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Friday Thoughts 01 — My Epic Film Viewing Spreadsheet

Hello again, world. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Rest assured, I’ve not spent the last 3 months vegetating in front of the goggle box (although Westworld is rather good, isn’t it?). I have in fact been quite busy writing, working on bits and bobs, the usual. I’ll be talking more about all of that in future updates. For now though, just to ease back into the routine, here’s a quick update on one of the things I’ve been tinkering with. The Big Film Spreadsheet Project Over the last four years I’ve maintained a list of every film I have watched. It used to just be the basics — the date I watched the film and its title. [caption id=”attachment_5336" align=”alignnone” width=”291"] This is where it all began. Let’s pretend this is the original in Pages and not a copy I made in Google Docs.[/caption] That was all well and good for the best part of three years. Then, back in July, I decided to move this information into a massive spreadsheet. I also planned to expand on the data I recorded. Thus, the big film viewing spreadsheet project began. Whenever I had a spare five minutes I would transfer information from my text documents into the spreadsheet. After separating out my viewings by year, I decided I wanted to track directors, the year of release, whether it was a cinema viewing or a rewatch. At that point I considered the project to be complete. This is, apparently, never the case. Creative minds always find more work to do, it’s inevitable. Then, having already moved this information into the log, I decided to add even more data. As you do. This led to me adding columns for my rating of the film (using my rather boring 0.5–5 scale) and also the film’s running time. I would now know, almost precisely, how long I have spent sat watching through movies. As it turns out — quite a lot. At the time of writing, it stands at 152 days if you watched every film back to back. A not insignificant amount. Finishing The Project (Sort of) And this has led to today. Apart from new film viewings and the odd movie I’ve seen before but forgotten to add (likely because I haven’t owned it), the list is complete. Sure, I’ll probably find other ways of pulