4 autonomy production optimisation platform count company like Fox Robotics automated forklift Omnius streamlined workflow insurance Alcemy cement optimisation platform BigFinite manufacturing optimisation process industry category Field Automation field machine achieved prevalence Human input near obsolete — human work fully automated machine often achieving result far superior human capability field machine impact high human impact low nonexistent Examples include fraud cancer detection imagevideobased quality control well specialised manufacturing process portfolio count company like Osaro automated picking assembly CloudNC autonomous machining category La Famiglia believe big business built across four category albeit scalability concern exist tooling space well potential price pressure field automation lowcomplexity task already happened across APIbased business model 2019 field assistance enablement got u excited since great product make difference human workflow famous 10x providing clever yet often simple way work together seamlessly Moreover two area cannot fully separated many platform showing characteristic area eg MLenabled CRM like Affinity providing augmentation streamlined relationship information yet still requiring human loop key relationship management Looking next year continue hunt company tackling complex automation bestinclass tech team well augmentation assistance company understand create 10x impact streamlined workflow superior analytical insight III Method II III Dress Impress Better Lowball Success Anticipating Human Expectation evaluate product underwhelmed rather overwhelmed automation expectation scale examining human expectation key Primed darwinistic survival instinct negative event impact human strongly positive event magnitude negative feeling losing 1 weighs strongly happy feeling gaining 1 scale measuring automation success onedimensional often impacted least two aspect overall quality overall cost Negativity Bias resulted certain product remaining expectation level past decade status quo point reference assessment new automation product machine translation despite strong progress perfect yet found wide adoption since expectation level many language expensive translation — making even patchy translation strong improvement hand interaction voice assistant chatbots continue underwhelm customer Rarely able move beyond simple interaction comparing humantomachine humantohuman conversation clear gap status quo remains driven lack meaningful interactivity examine ML’s past future potential hence always ask whether MLdriven automation feature product delight raise bar rather underwhelm annoy comparison status quo despite potentially promising optimisation criterion eg potential decrease overall cost IV Method III III Understanding Moves Needle Business — Money felt AIbullshit bingo decreased 2019 still saw range company year utilised AI ML buzzword jazz deck rather technology drive meaningful value customer ie help solve problem determining ML add meaningful value business find helpful separate three category Scale business benefit driving higher scale automation 100x item processed need rest Eg generation additional business operational capacity key bottleneck eg labourconstrained market alleviating cost pressure stagnating declining business business benefit driving higher scale automation 100x item processed need rest Eg generation additional business operational capacity key bottleneck eg labourconstrained market alleviating cost pressure stagnating declining business Quality ML achieve better result human could Eg driving better quality highvalue highrisk environment cybersecurity health Important note often combination ML human achieve best quality ie human providing context preanalysed ML result ML achieve better result human could Eg driving better quality highvalue highrisk environment cybersecurity health Important note often combination ML human achieve best quality ie human providing context preanalysed ML result Time Often ML achieve result much faster human quickly sorting thousand possible option moving closer realtime functionality actually add value client though Eg ML enabling servicing client faster thus generating higher customer happiness driving retention Good founder thought underlying business need client knowing exactly automation feature make sense drive value V Outlook 2020s hold 2010s decade unmet expectation end innovation bullishness scale disappointing harsh critic strong enthusiast alike Coming decade moved cry “all hail almighty algorithm” computer beating human range complex task awakening across board including chatbots still shitty far away reality fully autonomous vehicle believe 2020s move u world humanmachine interaction becomes defacto status quo everywhere Pioneers achieve significant level advanced automation select area eg warehousing even laggard steadily exploit assistance augmentation opportunity robot aren’t coming u yet look back past decade sense deep serenity fact novel won’t written computer time soon serenity met excitement wake new age automation benefit would entail executed correctly yet also staggering unease light many societal challenge arise Products built empathetic purposedriven founder likely provide answer — even new question onto golden ML year Recommended Reads ML research investment overview 2019 Thanks great ML startup httpsluminovoai httpsrecognicom valuable feedback writing reviewTags Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Automation Venture Capital Entrepreneurship |
2,772 | Draw your problem | Draw your problem
Your hand, a pen and some paper are your greatest problem-solving tools
When I get stuck on something, a problem I can’t figure out how to solve, I tend to do things like ruminate on the problem, write down some words about it, have a [talking] meeting about it, maybe go for a walk in nature. I expect that with enough dedicated thought, I’ll figure things out.
I forget (again and again!) that one of the best tools available to me is drawing. Drawing benefits the brain in many ways, according to Cara Bean’s cute illustrated ‘Why Draw?’ booklet:
Drawing can instigate the development of critical thinking and problem-solving .
. The act of drawing can stimulate positive brain chemistry like serotonin, endorphins, dopamine, and norepinephrine.
like serotonin, endorphins, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Drawing can reduce stress .
. (references)
So drawing can reduce the stress of feeling stuck, help you get unstuck, and make you feel happier. I know this, so why do I keep forgetting to draw my problems? (I think the answer is this: too much screen time keeps me overly focused on using technology to address my problems.)
It happened to me just this week. As I’ve been starting up Pictal Health, a company to help patients visualize their health histories, I’ve been feeling all of the pain, imposter syndrome, and overall discomfort that goes along with starting something outside of my comfort zone. I’m a designer who likes to solve problems and make things, and I’ve felt blocked about how to approach business models, sales strategies, and things of that nature.
I was spinning out, ruminating in circles, thinking that maybe I should do something else with my life, when I decided to draw my problem.
I’ll come back to that in just a minute, along with some other problem-drawing examples. But first…
How do you draw your problem?
First, you don’t have to be an ‘artist’ to draw your problems. And you don’t have to even draw a picture — writing words down on a blank piece of paper can help. Just put pen to paper. If you want, start with some simple lists. For example, ‘things that are blocking me.’ Or the classic ‘pros & cons’ list:
Or what about a simple table? A table or matrix can be really helpful when you’re trying to compare multiple facets of the same items. A classic example is a scorecard. Let’s say you’re scoring different pieces of software. How do the different options compare on price, customer service, and usability? Often we use a spreadsheet for tables, which makes sense in many cases, but hand-drawn tables can also be interesting (as you’ll see.)
You could also start to loosely map out relationships between things — this is helpful when you’re trying to make sense of how different entities (like departments, teams, etc.) relate. This is called a mind map or ‘ecosystem diagram,’ and these things can get pretty involved!
A nested bubble diagram, as shown below, can be a nice, quick, sketchy way to represent categories with sub-items or sub-categories. Of course you could use lists for something like this too, but I find something satisfying about the bubbles, and you can use them to represent size or importance if you want.
When you’re trying to sort out upcoming events, a timeline can be a very effective, calming tool. (I’ve written about the value of ‘sketchy timelines’ in the past.) Somehow, when you can see everything that’s coming up, it’s more manageable. There are a lot of ways to draw time, and below is one type of timeline that shows discrete events — I usually keep a version of this on my refrigerator at all times to show upcoming events and travel.
You can show phases of time using a simple gantt chart format; this is a common need for interdisciplinary teams who need to coordinate their work. There are plenty of project management tools that you can use to create detailed gantt charts, but it’s also nice to take a very first pass by hand to kick off your thinking.
I often will use some kind of rough flow diagram to help me understand what needs to happen in what order.
So, these are just a few methods and diagrams I like to use to sketch out problems.
It can and should be ugly.
The above examples are misleadingly tidy; drawing your problem doesn’t need to be pretty, and it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone but you. At this stage, you’re just writing words down and drawing shapes in an attempt to create some meaning out of that jumble of thoughts that’s smashing around in your big, smart brain.
It’s pre-work, basically; sketching out a general framework that you can then turn into something more polished — for example an article, an agenda, an itinerary or work plan, a proposal…you get the idea.
Off-screen is best.
I’m partial to using large pieces of 11x17 paper to draw out my problems. A whiteboard is also nice. Any format that enables you to represent ideas ‘in real life’ and at large scale will give you the space to explore them differently than you could if you were constrained by a specific screen size. And, drawing on paper gives your eyes and mind a much-needed break from your screens. I like to keep a stack of paper on the side of my desk at all times, so I can grab one and start drawing when needed.
All that said, I have often used a tablet to draw out ideas and illustrations (including many of those in this article.) So that’s a legitimate option. | https://medium.com/pictal-health/draw-your-problem-5afffa5fdf5f | ['Katie Mccurdy'] | 2019-12-06 15:06:56.390000+00:00 | ['Startup', 'Design', 'Problem Solving', 'Drawing', 'Visual Thinking'] | Title Draw problemContent Draw problem hand pen paper greatest problemsolving tool get stuck something problem can’t figure solve tend thing like ruminate problem write word talking meeting maybe go walk nature expect enough dedicated thought I’ll figure thing forget one best tool available drawing Drawing benefit brain many way according Cara Bean’s cute illustrated ‘Why Draw’ booklet Drawing instigate development critical thinking problemsolving act drawing stimulate positive brain chemistry like serotonin endorphin dopamine norepinephrine like serotonin endorphin dopamine norepinephrine Drawing reduce stress reference drawing reduce stress feeling stuck help get unstuck make feel happier know keep forgetting draw problem think answer much screen time keep overly focused using technology address problem happened week I’ve starting Pictal Health company help patient visualize health history I’ve feeling pain imposter syndrome overall discomfort go along starting something outside comfort zone I’m designer like solve problem make thing I’ve felt blocked approach business model sale strategy thing nature spinning ruminating circle thinking maybe something else life decided draw problem I’ll come back minute along problemdrawing example first… draw problem First don’t ‘artist’ draw problem don’t even draw picture — writing word blank piece paper help put pen paper want start simple list example ‘things blocking me’ classic ‘pros cons’ list simple table table matrix really helpful you’re trying compare multiple facet item classic example scorecard Let’s say you’re scoring different piece software different option compare price customer service usability Often use spreadsheet table make sense many case handdrawn table also interesting you’ll see could also start loosely map relationship thing — helpful you’re trying make sense different entity like department team etc relate called mind map ‘ecosystem diagram’ thing get pretty involved nested bubble diagram shown nice quick sketchy way represent category subitems subcategories course could use list something like find something satisfying bubble use represent size importance want you’re trying sort upcoming event timeline effective calming tool I’ve written value ‘sketchy timelines’ past Somehow see everything that’s coming it’s manageable lot way draw time one type timeline show discrete event — usually keep version refrigerator time show upcoming event travel show phase time using simple gantt chart format common need interdisciplinary team need coordinate work plenty project management tool use create detailed gantt chart it’s also nice take first pas hand kick thinking often use kind rough flow diagram help understand need happen order method diagram like use sketch problem ugly example misleadingly tidy drawing problem doesn’t need pretty doesn’t make sense anyone stage you’re writing word drawing shape attempt create meaning jumble thought that’s smashing around big smart brain It’s prework basically sketching general framework turn something polished — example article agenda itinerary work plan proposal…you get idea Offscreen best I’m partial using large piece 11x17 paper draw problem whiteboard also nice format enables represent idea ‘in real life’ large scale give space explore differently could constrained specific screen size drawing paper give eye mind muchneeded break screen like keep stack paper side desk time grab one start drawing needed said often used tablet draw idea illustration including many article that’s legitimate optionTags Startup Design Problem Solving Drawing Visual Thinking |
2,773 | Streamlit vs. Dash vs. Shiny vs. Voila vs. Flask vs. Jupyter | Streamlit vs. Dash vs. Shiny vs. Voila vs. Flask vs. Jupyter
Comparing data dashboarding tools and frameworks
Source: Author
Over the last three years, Dash and Streamlit have surged in popularity as all-in-one dashboarding solutions. Source: Author
Data dashboards — Tooling and libraries
Nearly every company is sitting on valuable data that internal teams need to access and analyze. Non-technical teams often request tooling to make this easier. Instead of having to poke a data scientist for every request, these teams want dynamic dashboards where they can easily run queries and see custom, interactive visualizations.
Data dashboards can make data more accessible to your non-technical teams. Source: Author
A data dashboard consists of many different components. It needs to:
Analyze: Manipulate and summarize data using a backend library such as Pandas.
Manipulate and summarize data using a backend library such as Pandas. Visualize: Create plots and graphs of the data using a graphing library such as Bokeh.
Create plots and graphs of the data using a graphing library such as Bokeh. Interact: Accept user input using a frontend library such as React.
Accept user input using a frontend library such as React. Serve: Listen for user requests and return webpages using a web server such as Flask.
In the past, you’d have had to waste a significant amount of time writing all the “glue” code to join these components together. But with newer libraries like Streamlit and Dash, these components come in a single package.
Still, figuring out which library to use can be challenging. Here’s how they compare as well as some guidance on how to choose which one is best for your project.
[Do you want more detailed tooling comparisons that cut through the marketing-speak? Sign up to our weekly newsletter.]
Just tell me which one to use
As always, “it depends” — but if you’re looking for a quick answer, you should probably use:
Dash if you already use Python for your analytics and you want to build production-ready data dashboards for a larger company.
if you already use Python for your analytics and you want to build production-ready data dashboards for a larger company. Streamlit if you already use Python for your analytics and you want to get a prototype of your dashboard up and running as quickly as possible.
if you already use Python for your analytics and you want to get a prototype of your dashboard up and running as quickly as possible. Shiny if you already use R for your analytics and you want to make the results more accessible to non-technical teams.
if you already use R for your analytics and you want to make the results more accessible to non-technical teams. Jupyter if your team is very technical and doesn’t mind installing and running developer tools to view analytics.
if your team is very technical and doesn’t mind installing and running developer tools to view analytics. Voila if you already have Jupyter Notebooks and you want to make them accessible to non-technical teams.
if you already have Jupyter Notebooks and you want to make them accessible to non-technical teams. Flask if you want to build your own solution from the ground up.
Quick overview
Not all the libraries are directly comparable. For example, Dash is built on top of Flask, and Flask is a more general framework for web application development. Similarly, each library focuses on a slightly different area.
Streamlit and Dash are full dashboarding solutions, focused on Python-based data analytics and running on the Tornado and Flask web frameworks, respectively.
and are full dashboarding solutions, focused on Python-based data analytics and running on the and web frameworks, respectively. Shiny is a full dashboarding solution focused on data analytics with R.
is a full dashboarding solution focused on data analytics with R. Jupyter is a notebook that data scientists use to analyze and manipulate data. You can also use it to visualize data.
is a notebook that data scientists use to analyze and manipulate data. You can also use it to visualize data. Voila is a library that turns individual Jupyter notebooks into interactive web pages.
is a library that turns individual Jupyter notebooks into interactive web pages. Flask is a Python web framework for building websites and apps — not necessarily with a data science focus.
Some of these libraries have been around for a while, and some are brand new. Some are more rigid, and have their own structure, while others are flexible and can adapt to yours. Some focus on specific languages. Here’s a table showing the tradeoffs:
Source: Author
We’ve compared these libraries on:
Maturity: Based on the age of the project and how stable it is.
Based on the age of the project and how stable it is. Popularity: Based on adoption and GitHub stars.
Based on adoption and GitHub stars. Simplicity: Based on how easy it is to get started using the library.
Based on how easy it is to get started using the library. Adaptability: Based on how flexible and opinionated the library is.
Based on how flexible and opinionated the library is. Focus: Based on what problem the library solves.
Based on what problem the library solves. Language support: The main languages the library supports.
These are not rigorous or scientific benchmarks, but they’re intended to give you a quick overview of how the tools overlap and how they differ from each other. For more details, see the head-to-head comparison below.
Streamlit vs. Dash
Streamlit and Dash are the two most similar libraries in this set. They are both full dashboarding solutions built with Python, and both include components for data analysis, visualization, user interaction, and serving.
Although they’re both open source, Dash is more focused on the enterprise market and doesn’t include all the features (such as job queues) in the open source version. By contrast, Streamlit is fully open source.
Streamlit is more structured and focused more on simplicity. It only supports Python-based data analysis and has a limited set of widgets (for example, sliders) to choose from.
Dash is more adaptable. Although it’s built with Python and pushes users towards its own plotting library (Plotly), it’s also compatible with other plotting libraries and even other languages, such as R or Julia.
Use Streamlit if you want to get going as quickly possible and don’t have strong opinions or many custom requirements.
if you want to get going as quickly possible and don’t have strong opinions or many custom requirements. Use Dash if you need something more flexible and mature, and you don’t mind spending the extra engineering time.
Streamlit vs. Shiny
Streamlit is a dashboard tool based on Python, while Shiny uses R. Both tools focus on turning data analysis scripts into full, interactive web applications.
Because Python is a general-purpose language while R is focused solely on data analytics, the web applications you build with Streamlit (based on the Tornado web server) are more powerful and easier to scale to production environments than those built with Shiny.
Shiny integrates well with plotting libraries in the R ecosystem, such as ggplot2, while Streamlit integrates with Python plotting libraries such as Bokeh or Altair.
Use Shiny if you prefer doing data analysis in R and have already invested in the R ecosystem.
if you prefer doing data analysis in R and have already invested in the R ecosystem. Otherwise use Streamlit (or Dash — see above).
Streamlit vs. Voila
Streamlit is a complete data dashboarding solution, while Voila is a simpler and more limited tool that lets you convert existing Jupyter Notebooks into basic data dashboards and serve them as web applications to non-technical users.
Like Streamlit, Voila is built on top of the Tornado web framework, so you can use Jupyter notebooks along with Voila to get something broadly similar to Streamlit. But Streamlit is more flexible (it doesn’t require you to use Jupyter), while Voila can be simpler (provided you already have Jupyter Notebooks you want to present).
Voila uses Jupyter’s widget library, while Streamlit uses custom widgets — so if you’re already familiar with Jupyter, you’ll find Voila easier to work with.
Use Streamlit If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution.
If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution. Use Voila if you already have Jupyter Notebooks and are looking for a way to serve them.
Streamlit vs. Jupyter Notebooks
Streamlit is a full data dashboarding solution, while Jupyter Notebooks are primarily useful to engineers who want to develop software and visualizations. Engineers use Streamlit to build dashboards for non-technical users, and they use Jupyter Notebooks to develop code and share it with other engineers.
Combined with add-ons such as Voila, Jupyter Notebooks can be used similarly to Streamlit, but data dashboarding is not their core goal.
Use Streamlit if you need dashboards that non-technical people can use.
if you need dashboards that non-technical people can use. Jupyter Notebooks are best if your team is mainly technical and you care more about functionality than aesthetics.
Streamlit vs. Flask
Streamlit is a data dashboarding tool, while Flask is a web framework. Serving pages to users is an important but small component of data dashboards. Flask doesn’t have any data visualization, manipulation, or analytical capabilities (though since it’s a general Python library, it can work well with other libraries that perform these tasks). Streamlit is an all-in-one tool that encompases web serving as well as data analysis.
Use Streamlit if you want a structured data dashboard with many of the components you’ll need already included. Use Streamlit if you want to build a data dashboard with common components and don’t want to reinvent the wheel.
if you want a structured data dashboard with many of the components you’ll need already included. Use Streamlit if you want to build a data dashboard with common components and don’t want to reinvent the wheel. Use Flask if you want to build a highly customized solution from the ground up and you have the engineering capacity.
Dash vs. Shiny
Dash and Shiny are both complete data dashboarding tools, but Dash lives mainly in the Python ecosystem, while Shiny is exclusive to R.
Dash has more features than Shiny, especially in its enterprise version, and it’s more flexible. Python is a general-purpose programming language, while R is focused solely on data analytics. Some data scientists prefer R for its mature libraries and (often) more concise code. Engineers usually prefer Python, since it conforms more closely to other languages.
Use Dash if your team prefers Python.
if your team prefers Python. Use Shiny if your team prefers R.
Dash vs. Voila and Jupyter Notebooks
Dash is an all-in-one dashboarding solution, while Voila can be combined with Jupyter Notebooks to get similar results. Dash is more powerful and flexible, and it’s built specifically for creating data dashboards, while Voila is a thin layer built on top of Jupyter Notebooks to convert them into stand-alone web applications.
Use Dash if you want to build a scalable, flexible data dashboarding tool.
if you want to build a scalable, flexible data dashboarding tool. Use Voila if you have existing Jupyter Notebooks you want your non-technical teams to be able to use.
Dash vs. Flask
Dash is built on top of Flask and uses Flask as its web routing component, so it’s not very meaningful to compare them head-to-head. Dash is a data dashboarding tool, while Flask is a minimalist, generic web framework. Flask has no data analytics tools included, although it can work with other Python libraries that do analytics.
Use Dash if you want to build a data dashboard.
if you want to build a data dashboard. Use Flask if you want to build a far more generic web application and to choose every component in it.
Shiny vs. Voila + Jupyter Notebooks
Shiny is a data dashboarding solution for R. While you can use Voila and Jupyter Notebooks with R, these are tools that focus primarily on the Python ecosystem.
Use Shiny if you already do your data analytics in R.
if you already do your data analytics in R. Use Voila if you already have Jupyter Notebooks you want to make more accessible.
Shiny vs. Flask
Shiny is a data dashboarding tool built in R. Flask is a web framework built in Python. Shiny works well with R plotting libraries, such as ggplot2. Flask doesn’t have any data analysis tools built in by default.
Use Shiny if you’re building a data dashboard and you want to do your data analysis with R.
if you’re building a data dashboard and you want to do your data analysis with R. Use Flask if you want to build a generic web application from the ground up.
Voila vs. Flask
Voila is a library to convert Jupyter Notebooks to stand-alone web applications and serve them using Tornado. Like Tornado, Flask is a generic web framework. While it would be possible to use Flask to serve Jupyter Notebooks, you would have to reimplement most of the Voila library — so unless you have a very specific reason, it’s better to simply use Voila.
Final remarks
All the tools we’ve covered here can help you access the value locked away in your existing data. One common mistake we see teams make is getting too tied up in choosing which tools to use, rather than focusing on the data itself. While using the wrong tools can definitely hinder your analysis, it’s more common for teams to get bogged down by so-called Bikeshedding: spending too much time debating details that aren’t very important.
If you’d like to chat about exploring your data and turning it into more revenue, book a free call with our CEO. | https://towardsdatascience.com/streamlit-vs-dash-vs-shiny-vs-voila-vs-flask-vs-jupyter-24739ab5d569 | ['Markus Schmitt'] | 2020-10-08 13:56:56.540000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Jupyter Notebook', 'Big Data', 'Streamlit', 'Data Science'] | Title Streamlit v Dash v Shiny v Voila v Flask v JupyterContent Streamlit v Dash v Shiny v Voila v Flask v Jupyter Comparing data dashboarding tool framework Source Author last three year Dash Streamlit surged popularity allinone dashboarding solution Source Author Data dashboard — Tooling library Nearly every company sitting valuable data internal team need access analyze Nontechnical team often request tooling make easier Instead poke data scientist every request team want dynamic dashboard easily run query see custom interactive visualization Data dashboard make data accessible nontechnical team Source Author data dashboard consists many different component need Analyze Manipulate summarize data using backend library Pandas Manipulate summarize data using backend library Pandas Visualize Create plot graph data using graphing library Bokeh Create plot graph data using graphing library Bokeh Interact Accept user input using frontend library React Accept user input using frontend library React Serve Listen user request return webpage using web server Flask past you’d waste significant amount time writing “glue” code join component together newer library like Streamlit Dash component come single package Still figuring library use challenging Here’s compare well guidance choose one best project want detailed tooling comparison cut marketingspeak Sign weekly newsletter tell one use always “it depends” — you’re looking quick answer probably use Dash already use Python analytics want build productionready data dashboard larger company already use Python analytics want build productionready data dashboard larger company Streamlit already use Python analytics want get prototype dashboard running quickly possible already use Python analytics want get prototype dashboard running quickly possible Shiny already use R analytics want make result accessible nontechnical team already use R analytics want make result accessible nontechnical team Jupyter team technical doesn’t mind installing running developer tool view analytics team technical doesn’t mind installing running developer tool view analytics Voila already Jupyter Notebooks want make accessible nontechnical team already Jupyter Notebooks want make accessible nontechnical team Flask want build solution ground Quick overview library directly comparable example Dash built top Flask Flask general framework web application development Similarly library focus slightly different area Streamlit Dash full dashboarding solution focused Pythonbased data analytics running Tornado Flask web framework respectively full dashboarding solution focused Pythonbased data analytics running web framework respectively Shiny full dashboarding solution focused data analytics R full dashboarding solution focused data analytics R Jupyter notebook data scientist use analyze manipulate data also use visualize data notebook data scientist use analyze manipulate data also use visualize data Voila library turn individual Jupyter notebook interactive web page library turn individual Jupyter notebook interactive web page Flask Python web framework building website apps — necessarily data science focus library around brand new rigid structure others flexible adapt focus specific language Here’s table showing tradeoff Source Author We’ve compared library Maturity Based age project stable Based age project stable Popularity Based adoption GitHub star Based adoption GitHub star Simplicity Based easy get started using library Based easy get started using library Adaptability Based flexible opinionated library Based flexible opinionated library Focus Based problem library solves Based problem library solves Language support main language library support rigorous scientific benchmark they’re intended give quick overview tool overlap differ detail see headtohead comparison Streamlit v Dash Streamlit Dash two similar library set full dashboarding solution built Python include component data analysis visualization user interaction serving Although they’re open source Dash focused enterprise market doesn’t include feature job queue open source version contrast Streamlit fully open source Streamlit structured focused simplicity support Pythonbased data analysis limited set widget example slider choose Dash adaptable Although it’s built Python push user towards plotting library Plotly it’s also compatible plotting library even language R Julia Use Streamlit want get going quickly possible don’t strong opinion many custom requirement want get going quickly possible don’t strong opinion many custom requirement Use Dash need something flexible mature don’t mind spending extra engineering time Streamlit v Shiny Streamlit dashboard tool based Python Shiny us R tool focus turning data analysis script full interactive web application Python generalpurpose language R focused solely data analytics web application build Streamlit based Tornado web server powerful easier scale production environment built Shiny Shiny integrates well plotting library R ecosystem ggplot2 Streamlit integrates Python plotting library Bokeh Altair Use Shiny prefer data analysis R already invested R ecosystem prefer data analysis R already invested R ecosystem Otherwise use Streamlit Dash — see Streamlit v Voila Streamlit complete data dashboarding solution Voila simpler limited tool let convert existing Jupyter Notebooks basic data dashboard serve web application nontechnical user Like Streamlit Voila built top Tornado web framework use Jupyter notebook along Voila get something broadly similar Streamlit Streamlit flexible doesn’t require use Jupyter Voila simpler provided already Jupyter Notebooks want present Voila us Jupyter’s widget library Streamlit us custom widget — you’re already familiar Jupyter you’ll find Voila easier work Use Streamlit you’re looking allinone solution you’re looking allinone solution Use Voila already Jupyter Notebooks looking way serve Streamlit v Jupyter Notebooks Streamlit full data dashboarding solution Jupyter Notebooks primarily useful engineer want develop software visualization Engineers use Streamlit build dashboard nontechnical user use Jupyter Notebooks develop code share engineer Combined addons Voila Jupyter Notebooks used similarly Streamlit data dashboarding core goal Use Streamlit need dashboard nontechnical people use need dashboard nontechnical people use Jupyter Notebooks best team mainly technical care functionality aesthetic Streamlit v Flask Streamlit data dashboarding tool Flask web framework Serving page user important small component data dashboard Flask doesn’t data visualization manipulation analytical capability though since it’s general Python library work well library perform task Streamlit allinone tool encompases web serving well data analysis Use Streamlit want structured data dashboard many component you’ll need already included Use Streamlit want build data dashboard common component don’t want reinvent wheel want structured data dashboard many component you’ll need already included Use Streamlit want build data dashboard common component don’t want reinvent wheel Use Flask want build highly customized solution ground engineering capacity Dash v Shiny Dash Shiny complete data dashboarding tool Dash life mainly Python ecosystem Shiny exclusive R Dash feature Shiny especially enterprise version it’s flexible Python generalpurpose programming language R focused solely data analytics data scientist prefer R mature library often concise code Engineers usually prefer Python since conforms closely language Use Dash team prefers Python team prefers Python Use Shiny team prefers R Dash v Voila Jupyter Notebooks Dash allinone dashboarding solution Voila combined Jupyter Notebooks get similar result Dash powerful flexible it’s built specifically creating data dashboard Voila thin layer built top Jupyter Notebooks convert standalone web application Use Dash want build scalable flexible data dashboarding tool want build scalable flexible data dashboarding tool Use Voila existing Jupyter Notebooks want nontechnical team able use Dash v Flask Dash built top Flask us Flask web routing component it’s meaningful compare headtohead Dash data dashboarding tool Flask minimalist generic web framework Flask data analytics tool included although work Python library analytics Use Dash want build data dashboard want build data dashboard Use Flask want build far generic web application choose every component Shiny v Voila Jupyter Notebooks Shiny data dashboarding solution R use Voila Jupyter Notebooks R tool focus primarily Python ecosystem Use Shiny already data analytics R already data analytics R Use Voila already Jupyter Notebooks want make accessible Shiny v Flask Shiny data dashboarding tool built R Flask web framework built Python Shiny work well R plotting library ggplot2 Flask doesn’t data analysis tool built default Use Shiny you’re building data dashboard want data analysis R you’re building data dashboard want data analysis R Use Flask want build generic web application ground Voila v Flask Voila library convert Jupyter Notebooks standalone web application serve using Tornado Like Tornado Flask generic web framework would possible use Flask serve Jupyter Notebooks would reimplement Voila library — unless specific reason it’s better simply use Voila Final remark tool we’ve covered help access value locked away existing data One common mistake see team make getting tied choosing tool use rather focusing data using wrong tool definitely hinder analysis it’s common team get bogged socalled Bikeshedding spending much time debating detail aren’t important you’d like chat exploring data turning revenue book free call CEOTags Machine Learning Jupyter Notebook Big Data Streamlit Data Science |
2,774 | Emily Hicks | Emily Hicks
President and Co-Founder, FREDsense
Emily Hicks is President of FREDsense, a Calgary, Canada based biotechnology startup focused on the measurement of water quality. Emily co-founded the company with CEO David Lloyd in 2013. FRED stands for Field Ready Electrochemical Detector, which is the product that Emily — along with her FREDsense colleagues — invented, developed and brought to market. It’s used to detect trace amounts of chemicals in a water using a groundbreaking new approach using biologically engineered bacteria.
Her studies in biomedical sciences at the U of C eventually led her to work on the technology on which FREDsense is based. She is a named inventor in the 2013 patent related to that work.
Amongst her wide variety of accolades, Emily has been selected as a Kairos Society Fellow, one of the Top 30 under 30 in sustainability in Canada, a National Nicol Award winner in 2014, the Parlee McLaws Females in Energy Scholorship, amongst many other awards.
Emily Hicks is a passionate scientist and entrepreneur. In our wide ranging interview, she not only eloquently explains the FREDsense technology in terms we can all understand but also the pleasures and pitfalls of the entrepreneurial life. It’s a candid discussion for which the answer to at least some of the questions will come as a surprise to our listeners.
Our interview with Emily was recorded live at the INVENTURE$ conference in Calgary, in June of 2018. | https://medium.com/the-worknotwork-show/emily-hicks-5c3196bd14d2 | ['Terence C. Gannon'] | 2019-03-23 01:44:19.121000+00:00 | ['Biotechnology', 'Startup', 'Podcast', 'Interview', 'Water'] | Title Emily HicksContent Emily Hicks President CoFounder FREDsense Emily Hicks President FREDsense Calgary Canada based biotechnology startup focused measurement water quality Emily cofounded company CEO David Lloyd 2013 FRED stand Field Ready Electrochemical Detector product Emily — along FREDsense colleague — invented developed brought market It’s used detect trace amount chemical water using groundbreaking new approach using biologically engineered bacteria study biomedical science U C eventually led work technology FREDsense based named inventor 2013 patent related work Amongst wide variety accolade Emily selected Kairos Society Fellow one Top 30 30 sustainability Canada National Nicol Award winner 2014 Parlee McLaws Females Energy Scholorship amongst many award Emily Hicks passionate scientist entrepreneur wide ranging interview eloquently explains FREDsense technology term understand also pleasure pitfall entrepreneurial life It’s candid discussion answer least question come surprise listener interview Emily recorded live INVENTURE conference Calgary June 2018Tags Biotechnology Startup Podcast Interview Water |
2,775 | 12 Steps For Beginner To Pro In Data Science In 12 Months! | The 12 Ultimate Steps to Follow over the course of the year —
Beginners:
1. Learning Programming
Programming is the heart of Data Science. It is essential to have some knowledge of programming to succeed as a data scientist.
Coding and programming knowledge is almost a compulsory requirement to have an in-depth understanding of the field of data science. Even if you lack the coding or programming skills, but you have to interest to learn and pursue these techniques, then this should not be a major concern.
In my opinion, the two main languages you should know to do well in the field of Data Science in Python and SQL. The reason I have suggested these two languages is because Python is a fantastic starting choice for most beginner-level programmers, even for people with no coding experience. Hence, it is probably the best starting point because of its simplicity.
Structured Query Language (SQL) is a domain-specific language used in programming and designed for managing data held in a relational database management system (RDBMS), or for stream processing in a relational data stream management system (RDSMS). It is particularly useful in handling structured data, i.e. data incorporating relations among entities and variables.
SQL will play a great role in analyzing the various data that you will gather while working in Data Science. It will help you to create systematic arrangements to solve complex data related queries. It also helps you to maintain and manage the huge amount of data that you will eventually be dealing with.
I have spoken about Python in most of my articles and have immensely praised its versatility and simplicity in the field of data science. I will make sure I write an article covering the complete beginners guide to Python next year to help you all in understanding some basic concepts better. You can check out the bonus section for more information related to Python.
Bonus:
This Section will involve parts that I have discussed previously in my other articles. However, it is extremely beneficial for beginners, and would recommend giving it a read for the new viewers. If you already read this, feel free to skip ahead to the next step.
Python is an object-oriented, high-level programming language that was released way back in 1991. Python is highly interpretable and efficient. Python is versatile, and thanks to its resourcefulness, it is a suitable fit for Data Science. I initially started with languages like C, C++, and Java. When I finally encountered Python, I found it to be quite elegant, simple to learn, and easy to use.
Python is the best way for anyone, even people with no prior experience with programming or coding languages, to get started with machine learning. Despite having some flaws, like being considered a “slow” language, Python is still one of the best languages for AI and machine learning. Although there are a variety of other languages such as Julia, Golang, etc., which might be quite competitive against Python in the future years, the latter remains the better choice at this point.
The main reasons for the popularity of Python for Data Science despite other languages like R is as follows —
As mentioned previously, Python is a simple language and is overall consistent. The rapid increase in popularity in comparison to other programming languages makes it a suitable pick for beginner-level programmers. Has extensive resources concerning a wide range of libraries and frameworks for supporting Data Science. Versatility and platform independence, which means Python can import essential modules built in other programming languages as well. It has a great community with continuous updates. The Python community, in general, is filled with amazing people, with constant updates made to improve Python.
To get started with Python, you can download it from here.
Understanding the basics of the Python programming language is undoubtedly the most important aspect to master Python. There are many key concepts like keywords and identifiers, variables, iterative statements like “for” loop, “while” loop, the comment lines, control statements, and so much more. We will cover all this extensively in a future article!
2. Understand Math
If programming is the heart of Data Science, then Math is the brain!
Mathematics, I find, is one of those subjects you either learn to love or end up loving to hate. Some find math as an amazing subject while others find all these number’s thing kind of boring. It does not matter which side of the spectrum you are on because math is, fortunately, or unfortunately, one of the most fundamental requirements for machine learning and data science.
Mathematics is an essential requirement for data science. Linear algebra, calculus, probability, and statistics are the most significant concepts that you need to know in order to conquer all the mathematical aspects of data science.
A high school understanding of the basics of these concepts would suffice for a beginner to enter into the universe of data science. However, if you are not too confident with these concepts or need a brief brushing, then I would highly recommend checking out reading some articles on TDS because they explain most concepts with simplicity and ease. YouTube videos are also a great alternative option to learn these concepts.
Mathematics is required for building predictive machine learning models, understanding probabilistic and deterministic approaches to solving Bayesian and other similar problems, understanding backpropagation in deep neural networks, analyzing gradient descent, and so much more.
If you are interested in learning mathematics from scratch, below are some references that you might useful.
Useful Resources To Consider:
1. Khan Academy: Best place for you to start off with learning basic mathematical concepts like linear algebra, calculus, and probability and statistics.
2. 3Blue1Brown: One of the best YouTube channels to check out some brilliant in-depth explanations and intuitively understand concepts much better.
3. Books: If you are more into reading books, then do a quick Google search to check out some outstanding resources for the best books to learn Mathematics. You should prefer separate books for each specific topic for better practice.
3. Intuitive Understanding Of Basic Concepts
Develop an intuition of the concepts. Don’t mug up!
The subject of Data Science is a humongous field, and there are tons of theoretical aspects to be understood by beginners of the field. It is completely alright to take your time studying the concepts by developing a strong intuitive as well as a practical understanding.
Since you are now in the third step, you will probably have a decent understanding of the Python programming language and the math required for machine learning. Try to implement various math concepts such as Euclidian distance and similar concepts in Python from scratch without utilizing any machine learning libraries.
Even if it is just a simple Machine learning algorithm, I would highly recommend not to use the scikit-learn library or similar helpful tools for easier implementations. Instead, try to detect the best possibilities and execute them from scratch on your own. This helps to improve skills and gain an overall better understanding of these concepts.
I would highly encourage the viewers to check out one of my previous articles, where I have implemented the matrix multiplication from scratch without using any machine learning algorithms.
You can do this from the link provided below. Performing such tasks will help you to gauge a better understanding of the various concepts and appreciate the quality of the libraries that we will study in the next step.
4. Dwelling Into The Various Libraries
The best part about learning the Python programming language is the assistance of a variety of useful and fabulous libraries that this language offers us. The installations of most of these libraries are simple and efficient. They are productive and enables the Data Science enthusiasts to complete complex tasks within a few lines of code. (This can be noticed from the article that I had previously suggested.)
Python offers a wide range of library modules and frameworks, making it one of the most compatible languages for constructing machine learning models and working on data science projects. The most commonly used python modules include numpy for numerical operations, scipy for scientific operations for dealing with something like sparse matrices, pandas to view the datasets in an organized manner, matplotlib and seaborn to visualize the data, analysis, and graphs of models constructed.
You can also utilize the scikit-learn module in python for the development of machine learning models through the various algorithms options available in the sklearn library. Also, you construct deep learning models by making use of frameworks such as TensorFlow and Pytorch. The next mini-section involves a bonus section that will cover five of the more popular and useful data science libraries that a beginner must know about.
Bonus:
This Section will involve parts that I have discussed previously in my other articles. However, it is extremely beneficial for beginners, and would recommend giving it a read for the new viewers. If you already read this, feel free to skip ahead to the next step.
In this part, we will discuss five of these significant library modules that are used in python for solving Data Science tasks. There are tons of frameworks available in python, but these five mentioned in this section of the article will cover the basic requirements to get started.
1. Pandas —
The Pandas module is an open-source library in python to create data frames, which is extremely useful for organizing the data. Pandas is used extensively in the field of data science, machine learning, and deep learning for the structured arrangement of the data.
The data frame created in pandas is a 2-dimensional representation of the data. After importing the Pandas library as pd, you can visualize the tabular data of your liking. An example of this is as shown below:
Overall, the Pandas module is a fantastic library for systematic viewing of the data, and it also allows a wide variety of operations that can be performed.
2. Matplotlib —
The Matplotlib module is one of the best tools for the visualization of the data frames or any other form of data. Matplotlib is used to visualize the data for exploratory data analysis in data science. It is extremely useful to understand the kind of data we are dealing with and to determine what is the next action that must be performed.
The library offers an extensive variety of visualization functions such as scatter plot, bar plot, histograms, pie chart, and many other similar functions. Import matplotlib.pyplot module as plt for performing visualization tasks using matplotlib. An example of these can be seen below —
Scatter Plot
Bar Graph
The scatter plots and bar graph plotted using matplotlib is shown in the figures. An advantage of the module is that it is very simple to use and efficient at providing visualizations. It can also be combined with the seaborn library for a more visual and aesthetic appeal.
3. NumPy —
The NumPy library stands for Numerical Python. The numpy library is one of the best options for performing computations on matrix operations. It supports multi-dimensional arrays. An extensive amount of mathematical and logical operations can be performed on arrays. By converting lists into numpy arrays, we can perform computations like addition, subtraction, dot product, among many others.
The use cases of numpy are applicable in both computer vision and natural language processing projects. In computer vision, you can use numpy arrays for visualizing the RGB or grayscale images in a numpy array and converting them accordingly. In natural language processing projects, you usually prefer to convert the text data into the form of vectors and numbers for optimized computation. Import numpy as np, and you can convert the text data into categorical data, as shown below:
4. Scikit-learn —
The scikit-learn module is one of the best tools for machine learning and predictive data analysis. It offers a wide range of pre-built algorithms such as logistic regression, support vector machines (SVM’s), classification algorithms like K-means clustering, and a ton more operations. This is the best way for beginners to get started with machine learning algorithms because of the simple and efficient tools that this module grants access to.
It is open-source and commercially usable while granting accessibility to almost anyone. It is reusable and supported by libraries such as NumPy, SciPy, and Matplotlib. import the sklearn module to run the scikit-learn code. Below is a code example for splitting the dataset we have into the form of train and test or validation data. This is useful for training and evaluation of the models.
5. NLTK —
The NLTK library stands for the natural language toolkit platform, which is one of the best libraries for machine learning of natural language processing data. Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a branch of AI that helps computers to understand, interpret, and manipulate human language.
The NLTK library is very well suited for linguistic-based tasks. It offers a wide range of options for tasks such as classification, tokenization, stemming, tagging, parsing, and semantic reasoning. It allows the user to chunk the data into entities that can be grouped together to produce a more organized meaning. The library can be imported as nltk, and below is an example code for the tokenization of a sentence. | https://towardsdatascience.com/12-steps-for-beginner-to-pro-in-data-science-in-12-months-c6f6ba01f96e | ['Bharath K'] | 2020-12-25 21:18:27.081000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Success', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Productivity', 'Data Science'] | Title 12 Steps Beginner Pro Data Science 12 MonthsContent 12 Ultimate Steps Follow course year — Beginners 1 Learning Programming Programming heart Data Science essential knowledge programming succeed data scientist Coding programming knowledge almost compulsory requirement indepth understanding field data science Even lack coding programming skill interest learn pursue technique major concern opinion two main language know well field Data Science Python SQL reason suggested two language Python fantastic starting choice beginnerlevel programmer even people coding experience Hence probably best starting point simplicity Structured Query Language SQL domainspecific language used programming designed managing data held relational database management system RDBMS stream processing relational data stream management system RDSMS particularly useful handling structured data ie data incorporating relation among entity variable SQL play great role analyzing various data gather working Data Science help create systematic arrangement solve complex data related query also help maintain manage huge amount data eventually dealing spoken Python article immensely praised versatility simplicity field data science make sure write article covering complete beginner guide Python next year help understanding basic concept better check bonus section information related Python Bonus Section involve part discussed previously article However extremely beneficial beginner would recommend giving read new viewer already read feel free skip ahead next step Python objectoriented highlevel programming language released way back 1991 Python highly interpretable efficient Python versatile thanks resourcefulness suitable fit Data Science initially started language like C C Java finally encountered Python found quite elegant simple learn easy use Python best way anyone even people prior experience programming coding language get started machine learning Despite flaw like considered “slow” language Python still one best language AI machine learning Although variety language Julia Golang etc might quite competitive Python future year latter remains better choice point main reason popularity Python Data Science despite language like R follows — mentioned previously Python simple language overall consistent rapid increase popularity comparison programming language make suitable pick beginnerlevel programmer extensive resource concerning wide range library framework supporting Data Science Versatility platform independence mean Python import essential module built programming language well great community continuous update Python community general filled amazing people constant update made improve Python get started Python download Understanding basic Python programming language undoubtedly important aspect master Python many key concept like keywords identifier variable iterative statement like “for” loop “while” loop comment line control statement much cover extensively future article 2 Understand Math programming heart Data Science Math brain Mathematics find one subject either learn love end loving hate find math amazing subject others find number’s thing kind boring matter side spectrum math fortunately unfortunately one fundamental requirement machine learning data science Mathematics essential requirement data science Linear algebra calculus probability statistic significant concept need know order conquer mathematical aspect data science high school understanding basic concept would suffice beginner enter universe data science However confident concept need brief brushing would highly recommend checking reading article TDS explain concept simplicity ease YouTube video also great alternative option learn concept Mathematics required building predictive machine learning model understanding probabilistic deterministic approach solving Bayesian similar problem understanding backpropagation deep neural network analyzing gradient descent much interested learning mathematics scratch reference might useful Useful Resources Consider 1 Khan Academy Best place start learning basic mathematical concept like linear algebra calculus probability statistic 2 3Blue1Brown One best YouTube channel check brilliant indepth explanation intuitively understand concept much better 3 Books reading book quick Google search check outstanding resource best book learn Mathematics prefer separate book specific topic better practice 3 Intuitive Understanding Basic Concepts Develop intuition concept Don’t mug subject Data Science humongous field ton theoretical aspect understood beginner field completely alright take time studying concept developing strong intuitive well practical understanding Since third step probably decent understanding Python programming language math required machine learning Try implement various math concept Euclidian distance similar concept Python scratch without utilizing machine learning library Even simple Machine learning algorithm would highly recommend use scikitlearn library similar helpful tool easier implementation Instead try detect best possibility execute scratch help improve skill gain overall better understanding concept would highly encourage viewer check one previous article implemented matrix multiplication scratch without using machine learning algorithm link provided Performing task help gauge better understanding various concept appreciate quality library study next step 4 Dwelling Various Libraries best part learning Python programming language assistance variety useful fabulous library language offer u installation library simple efficient productive enables Data Science enthusiast complete complex task within line code noticed article previously suggested Python offer wide range library module framework making one compatible language constructing machine learning model working data science project commonly used python module include numpy numerical operation scipy scientific operation dealing something like sparse matrix panda view datasets organized manner matplotlib seaborn visualize data analysis graph model constructed also utilize scikitlearn module python development machine learning model various algorithm option available sklearn library Also construct deep learning model making use framework TensorFlow Pytorch next minisection involves bonus section cover five popular useful data science library beginner must know Bonus Section involve part discussed previously article However extremely beneficial beginner would recommend giving read new viewer already read feel free skip ahead next step part discus five significant library module used python solving Data Science task ton framework available python five mentioned section article cover basic requirement get started 1 Pandas — Pandas module opensource library python create data frame extremely useful organizing data Pandas used extensively field data science machine learning deep learning structured arrangement data data frame created panda 2dimensional representation data importing Pandas library pd visualize tabular data liking example shown Overall Pandas module fantastic library systematic viewing data also allows wide variety operation performed 2 Matplotlib — Matplotlib module one best tool visualization data frame form data Matplotlib used visualize data exploratory data analysis data science extremely useful understand kind data dealing determine next action must performed library offer extensive variety visualization function scatter plot bar plot histogram pie chart many similar function Import matplotlibpyplot module plt performing visualization task using matplotlib example seen — Scatter Plot Bar Graph scatter plot bar graph plotted using matplotlib shown figure advantage module simple use efficient providing visualization also combined seaborn library visual aesthetic appeal 3 NumPy — NumPy library stand Numerical Python numpy library one best option performing computation matrix operation support multidimensional array extensive amount mathematical logical operation performed array converting list numpy array perform computation like addition subtraction dot product among many others use case numpy applicable computer vision natural language processing project computer vision use numpy array visualizing RGB grayscale image numpy array converting accordingly natural language processing project usually prefer convert text data form vector number optimized computation Import numpy np convert text data categorical data shown 4 Scikitlearn — scikitlearn module one best tool machine learning predictive data analysis offer wide range prebuilt algorithm logistic regression support vector machine SVM’s classification algorithm like Kmeans clustering ton operation best way beginner get started machine learning algorithm simple efficient tool module grant access opensource commercially usable granting accessibility almost anyone reusable supported library NumPy SciPy Matplotlib import sklearn module run scikitlearn code code example splitting dataset form train test validation data useful training evaluation model 5 NLTK — NLTK library stand natural language toolkit platform one best library machine learning natural language processing data Natural Language Processing NLP branch AI help computer understand interpret manipulate human language NLTK library well suited linguisticbased task offer wide range option task classification tokenization stemming tagging parsing semantic reasoning allows user chunk data entity grouped together produce organized meaning library imported nltk example code tokenization sentenceTags Machine Learning Success Artificial Intelligence Productivity Data Science |
2,776 | How the Pajama Conspiracy Saved the World | Pajamas. Is there anything more comforting? Anything more embracing? Anything more hot cocoa and afghan and fireplace? When you’re wearing soft, cotton, unitard pajamas, you don’t think of dark alleys or horror movies. You think tucked in, childhood, and every little thing’s gonna be all right.
Something interesting has been happening on Facebook. Facebook is being overtaken by families and their pets wearing matching pajamas. Moms, dogs, dads, cats, mice, children, ferrets. It’s out of control. Every time I think I’ve seen the last family pajama photo, another one springs up, like a hydra.
There was a time when I had quit Facebook because I was tired of feeling like everyone was having a wonderful life, while I was living a moderate one. But then COVID hit, and I was like “What’s up people?” Or I was, until now, when this pajama thing is making me feel left out again. I know that I just could buy a set for my family, but I don’t get it. Facebook friends and people Facebook adjacent, I’m telling you, there is something suspicious going on with all these pajamas.
People laying in bed with their dogs in pajamas, lying fireside with their families in pajamas, couple snuggling up on a couch in pajamas. Honestly, I feel a little uncomfortable, like I’m a peeping Tom.
When did it become acceptable to post yourself in your bedtime gear? My grandma would have been like, “Put on a robe. Cover your hair with a sleep bonnet.” She wouldn't have necessarily said, “That family looks slutty,” but she would have thought it. She had a Southern way of letting people know that they were drawing outside the lines. She would have said, looking at those people sprawled out in their pjs, “Doesn’t that just make you sad?” And craving her approval, I would have said, “Hell yeah it does.”
What’s next, people? Everyone wearing matching nighties? A little Fredricks of Hollywood family photo for New Year's Eve? Gateway clothing, baby. Starts with a onesie ends with a nonesie.
I, too, was targeted by the pajama cult, pre-holiday. I got lots of ads and pictures of families wearing the same pjs, and I considered, but I didn’t purchase. I did imagine my family and our dog all saddled up in matching onesies, but then my sphincter reaction jarred me back into reality.
If they were selling big, old, faded t-shirts for the whole family, I’d click purchase. Because that’s real, man. Or jeans you’re too tired to take off for the whole family, click click click, but PJs with Christmas trees? Honey. We’re half Jewish. And honestly, if they were selling pajama sets with dreidel tops and Christmas tree bottoms, I still wouldn't have a bit. Why? Because I don’t want to dress up like my eleven-year-old son, fifty-year-old husband, and my thirty-five-year-old dog who chews on her nether regions?
I don’t believe in QAnon and I definitely don’t believe Hillary Clinton eats babies, but there is something going on with these pajamas. Look at all their Manchurian candidate faces. Look how happy they all seem in their pajamas during a pandemic.
I know that I’m missing something. But what is it? Maybe, I’m looking at it wrong. Maybe, 2020 led me to believe that every conspiracy is bad. What if that pajama joy real? What if those pajamas click a box that guarantees a creepy but legitimate smile for the whole family?
It makes me wonder, with all this divisiveness in this country, all this hate and fear, do the pajamas help? Will pajamas be that tether, that pulls this country together? People of all colors and classes and genders embracing the onesie as onesie perfect union? And if so, sign me up. Purchase permitted. I will make that sacrifice. I will wear the same outfit as my dog, and I will say “Peace on earth, goodwill to Amazon.” | https://medium.com/the-haven/how-the-pajama-conspiracy-saved-the-world-f14ec2c54f95 | ['Amy Culberg'] | 2020-12-28 06:53:14.007000+00:00 | ['Self-awareness', 'Humor', 'Self', 'Self Help', 'Amazon'] | Title Pajama Conspiracy Saved WorldContent Pajamas anything comforting Anything embracing Anything hot cocoa afghan fireplace you’re wearing soft cotton unitard pajama don’t think dark alley horror movie think tucked childhood every little thing’s gonna right Something interesting happening Facebook Facebook overtaken family pet wearing matching pajama Moms dog dad cat mouse child ferret It’s control Every time think I’ve seen last family pajama photo another one spring like hydra time quit Facebook tired feeling like everyone wonderful life living moderate one COVID hit like “What’s people” pajama thing making feel left know could buy set family don’t get Facebook friend people Facebook adjacent I’m telling something suspicious going pajama People laying bed dog pajama lying fireside family pajama couple snuggling couch pajama Honestly feel little uncomfortable like I’m peeping Tom become acceptable post bedtime gear grandma would like “Put robe Cover hair sleep bonnet” wouldnt necessarily said “That family look slutty” would thought Southern way letting people know drawing outside line would said looking people sprawled pjs “Doesn’t make sad” craving approval would said “Hell yeah does” What’s next people Everyone wearing matching nightie little Fredricks Hollywood family photo New Years Eve Gateway clothing baby Starts onesie end nonesie targeted pajama cult preholiday got lot ad picture family wearing pjs considered didn’t purchase imagine family dog saddled matching onesies sphincter reaction jarred back reality selling big old faded tshirts whole family I’d click purchase that’s real man jean you’re tired take whole family click click click PJs Christmas tree Honey We’re half Jewish honestly selling pajama set dreidel top Christmas tree bottom still wouldnt bit don’t want dress like elevenyearold son fiftyyearold husband thirtyfiveyearold dog chew nether region don’t believe QAnon definitely don’t believe Hillary Clinton eats baby something going pajama Look Manchurian candidate face Look happy seem pajama pandemic know I’m missing something Maybe I’m looking wrong Maybe 2020 led believe every conspiracy bad pajama joy real pajama click box guarantee creepy legitimate smile whole family make wonder divisiveness country hate fear pajama help pajama tether pull country together People color class gender embracing onesie onesie perfect union sign Purchase permitted make sacrifice wear outfit dog say “Peace earth goodwill Amazon”Tags Selfawareness Humor Self Self Help Amazon |
2,777 | Creating the Whole Machine Learning Pipeline with PyCaret | Creating the Whole Machine Learning Pipeline with PyCaret
How to Create a Machine Learning Pipeline with PyCaret
This tutorial covers the entire ML process, from data ingestion, pre-processing, model training, hyper-parameter fitting, predicting and storing the model for later use.
We will complete all these steps in less than 10 commands that are naturally constructed and very intuitive to remember, such as
create_model(),
tune_model(),
compare_models()
plot_model()
evaluate_model()
predict_model()
Let’s see the whole picture
Image by Author
Recreating the entire experiment without PyCaret requires more than 100 lines of code in most libraries. The library also allows you to do more advanced things, such as advanced pre-processing, ensembling, generalized stacking, and other techniques that allow you to fully customize the ML pipeline and are a must for any data scientist.
PyCaret is an open source, low-level library for ML with Python that allows you to go from preparing your data to deploying your model in minutes. Allows scientists and data analysts to perform iterative data science experiments from start to finish efficiently and allows them to reach conclusions faster because much less time is spent on programming. This library is very similar to Caret de R, but implemented in python
When working on a data science project, it usually takes a long time to understand the data (EDA and feature engineering). So, what if we could cut the time we spend on the modeling part of the project in half?
Let’s see how
First we need this pre-requisites
Python 3.6 or later
PyCaret 2.0 or later
Here you can find the library docs and others.
Also, you can follow this notebook with the code.
First of all, please run this command: !pip3 install pycaret
For Google Colab users: If you are running this notebook in Google Colab, run the following code at the top of your notebook to display interactive images
from pycaret.utils import enable_colab
enable_colab()
Pycaret Modules
Pycaret is divided according to the task we want to perform, and has different modules, which represent each type of learning (supervised or unsupervised). For this tutorial, we will be working on the supervised learning module with a binary classification algorithm.
Classification Module
The PyCaret classification module ( pycaret.classification ) is a supervised machine learning module used to classify elements into a binary group based on various techniques and algorithms. Some common uses of classification problems include predicting client default (yes or no), client abandonment (client will leave or stay), disease encountered (positive or negative) and so on.
The PyCaret classification module can be used for binary or multi-class classification problems. It has more than 18 algorithms and 14 plots for analyzing model performance. Whether it’s hyper-parameter tuning, ensembling or advanced techniques such as stacking, PyCaret’s classification module has it all.
Image by Author
For this tutorial we will use an UCI data set called Default of Credit Card Clients Dataset. This data set contains information about default payments, demographics, credit data, payment history and billing statements of credit card customers in Taiwan from April 2005 to September 2005. There are 24,000 samples and 25 characteristics.
The dataset can be found here. Or here you’ll find a direct link to download.
So, download the dataset to your environment, and then we are going to load it like this
In [2]:
import pandas as pd
In [3]:
df = pd.read_csv('datasets/default of credit card clients.csv')
In [4]:
df.head()
Out[4]:
Image by Author
1- Get the data
We also have another way to load it. In fact this will be the default way we will be working with in this tutorial. It is directly from the PyCaret datasets, and it is the first method of our Pipeline
Image by Author
from pycaret.datasets import get_data
dataset = get_data('credit') #check the shape of data
dataset.shape
In order to demonstrate the predict_model() function on unseen data, a sample of 1200 records from the original dataset has been retained for use in the predictions. This should not be confused with a train/test split, since this particular split is made to simulate a real-life scenario. Another way of thinking about this is that these 1200 records are not available at the time the ML experiment was performed.
In [7]:
## sample returns a random sample from an axis of the object. That would be 22,800 samples, not 24,000
data = dataset.sample(frac=0.95, random_state=786)
In [8]:
data
Image by Author
# we remove from the original dataset this random data
data_unseen = dataset.drop(data.index)
In [10]:
data_unseen ## we reset the index of both datasets
data.reset_index(inplace=True, drop=True)
data_unseen.reset_index(inplace=True, drop=True)
print('Data for Modeling: ' + str(data.shape))
print('Unseen Data For Predictions: ' + str(data_unseen.shape)) Data for Modeling: (22800, 24)
Unseen Data For Predictions: (1200, 24)
Split data
The way we divide our data set is important because there is data that we'll not use during the modeling process, and we'll use at the end to validate our results by simulating real data. The data we use for modeling we sub-divide it in order to evaluate two scenarios, training and testing. Therefore, the following has been done
Image by Author
Unseen data set (also known as validation data set)
Is the data sample used to provide an unbiased assessment of a final model.
The validation data set provides the gold standard used to evaluate the model.
It is only used once the model is fully trained (using the training and test sets).
The validation set is generally what is used to evaluate the models of a competition (for example, in many Kaggle or DataSource.ai competitions, the test set is initially released along with the training and test set and the validation set is only released when the competition is about to close, and it is the result of the validation set model that decides the winner).
Many times the test set is used as the validation set, but it is not a good practice.
The validation set is generally well healed.
It contains carefully sampled data covering the various classes that the model would face, when used in the real world.
Training data set
Training data set: The data sample used to train the model.
The data set we use to train the model
The model sees and learns from this data.
Test data set
Test Data Set: The data sample used to provide an unbiased assessment of a model is matched to the training data set while adjusting the model’s hyperparameters.
The assessment becomes more biased as the skill in the test data set is incorporated into the model configuration.
The test set is used to evaluate a given model, but this is for frequent evaluation.
We, as ML engineers, use this data to fine-tune the hyperparameters of the model.
Therefore, the model occasionally sees this data, but never “learns” from it.
We use the results of the test set, and update the higher level hyperparameters
So the test set impacts a model, but only indirectly.
The test set is also known as the Development set. This makes sense, since this dataset helps during the “development” stage of the model.
Confusion of terms
There is a tendency to mix up the name of test and validation.
Depending on the tutorial, the source, the book, the video or the teacher/mentor the terms are changed, the important thing is to keep the concept.
In our case we already separated the validation set at the beginning (1,200 samples of data_unseen )
2- Setting up the PyCaret environment
Image by Author
Now let’s set up the Pycaret environment. The setup() function initializes the environment in pycaret and creates the transformation pipeline to prepare the data for modeling and deployment. setup() must be called before executing any other function in pycaret. It takes two mandatory parameters: a pandas dataframe and the name of the target column. Most of this part of the configuration is done automatically, but some parameters can be set manually. For example:
The default division ratio is 70:30 (as we see in above paragraph), but can be changed with " train_size ".
(as we see in above paragraph), but can be changed with " ". K-fold cross-validation is set to 10 by default
by default “session_id " is our classic " random_state "
In [12]:
## setting up the environment
from pycaret.classification import *
Note: After you run the following command you must press enter to finish the process. We will explain how they do it. The setup process may take some time to complete.
In [13]:
model_setup = setup(data=data, target='default', session_id=123)
Image by Author
When you run setup() , PyCaret's inference algorithm will automatically deduce the data types of all features based on certain properties. The data type must be inferred correctly but this is not always the case. To take this into account, PyCaret displays a table containing the features and their inferred data types after setup() is executed. If all data types are correctly identified, you can press enter to continue or exit to end the experiment. We press enter, and should come out the same output as we got above.
Ensuring that the data types are correct is critical in PyCaret, as it automatically performs some pre-processing tasks that are essential to any ML experiment. These tasks are performed differently for each type of data, which means that it is very important that they are correctly configured.
We could overwrite the type of data inferred from PyCaret using the numeric_features and categorical_features parameters in setup() . Once the setup has been successfully executed, the information grid containing several important pieces of information is printed. Most of the information is related to the pre-processing pipeline that is built when you run setup()
Most of these features are out of scope for the purposes of this tutorial, however, some important things to keep in mind at this stage include
session_id : A pseduo-random number distributed as a seed in all functions for later reproducibility.
: A pseduo-random number distributed as a seed in all functions for later reproducibility. Target type : Binary or Multiclass. The target type is automatically detected and displayed.
Label encoded: When the Target variable is of type string (i.e. ‘Yes’ or ‘No’) instead of 1 or 0, it automatically codes the label at 1 and 0 and shows the mapping (0 : No, 1 : Yes) as reference
as reference Original data : Displays the original form of the data set. In this experiment (22800, 24) ==> Remember: "Seeing data"
==> Remember: "Seeing data" Missing values : When there are missing values in the original data this will be shown as True
Numerical features : The number of features inferred as numerical.
Categorical features : The number of features inferred as categorical
Transformed train sets: Note that the original form of (22800, 24) is transformed into (15959, 91) for the transformed train set and the number of features has increased from 24 to 91 due to the categorical coding
is transformed into for the transformed train set and Transformed test set: There are 6,841 samples in the test set. This split is based on the default value of 70/30 which can be changed using the train_size parameter in the configuration.
Note how some tasks that are imperative to perform the modeling are handled automatically, such as imputation of missing values (in this case there are no missing values in the training data, but we still need imputers for the unseen data), categorical encoding, etc.
Most of the setup() parameters are optional and are used to customize the preprocessing pipeline.
3- Compare Models
Image by Author
In order to understand how PyCaret compares the models and the next steps in the pipeline, it is necessary to understand the concept of N-Fold Coss-Validation.
N-Fold Coss-Validation
Calculating how much of your data should be divided into your test set is a delicate question. If your training set is too small, your algorithm may not have enough data to learn effectively. On the other hand, if your test set is too small, then your accuracy, precision, recall and F1 score could have a large variation.
You may be very lucky or very unlucky! In general, putting 70% of your data in the training set and 30% of your data in the test set is a good starting point. Sometimes your data set is so small that dividing it 70/30 will result in a large amount of variance.
One solution to this is to perform N-Fold cross-validation. The central idea here is that we are going to do this whole process N times and then average the accuracy. For example, in a 10 times cross validation, we will make the test set the first 10% of the data and calculate the accuracy, precision, recall and F1 score.
Then, we will make the cross-validation establish the second 10% of the data and we will calculate these statistics again. We can do this process 10 times, and each time the test set will be a different piece of data. Then we average all the accuracies, and we will have a better idea of how our model works on average.
Note: Validation Set (yellow here) is the Test Set in our case
Image by Author
Understanding the accuracy of your model is invaluable because you can start adjusting the parameters of your model to increase its performance. For example, in the K-Nearest Neighbors algorithm, you can see what happens to the accuracy as you increase or decrease K . Once you are satisfied with the performance of your model, it's time to enter the validation set. This is the part of your data that you split at the beginning of his experiment ( unseen_data in our case).
It is supposed to be a substitute for the real-world data that you are really interested in sorting out. It works very similar to the test set, except that you never touched this data while building or refining your model. By finding the precision metrics, you get a good understanding of how well your algorithm will perform in the real world.
Comparing all models
Comparing all models to evaluate performance is the recommended starting point for modeling once the PyCaret setup() is completed (unless you know exactly what type of model is needed, which is often not the case), this function trains all models in the model library and scores them using a stratified cross-validation for the evaluation of the metrics.
The output prints a score grid that shows the average of the Accuracy, AUC, Recall, Precision, F1, Kappa, and MCC across the folds ( 10 by default) along with the training times. Let's do it!
In [14]:
best_model = compare_models()
Image by Author
The compare_models() function allows you to compare many models at once. This is one of the great advantages of using PyCaret. In one line, you have a comparison table between many models. Two simple words of code (not even one line) have trained and evaluated more than 15 models using the N-Fold cross-validation.
The above printed table highlights the highest performance metrics for comparison purposes only. The default table is sorted using “Accuracy” (highest to lowest) which can be changed by passing a parameter. For example, compare_models(sort = 'Recall') will sort the grid by Recall instead of Accuracy.
If you want to change the Fold parameter from the default value of 10 to a different value, you can use the fold parameter. For example compare_models(fold = 5) will compare all models in a 5-fold cross-validation. Reducing the number of folds will improve the training time.
By default, compare_models returns the best performing model based on the default sort order, but it can be used to return a list of the top N models using the n_select parameter. In addition, it returns some metrics such as accuracy, AUC and F1. Another cool thing is how the library automatically highlights the best results. Once you choose your model, you can create it and then refine it. Let's go with other methods.
In [15]:
print(best_model) RidgeClassifier(alpha=1.0, class_weight=None, copy_X=True, fit_intercept=True,
max_iter=None, normalize=False, random_state=123, solver='auto',
tol=0.001)
4- Create the Model
Image by Author
create_model is the most granular function in PyCaret and is often the basis for most of PyCaret's functionality. As its name indicates, this function trains and evaluates a model using a cross-validation that can be set with the parameter fold . The output prints a scoring table showing by Fold the Precision, AUC, Recall, F1, Kappa and MCC.
For the rest of this tutorial, we will work with the following models as our candidate models. The selections are for illustrative purposes only and do not necessarily mean that they are the best performers or ideal for this type of data
Decision Tree Classifier (‘dt’)
K Neighbors Classifier (‘knn’)
Random Forest Classifier (‘rf’)
There are 18 classifiers available in the PyCaret model library. To see a list of all classifiers, check the documentation or use the models() function to view the library.
In [16]:
models()
Image by Author
dt = create_model('dt')
Image by Author
#trained model object is stored in the variable 'dt'.
print(dt) DecisionTreeClassifier(ccp_alpha=0.0, class_weight=None, criterion='gini',
max_depth=None, max_features=None, max_leaf_nodes=None,
min_impurity_decrease=0.0, min_impurity_split=None,
min_samples_leaf=1, min_samples_split=2,
min_weight_fraction_leaf=0.0, presort='deprecated',
random_state=123, splitter='best')
In [19]:
knn = create_model('knn')
Image by Author
print(knn) KNeighborsClassifier(algorithm='auto', leaf_size=30, metric='minkowski',
metric_params=None, n_jobs=-1, n_neighbors=5, p=2,
weights='uniform')
In [21]:
rf = create_model('rf')
Image by Author
print(rf) RandomForestClassifier(bootstrap=True, ccp_alpha=0.0, class_weight=None,
criterion='gini', max_depth=None, max_features='auto',
max_leaf_nodes=None, max_samples=None,
min_impurity_decrease=0.0, min_impurity_split=None,
min_samples_leaf=1, min_samples_split=2,
min_weight_fraction_leaf=0.0, n_estimators=100,
n_jobs=-1, oob_score=False, random_state=123, verbose=0,
warm_start=False)
Note that the average score of all models matches the score printed on compare_models() . This is because the metrics printed in the compare_models() score grid are the average scores of all the folds.
You can also see in each print() of each model the hyperparameters with which they were built. This is very important because it is the basis for improving them. You can see the parameters for RandomForestClassifier
max_depth=None
max_features='auto'
min_samples_leaf=1
min_samples_split=2
min_weight_fraction_leaf=0.0
n_estimators=100
n_jobs=-1
5- Tunning the Model
Image by Author
When creating a model using the create_model() function the default hyperparameters are used to train the model. To tune the hyperparameters the tune_model() function is used. This function automatically tunes the hyperparameters of a model using the Random Grid Search in a predefined search space.
The output prints a score grid showing the accuracy, AUC, Recall, Precision, F1, Kappa and MCC by Fold for the best model. To use a custom search grid, you can pass the custom_grid parameter in the tune_model function
In [23]:
tuned_rf = tune_model(rf)
Image by Author
If we compare the Accuracy metrics of this refined RandomForestClassifier model with the previous RandomForestClassifier, we see a difference, because it went from an Accuracy of 0.8199 to an Accuracy of 0.8203 .
In [24]:
#tuned model object is stored in the variable 'tuned_dt'.
print(tuned_rf) RandomForestClassifier(bootstrap=False, ccp_alpha=0.0, class_weight={},
criterion='entropy', max_depth=5, max_features=1.0,
max_leaf_nodes=None, max_samples=None,
min_impurity_decrease=0.0002, min_impurity_split=None,
min_samples_leaf=5, min_samples_split=10,
min_weight_fraction_leaf=0.0, n_estimators=150,
n_jobs=-1, oob_score=False, random_state=123, verbose=0,
warm_start=False)
Let’s compare now the hyperparameters. We had these before.
max_depth=None
max_features='auto'
min_samples_leaf=1
min_samples_split=2
min_weight_fraction_leaf=0.0
n_estimators=100
n_jobs=-1
Now these:
max_depth=5
max_features=1.0
min_samples_leaf=5
min_samples_split=10
min_weight_fraction_leaf=0.0
n_estimators=150
n_jobs=-1
You can make this same comparisson with knn and dt by yourself and explore the differences in the hyperparameters.
By default, tune_model optimizes Accuracy but this can be changed using the optimize parameter. For example: tune_model(dt, optimize = 'AUC') will look for the hyperparameters of a Decision Tree Classifier that results in the highest AUC instead of Accuracy. For the purposes of this example, we have used Accuracy's default metric only for simplicity.
Generally, when the data set is unbalanced (like the credit data set we are working with) Accuracy is not a good metric to consider. The methodology underlying the selection of the correct metric to evaluate a rating is beyond the scope of this tutorial.
Metrics alone are not the only criteria you should consider when selecting the best model for production. Other factors to consider include training time, standard deviation of k-folds, etc. For now, let’s go ahead and consider the Random Forest Classifier tuned_rf , as our best model for the rest of this tutorial
6- Plotting the Model
Image by Author
Before finalizing the model (Step # 8), the plot_model() function can be used to analyze the performance through different aspects such as AUC, confusion_matrix, decision boundary etc. This function takes a trained model object and returns a graph based on the training/test set.
There are 15 different plots available, please refer to plot_model() documentation for a list of available plots.
In [25]:
## AUC Plot plot_model(tuned_rf, plot = 'auc')
Image by Author
## Precision-recall curve
plot_model(tuned_rf, plot = 'pr')
Image by Author
## feature importance
plot_model(tuned_rf, plot='feature')
Image by Author
## Consufion matrix
plot_model(tuned_rf, plot = 'confusion_matrix')
Image by Author
7- Evaluating the model
Image by Author
Another way to analyze model performance is to use the evaluate_model() function which displays a user interface for all available graphics for a given model. Internally it uses the plot_model() function.
In [29]:
evaluate_model(tuned_rf)
8- Finalizing the Model
Image by Author
The completion of the model is the last step of the experiment. A normal machine learning workflow in PyCaret starts with setup() , followed by comparison of all models using compare_models() and pre-selection of some candidate models (based on the metric of interest) to perform various modeling techniques, such as hyperparameter fitting, assembly, stacking, etc.
This workflow will eventually lead you to the best model to use for making predictions on new and unseen data. The finalize_model() function fits the model to the complete data set, including the test sample (30% in this case). The purpose of this function is to train the model on the complete data set before it is deployed into production. We can execute this method after or before the predict_model() . We're going to execute it after of it.
One last word of caution. Once the model is finalized using finalize_model() , the entire data set, including the test set, is used for training. Therefore, if the model is used to make predictions about the test set after finalize_model() is used, the printed information grid will be misleading since it is trying to make predictions about the same data that was used for the modeling.
To demonstrate this point, we will use final_rf in predict_model() to compare the information grid with the previous.
In [30]:
final_rf = finalize_model(tuned_rf)
In [31]:
#Final Random Forest model parameters for deployment
print(final_rf) RandomForestClassifier(bootstrap=False, ccp_alpha=0.0, class_weight={},
criterion='entropy', max_depth=5, max_features=1.0,
max_leaf_nodes=None, max_samples=None,
min_impurity_decrease=0.0002, min_impurity_split=None,
min_samples_leaf=5, min_samples_split=10,
min_weight_fraction_leaf=0.0, n_estimators=150,
n_jobs=-1, oob_score=False, random_state=123, verbose=0,
warm_start=False)
9- Predicting with the model
Image by Author
Before finalizing the model, it is advisable to perform a final check by predicting the test/hold-out set ( data_unseen in our case) and reviewing the evaluation metrics. If you look at the information table, you will see that 30% (6,841 samples) of the data have been separated as training/set samples.
All of the evaluation metrics we have seen above are cross-validated results based on the training set (70%) only. Now, using our final training model stored in the tuned_rf variable we predict against the test sample and evaluate the metrics to see if they are materially different from the CV results
In [32]:
predict_model(final_rf)
Image by Author
The accuracy of the test set is 0.8199 compared to the 0.8203 achieved in the results of the tuned_rf . This is not a significant difference. If there is a large variation between the results of the test set and the training set, this would normally indicate an over-fitting, but it could also be due to several other factors and would require further investigation.
In this case, we will proceed with the completion of the model and the prediction on unseen data (the 5% that we had separated at the beginning and that was never exposed to PyCaret).
(TIP: It is always good to look at the standard deviation of the results of the training set when using create_model() .
The predict_model() function is also used to predict about the unseen data set. The only difference is that this time we will pass the parameter data_unseen . data_unseen is the variable created at the beginning of the tutorial and contains 5% (1200 samples) of the original data set that was never exposed to PyCaret.
In [33]:
unseen_predictions = predict_model(final_rf, data=data_unseen)
unseen_predictions.head()
Image by Author
Please go to the last column of this previous result, and you will see a new feature called Score
Image by Author
Label is the prediction and score is the probability of the prediction. Note that the predicted results are concatenated with the original data set, while all transformations are automatically performed in the background.
We have finished the experiment finalizing the tuned_rf model that now is stored in the final_rf variable. We have also used the model stored in final_rf to predict data_unseen . This brings us to the end of our experiment, but one question remains: What happens when you have more new data to predict? Do you have to go through the whole experiment again? The answer is no, PyCaret's built-in save_model() function allows you to save the model along with all the transformation pipe for later use and is stored in a Pickle in the local environment
(TIP: It’s always good to use the date in the file name when saving models, it’s good for version control)
Let’s see it in the next step
10- Save/Load Model for Production
Image by Author
Save Model
In [35]:
save_model(final_rf, 'datasets/Final RF Model 19Nov2020') Transformation Pipeline and Model Succesfully Saved
Out[35]:
(Pipeline(memory=None,
steps=[('dtypes',
DataTypes_Auto_infer(categorical_features=[],
display_types=True, features_todrop=[],
id_columns=[],
ml_usecase='classification',
numerical_features=[], target='default',
time_features=[])),
('imputer',
Simple_Imputer(categorical_strategy='not_available',
fill_value_categorical=None,
fill_value_numerical=None,
numeric_stra...
RandomForestClassifier(bootstrap=False, ccp_alpha=0.0,
class_weight={}, criterion='entropy',
max_depth=5, max_features=1.0,
max_leaf_nodes=None, max_samples=None,
min_impurity_decrease=0.0002,
min_impurity_split=None,
min_samples_leaf=5,
min_samples_split=10,
min_weight_fraction_leaf=0.0,
n_estimators=150, n_jobs=-1,
oob_score=False, random_state=123,
verbose=0, warm_start=False)]],
verbose=False),
'datasets/Final RF Model 19Nov2020.pkl')
Load Model
To load a model saved at a future date in the same or an alternative environment, we would use PyCaret’s load_model() function and then easily apply the saved model to new unseen data for the prediction
In [37]:
saved_final_rf = load_model('datasets/Final RF Model 19Nov2020') Transformation Pipeline and Model Successfully Loaded
Once the model is loaded into the environment, it can simply be used to predict any new data using the same predict_model() function. Next we have applied the loaded model to predict the same data_unseen we used before.
In [38]:
new_prediction = predict_model(saved_final_rf, data=data_unseen)
In [39]:
new_prediction.head()
Out[39]:
Image by Author
from pycaret.utils import check_metric
check_metric(new_prediction.default, new_prediction.Label, 'Accuracy')
Out[41]:
0.8167
Pros & Cons
As with any new library, there is still room for improvement. We'll list some of the pros and cons we found while using the library.
Pros:
It makes the modeling part of your project much easier.
You can create many different analyses with just one line of code.
Forget about passing a list of parameters when fitting the model. PyCaret does it automatically for you.
You have many different options to evaluate the model, again, with just one line of code
Since it is built on top of famous ML libraries, you can easily compare it with your traditional method
Cons:
The library is in its early versions, so it is not mature enough and is susceptible to bugs. Not big deal to be honest
As all Auto ML libraries, it's a black box, so you can't really see what's going on inside it. Therefore, I would not recommend it for beginners.
It might make the learning process a bit superficial.
Conclusions
This tutorial has covered the entire ML process, from data ingestion, pre-processing, model training, hyper-parameter fitting, predicting and storing the model for later use. We have completed all these steps in less than 10 commands that are naturally constructed and very intuitive to remember, such as create_model(), tune_model(), compare_models() . Recreating the whole experiment without PyCaret would have required more than 100 lines of code in most of the libraries.
The library also allows you to do more advanced things, such as advanced pre-processing, assembly, generalized stacking, and other techniques that allow you to fully customize the ML pipeline and are a must for any data scientist
I hope you enjoyed this reading! you can follow me on twitter or linkedin | https://towardsdatascience.com/creating-the-whole-machine-learning-pipeline-with-pycaret-db39a3006840 | ['Daniel Morales'] | 2020-12-06 19:22:03.300000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Python', 'Data Science', 'Artificial Intelligence'] | Title Creating Whole Machine Learning Pipeline PyCaretContent Creating Whole Machine Learning Pipeline PyCaret Create Machine Learning Pipeline PyCaret tutorial cover entire ML process data ingestion preprocessing model training hyperparameter fitting predicting storing model later use complete step le 10 command naturally constructed intuitive remember createmodel tunemodel comparemodels plotmodel evaluatemodel predictmodel Let’s see whole picture Image Author Recreating entire experiment without PyCaret requires 100 line code library library also allows advanced thing advanced preprocessing ensembling generalized stacking technique allow fully customize ML pipeline must data scientist PyCaret open source lowlevel library ML Python allows go preparing data deploying model minute Allows scientist data analyst perform iterative data science experiment start finish efficiently allows reach conclusion faster much le time spent programming library similar Caret de R implemented python working data science project usually take long time understand data EDA feature engineering could cut time spend modeling part project half Let’s see First need prerequisite Python 36 later PyCaret 20 later find library doc others Also follow notebook code First please run command pip3 install pycaret Google Colab user running notebook Google Colab run following code top notebook display interactive image pycaretutils import enablecolab enablecolab Pycaret Modules Pycaret divided according task want perform different module represent type learning supervised unsupervised tutorial working supervised learning module binary classification algorithm Classification Module PyCaret classification module pycaretclassification supervised machine learning module used classify element binary group based various technique algorithm common us classification problem include predicting client default yes client abandonment client leave stay disease encountered positive negative PyCaret classification module used binary multiclass classification problem 18 algorithm 14 plot analyzing model performance Whether it’s hyperparameter tuning ensembling advanced technique stacking PyCaret’s classification module Image Author tutorial use UCI data set called Default Credit Card Clients Dataset data set contains information default payment demographic credit data payment history billing statement credit card customer Taiwan April 2005 September 2005 24000 sample 25 characteristic dataset found you’ll find direct link download download dataset environment going load like 2 import panda pd 3 df pdreadcsvdatasetsdefault credit card clientscsv 4 dfhead Out4 Image Author 1 Get data also another way load fact default way working tutorial directly PyCaret datasets first method Pipeline Image Author pycaretdatasets import getdata dataset getdatacredit check shape data datasetshape order demonstrate predictmodel function unseen data sample 1200 record original dataset retained use prediction confused traintest split since particular split made simulate reallife scenario Another way thinking 1200 record available time ML experiment performed 7 sample return random sample axis object would 22800 sample 24000 data datasetsamplefrac095 randomstate786 8 data Image Author remove original dataset random data dataunseen datasetdropdataindex 10 dataunseen reset index datasets dataresetindexinplaceTrue dropTrue dataunseenresetindexinplaceTrue dropTrue printData Modeling strdatashape printUnseen Data Predictions strdataunseenshape Data Modeling 22800 24 Unseen Data Predictions 1200 24 Split data way divide data set important data well use modeling process well use end validate result simulating real data data use modeling subdivide order evaluate two scenario training testing Therefore following done Image Author Unseen data set also known validation data set data sample used provide unbiased assessment final model validation data set provides gold standard used evaluate model used model fully trained using training test set validation set generally used evaluate model competition example many Kaggle DataSourceai competition test set initially released along training test set validation set released competition close result validation set model decides winner Many time test set used validation set good practice validation set generally well healed contains carefully sampled data covering various class model would face used real world Training data set Training data set data sample used train model data set use train model model see learns data Test data set Test Data Set data sample used provide unbiased assessment model matched training data set adjusting model’s hyperparameters assessment becomes biased skill test data set incorporated model configuration test set used evaluate given model frequent evaluation ML engineer use data finetune hyperparameters model Therefore model occasionally see data never “learns” use result test set update higher level hyperparameters test set impact model indirectly test set also known Development set make sense since dataset help “development” stage model Confusion term tendency mix name test validation Depending tutorial source book video teachermentor term changed important thing keep concept case already separated validation set beginning 1200 sample dataunseen 2 Setting PyCaret environment Image Author let’s set Pycaret environment setup function initializes environment pycaret creates transformation pipeline prepare data modeling deployment setup must called executing function pycaret take two mandatory parameter panda dataframe name target column part configuration done automatically parameter set manually example default division ratio 7030 see paragraph changed trainsize see paragraph changed Kfold crossvalidation set 10 default default “sessionid classic randomstate 12 setting environment pycaretclassification import Note run following command must press enter finish process explain setup process may take time complete 13 modelsetup setupdatadata targetdefault sessionid123 Image Author run setup PyCarets inference algorithm automatically deduce data type feature based certain property data type must inferred correctly always case take account PyCaret display table containing feature inferred data type setup executed data type correctly identified press enter continue exit end experiment press enter come output got Ensuring data type correct critical PyCaret automatically performs preprocessing task essential ML experiment task performed differently type data mean important correctly configured could overwrite type data inferred PyCaret using numericfeatures categoricalfeatures parameter setup setup successfully executed information grid containing several important piece information printed information related preprocessing pipeline built run setup feature scope purpose tutorial however important thing keep mind stage include sessionid pseduorandom number distributed seed function later reproducibility pseduorandom number distributed seed function later reproducibility Target type Binary Multiclass target type automatically detected displayed Label encoded Target variable type string ie ‘Yes’ ‘No’ instead 1 0 automatically code label 1 0 show mapping 0 1 Yes reference reference Original data Displays original form data set experiment 22800 24 Remember Seeing data Remember Seeing data Missing value missing value original data shown True Numerical feature number feature inferred numerical Categorical feature number feature inferred categorical Transformed train set Note original form 22800 24 transformed 15959 91 transformed train set number feature increased 24 91 due categorical coding transformed transformed train set Transformed test set 6841 sample test set split based default value 7030 changed using trainsize parameter configuration Note task imperative perform modeling handled automatically imputation missing value case missing value training data still need imputers unseen data categorical encoding etc setup parameter optional used customize preprocessing pipeline 3 Compare Models Image Author order understand PyCaret compare model next step pipeline necessary understand concept NFold CossValidation NFold CossValidation Calculating much data divided test set delicate question training set small algorithm may enough data learn effectively hand test set small accuracy precision recall F1 score could large variation may lucky unlucky general putting 70 data training set 30 data test set good starting point Sometimes data set small dividing 7030 result large amount variance One solution perform NFold crossvalidation central idea going whole process N time average accuracy example 10 time cross validation make test set first 10 data calculate accuracy precision recall F1 score make crossvalidation establish second 10 data calculate statistic process 10 time time test set different piece data average accuracy better idea model work average Note Validation Set yellow Test Set case Image Author Understanding accuracy model invaluable start adjusting parameter model increase performance example KNearest Neighbors algorithm see happens accuracy increase decrease K satisfied performance model time enter validation set part data split beginning experiment unseendata case supposed substitute realworld data really interested sorting work similar test set except never touched data building refining model finding precision metric get good understanding well algorithm perform real world Comparing model Comparing model evaluate performance recommended starting point modeling PyCaret setup completed unless know exactly type model needed often case function train model model library score using stratified crossvalidation evaluation metric output print score grid show average Accuracy AUC Recall Precision F1 Kappa MCC across fold 10 default along training time Lets 14 bestmodel comparemodels Image Author comparemodels function allows compare many model one great advantage using PyCaret one line comparison table many model Two simple word code even one line trained evaluated 15 model using NFold crossvalidation printed table highlight highest performance metric comparison purpose default table sorted using “Accuracy” highest lowest changed passing parameter example comparemodelssort Recall sort grid Recall instead Accuracy want change Fold parameter default value 10 different value use fold parameter example comparemodelsfold 5 compare model 5fold crossvalidation Reducing number fold improve training time default comparemodels return best performing model based default sort order used return list top N model using nselect parameter addition return metric accuracy AUC F1 Another cool thing library automatically highlight best result choose model create refine Lets go method 15 printbestmodel RidgeClassifieralpha10 classweightNone copyXTrue fitinterceptTrue maxiterNone normalizeFalse randomstate123 solverauto tol0001 4 Create Model Image Author createmodel granular function PyCaret often basis PyCarets functionality name indicates function train evaluates model using crossvalidation set parameter fold output print scoring table showing Fold Precision AUC Recall F1 Kappa MCC rest tutorial work following model candidate model selection illustrative purpose necessarily mean best performer ideal type data Decision Tree Classifier ‘dt’ K Neighbors Classifier ‘knn’ Random Forest Classifier ‘rf’ 18 classifier available PyCaret model library see list classifier check documentation use model function view library 16 model Image Author dt createmodeldt Image Author trained model object stored variable dt printdt DecisionTreeClassifierccpalpha00 classweightNone criteriongini maxdepthNone maxfeaturesNone maxleafnodesNone minimpuritydecrease00 minimpuritysplitNone minsamplesleaf1 minsamplessplit2 minweightfractionleaf00 presortdeprecated randomstate123 splitterbest 19 knn createmodelknn Image Author printknn KNeighborsClassifieralgorithmauto leafsize30 metricminkowski metricparamsNone njobs1 nneighbors5 p2 weightsuniform 21 rf createmodelrf Image Author printrf RandomForestClassifierbootstrapTrue ccpalpha00 classweightNone criteriongini maxdepthNone maxfeaturesauto maxleafnodesNone maxsamplesNone minimpuritydecrease00 minimpuritysplitNone minsamplesleaf1 minsamplessplit2 minweightfractionleaf00 nestimators100 njobs1 oobscoreFalse randomstate123 verbose0 warmstartFalse Note average score model match score printed comparemodels metric printed comparemodels score grid average score fold also see print model hyperparameters built important basis improving see parameter RandomForestClassifier maxdepthNone maxfeaturesauto minsamplesleaf1 minsamplessplit2 minweightfractionleaf00 nestimators100 njobs1 5 Tunning Model Image Author creating model using createmodel function default hyperparameters used train model tune hyperparameters tunemodel function used function automatically tune hyperparameters model using Random Grid Search predefined search space output print score grid showing accuracy AUC Recall Precision F1 Kappa MCC Fold best model use custom search grid pas customgrid parameter tunemodel function 23 tunedrf tunemodelrf Image Author compare Accuracy metric refined RandomForestClassifier model previous RandomForestClassifier see difference went Accuracy 08199 Accuracy 08203 24 tuned model object stored variable tuneddt printtunedrf RandomForestClassifierbootstrapFalse ccpalpha00 classweight criterionentropy maxdepth5 maxfeatures10 maxleafnodesNone maxsamplesNone minimpuritydecrease00002 minimpuritysplitNone minsamplesleaf5 minsamplessplit10 minweightfractionleaf00 nestimators150 njobs1 oobscoreFalse randomstate123 verbose0 warmstartFalse Let’s compare hyperparameters maxdepthNone maxfeaturesauto minsamplesleaf1 minsamplessplit2 minweightfractionleaf00 nestimators100 njobs1 maxdepth5 maxfeatures10 minsamplesleaf5 minsamplessplit10 minweightfractionleaf00 nestimators150 njobs1 make comparisson knn dt explore difference hyperparameters default tunemodel optimizes Accuracy changed using optimize parameter example tunemodeldt optimize AUC look hyperparameters Decision Tree Classifier result highest AUC instead Accuracy purpose example used Accuracys default metric simplicity Generally data set unbalanced like credit data set working Accuracy good metric consider methodology underlying selection correct metric evaluate rating beyond scope tutorial Metrics alone criterion consider selecting best model production factor consider include training time standard deviation kfolds etc let’s go ahead consider Random Forest Classifier tunedrf best model rest tutorial 6 Plotting Model Image Author finalizing model Step 8 plotmodel function used analyze performance different aspect AUC confusionmatrix decision boundary etc function take trained model object return graph based trainingtest set 15 different plot available please refer plotmodel documentation list available plot 25 AUC Plot plotmodeltunedrf plot auc Image Author Precisionrecall curve plotmodeltunedrf plot pr Image Author feature importance plotmodeltunedrf plotfeature Image Author Consufion matrix plotmodeltunedrf plot confusionmatrix Image Author 7 Evaluating model Image Author Another way analyze model performance use evaluatemodel function display user interface available graphic given model Internally us plotmodel function 29 evaluatemodeltunedrf 8 Finalizing Model Image Author completion model last step experiment normal machine learning workflow PyCaret start setup followed comparison model using comparemodels preselection candidate model based metric interest perform various modeling technique hyperparameter fitting assembly stacking etc workflow eventually lead best model use making prediction new unseen data finalizemodel function fit model complete data set including test sample 30 case purpose function train model complete data set deployed production execute method predictmodel going execute One last word caution model finalized using finalizemodel entire data set including test set used training Therefore model used make prediction test set finalizemodel used printed information grid misleading since trying make prediction data used modeling demonstrate point use finalrf predictmodel compare information grid previous 30 finalrf finalizemodeltunedrf 31 Final Random Forest model parameter deployment printfinalrf RandomForestClassifierbootstrapFalse ccpalpha00 classweight criterionentropy maxdepth5 maxfeatures10 maxleafnodesNone maxsamplesNone minimpuritydecrease00002 minimpuritysplitNone minsamplesleaf5 minsamplessplit10 minweightfractionleaf00 nestimators150 njobs1 oobscoreFalse randomstate123 verbose0 warmstartFalse 9 Predicting model Image Author finalizing model advisable perform final check predicting testholdout set dataunseen case reviewing evaluation metric look information table see 30 6841 sample data separated trainingset sample evaluation metric seen crossvalidated result based training set 70 using final training model stored tunedrf variable predict test sample evaluate metric see materially different CV result 32 predictmodelfinalrf Image Author accuracy test set 08199 compared 08203 achieved result tunedrf significant difference large variation result test set training set would normally indicate overfitting could also due several factor would require investigation case proceed completion model prediction unseen data 5 separated beginning never exposed PyCaret TIP always good look standard deviation result training set using createmodel predictmodel function also used predict unseen data set difference time pas parameter dataunseen dataunseen variable created beginning tutorial contains 5 1200 sample original data set never exposed PyCaret 33 unseenpredictions predictmodelfinalrf datadataunseen unseenpredictionshead Image Author Please go last column previous result see new feature called Score Image Author Label prediction score probability prediction Note predicted result concatenated original data set transformation automatically performed background finished experiment finalizing tunedrf model stored finalrf variable also used model stored finalrf predict dataunseen brings u end experiment one question remains happens new data predict go whole experiment answer PyCarets builtin savemodel function allows save model along transformation pipe later use stored Pickle local environment TIP It’s always good use date file name saving model it’s good version control Let’s see next step 10 SaveLoad Model Production Image Author Save Model 35 savemodelfinalrf datasetsFinal RF Model 19Nov2020 Transformation Pipeline Model Succesfully Saved Out35 PipelinememoryNone stepsdtypes DataTypesAutoinfercategoricalfeatures displaytypesTrue featurestodrop idcolumns mlusecaseclassification numericalfeatures targetdefault timefeatures imputer SimpleImputercategoricalstrategynotavailable fillvaluecategoricalNone fillvaluenumericalNone numericstra RandomForestClassifierbootstrapFalse ccpalpha00 classweight criterionentropy maxdepth5 maxfeatures10 maxleafnodesNone maxsamplesNone minimpuritydecrease00002 minimpuritysplitNone minsamplesleaf5 minsamplessplit10 minweightfractionleaf00 nestimators150 njobs1 oobscoreFalse randomstate123 verbose0 warmstartFalse verboseFalse datasetsFinal RF Model 19Nov2020pkl Load Model load model saved future date alternative environment would use PyCaret’s loadmodel function easily apply saved model new unseen data prediction 37 savedfinalrf loadmodeldatasetsFinal RF Model 19Nov2020 Transformation Pipeline Model Successfully Loaded model loaded environment simply used predict new data using predictmodel function Next applied loaded model predict dataunseen used 38 newprediction predictmodelsavedfinalrf datadataunseen 39 newpredictionhead Out39 Image Author pycaretutils import checkmetric checkmetricnewpredictiondefault newpredictionLabel Accuracy Out41 08167 Pros Cons new library still room improvement Well list pro con found using library Pros make modeling part project much easier create many different analysis one line code Forget passing list parameter fitting model PyCaret automatically many different option evaluate model one line code Since built top famous ML library easily compare traditional method Cons library early version mature enough susceptible bug big deal honest Auto ML library black box cant really see whats going inside Therefore would recommend beginner might make learning process bit superficial Conclusions tutorial covered entire ML process data ingestion preprocessing model training hyperparameter fitting predicting storing model later use completed step le 10 command naturally constructed intuitive remember createmodel tunemodel comparemodels Recreating whole experiment without PyCaret would required 100 line code library library also allows advanced thing advanced preprocessing assembly generalized stacking technique allow fully customize ML pipeline must data scientist hope enjoyed reading follow twitter linkedinTags Machine Learning Python Data Science Artificial Intelligence |
2,778 | What You Should Know About Criticism | When Constructive Criticism Gets Out of Hand
We are all often critical sometimes, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. We understand that our colleague, spouse, boss, or coach has our best interest at heart.
To criticize constructively means you’re thinking carefully. It is a skill that helps us navigate the world and our relationships in an objective way. It helps us sharpen our skills and increases our chances of accelerated progress.
Constructive criticism is about making the world better but when you're being too critical of others you're making yourself feel better.
And this is where the opposite of objectivity sets in.
Being too critical of others can make us narrow-minded and blind, especially to ourselves.
One of the reasons to easily slip into habitually criticizing others is that it makes us feel good without even knowing it.
When constructive criticism gets out of hand, it becomes hateful criticism. | https://medium.com/be-unique/what-you-should-know-about-criticism-bc67294cc686 | ['Emeka Nwanedo'] | 2020-06-29 01:35:13.945000+00:00 | ['Personal Development', 'Work', 'Productivity', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Life'] | Title Know CriticismContent Constructive Criticism Gets Hand often critical sometimes it’s necessarily bad thing understand colleague spouse bos coach best interest heart criticize constructively mean you’re thinking carefully skill help u navigate world relationship objective way help u sharpen skill increase chance accelerated progress Constructive criticism making world better youre critical others youre making feel better opposite objectivity set critical others make u narrowminded blind especially One reason easily slip habitually criticizing others make u feel good without even knowing constructive criticism get hand becomes hateful criticismTags Personal Development Work Productivity Entrepreneurship Life |
2,779 | From Self-Diagnosis to Self-Realization | These children are a subset of a subset of a subset of a subset of the actual Autistic population. And yet they made up the entire foundation on which all research and all diagnostic tools for Autistic people are based. From the 1940’s until about the mid-1990’s, nearly all Autism specialists based their treatment and diagnosis on an understanding of Autism that excluded adults, women, people of color, transgender people, poor people, and people who had learned to hide their Autistic traits. To this day, many assessors are ill-equipped to deal with any of these populations.
People are still regularly dismissed from being assessed because they do not meet the stereotypes of what an Autistic person “looks like”. Some clinicians still refuse to diagnose Autism in women and girls, or they’ll disregard a person’s suspected Autism because they seem too “polite” or “normal”. Clinicians are not consistent with one another in how they assess Autism, which tools they use and how they go about using them. And no matter how talented or sensitive the clinician is, they are still performing adult assessments using instruments that were developed for children. The CDC website still completely ignores the topic of diagnosing Autism in adults.
When I was a child, I had many of the most stereotypical markers of Autism, from poor motor coordination, to social and sensory issues, to using a large vocabulary at an atypically young age. I was the picture of what back then would have been called Asperger's. I was given a ton of assessments for other issues, such as my motor problems, but not for Autism itself. The most likely reason for this is that society saw me as a “girl”, and everyone knew back then that girls don’t get Autism.
I know countless Autistic adults (formally diagnosed and self-diagnosed) who similarly slipped through the cracks. The tests that are used to categorize us are as far from objective and rational as they could possibly be. Even when a test is administered well, it basically comes down to asking a person to honestly reflect on whether or not they have any Autistic traits.
An adult human is absolutely capable of doing that on their own. Often, we know ourselves vastly better than clinicians do. We have a larger pool of data on ourselves than they will ever have.
…
I also oppose formal diagnosis because Autism is not a simple category that you either belong to or don’t belong to. No one can actually determine whether a person “has Autism” in a binary sense, the way we can screen for a tumor or strep throat. Autism exists in a series of spectrums, and they all vary a great deal from person to person.
A spectrum of colors. Photo by Kirill Sharkovski on Unsplash
One Autistic person might be extremely sensitive to sound, so much so that being on a crowded bus makes them want to vomit. Another Autistic person might not be bothered by sound much, but might find wearing tight clothing to be absolute torture. Some Autistic people do a lot of obvious self-stimulatory behavior — they rock in place, click their tongues, or flap their hands all day long. Some keep it very subtle. Some Autistic people can’t make eye contact; others can. We’re all unique beautiful angels; in fact, our brains are organized in more diverse and unique ways than neurotypical people’s brains are.
What this means is that a person could be right near the edge of the diagnostic cut-off, on every single Autistic trait, but still not count as Autistic in a professional’s eyes. Clearly this would be someone who has tons of experiences in common with Autistic people. They might struggle with bright lights or strange food textures. They might take jokes very literally, or not be able to detect sarcasm. They might have melt-downs the way many of us do. And they probably would benefit from the same kinds of resources that officially “Autistic” people benefit from.
But because of where the line was drawn in the sand by professionals, those people are not really Autistic. To me, that’s not only irrational and lacking in scientific precision — it’s fundamentally unjust.
I believe our community has a lot to gain by letting sub-clinical Autism-spectrum people under the Autistic umbrella with us. We share common interests and experiences. We deal with similar difficulties as we move through the world. There is strength in numbers, and the more people we have advocating for sensory-friendly spaces and lax social rules, the more Autistic people will stand to benefit. Why gatekeep who is deserving of community and help?
A variety of brightly-colored umbrellas, hanging on strings forming a canopy. Photo by Ricardo Resende on Unsplash
…
Everything useful that I’ve learned about Autism, I have learned from Autistic people. Fellow Autistics taught me how to limit my sensory input and ground myself when I’m feeling stressed. They gave me permission to reduce my social contact, and to stop presenting myself as the bubbly, outgoing feminine person society had pressured me to be. Autistic people introduced me to weighted blankets and fidget jewelry and sensory slime; they helped me discover when I was at risk of experiencing melt-downs. Most importantly, they helped to normalize every difficult and alienated feeling I have ever had.
You know what Autism experts have done for me? Nothing. Clinicians generally see Autism as a disorder to be treated, or a malady to be “cured”. Yet they offer no treatments for adults that make Autistic traits any less severe or intense. That’s because there are no such treatments.
Autism cannot be cured or removed from a person who has it. It is a fundamental component of who we are. Autism is a type of functioning and a way of being. Just as a Deaf person often cannot be “cured” of their Deafness, but must instead be accommodated by hearing society, Autistic people cannot be “cured”. We need and deserve societal acceptance instead.
This is at the heart, really, of why I oppose a medicalized framework to Autism and defining who is Autistic. Autistic people are not broken or sick. Autism is not something to be measured, quantified, prescribed a treatment for, and cured. Many of us would never want to be cured even if a cure existed — because Autism is a fundamental part of who we are. And there are many benefits and joys that come with being Autistic.
Unfortunately, the clinical and legal power structures do not see Autism this way. And in many cases, getting diagnosed with Autism can bring a great deal of difficulty and ostracism to a person’s life. For years, Canada would not let a person immigrate to the country if they were Autistic. Autistic transgender people, like me, are often denied access to necessary medical care and gender-affirming treatment. We aren’t trusted to define our own genders, because Autism is seen as causing impaired judgement. And generally, if a medical provider sees an Autism diagnosis in your records, they will treat you with condescension and disrespect at best. At worst, you may lose your legal autonomy.
As you can see, there is very little to gain from getting a formal, medicalized Autism diagnosis, and a significant amount to lose. So where do we go from here? If Autism is not a diagnostic category, what is it?
…
A row of people, backlit by the sun. Photo by Kevin Delvecchio on Unsplash
I would like to propose a framework of Autism that is completely non-medicalized. Therapists, doctors, neuroscientists had 75 years to come to a firm and useful understanding of Autism, and they blew it. They called us less than human. They conspired with Nazis to have us eradicated. They erased those of us who weren’t white cis boys who loved trains. They tried to cure us and created more stigma for us. They advocated to have our kind completely erased from existence. They ignored us when we asked for help managing the social and sensory traumas of existing in an allistic world.
They don’t get to define who we are and what we need anymore. They botched it irreparably. Now it is time that Autistic people take our fates into our own hands.
I am pro self-realization of Autism. I am pro self-identification as Autistic. I believe that if you speak to Autistic people, learn about what our lives are like, come to understand our challenges, and find that you identify with us, then that is enough.
I don’t care if you would be categorized as Autistic by some outmoded diagnostic tool created for children and later adapted, poorly, to flag a handful of the most stereotypical Autistic adults. I don’t care if you spent thousands of dollars trying to get a doctor to validate what years of self-knowledge has taught you. I truly don’t care what the doctors think. I want to hear what you think.
And I don’t think you need to be cured. You don’t need to lessen your obvious signs of Autism, to be accommodating and palatable to a society that has been unfair to you all your life. I believe you deserve community and acceptance. I believe it is the world that must learn how to accommodate you.
Under this framework, it is neurotypical society that must change and seek treatment, not Autistic people. The only way for Autistic people to thrive is for us to oppose any system of power that says we are something to be measured, monitored, contained, and controlled. And in order for society to function, neurotypicals must learn to get used to us, because we are growing in numbers, and not going away.
There are far, far more of us than any researcher or diagnostician has been able to accurately estimate, because their tools are so shoddy. They cannot erase us from existence, because we are not a disease to be purged. And I hope that lack of understanding and control makes neurotypical Autism “experts” absolutely quake with anxiety. We can’t be contained if we don’t let them contain us. The time for submitting to their systems has ended.
I believe in Autistic autonomy. I believe in our agency and self-knowledge. I don’t believe in diagnosis. | https://devonprice.medium.com/from-self-diagnosis-to-self-realization-852e3a069451 | ['Devon Price'] | 2019-08-14 21:41:17.851000+00:00 | ['Equality', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology', 'Disability', 'Autism'] | Title SelfDiagnosis SelfRealizationContent child subset subset subset subset actual Autistic population yet made entire foundation research diagnostic tool Autistic people based 1940’s mid1990’s nearly Autism specialist based treatment diagnosis understanding Autism excluded adult woman people color transgender people poor people people learned hide Autistic trait day many assessor illequipped deal population People still regularly dismissed assessed meet stereotype Autistic person “looks like” clinician still refuse diagnose Autism woman girl they’ll disregard person’s suspected Autism seem “polite” “normal” Clinicians consistent one another ass Autism tool use go using matter talented sensitive clinician still performing adult assessment using instrument developed child CDC website still completely ignores topic diagnosing Autism adult child many stereotypical marker Autism poor motor coordination social sensory issue using large vocabulary atypically young age picture back would called Aspergers given ton assessment issue motor problem Autism likely reason society saw “girl” everyone knew back girl don’t get Autism know countless Autistic adult formally diagnosed selfdiagnosed similarly slipped crack test used categorize u far objective rational could possibly Even test administered well basically come asking person honestly reflect whether Autistic trait adult human absolutely capable Often know vastly better clinician larger pool data ever … also oppose formal diagnosis Autism simple category either belong don’t belong one actually determine whether person “has Autism” binary sense way screen tumor strep throat Autism exists series spectrum vary great deal person person spectrum color Photo Kirill Sharkovski Unsplash One Autistic person might extremely sensitive sound much crowded bus make want vomit Another Autistic person might bothered sound much might find wearing tight clothing absolute torture Autistic people lot obvious selfstimulatory behavior — rock place click tongue flap hand day long keep subtle Autistic people can’t make eye contact others We’re unique beautiful angel fact brain organized diverse unique way neurotypical people’s brain mean person could right near edge diagnostic cutoff every single Autistic trait still count Autistic professional’s eye Clearly would someone ton experience common Autistic people might struggle bright light strange food texture might take joke literally able detect sarcasm might meltdown way many u probably would benefit kind resource officially “Autistic” people benefit line drawn sand professional people really Autistic that’s irrational lacking scientific precision — it’s fundamentally unjust believe community lot gain letting subclinical Autismspectrum people Autistic umbrella u share common interest experience deal similar difficulty move world strength number people advocating sensoryfriendly space lax social rule Autistic people stand benefit gatekeep deserving community help variety brightlycolored umbrella hanging string forming canopy Photo Ricardo Resende Unsplash … Everything useful I’ve learned Autism learned Autistic people Fellow Autistics taught limit sensory input ground I’m feeling stressed gave permission reduce social contact stop presenting bubbly outgoing feminine person society pressured Autistic people introduced weighted blanket fidget jewelry sensory slime helped discover risk experiencing meltdown importantly helped normalize every difficult alienated feeling ever know Autism expert done Nothing Clinicians generally see Autism disorder treated malady “cured” Yet offer treatment adult make Autistic trait le severe intense That’s treatment Autism cannot cured removed person fundamental component Autism type functioning way Deaf person often cannot “cured” Deafness must instead accommodated hearing society Autistic people cannot “cured” need deserve societal acceptance instead heart really oppose medicalized framework Autism defining Autistic Autistic people broken sick Autism something measured quantified prescribed treatment cured Many u would never want cured even cure existed — Autism fundamental part many benefit joy come Autistic Unfortunately clinical legal power structure see Autism way many case getting diagnosed Autism bring great deal difficulty ostracism person’s life year Canada would let person immigrate country Autistic Autistic transgender people like often denied access necessary medical care genderaffirming treatment aren’t trusted define gender Autism seen causing impaired judgement generally medical provider see Autism diagnosis record treat condescension disrespect best worst may lose legal autonomy see little gain getting formal medicalized Autism diagnosis significant amount lose go Autism diagnostic category … row people backlit sun Photo Kevin Delvecchio Unsplash would like propose framework Autism completely nonmedicalized Therapists doctor neuroscientist 75 year come firm useful understanding Autism blew called u le human conspired Nazis u eradicated erased u weren’t white ci boy loved train tried cure u created stigma u advocated kind completely erased existence ignored u asked help managing social sensory trauma existing allistic world don’t get define need anymore botched irreparably time Autistic people take fate hand pro selfrealization Autism pro selfidentification Autistic believe speak Autistic people learn life like come understand challenge find identify u enough don’t care would categorized Autistic outmoded diagnostic tool created child later adapted poorly flag handful stereotypical Autistic adult don’t care spent thousand dollar trying get doctor validate year selfknowledge taught truly don’t care doctor think want hear think don’t think need cured don’t need lessen obvious sign Autism accommodating palatable society unfair life believe deserve community acceptance believe world must learn accommodate framework neurotypical society must change seek treatment Autistic people way Autistic people thrive u oppose system power say something measured monitored contained controlled order society function neurotypicals must learn get used u growing number going away far far u researcher diagnostician able accurately estimate tool shoddy cannot erase u existence disease purged hope lack understanding control make neurotypical Autism “experts” absolutely quake anxiety can’t contained don’t let contain u time submitting system ended believe Autistic autonomy believe agency selfknowledge don’t believe diagnosisTags Equality Mental Health Psychology Disability Autism |
2,780 | Why Am I So Nervous to Talk to People? | A friend recently asked me for some tips to help with her anxiety. She shared she was having a hard time preparing herself to go the store or to see friends in small gatherings. “It’s like I’ve forgotten how to act. I’m worried I’m going to do or say something stupid or awkward.”
My friend isn’t the first one to mention this fear. Clients and other loved ones have (sometimes jokingly, sometimes seriously) mentioned their concern about having developed a social ineptitude. They are worried all the time that isolation has had a negative impact on their ability to socialize with ease.
For those with preexisting social anxiety, the pandemic may have had some silver linings. Suddenly it’s become the social norm to stay away from others. Cocooning in one’s home was seen as helpful as opposed to avoidant. However, as this 2020 article from the National Social Anxiety Center points out, the pandemic has caused a lot of treatment setbacks; in vivo exposure, or instruction to engage in social situations that make us uncomfortable, has obviously been put on hold in many ways (Rosen, 2020).
Even if you’ve never previously struggled with social anxiety, it’s completely understandable if there’s an uptick in nerves when thinking about going to meet or speak in front of other people. The hallmark of social anxiety is a fear of being judged, critiqued or otherwise negatively evaluated by others. This can result in a feeling of self-consciousness in social situations or a general fear of meeting others (NIMH). These feelings might be heightened after a period of not being exposed to these situations.
There are steps you can take to cope with and unlearn the thoughts and feelings associated with social anxiety. Try these tips below for easing yourself back into social situations. | https://medium.com/mind-cafe/why-am-i-so-nervous-to-talk-to-people-f5b240a5ad0f | ['Kara Lissy'] | 2020-11-02 17:34:41.072000+00:00 | ['Personal Development', 'Life Lessons', 'Self', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology'] | Title Nervous Talk PeopleContent friend recently asked tip help anxiety shared hard time preparing go store see friend small gathering “It’s like I’ve forgotten act I’m worried I’m going say something stupid awkward” friend isn’t first one mention fear Clients loved one sometimes jokingly sometimes seriously mentioned concern developed social ineptitude worried time isolation negative impact ability socialize ease preexisting social anxiety pandemic may silver lining Suddenly it’s become social norm stay away others Cocooning one’s home seen helpful opposed avoidant However 2020 article National Social Anxiety Center point pandemic caused lot treatment setback vivo exposure instruction engage social situation make u uncomfortable obviously put hold many way Rosen 2020 Even you’ve never previously struggled social anxiety it’s completely understandable there’s uptick nerve thinking going meet speak front people hallmark social anxiety fear judged critiqued otherwise negatively evaluated others result feeling selfconsciousness social situation general fear meeting others NIMH feeling might heightened period exposed situation step take cope unlearn thought feeling associated social anxiety Try tip easing back social situationsTags Personal Development Life Lessons Self Mental Health Psychology |
2,781 | Spiritual Secrets Submission Guidelines (Updated 18/10/2020) | Why do I want to connect with Spiritual Secrets?
Spirituality is an inevitable knowledge for today’s mankind to overcome the herculean mammoth like problems arising in their day to day lives.
Spirituality can be used to conquer fear, putting down the burden of past relationships or events, achieve success, attain mental peace and stability, and even become free from the past guilt.
Hence, spirituality can be used in all prospects to make our lives peaceful, happy, blissful, powerful, and valuable.
Spirituality can open the doors of experiencing the innate powers of the soul: Peace, Happiness, Bliss, Power, Knowledge, Purity, and Love. And we strive here to share the stories that empower the soul.
If you, too, want this world to transform into a paradise, let’s join hands! | https://medium.com/spiritual-secrets/spiritual-secrets-submission-guidelines-9b4b5d9a4384 | ['Darshak Rana'] | 2020-12-01 16:43:01.441000+00:00 | ['Storytelling', 'Writing', 'Universe', 'Spirituality', 'Mindfulness'] | Title Spiritual Secrets Submission Guidelines Updated 18102020Content want connect Spiritual Secrets Spirituality inevitable knowledge today’s mankind overcome herculean mammoth like problem arising day day life Spirituality used conquer fear putting burden past relationship event achieve success attain mental peace stability even become free past guilt Hence spirituality used prospect make life peaceful happy blissful powerful valuable Spirituality open door experiencing innate power soul Peace Happiness Bliss Power Knowledge Purity Love strive share story empower soul want world transform paradise let’s join handsTags Storytelling Writing Universe Spirituality Mindfulness |
2,782 | Do This on the Days You Hate Your Writing | Do This on the Days You Hate Your Writing
This sentiment is a good sign
One of the greatest writers ever, Franz Kafka, burned over 90 percent of his work. Some days I look at my writing and feel like pulling a Kafka. I want to throw it all out.
It all looks like complete garbage to me. Perhaps a lot of it is. Many writers say they look back on their first few years of writing and cringe. I’m still in my first few years and luckily I cringe some days.
Luckily? Yes. Cringing is a sign that my writing is improving.
Here are a few ways I’ve found to turn the occasional negativity I have for my own work into improvement as a writer. | https://medium.com/illumination/what-to-do-on-the-days-you-hate-your-own-writing-a1e5f858ccdd | ['Max Klein'] | 2020-08-06 17:22:10.741000+00:00 | ['Motivation', 'Writing', 'Reading', 'Persistence', 'Writing Tips'] | Title Days Hate WritingContent Days Hate Writing sentiment good sign One greatest writer ever Franz Kafka burned 90 percent work day look writing feel like pulling Kafka want throw look like complete garbage Perhaps lot Many writer say look back first year writing cringe I’m still first year luckily cringe day Luckily Yes Cringing sign writing improving way I’ve found turn occasional negativity work improvement writerTags Motivation Writing Reading Persistence Writing Tips |
2,783 | Are the People You Hang Out With Good for You? | There are five qualities that healthy relationships all have.
Respect
You both respect and trust each other. You have similar values and ethics and know that you can count on one another to be there when it is important. Betrayal is not an option. You know that would never occur.
Open communication
If there is a problem in the relationship, you talk about it. There is no “silent treatment.” You feel comfortable addressing concerns with one another and don’t have to guess what the other person is thinking and feeling.
Vulnerability
Your trust allows you to share your fears and desires. You know that secrets will be kept in the utmost confidence. These friends are on your shortlist. You tell them things that you wouldn’t share with just anyone.
Healthy boundaries
Because you communicate well, you have established healthy boundaries. You feel comfortable telling one another if you need time to yourself. You don’t have to guess what is acceptable and what is overwhelming.
You feel perfectly comfortable saying, “I’m sorry, but I can’t handle that right now. Can we talk later?” And the other person understands and respects that. There is a mutual give and take.
Forgiveness
If you have a misunderstanding or hurt one another, you can work through it and forgive one another. There is no punishment phase.
You understand that each of you is 100% responsible for 50% of the relationship.
Our inner circle of friends is important. Choose them wisely. | https://medium.com/artistic-mystic-soul/are-the-people-you-hang-out-with-good-for-you-17c5f8ef615b | ['Lisa Beth Wright'] | 2020-12-20 23:53:05.086000+00:00 | ['Self-awareness', 'Relationships', 'Mental Health', 'Friendship', 'Life'] | Title People Hang Good YouContent five quality healthy relationship Respect respect trust similar value ethic know count one another important Betrayal option know would never occur Open communication problem relationship talk “silent treatment” feel comfortable addressing concern one another don’t guess person thinking feeling Vulnerability trust allows share fear desire know secret kept utmost confidence friend shortlist tell thing wouldn’t share anyone Healthy boundary communicate well established healthy boundary feel comfortable telling one another need time don’t guess acceptable overwhelming feel perfectly comfortable saying “I’m sorry can’t handle right talk later” person understands respect mutual give take Forgiveness misunderstanding hurt one another work forgive one another punishment phase understand 100 responsible 50 relationship inner circle friend important Choose wiselyTags Selfawareness Relationships Mental Health Friendship Life |
2,784 | “Simplicity is the glory of expression” — Interview with Jalaj Thanaki | VK: If you were to write a book what would be the title of the book? What would be the main topics you would cover in the book? (Jalaj is the author of two books) — I will be doing a book review for the book on Acing AI so stay tuned and subscribe to our newsletter to not miss it.
JT: Fortunately, I got the chance to write two books on topics which I wanted to write after my graduation. First one is “Python Natural Language Processing” which helps beginners to learn NLP from scratch and second one is “Machine Learning Solutions” which is practical guide that helps readers to build and optimize various Machine Learning applications. It includes applications from Natural Language Processing(NLP), computer vision and Reinforcement Learning domains.
Given a chance I want to write a book entitled “Reusable Architecture for ML Applications”. Nowadays companies are having various types of projects and some of the project features are overlapped with other project features. How we can build the reusable architecture which helps developers to build the common project features easily across the multiple products. If the reusable architecture would be achieved then it would save a lot of development time and energy of Data Scientists and it would be efficient solutions for many companies.
VK: In terms of time, money or energy what are the best investments you have made which have given you compounded rewards in your career?
JT: After completion of my undergrad study, I had to choose between job and graduate study. I’m glad that I had chosen graduate study because as part of my thesis work I came to know about the NLP domain. That thesis work was my starting point in the Data Science field.
I believe that “Simplicity is the glory of expression”. I always tried to make content as easy as possible for my readers so that they can understand complex data science related concepts really well. I prefer to write in simple language. As a result, my first book “Python Natural Language Processing” was considered as textbook by Weill Cornell Medicine, Department of Healthcare Policy & Research for their Natural Language Processing in Health course. I got to know lot about marketing, pre-sales, post-sales and so on after publishing my first book.
Networking with students, researcher, industry experts and entrepreneurs is always delightful experience. People are ready to share their ideas and knowledge with others. I really enjoy that positive spirit.
VK: What are some absurd ideas around data science experiments/projects that are not intuitive to people looking from outside in?
JT: People who are unfamiliar to the data science field they think that machines can learn or think by themselves and the job of the Data Scientists/Machine Learning Engineers is just to monitor the process.
VK: In the last year, what has improved your work life which could benefit others?
JT: Since last year, apart for begin Data Scientist, I was writing my books. In order to manage these two projects, I had to have good time management skill. Initially it was really challenging for me but eventually I learnt how to manage my time efficiently. In order to do so, I used to prepare my weekly as well as daily to-do list so that I could know how much time I need to spend on each of the tasks. I usually try to make realistic plan which I can follow and I always have a room for watching YouTube videos.☺
Nowadays, I have cut out my time on unnecessary meetings and communications. I don’t spend too much time on social media (but I always resolve the questions coming from my followers.) All these steps help me to become more productive.
VK: What advice would you give to someone starting in this field? What advice should they ignore?
JT: I have number of things that I wanted to share with newbies and job seekers.
There are many subdomains in data science. Such as analytics, NLP, computer vision, speech and so on. Please don’t pursue any subdomains of the data science just because others are pursuing it. Take your time. Try to understand your interest area. Getting confuse during this process is normal. Unlock yourself. Don’t be afraid of failing in your experiments. Try to clear your vision and to do so, first of all you need to read a lot as well as start implementing number of small applications for each of the individual domains. Run this exercise for a week or two for each domain. Check what kind of work you are enjoying the most and this way you can decide your interest area(s). Start acquiring the domain specific skills after deciding your interest area(s). Learn concepts by practically implementing them. Don’t try to attempt all things at a time or try to acquire all the skills at the same time. Give yourself proper time to learn.
Always remember that your data science related skills, your projects and your contributions remain with you forever so focus on them rather than any other things. Remember — “Acquire skills in such a way that you can be a technology creator instead of a technology user.”
Those who are trying to get the job in data science field, I would like to tell them please focus on the projects and domain of the company for which you will be hired. Don’t focus on the size of the company. In long run, your projects/work-portfolio will speak, on behalf of you. I would like to tell you that if given a chance you should work on big projects at small or medium size company aligned with your interest area so that you can learn more about various aspects of the data science rather than working at big company on small chunk of a project.
When you try to change your job, you will be asked what kind of work have you done so far in your current or previous company? Your potential employers won’t be much interested in your previous company’s profile or current company’s profile but they are interested in your profile, in your skills and want to learn more about you and your projects. Make sure you have great work-portfolio so that you can impress them.
Advice that you should ignore is:
I would ignore those who say some kind of certification in data science is really mandatory to prove your skills. I have different opinion. If you learn skills without certification and prove your skills by completing some cool data science projects then there is no need of certification. You can also enrich your skills by participating in various hackathons.
VK: What is bad recommendations given in data science in your opinion?
JT: According to me, there are no bad recommendations. It is very subjective matter and it varies person to person. You need to decide which recommendation will be the best suited for you.
Although during initial days of my career, I got an advice from some source that you have to know all the advance concepts of linguistics if you want to learn about NLP but in reality, I just need to know basics concepts of the linguistics which can help me in my project. I don’t like when people consider role of linguists and NLP engineers in same manner. In reality, they both serve a different purpose and have a different skill-set. I also don’t like when people consider data science and data analytics in the same way. Based on this interpretation they advise people whereas in reality, they both are different terms. They include different set of sub-domains/fields.
VK: How do you determine saying no to experiments/projects?
JT: I always choose the project which can be helpful for the company as well as take lesser amount of time to develop. I keep the projects in my wish list for which more amount of data and extensive amount of time is needed.
VK: Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the amount of data or size of the experiment or a data problem? If yes what do you do to clear your mind?
JT: I usually get overwhelmed when I deal with any new dataset. In order to clear my mind I usually start doing following things.
As a first step, I try to understand problem statement really well.
Check what type of dataset I’m having. Whether it is structured dataset or unstructured dataset.
If dataset is the structured one, then I take one table at a time and try to understand the meaning of each column. I also check what is the importance of the data column for building data science application.
If dataset is the unstructured one, then I take small amount of chunk from the dataset. Analyze it. List down my findings. Now, I need to repeat the process couple of times. Every time the chunk of the data should be obtain randomly from the main source of the dataset so that I can generalize my findings.
If it is possible for you then try to understand how data has been collected.
VK: How do you think about presenting your hypothesis/outcomes once you have reached a solution/finding?
JT: This is the challenging part for me. Especially, when the person whom you need to explain your results is not from the technical or data science domain. In that case I’m following the given steps.
List down important points of your outcome ( findings, advantages and disadvantages). I also try to cover all minute but important details about the result/outcome for different types of stakeholders.
I always keep things simple (minimum technical words, more layman terms) so that people can understand the outcome easily.
I usually prepare the list of potential questions which can be asked to me so that I can answer them with proper logical explanation.
VK: What is the role of intuition in your day to day job and in making big decisions at work?
JT: Intuition helps in order to derive the basic features or choosing hyper-parameter for data science project. It also helps you to make base-line model for the project. If you have deep knowledge about the domain then your intuitive decision really helps to make big decisions.
VK: In your opinion what is the ideal Organizational placement for a data team?
JT: In my opinion, every company and team have their own choices and hierarchies when it comes to the placement of the data science team.
Type 1: If Data Scientists who are focusing more on software engineering part of the data science projects then they should report to the Engineering.
Type 2: If Data Scientists who are building new products then they should report to the product team or CEO because the features of the new products should be aligned with the overall vision of the company.
VK: If you could redo your career today, what would you do?
There are nothing much that I want to change in my profession journey but I really wish I would have started hosting ML projects on GitHub earlier but better late than never.
VK: What are your filters to reduce bias in an experiment?
JT: I usually use cross validation techniques to handle bias related issues.
If you have adequate number of data samples and you want to use all the data samples present in the dataset then use K-fold cross validation.
Random subsampling is more preferable when dataset which you are considering is either undersampled or oversampled. As well as if you don’t want to use all the data samples in K-1 fold then random subsampling is the way to go.
VK: When you hire Data Scientists or Data Engineers or ML Engineers what are the top three technical/non — technical skills you are looking for?
JT: If I’m hiring a Data Scientist who will be building data science products then following are the key skills.
Strong knowledge of ML/DL
Good coding skills
Great learner
Good communication skill
VK: What online blogs/people do you follow for getting advice/ learning more about DS?
JT: Machine Learning subreddit is one of the resources from where I get an idea what is currently happening in AI / ML industry.
Here are some of the blogs, and YouTube channels which I follow:
Twitter and LinkedIn works for you if you know who you need to follow. I like to follow top researchers from academia and industry experts on twitter and LinkedIn so that I can come to know best of both the worlds. My twitter handle is @jalajthanaki. | https://medium.com/acing-ai/simplicity-is-the-glory-of-expression-interview-with-jalaj-thanaki-ebook-giveaway-a2a82265e59d | ['Vimarsh Karbhari'] | 2020-02-26 05:59:44.144000+00:00 | ['Machine Learning', 'Expert', 'Startup', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Data Science'] | Title “Simplicity glory expression” — Interview Jalaj ThanakiContent VK write book would title book would main topic would cover book Jalaj author two book — book review book Acing AI stay tuned subscribe newsletter miss JT Fortunately got chance write two book topic wanted write graduation First one “Python Natural Language Processing” help beginner learn NLP scratch second one “Machine Learning Solutions” practical guide help reader build optimize various Machine Learning application includes application Natural Language ProcessingNLP computer vision Reinforcement Learning domain Given chance want write book entitled “Reusable Architecture ML Applications” Nowadays company various type project project feature overlapped project feature build reusable architecture help developer build common project feature easily across multiple product reusable architecture would achieved would save lot development time energy Data Scientists would efficient solution many company VK term time money energy best investment made given compounded reward career JT completion undergrad study choose job graduate study I’m glad chosen graduate study part thesis work came know NLP domain thesis work starting point Data Science field believe “Simplicity glory expression” always tried make content easy possible reader understand complex data science related concept really well prefer write simple language result first book “Python Natural Language Processing” considered textbook Weill Cornell Medicine Department Healthcare Policy Research Natural Language Processing Health course got know lot marketing presales postsales publishing first book Networking student researcher industry expert entrepreneur always delightful experience People ready share idea knowledge others really enjoy positive spirit VK absurd idea around data science experimentsprojects intuitive people looking outside JT People unfamiliar data science field think machine learn think job Data ScientistsMachine Learning Engineers monitor process VK last year improved work life could benefit others JT Since last year apart begin Data Scientist writing book order manage two project good time management skill Initially really challenging eventually learnt manage time efficiently order used prepare weekly well daily todo list could know much time need spend task usually try make realistic plan follow always room watching YouTube videos☺ Nowadays cut time unnecessary meeting communication don’t spend much time social medium always resolve question coming follower step help become productive VK advice would give someone starting field advice ignore JT number thing wanted share newbie job seeker many subdomains data science analytics NLP computer vision speech Please don’t pursue subdomains data science others pursuing Take time Try understand interest area Getting confuse process normal Unlock Don’t afraid failing experiment Try clear vision first need read lot well start implementing number small application individual domain Run exercise week two domain Check kind work enjoying way decide interest area Start acquiring domain specific skill deciding interest area Learn concept practically implementing Don’t try attempt thing time try acquire skill time Give proper time learn Always remember data science related skill project contribution remain forever focus rather thing Remember — “Acquire skill way technology creator instead technology user” trying get job data science field would like tell please focus project domain company hired Don’t focus size company long run projectsworkportfolio speak behalf would like tell given chance work big project small medium size company aligned interest area learn various aspect data science rather working big company small chunk project try change job asked kind work done far current previous company potential employer won’t much interested previous company’s profile current company’s profile interested profile skill want learn project Make sure great workportfolio impress Advice ignore would ignore say kind certification data science really mandatory prove skill different opinion learn skill without certification prove skill completing cool data science project need certification also enrich skill participating various hackathons VK bad recommendation given data science opinion JT According bad recommendation subjective matter varies person person need decide recommendation best suited Although initial day career got advice source know advance concept linguistics want learn NLP reality need know basic concept linguistics help project don’t like people consider role linguist NLP engineer manner reality serve different purpose different skillset also don’t like people consider data science data analytics way Based interpretation advise people whereas reality different term include different set subdomainsfields VK determine saying experimentsprojects JT always choose project helpful company well take lesser amount time develop keep project wish list amount data extensive amount time needed VK ever feel overwhelmed amount data size experiment data problem yes clear mind JT usually get overwhelmed deal new dataset order clear mind usually start following thing first step try understand problem statement really well Check type dataset I’m Whether structured dataset unstructured dataset dataset structured one take one table time try understand meaning column also check importance data column building data science application dataset unstructured one take small amount chunk dataset Analyze List finding need repeat process couple time Every time chunk data obtain randomly main source dataset generalize finding possible try understand data collected VK think presenting hypothesisoutcomes reached solutionfinding JT challenging part Especially person need explain result technical data science domain case I’m following given step List important point outcome finding advantage disadvantage also try cover minute important detail resultoutcome different type stakeholder always keep thing simple minimum technical word layman term people understand outcome easily usually prepare list potential question asked answer proper logical explanation VK role intuition day day job making big decision work JT Intuition help order derive basic feature choosing hyperparameter data science project also help make baseline model project deep knowledge domain intuitive decision really help make big decision VK opinion ideal Organizational placement data team JT opinion every company team choice hierarchy come placement data science team Type 1 Data Scientists focusing software engineering part data science project report Engineering Type 2 Data Scientists building new product report product team CEO feature new product aligned overall vision company VK could redo career today would nothing much want change profession journey really wish would started hosting ML project GitHub earlier better late never VK filter reduce bias experiment JT usually use cross validation technique handle bias related issue adequate number data sample want use data sample present dataset use Kfold cross validation Random subsampling preferable dataset considering either undersampled oversampled well don’t want use data sample K1 fold random subsampling way go VK hire Data Scientists Data Engineers ML Engineers top three technicalnon — technical skill looking JT I’m hiring Data Scientist building data science product following key skill Strong knowledge MLDL Good coding skill Great learner Good communication skill VK online blogspeople follow getting advice learning DS JT Machine Learning subreddit one resource get idea currently happening AI ML industry blog YouTube channel follow Twitter LinkedIn work know need follow like follow top researcher academia industry expert twitter LinkedIn come know best world twitter handle jalajthanakiTags Machine Learning Expert Startup Artificial Intelligence Data Science |
2,785 | IBM Cloud Transformation Advisor Wins in the 2020 BIG Business Innovation Awards | Our team at IBM Cloud is excited to announce that we have won a 2020 BIG Business Innovation Award for IBM Cloud Transformation Advisor. It’s so exciting to see our experience design work recognized for such a technically complex domain, and forward-thinking product in the space of cloud technology.
The Business Intelligence Group was founded with the mission of recognizing true talent and excellent performance in the business world. This year the awards received submissions from around the world, from organizations looking to receive recognition for their most exciting innovations. The jury consisted of a carefully selected group of business leaders and executives with industry expertise in different science and science and technology fields.
We’re thrilled to start off the new year strong with another award for our team at IBM Cloud. I’m proud of all the designers, researchers, developers, and managers that worked hard to create this outstanding product.
What is IBM Cloud Transformation Advisor?
As part of IBM Cloud Pak for Applications, Transformation Advisor (you can try it out here) is a software tool that helps businesses modernize and migrate their applications from on-premises environments to the cloud. This process typically requires a lot of preparation and an in-depth analysis of the applications being migrated. Every software application is different in terms of how up-to-date it is and how suitable it is for a cloud environment. Users first need to spend time determining the structures of their application, which parts need to be modernized, and which tools and conditions are needed in order to migrate it to the cloud. Transformation Advisor helps with assessing, planning, and executing these app modernizations.
Transformation Advisor allows users to sort their applications into business applications and collections to prepare for a migration plan.
The software tool performs an analysis of users’ software applications, including an evaluation of each application’s file content and structure. The tool then offers estimates for how complicated a specific application will be to migrate to a cloud environment and what issues might arise, a rating of how much effort it will take to prepare the application for migration, and recommendations for target cloud environments most suited for the application. All of these complex processes are carefully designed with a focus on simplicity and understandability, thus enabling the user to achieve success with a application modernization and cloud journey.
Transformation Advisor offers recommendations for a migration and modernization plan for each application, including how complex it will be to migrate to a cloud environment.
The process of migrating applications to the cloud is typically costly and time-consuming for users, as it requires in-depth resources, technical knowledge, and skills. Many businesses in these situations feel intimidated by modern cloud technology and don’t know how to approach this transition to the cloud. The IBM Transformation Advisor experience was designed intentionally to help bridge this gap in skill and knowledge, by providing users with guidance and informed recommendations on how to successfully modernize their on-premises applications for cloud environments. By being informed on these processes, users are able to make the best decisions for their business without disrupting too much of their operations, saving money and effort in the long run.
Designing for a Future in the Cloud
The design team behind Transformation Advisor worked through intensive user research and design iteration cycles leveraging the IBM Enterprise Design Thinking framework, to deliver a product that helps users through a highly technical and complex process. The product is monumental in helping IBM users and clients build a future for their businesses. As cloud technologies are becoming more mainstream and necessary for everyday business operations, our design team at IBM is advocating for inclusivity and accessibility by helping build bridges between our users and these seemingly high-tech systems. A modern and technologically up-to-date business infrastructure shouldn’t be out of bounds to anyone, and with the help of a well-designed software tool, we are able to bring this powerful capability to all of our users.
Winning Team | https://medium.com/design-ibm/ibm-cloud-transformation-advisor-wins-in-the-2019-big-business-innovation-awards-efc791e2436a | ['Arin Bhowmick'] | 2020-01-22 17:57:51.219000+00:00 | ['Design', 'UX Design', 'UI', 'Cloud Computing', 'UX'] | Title IBM Cloud Transformation Advisor Wins 2020 BIG Business Innovation AwardsContent team IBM Cloud excited announce 2020 BIG Business Innovation Award IBM Cloud Transformation Advisor It’s exciting see experience design work recognized technically complex domain forwardthinking product space cloud technology Business Intelligence Group founded mission recognizing true talent excellent performance business world year award received submission around world organization looking receive recognition exciting innovation jury consisted carefully selected group business leader executive industry expertise different science science technology field We’re thrilled start new year strong another award team IBM Cloud I’m proud designer researcher developer manager worked hard create outstanding product IBM Cloud Transformation Advisor part IBM Cloud Pak Applications Transformation Advisor try software tool help business modernize migrate application onpremises environment cloud process typically requires lot preparation indepth analysis application migrated Every software application different term uptodate suitable cloud environment Users first need spend time determining structure application part need modernized tool condition needed order migrate cloud Transformation Advisor help assessing planning executing app modernization Transformation Advisor allows user sort application business application collection prepare migration plan software tool performs analysis users’ software application including evaluation application’s file content structure tool offer estimate complicated specific application migrate cloud environment issue might arise rating much effort take prepare application migration recommendation target cloud environment suited application complex process carefully designed focus simplicity understandability thus enabling user achieve success application modernization cloud journey Transformation Advisor offer recommendation migration modernization plan application including complex migrate cloud environment process migrating application cloud typically costly timeconsuming user requires indepth resource technical knowledge skill Many business situation feel intimidated modern cloud technology don’t know approach transition cloud IBM Transformation Advisor experience designed intentionally help bridge gap skill knowledge providing user guidance informed recommendation successfully modernize onpremises application cloud environment informed process user able make best decision business without disrupting much operation saving money effort long run Designing Future Cloud design team behind Transformation Advisor worked intensive user research design iteration cycle leveraging IBM Enterprise Design Thinking framework deliver product help user highly technical complex process product monumental helping IBM user client build future business cloud technology becoming mainstream necessary everyday business operation design team IBM advocating inclusivity accessibility helping build bridge user seemingly hightech system modern technologically uptodate business infrastructure shouldn’t bound anyone help welldesigned software tool able bring powerful capability user Winning TeamTags Design UX Design UI Cloud Computing UX |
2,786 | LOL — Issue 28 | Book Suggestion — A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry:
Short Hair — Swastika Jajoo
On My Last Day In Australia — Sierra DeMulder
Sierra DeMulder is an internationally touring performance poet and educator, a two-time National Poetry Slam champion, a four-time published author, and the co-founder of Button Poetry, the largest digital distributor of spoken word in the world.
The Wolf’s Postcript To ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ — Poem by Agha Shahid Ali
Advice To Women — Poem by Eunice de Souza
Sometime next week we’ll be reviewing two poetry books | https://medium.com/lol-weekly-list-of-lit/lol-issue-28-a1f74ac3c067 | ['Arihant Verma'] | 2017-08-31 14:28:14.368000+00:00 | ['Storytelling', 'Poetry', 'Books', 'Spoken Word', 'Lolissue'] | Title LOL — Issue 28Content Book Suggestion — Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry Short Hair — Swastika Jajoo Last Day Australia — Sierra DeMulder Sierra DeMulder internationally touring performance poet educator twotime National Poetry Slam champion fourtime published author cofounder Button Poetry largest digital distributor spoken word world Wolf’s Postcript ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ — Poem Agha Shahid Ali Advice Women — Poem Eunice de Souza Sometime next week we’ll reviewing two poetry booksTags Storytelling Poetry Books Spoken Word Lolissue |
2,787 | Descent method — Steepest descent and conjugate gradient in Python | Descent method — Steepest descent and conjugate gradient in Python
Python implementation
Let’s start with this equation and we want to solve for x:
The solution x the minimize the function below when A is symmetric positive definite (otherwise, x could be the maximum). It is because the gradient of f(x), ∇f(x) = Ax- b. And when Ax=b, ∇f(x)=0 and thus x is the minimum of the function.
In this article, I am going to show you two ways to find the solution x — method of Steepest Descent and method of Conjugate Gradient.
Method of Steepest Descent in Python
Now let’s use this steepest_descent function to calculate
With the steepest_descent method, we get a value of (-4,5) and a wall time 2.01ms.
Conjugate gradient method in Python
With the conjugate_gradient function, we got the same value (-4, 5) and wall time 281 μs, which is a lot faster than the steepest descent.
Visualizing steepest descent and conjugate gradient descent
Here we can visualize the steepest descent method and conjugate gradient method. We can see that the conjugate gradient method takes fewer steps than the steepest descent method, and thus the conjugate gradient method is faster.
Steepest descent method
Conjugate gradient method
Hope you enjoy this article. If you are interested in the math behind the two methods, check out this article: | https://medium.com/dsc-msit/descent-method-steepest-descent-and-conjugate-gradient-in-python-85aa4c4aac7b | ['Sophia Yang'] | 2020-12-26 05:46:37.558000+00:00 | ['Linear System', 'Visualization', 'Python', 'Gradient Descent', 'Data Science'] | Title Descent method — Steepest descent conjugate gradient PythonContent Descent method — Steepest descent conjugate gradient Python Python implementation Let’s start equation want solve x solution x minimize function symmetric positive definite otherwise x could maximum gradient fx ∇fx Ax b Axb ∇fx0 thus x minimum function article going show two way find solution x — method Steepest Descent method Conjugate Gradient Method Steepest Descent Python let’s use steepestdescent function calculate steepestdescent method get value 45 wall time 201ms Conjugate gradient method Python conjugategradient function got value 4 5 wall time 281 μs lot faster steepest descent Visualizing steepest descent conjugate gradient descent visualize steepest descent method conjugate gradient method see conjugate gradient method take fewer step steepest descent method thus conjugate gradient method faster Steepest descent method Conjugate gradient method Hope enjoy article interested math behind two method check articleTags Linear System Visualization Python Gradient Descent Data Science |
2,788 | Typing DNA Command Line Authenticator | The application uses Typing DNA authentication services, a service that captures user typing pattern to authenticate the commands that a user wants to run and if verified then it let them execute them. The user gets a simple popup application where he/she can add/edit commands that needs to be verified for the specific typing pattern that of the user.
Demo:
Inspiration for the Project
All the developers make use of the terminal while running the commands. And commands can be run by any user without verifying whether it was explicitly run by a specific user who was authenticated to do that or by anyone else. If anyone gets access to my laptop or a server the user will be able to run the command.
What it does
The application uses Typing DNA authentication services to authenticate the commands that a user wants to run and if verified then it let them execute them. The user gets a simple popup application where he/she can add/edit commands that needs to be verified for the specific typing pattern that of the user.
How I built it
It has a 6 component architecture that interacts with one another. The swift application creates a popup for ease of use which has an embedded application for angular. Angular application interacts with the Django backend which stores and persists the user information, command information, access tokens as well as interacts with the Typing DNA Apis and the PostgresSQL Database. The Swift Application interact with the Terminal and syncs up the commands that are being configured in the system.
Challenges I ran into
First i thought of using the swift application’s global listeners to get all typing events and pass it to the angular application which has the typing dna javascript library but the delay in the events form the computer created an abnormal typing pattern at the javascript library. Thus i changed a few bits and got the application working as seen in the demo.
Accomplishments that I’m proud of
Learn about the typing DNA apis as it is an interesting project. I had heard about the concept when i was in my final year of engineering but it was good to see a product working in production and learning to interact with it. I also enjoyed completing the application in due time. I got to know about the competition on 10th of October thought of an Idea but wasn’t sure would be able to complete it as i wasn’t aware about swift development and there were a lot of loop holes i saw in the development lifecycle for my application.
What I learned
Interacting with typing DNA.
Swift application development. A little bit of bash scripting. How swift interact with the shell scripts and vis-a-versa.
What’s next for Typing DNA Command Line Authenticator
With some small changes in the code this can be deployed on the server and as a proper application for Mac Users. The same shell scripts and the backend can be reutilised for authenticating command requests on a server.
Github: | https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/typing-dna-command-line-authenticator-313837bdec73 | ['Anmol Singh Suri'] | 2020-11-08 17:08:33.255000+00:00 | ['Angular', 'Python', 'Development', 'Swift', 'Programming'] | Title Typing DNA Command Line AuthenticatorContent application us Typing DNA authentication service service capture user typing pattern authenticate command user want run verified let execute user get simple popup application heshe addedit command need verified specific typing pattern user Demo Inspiration Project developer make use terminal running command command run user without verifying whether explicitly run specific user authenticated anyone else anyone get access laptop server user able run command application us Typing DNA authentication service authenticate command user want run verified let execute user get simple popup application heshe addedit command need verified specific typing pattern user built 6 component architecture interacts one another swift application creates popup ease use embedded application angular Angular application interacts Django backend store persists user information command information access token well interacts Typing DNA Apis PostgresSQL Database Swift Application interact Terminal syncs command configured system Challenges ran First thought using swift application’s global listener get typing event pas angular application typing dna javascript library delay event form computer created abnormal typing pattern javascript library Thus changed bit got application working seen demo Accomplishments I’m proud Learn typing DNA apis interesting project heard concept final year engineering good see product working production learning interact also enjoyed completing application due time got know competition 10th October thought Idea wasn’t sure would able complete wasn’t aware swift development lot loop hole saw development lifecycle application learned Interacting typing DNA Swift application development little bit bash scripting swift interact shell script visaversa What’s next Typing DNA Command Line Authenticator small change code deployed server proper application Mac Users shell script backend reutilised authenticating command request server GithubTags Angular Python Development Swift Programming |
2,789 | The Psychology Of Color | However, in reading this article I found that these same elements relate to communications planning — especially when itcomes to storytelling, data representation (infographics) and presentation decks. To create a truly powerful creative presentation that will capture the interest of the audience, it’s crucial to build a visual connection with your audience through color.
When it comes to design, the initial focus typically lands on idea, concept and then execution. The first step typically is to draft the layout of the project. However, most often than not, we forget that design is not just about creating cool layouts or intricate designs. Design is about building a connection between the product which we are designing and the target audience. The best way to do so is through the use of color. As humans, we are naturally drawn to certain things, in large part due to the color used and the feeling it evokes. Color expresses an emotion, gives the tone and attracts a person’s attention to the overall design.
“Color is an essential factor to the world of graphic design and advertising. Not only that it brings in depth and emphasis to a design but it also gives the feel and the mood of a design.”
The most fundamental way to grasp the psychology of color is to first understand the color wheel. The color wheel is made up of the hues, tints, tones and shades of primary, secondary and tertiary colors. Primary colors consist of the colors yellow, blue and red. Meanwhile, secondary colors consist of green, orange and purple. These colors are the main colors used in brand identity and advertising.
Bold primary colors are often used within a brand’s identity (logo). They capture the eye of the viewer, and if used consistently in the long term, they become recognizable. This is not just because of the brand name alone, but by association with brand color. For example; the following logos represented in the photo use primary colors along with minimal use of positive and negative space (the representation of white and black) for their branding. (Note: The article introduces black and white as “actual” colors. However, in design they are not considered colors. “In the visible spectrum, white reflects light and is a presence of all colors, but black absorbs light and is an absence of color. Black can be defined as the visual impression experienced when no visible light reaches the eye.”) In the case of secondary colors, some brands use them for color identity, but only some. | https://medium.com/comms-planning/the-psychology-of-color-8a54ab8a6964 | ['Naja Bomani'] | 2016-07-07 15:36:11.638000+00:00 | ['Branding', 'Colors', 'Design', 'Psychology', 'Advertising'] | Title Psychology ColorContent However reading article found element relate communication planning — especially itcomes storytelling data representation infographics presentation deck create truly powerful creative presentation capture interest audience it’s crucial build visual connection audience color come design initial focus typically land idea concept execution first step typically draft layout project However often forget design creating cool layout intricate design Design building connection product designing target audience best way use color human naturally drawn certain thing large part due color used feeling evokes Color express emotion give tone attracts person’s attention overall design “Color essential factor world graphic design advertising brings depth emphasis design also give feel mood design” fundamental way grasp psychology color first understand color wheel color wheel made hue tint tone shade primary secondary tertiary color Primary color consist color yellow blue red Meanwhile secondary color consist green orange purple color main color used brand identity advertising Bold primary color often used within brand’s identity logo capture eye viewer used consistently long term become recognizable brand name alone association brand color example following logo represented photo use primary color along minimal use positive negative space representation white black branding Note article introduces black white “actual” color However design considered color “In visible spectrum white reflects light presence color black absorbs light absence color Black defined visual impression experienced visible light reach eye” case secondary color brand use color identity someTags Branding Colors Design Psychology Advertising |
2,790 | PWiC and OPEN Seattle: Making the Leap to Startup from Corporate Life | OPEN Seattle
After the networking event, Azfar Moazzam for OPEN Seattle welcomed the attendees and gave an overview of the goals and vision of OPEN Seattle. He reminisced about the early 90s when there were not many Pakistanis living in Seattle and expressed his excitement about how the community has grown thus far. He mentioned that OPEN’s membership boasts leading entrepreneurs, business leaders, and corporate professionals. There are currently 13 OPEN chapters globally and it hosts dozens of networking, knowledge sharing, and mentoring events every month.
Azfar Moazzam — OPEN Seattle
PWiC
After Azfar’s presentation, Huma Hamid, PWiC President, and Co-Founder introduced the global community to the audience and shared her story of PWiC inception. She impressed the attendees with the great number of successful partnerships that PWiC has created and the tremendous impact that it has made throughout the years.
Huma Hamid, PWiC -President & Co-founder
Keynote Session By Farrukh Malik
The keynote was delivered by Farrukh Malik, CEO, and Co-Founder at Discretelogix | President OPEN Islamabad, who was on a business trip to the US. Farrukh is a seasoned Pakistani entrepreneur with multiple startups and technology initiatives under his belt. In his keynote, he shared his personal journey of becoming an entrepreneur and the current ecosystem for technology related startups in Pakistan.
Farrukh Malik, CEO, and Co-Founder at Discretelogix | President OPEN Islamabad
Panel Discussion
Next, Alishba Khawaja moderated the panel discussion on the topic of entrepreneurship. There were four panelists from a diverse type of businesses:
Farrukh Malik — CEO and Co-Founder at Discretelogix | President OPEN Islamabad
CEO and Co-Founder at Discretelogix | President OPEN Islamabad Afshan Abbas — CEO and Founder at Fuchsia Shoes
— CEO and Founder at Fuchsia Shoes Fahim Ul Haq — CEO and Founder at Educative.io
— CEO and Founder at Educative.io Raja Iqbal — CEO and Founder at Data Science Dojo
The panelists went over topics ranging from productizing and financing a startup to setting up the right culture for your company and hiring your first employees. | https://medium.com/pwic/pwic-collaboration-with-open-seattle-2bb67e449cfa | ['Pakistani Women In Computing'] | 2019-07-23 04:01:50.365000+00:00 | ['Pakistan', 'Startup', 'Pakistani'] | Title PWiC OPEN Seattle Making Leap Startup Corporate LifeContent OPEN Seattle networking event Azfar Moazzam OPEN Seattle welcomed attendee gave overview goal vision OPEN Seattle reminisced early 90 many Pakistanis living Seattle expressed excitement community grown thus far mentioned OPEN’s membership boast leading entrepreneur business leader corporate professional currently 13 OPEN chapter globally host dozen networking knowledge sharing mentoring event every month Azfar Moazzam — OPEN Seattle PWiC Azfar’s presentation Huma Hamid PWiC President CoFounder introduced global community audience shared story PWiC inception impressed attendee great number successful partnership PWiC created tremendous impact made throughout year Huma Hamid PWiC President Cofounder Keynote Session Farrukh Malik keynote delivered Farrukh Malik CEO CoFounder Discretelogix President OPEN Islamabad business trip US Farrukh seasoned Pakistani entrepreneur multiple startup technology initiative belt keynote shared personal journey becoming entrepreneur current ecosystem technology related startup Pakistan Farrukh Malik CEO CoFounder Discretelogix President OPEN Islamabad Panel Discussion Next Alishba Khawaja moderated panel discussion topic entrepreneurship four panelist diverse type business Farrukh Malik — CEO CoFounder Discretelogix President OPEN Islamabad CEO CoFounder Discretelogix President OPEN Islamabad Afshan Abbas — CEO Founder Fuchsia Shoes — CEO Founder Fuchsia Shoes Fahim Ul Haq — CEO Founder Educativeio — CEO Founder Educativeio Raja Iqbal — CEO Founder Data Science Dojo panelist went topic ranging productizing financing startup setting right culture company hiring first employeesTags Pakistan Startup Pakistani |
2,791 | 5 Habits of People With Very Low Emotional Intelligence | 5 Habits of People With Very Low Emotional Intelligence
These are the behaviours you want to avoid to build better and meaningful relationships
In a very practical sense, we have two minds, one that thinks and one that feels. Highly emotionally intelligent (EI) people rank high on responsiveness, empathy, listening, and self-awareness.
And they excel at interpersonal interaction. The reason emotional intelligence is so widely valued is pretty simple. It plays a role in everything.
The ability to manage your emotions, as well the emotions of others is an important skill to master in the 21st century.
In Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, author Daniel Goleman argues that “People with well-developed emotional skills are also more likely to be content and effective in their lives, mastering the habits of mind that foster their own productivity; people who cannot marshal some control over their emotional life fight inner battles that sabotage their ability for focused work and clear thought.”
People with very low emotional intelligence cannot accurately perceive emotions in themselves and others. They are also usually judgmental, and self-destructive.
They can be difficult to get along with on a personal or social level and difficult to work with because they cannot respond positively to even the most constructive or well-intended criticism.
People with low emotional intelligence have a lot of things in common.
1. They don’t develop meaningful relationships
Everyone needs meaningful relationships to thrive and to avoid traveling through life alone.
When someone has very low emotional intelligence, they tend to navigate the world alone because they find forming friendships — especially meaningful and lasting friendships — difficult.
Good and lasting friendships are formed through the mutual exchange of ideas, exhibiting empathy and compassion, offering support to the people we care about.
People with low emotional intelligence don’t provide the appropriate connections and responses to those close to them. Hence they miss out on the opportunity to make meaningful connections. That can mean self-imposed isolation.
You can break the pattern of low intelligence in yourself by getting to know other people better and resisting the temptation to talk more than you listen.
2. They are not self-aware
Emotionally intelligent people have a candid and realistic understanding of themselves.
People with low emotional intelligence, on the other hand, lack emotional awareness. They don’t understand how their emotions influence their behavior.
Emotionally intelligent people are in tune with how they feel, but they do not let their emotions rule their lives. They are mindfully present when responding to situations.
Genuine introspection and truly knowing oneself can help you develop self-awareness, compassion, social intelligence.
3. They are self-focused
Because people with low emotional intelligence cannot process or understand the emotions of others, they tend to draw every conversation, circumstance, and situation back to themselves.
They seem to live out the adage — been there, done that — and have a seemingly valid reason to steer every topic back to them.
They also tend to take over conversations and ask rhetorical rather than open-ended questions because the question is usually intended to grab or keep your attention, not to hear your response — or even to give you the opportunity to make one.
People with very low intelligence cannot truly open themselves up to being fully available to others, but usually will not give others the opportunity to open up, either.
They are often manipulative, calculating, and inherently controlling.
You can break the pattern of low intelligence in yourself by honing your listening skills, and by learning to actively engage with others with your ears, not your mouth, wide open.
4. They are never wrong
Like most of us, you probably know someone who has an opinion on everything. In fact, they usually think they have the only opinion that matters.
This is a trait of someone with very low intelligence.
In fact, they will frequently argue with others because they want to force or sway them to their point of view.
Dealing with argumentative people like this can be a frustrating experience because they listen to speak, not to hear, so they refuse to acknowledge anyone else’s right to have an option that differs from their own.
People with very low emotional intelligence are usually staunchly convinced that they are always right and will argue until the end of time rather than concede even a single point in an argument.
They are usually unsympathetic, cannot empathise with others, and can sometimes be perceived as bullies.
When someone has low emotional intelligence, they tend to eschew emotions and have trouble managing theirs and interpreting yours.
You can break the pattern of low intelligence in yourself by learning to see, hear, and feel the emotions of other people and by learning to shape your own responses and reactions accordingly.
5. They are never at fault
When someone does not have a handle on their emotional wellbeing, they typically never accept blame for anything.
A low score on a test is the fault of the instructor or of a perceived flaw in the exam. A job loss is the fault of lousy coworkers or of a boss who does not understand them.
Mistakes are how we learn, and everyone makes them.
When someone can never admit a mistake, it also means they can never learn from it and are likely to make the same mistake — and blame the same scapegoat — over and over, again.
You can break the pattern of low intelligence in yourself by acknowledging a mistake, deciphering your part in it, and finding the lessons in them.
People with low emotional intelligence can also be oblivious and unsympathetic, indignant and self-righteous, and can often seem impossible to please.
The key to learning to develop a high emotional intelligence quotient is in knowing you lack one in the first place.
The good news is, your emotional intelligence is completely under your control. You can improve it and get better at understanding people’s emotions and relating better with them.
If you find yourself in the constant company of a friend, family member, or colleague with low emotional intelligence, you can help them grow and develop into an emotionally intelligent person — a change that can be mutually beneficial for all concerned. | https://thomas-oppong.medium.com/5-habits-of-people-with-very-low-emotional-intelligence-92008352aad6 | ['Thomas Oppong'] | 2020-09-03 21:03:31.900000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Lifestyle', 'Mental Health', 'Self', 'Psychology'] | Title 5 Habits People Low Emotional IntelligenceContent 5 Habits People Low Emotional Intelligence behaviour want avoid build better meaningful relationship practical sense two mind one think one feel Highly emotionally intelligent EI people rank high responsiveness empathy listening selfawareness excel interpersonal interaction reason emotional intelligence widely valued pretty simple play role everything ability manage emotion well emotion others important skill master 21st century Emotional Intelligence Matter IQ author Daniel Goleman argues “People welldeveloped emotional skill also likely content effective life mastering habit mind foster productivity people cannot marshal control emotional life fight inner battle sabotage ability focused work clear thought” People low emotional intelligence cannot accurately perceive emotion others also usually judgmental selfdestructive difficult get along personal social level difficult work cannot respond positively even constructive wellintended criticism People low emotional intelligence lot thing common 1 don’t develop meaningful relationship Everyone need meaningful relationship thrive avoid traveling life alone someone low emotional intelligence tend navigate world alone find forming friendship — especially meaningful lasting friendship — difficult Good lasting friendship formed mutual exchange idea exhibiting empathy compassion offering support people care People low emotional intelligence don’t provide appropriate connection response close Hence miss opportunity make meaningful connection mean selfimposed isolation break pattern low intelligence getting know people better resisting temptation talk listen 2 selfaware Emotionally intelligent people candid realistic understanding People low emotional intelligence hand lack emotional awareness don’t understand emotion influence behavior Emotionally intelligent people tune feel let emotion rule life mindfully present responding situation Genuine introspection truly knowing oneself help develop selfawareness compassion social intelligence 3 selffocused people low emotional intelligence cannot process understand emotion others tend draw every conversation circumstance situation back seem live adage — done — seemingly valid reason steer every topic back also tend take conversation ask rhetorical rather openended question question usually intended grab keep attention hear response — even give opportunity make one People low intelligence cannot truly open fully available others usually give others opportunity open either often manipulative calculating inherently controlling break pattern low intelligence honing listening skill learning actively engage others ear mouth wide open 4 never wrong Like u probably know someone opinion everything fact usually think opinion matter trait someone low intelligence fact frequently argue others want force sway point view Dealing argumentative people like frustrating experience listen speak hear refuse acknowledge anyone else’s right option differs People low emotional intelligence usually staunchly convinced always right argue end time rather concede even single point argument usually unsympathetic cannot empathise others sometimes perceived bully someone low emotional intelligence tend eschew emotion trouble managing interpreting break pattern low intelligence learning see hear feel emotion people learning shape response reaction accordingly 5 never fault someone handle emotional wellbeing typically never accept blame anything low score test fault instructor perceived flaw exam job loss fault lousy coworkers bos understand Mistakes learn everyone make someone never admit mistake also mean never learn likely make mistake — blame scapegoat — break pattern low intelligence acknowledging mistake deciphering part finding lesson People low emotional intelligence also oblivious unsympathetic indignant selfrighteous often seem impossible please key learning develop high emotional intelligence quotient knowing lack one first place good news emotional intelligence completely control improve get better understanding people’s emotion relating better find constant company friend family member colleague low emotional intelligence help grow develop emotionally intelligent person — change mutually beneficial concernedTags Relationships Lifestyle Mental Health Self Psychology |
2,792 | Want to Read People? Start by Reading These Books | People are tough to read.
A few years back I went to visit my family at Christmas. I was supposed to get back in the city the next day. However, my family insisted me to stay. So I called my then-girlfriend. I asked her if it was okay with her for me to return after the new year. She understood that I hardly got to spend time with my family and complied. Later, as I got back to the city and visited her, she showered me with the fire of absolute rage.
Apparently, when she said yes, she meant no.
Well, that made almost as much sense as QAnon conspiracy theories.
Later along the way, we split ways, and I started dating another girl. Then in some similar turn of events, again, I had to stay longer in my hometown than I expected. So I called my current girlfriend to inform the new development. This time she, herself, expressed her unwillingness to go out and told me not to worry about it. I appreciated her for being understanding of my situation. Besides, I found her appetite for laziness amusing.
However, a few weeks later, during an argument, she too mentioned my failure to decrypt her straight forward yes as a no. By the time I had spent two and a half decades with the species of Homosapien since my parents — let’s not go there. What I am trying to say is, I felt clueless. I felt like an alien, looking at the grand pyramid, trying to figure out why the people from earth accuse them of building it.
So like any other nerdy entity, I fell back on books to find some answers.
Chances are you are not as bad of a spouse as me. Yet, you may have a fair share of troubles reading people. Still, it is something that we need to master to thrive on this strange planet, both professionally and personally. Just think to yourself. How many times did you felt like you understood what your editor meant only to get more red marks and notes on your piece?
Being able to read people beyond their words comes with an enormous advantage. It helps you to cut through the noisy cloud of expressions, allowing you to see where the other person is coming from in a conversation. So here I am listing three books that will help you understand people better. | https://medium.com/books-are-our-superpower/want-to-read-people-start-by-reading-these-books-b77f139ce13f | ['Anirban Kar'] | 2020-12-25 10:06:58.762000+00:00 | ['Books', 'Self Improvement', 'Psychology', 'Life Lessons', 'Reading'] | Title Want Read People Start Reading BooksContent People tough read year back went visit family Christmas supposed get back city next day However family insisted stay called thengirlfriend asked okay return new year understood hardly got spend time family complied Later got back city visited showered fire absolute rage Apparently said yes meant Well made almost much sense QAnon conspiracy theory Later along way split way started dating another girl similar turn event stay longer hometown expected called current girlfriend inform new development time expressed unwillingness go told worry appreciated understanding situation Besides found appetite laziness amusing However week later argument mentioned failure decrypt straight forward yes time spent two half decade specie Homosapien since parent — let’s go trying say felt clueless felt like alien looking grand pyramid trying figure people earth accuse building like nerdy entity fell back book find answer Chances bad spouse Yet may fair share trouble reading people Still something need master thrive strange planet professionally personally think many time felt like understood editor meant get red mark note piece able read people beyond word come enormous advantage help cut noisy cloud expression allowing see person coming conversation listing three book help understand people betterTags Books Self Improvement Psychology Life Lessons Reading |
2,793 | Data Science Reading List for September 2020 | Data Science Reading List for September 2020
Books, research papers, and blog posts I’m reading in September. 📚
Note: I am not affiliated with any of the writers in this article. These are simply books and essays that I’m excited to share with you. There are no referrals or a cent going in my pocket from the authors or publishers mentioned; I prefer to align my incentives with the reader rather than the publishers. Reading is a vitamin for the brain; please support your favorite writers and enjoy!
Another month of our Data Science reading list! // Photo Creds: Unsplash
Welcome to another month of our Data Science reading list! We do these each month, and I love all the positive feedback. I especially like when folks share their own recommendations. Feel free to share your own books, blogs, and anything else you’re reading this month. I would be happy to give your favorite authors a read and maybe include them in a future list! luke [at] spawner [dot] ai
On to this month’s list!
Building Machine Learning Powered Applications: Going from Idea to Product
O’Reilly has partnered with a bunch of really high quality Data Scientists and Machine Learning Engineers recently to spit out some high signal to noise reads. This one is no exception.
Our author goes the full scope of Machine Learning Engineering, covering all the way from project inception and planning to training, deploying, and monitoring. This is the exact type of important information sharing we have been missing over the last decade in our field. This engineering perspective is perfectly aligned with the evolution of the role of Machine Learning Engineers. Big ups to the author for a great reference and read! LINK
Life in Code: A Personal History of Technology
Life in Code by Ellen Ullman is a unique view from her time starting in San Francisco in the 70s as a software engineer and working through the rise of the programmer and technology.
Ullman lays out much of the evolution of tech, from culture to code. Reading this reminds me of piecing together chats from all the senior engineers and leaders who have told me stories and historical tidbits from their early days in tech. Spectacularly fun read. LINK
Scientific Freedom: The Elixir of Civilization
Whether you agree or disagree with the author’s arguments, Scientific Freedom raises important points about the role of science and its place in our civilization. Braben discusses the pitfalls of funding and peer review, and he discusses a fresh model for research and the reinvigoration of scientific discovery.
This is an updated version to the first edition published in 2008. Beset with beautiful formatting, well-done charts, and more. Big ups to Stripe Press for its continued efforts to publish and highlight important writing. LINK | https://towardsdatascience.com/data-science-reading-list-for-september-2020-15edcd4f4a9e | ['Luke Posey'] | 2020-09-22 19:02:34.748000+00:00 | ['Technology', 'Startup', 'Books', 'Reading', 'Data Science'] | Title Data Science Reading List September 2020Content Data Science Reading List September 2020 Books research paper blog post I’m reading September 📚 Note affiliated writer article simply book essay I’m excited share referral cent going pocket author publisher mentioned prefer align incentive reader rather publisher Reading vitamin brain please support favorite writer enjoy Another month Data Science reading list Photo Creds Unsplash Welcome another month Data Science reading list month love positive feedback especially like folk share recommendation Feel free share book blog anything else you’re reading month would happy give favorite author read maybe include future list luke spawner dot ai month’s list Building Machine Learning Powered Applications Going Idea Product O’Reilly partnered bunch really high quality Data Scientists Machine Learning Engineers recently spit high signal noise read one exception author go full scope Machine Learning Engineering covering way project inception planning training deploying monitoring exact type important information sharing missing last decade field engineering perspective perfectly aligned evolution role Machine Learning Engineers Big ups author great reference read LINK Life Code Personal History Technology Life Code Ellen Ullman unique view time starting San Francisco 70 software engineer working rise programmer technology Ullman lay much evolution tech culture code Reading reminds piecing together chat senior engineer leader told story historical tidbit early day tech Spectacularly fun read LINK Scientific Freedom Elixir Civilization Whether agree disagree author’s argument Scientific Freedom raise important point role science place civilization Braben discus pitfall funding peer review discus fresh model research reinvigoration scientific discovery updated version first edition published 2008 Beset beautiful formatting welldone chart Big ups Stripe Press continued effort publish highlight important writing LINKTags Technology Startup Books Reading Data Science |
2,794 | How Many Times Have You Broken the Law? What You Need to Know About Copyright | How Many Times Have You Broken the Law? What You Need to Know About Copyright Lisa Walton Follow Oct 11 · 9 min read
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
Small business owners have a lot on their plates. Inventory and invoicing. Customers and employees. Revenue and taxes. Updating your website. One of the last things you are likely thinking about is copyright law.
But copyright issues often arise in small businesses. Especially in the context of websites and other marketing efforts. As a small business owner, copyright may affect you as both a creator and user of protected work.
Looking for pictures for your home page? Need some content for your blog? If you are just copying and pasting from other sites, you are violating copyright law. And that could get very expensive.
If you run a creative business, you need to make sure you protect the work you post on your website. Or you could be losing valuable revenue.
Like many areas of the law, copyright rules are extensive and complex. But this article will cover the basics to help you steer clear of infringement.
What Is Copyright?
Copyright law governs one’s rights and ability to use another’s creative work. It including writings, drawings, photographs, paintings, music, and software codes.
Copyright law promotes creation by giving authors exclusive property rights in their works. If you own the copyright to something others may not use it without permission.
Copyright usually belongs to the creator of an original work. The author who writes the book. The artist who sculpts the vase. The musician who writes the score.
But copyright can be sold, traded, or inherited. Works created on commission often vest the copyright in the patron, not the creator. Publishing companies and recording agencies often hold the copyrights to works they produce.
What Can You Copyright?
Copyright protection extends to an “original work of authorship”. There are three requirements for works to copyrighted. They must be:
original, “fixed in a tangible medium of expression,” and possessing a modicum of creativity.
Original means that work did not exist before the artist created it.
Copyright protects works of artistic creation, including:
Music — songs, arrangements, scores, recordings, etc…
Writing — novels, poems, stories, journalism, plays, blog posts, etc…
Visual art — painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, etc…
Dance choreography
Movies
Computer software
Architecture.
Copyright protection only applies to works that have been set into a “fixed and tangible” form. You cannot copyright thoughts and ideas. You must reduce amorphous concepts to a tangible expression.
What Does “Fixed in a Tangible Medium of Expression”?
Suppose you own a bakery. You make Tik Tok videos about cupcakes to market your products. You always create your dance moves in your head before you perform them. At this point, the dance is an idea. You cannot copyright it.
Then, you practice your dance in front of the mirror making sure you get it right. This practice is not in a “fixed and tangible form” either.
While you rehearse your baking competitor watches through the window. She copies your exact moves and beats you to Tik Tok. You want to sue.
Not so fast... Yes, she stole your idea. Yes, she is evil. But no, she did not infringe on your copyright.
Your dance is not protected until it is in a tangible form. For dance, this is a video recording or a precise written description in text or dance notation. A performance or rehearsal is not protected until it is recorded.
Let’s look at another example. You own an Occult book store. You have an idea to write a poem about ghosts you encounter throughout your day. You title your poem “A Dance with the Shadow People” and post it on your website. Copyright protection attaches to your work.
Two days later, a rival bookstore owner publishes a poem on her website. It’s called, “The Spirits Within Me,” and it’s about ghosts she sees in her shop every day. You see her poem and are steaming mad. You want to sue for copyright infringement.
As a legal matter, you can’t sue unless you registered your copyright. See How Do You Get a Copyright? below. But even if your work were registered, there is no violation here.
Although you both wrote about the same idea, ghosts in our midst, you each wrote different poems. You own your poem. Not the idea. There are lots of poems about ghosts.
What Isn’t Protected?
The following things are not subject to copyright protection:
Data/facts
Works of the federal government (memos, rules, documents, reports)
Website names (which is why you should always buy .com, .net, .org, .ca)
Blank forms
Lists of ingredients, like recipes or formulas
Names: individual names, group names, business names (may have Trademark protection)
Slogans, mottos, catch-phrases
Laws: cases, constitutions, statutes, regulations, court decisions
Clothing, including fashion design
Jokes
Titles
Things with utilitarian purposes, like appliances or tools (Trademark or Patent protection may be available)
How Do You Get a Copyright?
It’s easy to get a copyright. In fact, you don’t have to do anything to protect your creative work. Copyright is automatic.
There is a myth that copyright is something you must apply for from the government. This is not true.
Copyright happens automatically. Once you set your work into fixed form copyright attaches. This is true even if your tangible form is doodled on a legal pad or jotted on a napkin. You do not have to do anything more.
What about that © symbol?
You no longer need to use the © symbol. The copyright symbol carries no legal weight. It is not required to protect your work.
The purpose of the symbol and dated copyright notice is to let others know that the work is protected. The notice provides information about the date and owner of the copyright. This information is helpful for someone seeking permission for use.
Copyright notices are not required, but they are useful. The proper way to include a copyright notice is:
© Date of creation, name of the copyright holder
You can include additional information after the notice. Some add “All Rights Reserved” to let others know they cannot use the work without permission. Others might include “Creative Commons release”. This allows works to become part of the public domain.
Should I Register My Copyright?
You do not have to register your copyright, but you may wish to do so.
There are three reasons to register copyright:
establish yourself as the copyright owner; establish the date of creation; and to take legal action against someone who infringes on your copyright.
In most jurisdictions only registered copyright owners may sue for infringement.
Whether this is important to you will depend on the nature of your business and your work. If you sell original paintings or write bestselling novels, you’ll want to register your works.
If you are writing blogs about shampoo or producing flash fiction every day, you don’t need to.
You may also want to register your copyright if you can’t otherwise prove the date of your creation. This often applies to unpublished works. The date of creation is important for copyright disputes.
Remember, copyright only protects original works. If two people claim to have written the same movie, the person who did it first owns the copyright.
It is easy and inexpensive (only $35) to register a work online.
You do not have to register copyright right away. If an infringement occurs and you want to sue, you can register at that time.
The processing time for copyright registration filings can take a year. So, if you go this route you need to act quickly. The statute of limitations for copyright infringement is three years. You must file suit within three years of when the infringement occurred.
What is an Infringement?
When someone uses your work without permission they have infringed on your copyright. Examples include:
downloading music
sharing software
posting photos
photocopying books or lessons
singing someone else’s song
The unauthorized use of images is a common example of copyright infringement. And one that many business owners commit.
To win a claim of copyright infringement you must prove the following:
You are the owner of a valid copyright in the work or have the legal authority to bring a lawsuit; the defendant actually copied the copyrighted work; and the copied sections are protected by copyright (not merely facts that exist in the copyrighted work).
Evidence of actual copying of the work can be proven directly or indirectly. It’s uncommon to have proof of someone directly copying your work. Instead, you can show the infringer had access to the work and their creation is “substantially similar to the copyrighted work.” Access is easy to prove in the case of a public website. You can show that the defendant’s work is “strikingly similar to” the copyrighted work.
There must be a tangible loss to recover money. You have to show that by copying your work the defendant caused you to lose money. If you prove a financial loss, like lost profits, you can recover actual damages.
Most copyright cases settle out of court. The typical remedy is an order to remove unauthorized material.
What About Fair Use?
Fair Use is a defense to a copyright infringement charge. In the U.S. we have a First Amendment guarantee to free speech. This means, subject to some restrictions, we can say what we want.
Copyright law restricts free speech. Fair Use is the solution.
Fair Use allows the use of copyrighted material for commentary, criticism, or parody.
Unfortunately, there are no bright-line rules governing Fair Use. This is a gray area of the law. Judges use a list of four criteria to determine whether a specific instance is a Fair Use. They consider:
The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes. The nature of the copyrighted work. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole. The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The context of the use is important. If you use copyrighted photos on mugs and t-shirts that you sell for a profit that is likely an infringement. You are illegally using someone else’s work for commercial use.
But, if you use copyrighted photos in an article celebrating local photographers that may be Fair Use. Especially if you include links to their portfolios.
The “nature of the copyrighted work” considers the cultural importance of a work. It also evaluates its newsworthiness, and whether it is a published or private work. If the news is doing a story on art theft, they may show photographs of stolen paintings.
The amount of the work used also matters. A snippet of a poem or a paragraph or two of a 300-page novel or a 15-second clip of a performance is usually permissible. But if someone records all but the first five minutes of a movie and releases it on YouTube, that is likely infringement,
The last factor asks if the unauthorized copy diverts sales away from the original. Small excerpts included in a positive review may increase the work’s value. This is Fair Use.
Negative criticism can also be Fair Use though. If the review uses a small part of the work for critique or commentary it is permissible. Even if it adversely affects market value.
The criterion asks whether the copy is a valid substitute for the original work.
Fair Use is a confusing and complicated area of law. You should never rely on Fair Use to excuse your unauthorized use of others’ work.
Instead, you should search the public domain for content.
What is the public domain?
The “public domain” refers to creative materials that are not protected by copyright. No individual author or artist owns these works. Rather, they belong to the public.
Anyone can use a public domain work without obtaining permission, but no one can ever own it. Work falls into the public domain in one of four ways:
The copyright has expired. As a general rule, copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. It expires at the end of the calendar year. The author failed to follow the copyright renewal rules. The author intentionally assigned the work to the public domain. This is called “dedication”. The work is not protected.
You can find public domain images at Unsplash or Pixabay. Music is available at https://www.pdinfo.com.
As a small business owner, the public domain is your best friend. If you don’t want to pay for images or other content, make sure you are searching in the public domain.
Take your time. Do your research. Make sure you have the right to use images, text, video, and audio clips. Don’t rely on Fair Use to absolve you of liability.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute legal advice. This Q & A provides general information on the issues covered. It is not intended to be a comprehensive summary of all laws which may apply to your situation. Please consult your own legal advisor regarding the specific application of the information to your business. | https://medium.com/swlh/how-many-times-have-you-broken-the-law-what-you-need-to-know-about-copyright-5ef173e9a241 | ['Lisa Walton'] | 2020-10-19 19:26:09.708000+00:00 | ['Writing', 'Copyright', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Law', 'Small Business'] | Title Many Times Broken Law Need Know CopyrightContent Many Times Broken Law Need Know Copyright Lisa Walton Follow Oct 11 · 9 min read Photo Markus Winkler Unsplash Small business owner lot plate Inventory invoicing Customers employee Revenue tax Updating website One last thing likely thinking copyright law copyright issue often arise small business Especially context website marketing effort small business owner copyright may affect creator user protected work Looking picture home page Need content blog copying pasting site violating copyright law could get expensive run creative business need make sure protect work post website could losing valuable revenue Like many area law copyright rule extensive complex article cover basic help steer clear infringement Copyright Copyright law governs one’s right ability use another’s creative work including writing drawing photograph painting music software code Copyright law promotes creation giving author exclusive property right work copyright something others may use without permission Copyright usually belongs creator original work author writes book artist sculpts vase musician writes score copyright sold traded inherited Works created commission often vest copyright patron creator Publishing company recording agency often hold copyright work produce Copyright Copyright protection extends “original work authorship” three requirement work copyrighted must original “fixed tangible medium expression” possessing modicum creativity Original mean work exist artist created Copyright protects work artistic creation including Music — song arrangement score recording etc… Writing — novel poem story journalism play blog post etc… Visual art — painting drawing photography sculpture etc… Dance choreography Movies Computer software Architecture Copyright protection applies work set “fixed tangible” form cannot copyright thought idea must reduce amorphous concept tangible expression “Fixed Tangible Medium Expression” Suppose bakery make Tik Tok video cupcake market product always create dance move head perform point dance idea cannot copyright practice dance front mirror making sure get right practice “fixed tangible form” either rehearse baking competitor watch window copy exact move beat Tik Tok want sue fast Yes stole idea Yes evil infringe copyright dance protected tangible form dance video recording precise written description text dance notation performance rehearsal protected recorded Let’s look another example Occult book store idea write poem ghost encounter throughout day title poem “A Dance Shadow People” post website Copyright protection attache work Two day later rival bookstore owner publishes poem website It’s called “The Spirits Within Me” it’s ghost see shop every day see poem steaming mad want sue copyright infringement legal matter can’t sue unless registered copyright See Get Copyright even work registered violation Although wrote idea ghost midst wrote different poem poem idea lot poem ghost Isn’t Protected following thing subject copyright protection Datafacts Works federal government memo rule document report Website name always buy com net org ca Blank form Lists ingredient like recipe formula Names individual name group name business name may Trademark protection Slogans motto catchphrase Laws case constitution statute regulation court decision Clothing including fashion design Jokes Titles Things utilitarian purpose like appliance tool Trademark Patent protection may available Get Copyright It’s easy get copyright fact don’t anything protect creative work Copyright automatic myth copyright something must apply government true Copyright happens automatically set work fixed form copyright attache true even tangible form doodled legal pad jotted napkin anything © symbol longer need use © symbol copyright symbol carry legal weight required protect work purpose symbol dated copyright notice let others know work protected notice provides information date owner copyright information helpful someone seeking permission use Copyright notice required useful proper way include copyright notice © Date creation name copyright holder include additional information notice add “All Rights Reserved” let others know cannot use work without permission Others might include “Creative Commons release” allows work become part public domain Register Copyright register copyright may wish three reason register copyright establish copyright owner establish date creation take legal action someone infringes copyright jurisdiction registered copyright owner may sue infringement Whether important depend nature business work sell original painting write bestselling novel you’ll want register work writing blog shampoo producing flash fiction every day don’t need may also want register copyright can’t otherwise prove date creation often applies unpublished work date creation important copyright dispute Remember copyright protects original work two people claim written movie person first owns copyright easy inexpensive 35 register work online register copyright right away infringement occurs want sue register time processing time copyright registration filing take year go route need act quickly statute limitation copyright infringement three year must file suit within three year infringement occurred Infringement someone us work without permission infringed copyright Examples include downloading music sharing software posting photo photocopying book lesson singing someone else’s song unauthorized use image common example copyright infringement one many business owner commit win claim copyright infringement must prove following owner valid copyright work legal authority bring lawsuit defendant actually copied copyrighted work copied section protected copyright merely fact exist copyrighted work Evidence actual copying work proven directly indirectly It’s uncommon proof someone directly copying work Instead show infringer access work creation “substantially similar copyrighted work” Access easy prove case public website show defendant’s work “strikingly similar to” copyrighted work must tangible loss recover money show copying work defendant caused lose money prove financial loss like lost profit recover actual damage copyright case settle court typical remedy order remove unauthorized material Fair Use Fair Use defense copyright infringement charge US First Amendment guarantee free speech mean subject restriction say want Copyright law restricts free speech Fair Use solution Fair Use allows use copyrighted material commentary criticism parody Unfortunately brightline rule governing Fair Use gray area law Judges use list four criterion determine whether specific instance Fair Use consider purpose character use including whether use commercial nature nonprofit educational purpose nature copyrighted work amount substantiality portion used relation copyrighted work whole effect use upon potential market value copyrighted work context use important use copyrighted photo mug tshirts sell profit likely infringement illegally using someone else’s work commercial use use copyrighted photo article celebrating local photographer may Fair Use Especially include link portfolio “nature copyrighted work” considers cultural importance work also evaluates newsworthiness whether published private work news story art theft may show photograph stolen painting amount work used also matter snippet poem paragraph two 300page novel 15second clip performance usually permissible someone record first five minute movie release YouTube likely infringement last factor asks unauthorized copy diverts sale away original Small excerpt included positive review may increase work’s value Fair Use Negative criticism also Fair Use though review us small part work critique commentary permissible Even adversely affect market value criterion asks whether copy valid substitute original work Fair Use confusing complicated area law never rely Fair Use excuse unauthorized use others’ work Instead search public domain content public domain “public domain” refers creative material protected copyright individual author artist owns work Rather belong public Anyone use public domain work without obtaining permission one ever Work fall public domain one four way copyright expired general rule copyright last life author plus 70 year expires end calendar year author failed follow copyright renewal rule author intentionally assigned work public domain called “dedication” work protected find public domain image Unsplash Pixabay Music available httpswwwpdinfocom small business owner public domain best friend don’t want pay image content make sure searching public domain Take time research Make sure right use image text video audio clip Don’t rely Fair Use absolve liability Disclaimer article constitute legal advice Q provides general information issue covered intended comprehensive summary law may apply situation Please consult legal advisor regarding specific application information businessTags Writing Copyright Entrepreneurship Law Small Business |
2,795 | What Your Anger Is Trying to Tell You | What Your Anger Is Trying to Tell You
There’s a thin line between rage and fear — especially in times of uncertainty
Photo: Jennifer Walsh/Flickr
Everyone has their own way of loading the dishwasher. Some delicately arrange; others cram. Some lay large utensils perpendicular to the tray; others go parallel. Regardless, we can all agree that this is just not a big deal. So earlier this week, when I reached over my wife’s shoulder and adjusted a cup, then a bowl, I knew I was basically picking a fight.
But her response concerned me more than any quick rebuke would have. Instead of telling me to fuck off and do something useful, she said, “I’m sorry.” And worse, I realized she’d been apologizing a lot over the last few weeks of sheltering in place. For the dishes. For noise while I’m working. Even for the dogs, as if they’re her responsibility alone.
Why was I so concerned about this pattern? Because as someone with anger management issues, I’ve learned over time that when a loved one begins to apologize more frequently than is necessary, the problem is usually not them — it’s me and my anger.
I don’t think I’m alone in noticing the eerie way being cooped up has the potential to get ugly — even when the people we’re surrounded by are those we love. Unchecked, minor irritations can become major problems. Nits to pick are becoming nuts to unpack. Pet peeves are growing into… full-grown peeves.
Anger and isolation
Hidden in the deluge of Covid-19 news stories are other, not unrelated, stories of the dangerous impact isolation, quarantine, and imposed immobility may be having on our mental and physical health, especially for people in already abusive relationships.
António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, released a short video on Twitter about the dangers for women and children trapped in their homes with abusive partners. The New York Times ran a piece about what first responders at the National Domestic Violence Hotline are seeing, which is predictably grim.
Even for those of us who don’t fit the definition of “abusive partner,” the current situation has some risks. Yet there’s a tendency to not treat it seriously. On April 5, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced the topic of cabin fever during his daily update. Though he was quick to point out the condition has no official diagnosis, he characterized it by feelings of isolation, mood swings, resentment, and irrational outbursts.
The governor prefaced this segment with the phrase “on a lighter note.” To be fair, it’s lighter than the subject of intubation, but it’s symptomatic of the somewhat confusing relationship with anger we hold as a culture. We’re taught to bottle it up, to “manage” and “control” it. We learn from books and movies that getting angry is a character flaw. But it’s also linked to power and success and is often rewarded.
What is anger?
It’s easy enough to find a definition of anger, but by singling out the feeling of it — annoyance, displeasure, hostility — we’re missing the complete picture. Tidy dictionary definitions don’t do justice to an experience that, once unpacked even a little, proves to be startlingly nuanced.
Recently a friend who works for the federal government let loose on a group email thread we’re both on. Stuck in Washington, D.C., under quarantine, she was gripped by fear for her own safety, frustration with her lack of power, and rage at what she saw as an incompetent governmental response to the pandemic. At the end of her rant, she apologized, explaining, “I am just so fucking angry all the time.”
How can the same feeling arise over a misplaced dish in the dishwasher and in response to something as serious, and abstract, as political incompetence? What a purely phenomenological definition fails to account for is that the experience of anger can seem fundamental, mystical, and complex.
Counselor, coach, and author of Anger Among Angels, William DeFoore, PhD, prefers to use the following definition as a leaping off point: Anger is the emotion that comes when you’re threatened or opposed in any way. This is still based in feelings, but here at least we begin to see its fundamental connection with the world — whether external or those parts of yourself you can’t seem to control.
The evolution of anger
This might sound obvious to scientists, but anger researcher Ryan Martin, PhD, reminds us that anger, like any emotion or behavior common to all humans, exists today because it proved to be an evolutionary advantage. In a 2018 TEDx Talk, Martin suggested, “Just as fear alerts you to danger, anger alerts you to injustice.”
Since anger is commonly thought to have origins within the fight or flight mechanism meant to save our lives, Martin’s description is useful in delimiting it from fear, though of course both can be caused by danger. By invoking the idea of injustice, it becomes a little clearer how small, petty grievances can share a term with such vast, serious ones.
The fact is that whether the injustice is minor or major, our response to it is weighed against an estimation of how things should be — and in this way, anger becomes highly personal. What might anger one person can leave another completely unfazed, even approving. Like, oh, I don’t know, a president’s response to a crisis, for instance.
This understanding of anger has deep roots. Though Aristotle never wrote a treatise on anger specifically, he wrote about it at length throughout his other works, notably in Nicomachean Ethics and Rhetoric. He observed that, singular among the emotions, anger was tied up in ideas of right and wrong, and therefore in addition to a psychological dimension, it possessed an ethical one.
What anger looks like
If you took philosophy in college, you might remember that, for Aristotle, “virtue” was always the mean between two extremes. The virtuous person chose the middle path in all things. They didn’t eat too much, for instance, but they didn’t starve themselves either. Anger was of particular interest to Aristotle because it seems to go hand in hand with excessive feeling or action. It’s often tied, in other words, to the experience of losing control (akrasia in ancient Greek).
One of my clearest memories of my teenage years was of being caught in the stairwell by my father, of him holding me against the wall and pulling back his fist. My father never actually hit me, but even at the time, I completely understood what he was feeling. Between the ages of 10 and 16, I hummed with a constant, fluttering panic that would build steadily until some proverbial straw — often at the unwitting hands of my younger brother — would unleash a torrent of hateful words and physical violence. It would scare my brother, it would scare my family, and it would scare me.
Midway through my teens, however, I learned an interesting trick. I would monitor the anger as it was building, and before it reached a boiling point, I would swallow it. Psychologists call this suppression, which has itself been studied and is thought to cause or contribute to a variety of other ailments, even physical ones.
At the time, however, I was thrilled by this personal discovery. It made me feel like I was in control, and the satisfaction of seeing others respond to my rage was replaced by the pleasure in having a secret, in knowing what I could do or say.
In talking about this essay with my brother a few days ago, he said, “Funny, I don’t consider you an angry person.” My wife might disagree, but it’s true that my anger no longer often takes on a form people might readily associate that way. After learning to suppress it, I began to express it as hyper-nit-pickiness, a rapid broadcast of critical observations and insults.
This is a shitty tendency, and over time, it has tested the limits of my romantic relationships, friendships, and professional relationships. And it turns out, I may have been better off just getting angry because there’s evidence suggesting that kind of display helps people get ahead.
Rewarding anger
If anger is often tied to the experience of helplessness, the feedback the world gives us when we’re angry can be unexpected. According to DeFoore, our very early experiences of anger provide an example of this counterintuitive observation. I’m talking about tantrums.
What can be more unjust, subjectively speaking, than not getting exactly what you want — and being entirely unable to communicate your needs? For DeFoore, although the child is blameless for their excessive feeling, parents are often guilty of teaching them the wrong things through their response to tantrums.
“Children who throw temper tantrums often get rewarded,” explained DeFoore, “because they don’t have to do the thing that they don’t want to do.” But the rewards don’t end when we’re still in high chairs. Stanford University social psychologist Larissa Z. Tiedens, PhD, found that people who express anger often receive a bump in social status.
In a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2001, Tiedens found that “participants supported President Clinton more when they viewed him expressing anger about the Monica Lewinsky scandal than when they saw him expressing sadness about the scandal.” Perhaps, we learned a little too much from those tantrums we threw.
Anger and control
As we’ve seen, the idea of anger has been caught up in the idea of control from Aristotle onward. Though anger doesn’t preclude self-control per se, it certainly reduces our capacity to think or act rationally. It’s also heightened in situations where control, or its corollary freedom, is already at stake.
Think of driving. Road rage is one of our most potent and common experiences of anger. Cars are supposed to be tools of enablement, empowerment. They symbolize freedom, which is the ability to control our destiny. When that freedom is compromised, let alone undermined entirely, anger is right there to lend a hand.
So what happens when it’s your entire life, not just your trip to the store, that’s been hijacked by powers beyond your control? These days, everything seems aligned to make people angry and to make angry people irate. Our wills are opposed. We feel helpless. Our fight or flight instincts are being triggered, but flight is off the table. Many of us — most likely men, most likely white — have been rewarded throughout life for angry displays.
This makes for a potentially toxic environment. Tragically, there’s a growing number of people falling victim to serious domestic abuse, and because the hotlines are overburdened, services are drying up, and opportunities for escape are discouraged, that tragedy is ongoing.
As Katie Ray-Jones, chief executive officer of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, told the New York Times, victims are in jeopardy “any time an abusive partner may be feeling a loss of power and control.” Right now, that describes all of us.
But even short of criminal abuse, I think there’s reckoning to be done. Recognizing, interpreting, and addressing anger is something we all have to face at certain points throughout this period of social distancing and confinement. But what does that mean, and where do we start?
Anger awareness
The first step, like most first steps, is awareness. As G.I. Joe told a whole generation of Americans in the ’80s, “Knowing is half the battle.” If you think this seems asinine, check yourself. DeFoore recommends that anyone who is struggling with anger should start with the information readily available online.
To be sure, there’s a lot there. So much, in fact, that it can be hard to navigate, to distinguish the relative validity of sources. But I’ve found that the process itself of searching, the investigation, has at the very least a palliative effect — perhaps even a healing one. Being aware of the many different ways anger can be experienced and displayed has the effect of incrementally attuning you to your own emotions.
This isn’t about suppression. As DeFoore explains, that can lead to depression, which can deplete immune function. Just what you need with a deadly virus floating around! There’s a difference between suppressing anger when it rises up and trying to be mindful about what sorts of “injustices” are causing it in the first place.
Do I really care about how the dishwasher is being loaded? Do I think yelling at the dogs is going to recode their DNA and make them docile and mature? Learning about anger and paying closer attention to our triggers begins the process of reevaluating our sense of justice, feelings of entitlement, and preconceptions about how things should or should not be.
The positive side of anger
We’re accustomed to thinking of anger as negative, violent thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. But theorists and researchers like DeFoore and Martin seem to agree that anger can also be channeled into positive action. If it’s born of a feeling of injustice, couldn’t it spur one into some sort of activity that attempts to right the wrong?
Theoretically, I get it. There’s anger behind all protest, behind all social and political action. It’s fueled everything from manifestos to revolutions, and there’s no doubt the anger felt today by people, like my friend in D.C., will lead to positive change in the months and years to come.
But pushing too far into this right now may sound impractical, or worse, judgmental. Like those cloying voices out there telling us to take advantage of our unexpected “free time” by learning a new skill. Practice your Spanish! Teach yourself to sew! Read War and Peace! Gah.
As someone just struggling to survive, this kind of encouragement can easily come across as admonishment, and it makes me want to raise a big fat middle finger. But then, that might just be my anger getting the best of me.
The practical approach is to return to that “fight or flight” idea — that anger is never far from fear. Are you being alerted to danger or to injustice? Very likely, these days, you’re being alerted to both.
But it’s okay to be afraid, and if you start to feel angry, it’s okay to admit that it might be an easier way of saying you’re scared. My hope is that this thought might help bring us together rather than pulling us further apart. | https://humanparts.medium.com/how-to-unpack-your-anger-9601091373eb | ['Shya Scanlon'] | 2020-04-18 13:59:01.539000+00:00 | ['Relationships', 'Life', 'Self', 'Psychology', 'Coronavirus'] | Title Anger Trying Tell YouContent Anger Trying Tell There’s thin line rage fear — especially time uncertainty Photo Jennifer WalshFlickr Everyone way loading dishwasher delicately arrange others cram lay large utensil perpendicular tray others go parallel Regardless agree big deal earlier week reached wife’s shoulder adjusted cup bowl knew basically picking fight response concerned quick rebuke would Instead telling fuck something useful said “I’m sorry” worse realized she’d apologizing lot last week sheltering place dish noise I’m working Even dog they’re responsibility alone concerned pattern someone anger management issue I’ve learned time loved one begin apologize frequently necessary problem usually — it’s anger don’t think I’m alone noticing eerie way cooped potential get ugly — even people we’re surrounded love Unchecked minor irritation become major problem Nits pick becoming nut unpack Pet peeve growing into… fullgrown peeve Anger isolation Hidden deluge Covid19 news story unrelated story dangerous impact isolation quarantine imposed immobility may mental physical health especially people already abusive relationship António Guterres secretarygeneral United Nations released short video Twitter danger woman child trapped home abusive partner New York Times ran piece first responder National Domestic Violence Hotline seeing predictably grim Even u don’t fit definition “abusive partner” current situation risk Yet there’s tendency treat seriously April 5 New York Gov Andrew Cuomo introduced topic cabin fever daily update Though quick point condition official diagnosis characterized feeling isolation mood swing resentment irrational outburst governor prefaced segment phrase “on lighter note” fair it’s lighter subject intubation it’s symptomatic somewhat confusing relationship anger hold culture We’re taught bottle “manage” “control” learn book movie getting angry character flaw it’s also linked power success often rewarded anger It’s easy enough find definition anger singling feeling — annoyance displeasure hostility — we’re missing complete picture Tidy dictionary definition don’t justice experience unpacked even little prof startlingly nuanced Recently friend work federal government let loose group email thread we’re Stuck Washington DC quarantine gripped fear safety frustration lack power rage saw incompetent governmental response pandemic end rant apologized explaining “I fucking angry time” feeling arise misplaced dish dishwasher response something serious abstract political incompetence purely phenomenological definition fails account experience anger seem fundamental mystical complex Counselor coach author Anger Among Angels William DeFoore PhD prefers use following definition leaping point Anger emotion come you’re threatened opposed way still based feeling least begin see fundamental connection world — whether external part can’t seem control evolution anger might sound obvious scientist anger researcher Ryan Martin PhD reminds u anger like emotion behavior common human exists today proved evolutionary advantage 2018 TEDx Talk Martin suggested “Just fear alert danger anger alert injustice” Since anger commonly thought origin within fight flight mechanism meant save life Martin’s description useful delimiting fear though course caused danger invoking idea injustice becomes little clearer small petty grievance share term vast serious one fact whether injustice minor major response weighed estimation thing — way anger becomes highly personal might anger one person leave another completely unfazed even approving Like oh don’t know president’s response crisis instance understanding anger deep root Though Aristotle never wrote treatise anger specifically wrote length throughout work notably Nicomachean Ethics Rhetoric observed singular among emotion anger tied idea right wrong therefore addition psychological dimension possessed ethical one anger look like took philosophy college might remember Aristotle “virtue” always mean two extreme virtuous person chose middle path thing didn’t eat much instance didn’t starve either Anger particular interest Aristotle seems go hand hand excessive feeling action It’s often tied word experience losing control akrasia ancient Greek One clearest memory teenage year caught stairwell father holding wall pulling back fist father never actually hit even time completely understood feeling age 10 16 hummed constant fluttering panic would build steadily proverbial straw — often unwitting hand younger brother — would unleash torrent hateful word physical violence would scare brother would scare family would scare Midway teen however learned interesting trick would monitor anger building reached boiling point would swallow Psychologists call suppression studied thought cause contribute variety ailment even physical one time however thrilled personal discovery made feel like control satisfaction seeing others respond rage replaced pleasure secret knowing could say talking essay brother day ago said “Funny don’t consider angry person” wife might disagree it’s true anger longer often take form people might readily associate way learning suppress began express hypernitpickiness rapid broadcast critical observation insult shitty tendency time tested limit romantic relationship friendship professional relationship turn may better getting angry there’s evidence suggesting kind display help people get ahead Rewarding anger anger often tied experience helplessness feedback world give u we’re angry unexpected According DeFoore early experience anger provide example counterintuitive observation I’m talking tantrum unjust subjectively speaking getting exactly want — entirely unable communicate need DeFoore although child blameless excessive feeling parent often guilty teaching wrong thing response tantrum “Children throw temper tantrum often get rewarded” explained DeFoore “because don’t thing don’t want do” reward don’t end we’re still high chair Stanford University social psychologist Larissa Z Tiedens PhD found people express anger often receive bump social status study published Journal Personality Social Psychology 2001 Tiedens found “participants supported President Clinton viewed expressing anger Monica Lewinsky scandal saw expressing sadness scandal” Perhaps learned little much tantrum threw Anger control we’ve seen idea anger caught idea control Aristotle onward Though anger doesn’t preclude selfcontrol per se certainly reduces capacity think act rationally It’s also heightened situation control corollary freedom already stake Think driving Road rage one potent common experience anger Cars supposed tool enablement empowerment symbolize freedom ability control destiny freedom compromised let alone undermined entirely anger right lend hand happens it’s entire life trip store that’s hijacked power beyond control day everything seems aligned make people angry make angry people irate will opposed feel helpless fight flight instinct triggered flight table Many u — likely men likely white — rewarded throughout life angry display make potentially toxic environment Tragically there’s growing number people falling victim serious domestic abuse hotlines overburdened service drying opportunity escape discouraged tragedy ongoing Katie RayJones chief executive officer National Domestic Violence Hotline told New York Times victim jeopardy “any time abusive partner may feeling loss power control” Right describes u even short criminal abuse think there’s reckoning done Recognizing interpreting addressing anger something face certain point throughout period social distancing confinement mean start Anger awareness first step like first step awareness GI Joe told whole generation Americans ’80s “Knowing half battle” think seems asinine check DeFoore recommends anyone struggling anger start information readily available online sure there’s lot much fact hard navigate distinguish relative validity source I’ve found process searching investigation least palliative effect — perhaps even healing one aware many different way anger experienced displayed effect incrementally attuning emotion isn’t suppression DeFoore explains lead depression deplete immune function need deadly virus floating around There’s difference suppressing anger rise trying mindful sort “injustices” causing first place really care dishwasher loaded think yelling dog going recode DNA make docile mature Learning anger paying closer attention trigger begin process reevaluating sense justice feeling entitlement preconception thing positive side anger We’re accustomed thinking anger negative violent thought feeling behavior theorist researcher like DeFoore Martin seem agree anger also channeled positive action it’s born feeling injustice couldn’t spur one sort activity attempt right wrong Theoretically get There’s anger behind protest behind social political action It’s fueled everything manifesto revolution there’s doubt anger felt today people like friend DC lead positive change month year come pushing far right may sound impractical worse judgmental Like cloying voice telling u take advantage unexpected “free time” learning new skill Practice Spanish Teach sew Read War Peace Gah someone struggling survive kind encouragement easily come across admonishment make want raise big fat middle finger might anger getting best practical approach return “fight flight” idea — anger never far fear alerted danger injustice likely day you’re alerted it’s okay afraid start feel angry it’s okay admit might easier way saying you’re scared hope thought might help bring u together rather pulling u apartTags Relationships Life Self Psychology Coronavirus |
2,796 | Transparent & Black: Sparking a Movement for Black Healing | I’m often asked how I found the inspiration to create a card game that teaches people about bias. I say that I’ve always been open to looking inward for ways to improve, regardless of what I might find.
The last 12 months of looking inward have taught me to find and investigate my traumas. An idea I will continue to explore; and one I will continue to share with Black and Brown communities and beyond.
Because past the pain lies purpose, passion, and pleasure, as I am continuing to find out.
Empathy For Those Who‘ve Experienced Trauma
Have you ever seen someone you love bleeding from a gunshot wound? Have you ever been told you didn’t deserve a job or spot in a school because of your race? Have you lived your life without ever having a loving relationship with either of your parents? Or two or more of your grandparents? Have you ever felt sadness or shame because you aren’t sure where your lineage comes from?
I have. If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions I offer you empathy, because you too have experienced trauma.
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
Trauma is real for many Black people in America. As forced migrants from the continent of Africa through slavery, we’ve been victims of a bloody, centuries-long struggle for equal access and opportunity for physical, societal, economic, and mental freedom and safety.
We grow up experiencing overt and microaggressions. Many times externally originating. And many times originating right in our own homes. Trauma experienced for so many generations that it would almost be deemed normal.
This is paired with a loss of written and oral culture, as many of our elders (mine included) were so eager to rise above their past that they forgot to mine those experiences for the stories that illustrate the resolve it took for them to survive.
The resilience that we’ve developed is a superpower. One used to overcome inequalities that still exist; as well as the challenges that we all face.
Yet too little attention is placed on this disproportionate burden that our Black and Brown people face.
A Movement Of Voices For Collective Healing
As societal attention has been forced inward to what we value most. Health, well being, and community. I am proud to be a part of a movement of Black and Brown voices, and their allies, contributing to collective healing.
My card game, Actually Curious, is a tool for spreading empathy. But it’s also secretly a gateway drug to talk therapy. For $25 and the intention to be vulnerable, it helps people to tell stories that need to be told in order to heal.
My personal journey through healing has led me to renewed confidence, passion, focus, and purpose.
I need money for the machine to work. But my motivation is to use my skills, access, and resources to positively affect issues of access and knowledge around mental health in Black and Brown communities.
The long term reward is in the lives I affect. And that pays dividends today when I meet amazing partners like Transparent & Black.
Image Source: Camille Shaw for Transparent & Black
Wellness Is Not Something New to Black People
In their words, “The global wellness market is now valued at $4.75 trillion. Many of the ingredients, spiritual rituals, and wellness practices that the industry benefits stem from BIPOC communities. We need spaces where we can unlearn this idea that wellness is something new to Black people. Our history shows us that we acted as healers, doctors, midwives, and spiritual guides long before wellness had a name, and we need spaces to honor that work and feel empowered to explore the necessary physical, mental, emotional, spiritual work needed.”
All boats rise with the tide. Supporting Black healing means more unity, collaboration, and focused energy toward our shared values.
The need and the demand for Black healing spaces and products exist. And we know from years of the velocity of investment in wellness, with healthy profit returns, that the market for investment also exists.
One strategic partnership with the right brand or organization could finance all of Transparent & Black’s funding needs while reaping returns in content, engagement, sales, and brand love.
Allyship is the easy part. Removing barriers to yes is where you need to begin. | https://medium.com/curiosity-lab/transparent-black-a-movement-for-black-healing-b7d3a744875f | ['Michael A. Tennant'] | 2020-10-17 14:10:33.736000+00:00 | ['Healing', 'Mental Health', 'Wellness', 'Trauma', 'Black Lives Mater'] | Title Transparent Black Sparking Movement Black HealingContent I’m often asked found inspiration create card game teach people bias say I’ve always open looking inward way improve regardless might find last 12 month looking inward taught find investigate trauma idea continue explore one continue share Black Brown community beyond past pain lie purpose passion pleasure continuing find Empathy Who‘ve Experienced Trauma ever seen someone love bleeding gunshot wound ever told didn’t deserve job spot school race lived life without ever loving relationship either parent two grandparent ever felt sadness shame aren’t sure lineage come you’ve answered yes question offer empathy experienced trauma Photo Clay Banks Unsplash Trauma real many Black people America forced migrant continent Africa slavery we’ve victim bloody centurieslong struggle equal access opportunity physical societal economic mental freedom safety grow experiencing overt microaggressions Many time externally originating many time originating right home Trauma experienced many generation would almost deemed normal paired loss written oral culture many elder mine included eager rise past forgot mine experience story illustrate resolve took survive resilience we’ve developed superpower One used overcome inequality still exist well challenge face Yet little attention placed disproportionate burden Black Brown people face Movement Voices Collective Healing societal attention forced inward value Health well community proud part movement Black Brown voice ally contributing collective healing card game Actually Curious tool spreading empathy it’s also secretly gateway drug talk therapy 25 intention vulnerable help people tell story need told order heal personal journey healing led renewed confidence passion focus purpose need money machine work motivation use skill access resource positively affect issue access knowledge around mental health Black Brown community long term reward life affect pay dividend today meet amazing partner like Transparent Black Image Source Camille Shaw Transparent Black Wellness Something New Black People word “The global wellness market valued 475 trillion Many ingredient spiritual ritual wellness practice industry benefit stem BIPOC community need space unlearn idea wellness something new Black people history show u acted healer doctor midwife spiritual guide long wellness name need space honor work feel empowered explore necessary physical mental emotional spiritual work needed” boat rise tide Supporting Black healing mean unity collaboration focused energy toward shared value need demand Black healing space product exist know year velocity investment wellness healthy profit return market investment also exists One strategic partnership right brand organization could finance Transparent Black’s funding need reaping return content engagement sale brand love Allyship easy part Removing barrier yes need beginTags Healing Mental Health Wellness Trauma Black Lives Mater |
2,797 | Want Peace? Build Your Life Around Your Spiritual Practice | And never the other way around
As I mentioned yesterday, life has lately felt like walking up Mt. Everest in cement boots. With cast iron cylinders on my head. In the rain. And yet, one thing has kept me consistent and calm despite the world seemingly seeming to fall apart around me — and that is my spiritual practice.
Every day, whether I feel like it or not, I get out of bed, hit my knees, say a prayer, grab some tea and do my Morning Pages. (More on this another day! In simplest form, they are 3 pages worth of free flowing writing to get your grr out at the beginning of the day so you can feel fresh, balanced and ready for new adventures to begin.)
When my writing is complete, I do 5 minutes of meditation with my husband (a miracle in and of itself) and then we do a spiritual reading.
When that is done, I read my own devotions and, if there is time, I’ll do ten minutes of meditation myself.
This whole routine takes about 1 hour. And while, yes, I could use this time to finish up some house cleaning, move ahead with paperwork or scroll through Social Media, the bigger question is, “Why?” I have found that unless I am centered — allowing the God of my understanding to connect with the most sacred part of me where my creativity, love and true being live, I view life only through a lense of fear and anxiety.
Keeping a small routine allows me to stay anchored when the storms of life blow all around me. And, unlike much of my younger days when my happiness depended on other people, places and things, keeping a practice reminds me to count on one thing and one thing only: God.
God is Not Weakness
Reliance on the God of my understanding does not make me a little woman, content to just sit around and let success pass her by. Do I want my musical to sell? Yes. Would I love Covid to be over so I could finally use my Disney passes and hang out with my friends in a beautiful cafe and watch babies in ridiculous outfits shriek in delight at oversized park characters? Of course! But if the spirit I bring to this job or event is restless, irritable and discontent, why would it matter if Covid ended and I could go to such an event? I wouldn’t enjoy my time there and, more importantly, I wouldn’t be of service to those around me. Anger, like a virus, is contagious, too.
Focusing on the Inside
Simply put, when I don’t take quiet time in the morning with God, I focus on the outsides of life, then try to control people, places and things to fix my insides. This never works. Just try it on some teenagers and you’ll see what I mean!
You Are Worth Rest
Keeping a spiritual practice reminds me of a lighthouse on the water. It might be freezing outside, and ships are sinking all around me, but in that lighthouse is a warm bed, a fire, a hot cup of tea and beautiful music playing. (Okay, so my lighthouse is more of an AirBnB but you get the idea!)
Instead of focusing on the chaos on the stormy sea, I can stay in gratitude that I am cared for inside. Because God is my keeper, I don’t need to worry about the rent or people coming in to steal my stuff. That house is open 24 hours for me with a sign on the door, “Come on in, Andrea. You are loved. You are welcome.”
There, in that lighthouse, I can lay down any expectations I have of myself and remember that I am a child of God and nothing else matters.
And, from that place of rest and contentment, I can light a candle and look out my window. Sometimes I’ll see sun. But sometimes I’ll see other fellow travelers who are drowning in horrific waves. Having been there myself, I can understand their struggle. And then, best of all — and only because I will have had my time of rest — I can leave the safety of the lighthouse with a sense of purpose. I can get into my boat and, with a spirit stronger than the weather around me, motor out to help some of them.
My purpose isn’t to do better, it’s to be better.
As a perfectionist, I struggle with always wanting things done a certain way. But when I remember I don’t have to be perfect, because only God is, I can relax and let my true nature come out to play. I don’t need to check off one more box on an endless to do list. I simply need to sit still and, once again, be reminded who I really am… who my authentic nature is. Who is that nature? She is someone who likes to feed people. She has Taco Tuesday complete with mariachi hats… who is writing a musical about camels… who reads Roald Dahl to her homeroom every day and can’t pass up a yard sale or a stray dog. I love that Andrea, but the only way I can let her out to play and to “be” is to bring God in. And the only way to do that is to begin each day in prayer and meditation.
My practice is my answer.
And so, friends, if you already have a morning practice where you can connect to the God of your understanding, that’s awesome! If not, I encourage you to start. It’s not easy at first (that’s why they call it “practice”) but in time, like any routine, a pattern will establish. I can promise you that in nurturing your spirit, you will find you are more able to face whatever comes your way each day. And not only will your soul thank you, everyone around you will, too.
Until tomorrow,
Andrea
About Me
I’m a published TV, blog, magazine and book writer who also coaches moms and grandmoms to write books rooted in wisdom, spirituality and humor. Come back Monday — Friday where I’ll post about spirituality, writing and sobriety. And sometimes tacos. Because Tacos make everything better. Always.
DON’T MISS A NEWSLETTER!
You can sign up for my email list here where I’ll send you a newsletter all about book writing every Wednesday. Happy Hump Day indeed! | https://medium.com/the-innovation/want-peace-build-your-life-around-your-spiritual-practice-1dead875fcf | ['Andrea R Frazer'] | 2020-11-07 15:06:32.425000+00:00 | ['Books', 'Writing', 'Faith', 'God', 'Meditation'] | Title Want Peace Build Life Around Spiritual PracticeContent never way around mentioned yesterday life lately felt like walking Mt Everest cement boot cast iron cylinder head rain yet one thing kept consistent calm despite world seemingly seeming fall apart around — spiritual practice Every day whether feel like get bed hit knee say prayer grab tea Morning Pages another day simplest form 3 page worth free flowing writing get grr beginning day feel fresh balanced ready new adventure begin writing complete 5 minute meditation husband miracle spiritual reading done read devotion time I’ll ten minute meditation whole routine take 1 hour yes could use time finish house cleaning move ahead paperwork scroll Social Media bigger question “Why” found unless centered — allowing God understanding connect sacred part creativity love true live view life lense fear anxiety Keeping small routine allows stay anchored storm life blow around unlike much younger day happiness depended people place thing keeping practice reminds count one thing one thing God God Weakness Reliance God understanding make little woman content sit around let success pas want musical sell Yes Would love Covid could finally use Disney pass hang friend beautiful cafe watch baby ridiculous outfit shriek delight oversized park character course spirit bring job event restless irritable discontent would matter Covid ended could go event wouldn’t enjoy time importantly wouldn’t service around Anger like virus contagious Focusing Inside Simply put don’t take quiet time morning God focus outside life try control people place thing fix inside never work try teenager you’ll see mean Worth Rest Keeping spiritual practice reminds lighthouse water might freezing outside ship sinking around lighthouse warm bed fire hot cup tea beautiful music playing Okay lighthouse AirBnB get idea Instead focusing chaos stormy sea stay gratitude cared inside God keeper don’t need worry rent people coming steal stuff house open 24 hour sign door “Come Andrea loved welcome” lighthouse lay expectation remember child God nothing else matter place rest contentment light candle look window Sometimes I’ll see sun sometimes I’ll see fellow traveler drowning horrific wave understand struggle best — time rest — leave safety lighthouse sense purpose get boat spirit stronger weather around motor help purpose isn’t better it’s better perfectionist struggle always wanting thing done certain way remember don’t perfect God relax let true nature come play don’t need check one box endless list simply need sit still reminded really am… authentic nature nature someone like feed people Taco Tuesday complete mariachi hats… writing musical camels… read Roald Dahl homeroom every day can’t pas yard sale stray dog love Andrea way let play “be” bring God way begin day prayer meditation practice answer friend already morning practice connect God understanding that’s awesome encourage start It’s easy first that’s call “practice” time like routine pattern establish promise nurturing spirit find able face whatever come way day soul thank everyone around tomorrow Andrea I’m published TV blog magazine book writer also coach mom grandmoms write book rooted wisdom spirituality humor Come back Monday — Friday I’ll post spirituality writing sobriety sometimes taco Tacos make everything better Always DON’T MISS NEWSLETTER sign email list I’ll send newsletter book writing every Wednesday Happy Hump Day indeedTags Books Writing Faith God Meditation |
2,798 | Favorite Developer Tools for 2021 | In rounding out the year, I realized that I now spend at least 40% of my time in different tools than last year. This is both due to COVID where my teams are remote, but also due to tools maturing.
1. Visual Studio Code
The new standard.
A year ago, I would have said Sublime Text was my only goto code editor. VSCode now has basically all the features of Sublime Text and more. It is easily available on ARM Architecture compute (NVIDIA Jetson, Raspberry Pi, etc) which really helps for building embedded or robotic projects. There are clean and understandable interfaces and it also includes a lot of extensions such as SSH Code synchronization and other interesting plugins.
Visual Studio Code has matured in the last few years.
2. Docker
Dockerize your dev environment. It’s Amazing.
In the past, I used to only use Docker as a container for deployment of scalable systems. I would first develop the code in my dev environment, then I would figure out how to make that code run in a Docker where I packaged it up and sent it off.
Now I use it much like a system-wide like a virtual environment which lets me code in any OS type or version with any custom dependencies from my Mac or Ubuntu dev environment. One of the most valuable use cases has been in doing robotic development using ROS and ROS 2. The dependencies to get ROS going are significant and, for some reason still seem to be error prone and unstable. Therefore, starting from a docker image which is based on a stable build of ROS with the added apt-get install {package} commands for my specific install, and then mounting the code directory directly into the container means that I can code from within my core dev environment but execute it in the different OS.
docker run -d -t --name robot_env --restart unless-stopped -v `pwd`:/root/workspace osrf/ros:foxy-desktop
The above line of code will boot a container with ROS2 in it and the current directory mapped to /root/workspace , ready to go.
The best part is that the time to deploy goes way down as you are running exactly as you would in production.
3. GITHub
Still the goto.
It is amazing how a single system for saving code can be so engrained in the consciousness of developers, but it is and it works.
GITHub still holds the core of versioned code and has added additional features which enable teams to more efficiently use it as a central communication hub for development.
4. PostMan
Saves hours accessing a new API.
Whenever you jump in to integrate a new platform or service into your project, you have to dig through the swagger docs, try to figure out what authentication they use, sort our payload details, try to fix CORS issues and then write 10–100 lines of code to get a reply.
Or, you just boot PostMan, type in the URL with the payload, set a few headers and are good to go. Then, a week later when you forgot what you wrote, it is all there in the history.
Postman enables you to easily test new APIs without writing code and to write groups of queries and reuse them, saving significant time.
5. Ubuntu Linux
It is a clean environment.
Unless you are developing directly for MacOS or mobile, Ubuntu is a much cleaner and, many times, better environment to write code in. With Apt having clearer dependencies, significantly more Linux support on Stack Overflow in the last few years and full stack developers now using Ubuntu, rather than Windows or Mac, as their base, starting out and building a projects in ubuntu has become much easier.
While Ubuntu has been around for a very long time, the groundswell of non-sys-admin users has really increased, making it a much better general-purpose dev environment for coding.
6. CircleCI
Better deployment.
CircleCI has advanced drastically with its updated scripting language, cross-architecture support and clean integrations with GITHub and other tools. I realized I had forgotten we were even using it for a while because everything just worked. Compared to Jenkins and many other CI/CD platforms, the overhead is significantly less, and it is not tied to a specific larger platform.
Note: That said, I will probably check out GITHub Actions for 2021.
CirceCI just works and is flexible enough with its container-based deployments that you can do anything with it that you want.
7. Chrome Dev Tools
Debug the hardware innards of the browser.
This last year, my teams released a lot of in-browser features where we had to optimize React.js code due to huge data sizes and also had to stabilize WebRTC video connections in adverse environments. All the other browsers had just a few simple tools for introspection or logging, but Chrome not only exposed much more and better data(chrome://webrtc-internals), it also formatted the logs and graphs cleanly where you could directly debug your issues in browser.
No matter if it was CSS, Javascript or API CORS issues, I found that whenever my team needed to fix something, even if it was in a different browser, they would use Chrome first to understand it.
Chrome has a huge number of debugging tools, including chrome://webrtc-internals, which give a fully detailed view into what is happening when something breaks.
8. Slack
A repository of organized knowledge, in addition to messaging.
I never thought I would put a messaging app in my list of tools which significantly increase development efficiency.
In the last year, especially with Covid, Slack has become more necessary. I realized the biggest change is that we now use it for a group consciousness, where I find myself looking up pictures people upload, reviewing code snippets and starting zoom and hangouts meetings from inside Slack itself. With the addition of groups for channels and other subtle things, it has become a lot more efficient. We even run our daily standup in it using Standuply.
Slack has become a repository of knowledge, images, videos and code snippets, not just a messaging service.
9. Google Meet
We have had a lot of time to play with and optimize video conferencing in 2020. For external meetings, we use Zoom, but I have found that for shared debugging sessions, our team uses hangouts. I think the simplest reason is that anyone can start it from the browser. They don’t need to have a zoom account, log in, then set up a new meeting. The screen sharing, and addition of hidden backgrounds, has really helped make it a tool we can use in the background while working together. | https://hansclee.medium.com/favorite-developer-tools-of-2020-736ea5a9dd4b | ['Hans Lee'] | 2020-12-10 17:12:59.210000+00:00 | ['Productivity', 'Development', 'Programming', 'DevOps'] | Title Favorite Developer Tools 2021Content rounding year realized spend least 40 time different tool last year due COVID team remote also due tool maturing 1 Visual Studio Code new standard year ago would said Sublime Text goto code editor VSCode basically feature Sublime Text easily available ARM Architecture compute NVIDIA Jetson Raspberry Pi etc really help building embedded robotic project clean understandable interface also includes lot extension SSH Code synchronization interesting plugins Visual Studio Code matured last year 2 Docker Dockerize dev environment It’s Amazing past used use Docker container deployment scalable system would first develop code dev environment would figure make code run Docker packaged sent use much like systemwide like virtual environment let code OS type version custom dependency Mac Ubuntu dev environment One valuable use case robotic development using ROS ROS 2 dependency get ROS going significant reason still seem error prone unstable Therefore starting docker image based stable build ROS added aptget install package command specific install mounting code directory directly container mean code within core dev environment execute different OS docker run name robotenv restart unlessstopped v pwdrootworkspace osrfrosfoxydesktop line code boot container ROS2 current directory mapped rootworkspace ready go best part time deploy go way running exactly would production 3 GITHub Still goto amazing single system saving code engrained consciousness developer work GITHub still hold core versioned code added additional feature enable team efficiently use central communication hub development 4 PostMan Saves hour accessing new API Whenever jump integrate new platform service project dig swagger doc try figure authentication use sort payload detail try fix CORS issue write 10–100 line code get reply boot PostMan type URL payload set header good go week later forgot wrote history Postman enables easily test new APIs without writing code write group query reuse saving significant time 5 Ubuntu Linux clean environment Unless developing directly MacOS mobile Ubuntu much cleaner many time better environment write code Apt clearer dependency significantly Linux support Stack Overflow last year full stack developer using Ubuntu rather Windows Mac base starting building project ubuntu become much easier Ubuntu around long time groundswell nonsysadmin user really increased making much better generalpurpose dev environment coding 6 CircleCI Better deployment CircleCI advanced drastically updated scripting language crossarchitecture support clean integration GITHub tool realized forgotten even using everything worked Compared Jenkins many CICD platform overhead significantly le tied specific larger platform Note said probably check GITHub Actions 2021 CirceCI work flexible enough containerbased deployment anything want 7 Chrome Dev Tools Debug hardware innards browser last year team released lot inbrowser feature optimize Reactjs code due huge data size also stabilize WebRTC video connection adverse environment browser simple tool introspection logging Chrome exposed much better datachromewebrtcinternals also formatted log graph cleanly could directly debug issue browser matter CSS Javascript API CORS issue found whenever team needed fix something even different browser would use Chrome first understand Chrome huge number debugging tool including chromewebrtcinternals give fully detailed view happening something break 8 Slack repository organized knowledge addition messaging never thought would put messaging app list tool significantly increase development efficiency last year especially Covid Slack become necessary realized biggest change use group consciousness find looking picture people upload reviewing code snippet starting zoom hangout meeting inside Slack addition group channel subtle thing become lot efficient even run daily standup using Standuply Slack become repository knowledge image video code snippet messaging service 9 Google Meet lot time play optimize video conferencing 2020 external meeting use Zoom found shared debugging session team us hangout think simplest reason anyone start browser don’t need zoom account log set new meeting screen sharing addition hidden background really helped make tool use background working togetherTags Productivity Development Programming DevOps |
2,799 | This Is How I Get The Most Out Of A Headline Analyser Tool. | Top Headline # 1 — This Is the Best Way To Think About …
Analyser Score: 85 points.
This is one headline type that points to the highest utility of thinking. There are many ways to skin a cat. And this is the best way.
You help readers save their time by presenting the best way ahead. It could be a short-cut or a life trivia.
In short, this is the way ahead.
Top Headline # 2 — This Is How I Got The Most Out Of …
Analyser Score: 82 points.
This shows the reader that you are an experimental scientist, and you found a way to extract the most value out of an activity.
This is about extracting and retaining the most information from a book, for instance. It is highly valued by students who are coping with their examinations.
Top Headline # 3 — How To … And Get The Most Out Of … When You Have No Time …
Analyser Score: 87 points.
As with the Top 2, this category is about showing the short-cut with a time dimension. What if all we have is 10 minutes? What is the best way to get the most out of a gym workout over a 30-minute lunch break?
People who struggle with time control will be attracted to such headlines.
Top Headline # 4 — How To Be … All The Time …
Analyser Score: 84 points.
This headline is about life lessons, in my opinion.
Try inserting different words in between “To Be” and “All The Time.”. You will realize that positive words make sense. Negative words do not.
Take, for instance, “How To Be Calm All The Time.”.
It showcases life lessons accumulated over time.
Many people need it. I need it. Thanks for writing it.
Top Headline # 5 — What You Can Do When You Are Sick And Tired Of …
Analyser Score: 84 points.
This headline deals with overcoming negativity.
I think it deserves a pre-set high score because we are all sick and tired of something. I am sick and tired of people trying to tell me what to do or what not to do.
I am sick and tired of listening to people telling me how to do things this way or that when they are not doing it.
You know, things like that.
Top Headline # 6 — What You Need To Know About … And How To Deal With it …
Analyser Score: 85 points.
This headline type deals with circumstances.
Insert in a difficult circumstance you have encountered, and you will know what I know. They can range from asking for a pay raise, emotional people, tendering a resignation.
It teaches readers to expect and how to deal with the next step.
Top Headline # 7 — What Happens When You Start Doing … For The First Time …
Analyser Score: 86 points.
This is about personal growth. It shows how uncomfortable we are attempting to do things for the first time.
It also shows how it really isn’t that difficult or how it is tough beyond comprehension. In any case, this is about a reflection. | https://medium.com/technology-hits/this-is-how-i-get-the-most-out-of-a-headline-analyser-tool-bb0365a8ead0 | ['Aldric Chen'] | 2020-12-26 12:51:45.031000+00:00 | ['Writing Tips', 'Technology', 'Productivity', 'Communication', 'Writing'] | Title Get Headline Analyser ToolContent Top Headline 1 — Best Way Think … Analyser Score 85 point one headline type point highest utility thinking many way skin cat best way help reader save time presenting best way ahead could shortcut life trivia short way ahead Top Headline 2 — Got … Analyser Score 82 point show reader experimental scientist found way extract value activity extracting retaining information book instance highly valued student coping examination Top Headline 3 — … Get … Time … Analyser Score 87 point Top 2 category showing shortcut time dimension 10 minute best way get gym workout 30minute lunch break People struggle time control attracted headline Top Headline 4 — … Time … Analyser Score 84 point headline life lesson opinion Try inserting different word “To Be” “All Time” realize positive word make sense Negative word Take instance “How Calm Time” showcase life lesson accumulated time Many people need need Thanks writing Top Headline 5 — Sick Tired … Analyser Score 84 point headline deal overcoming negativity think deserves preset high score sick tired something sick tired people trying tell sick tired listening people telling thing way know thing like Top Headline 6 — Need Know … Deal … Analyser Score 85 point headline type deal circumstance Insert difficult circumstance encountered know know range asking pay raise emotional people tendering resignation teach reader expect deal next step Top Headline 7 — Happens Start … First Time … Analyser Score 86 point personal growth show uncomfortable attempting thing first time also show really isn’t difficult tough beyond comprehension case reflectionTags Writing Tips Technology Productivity Communication Writing |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.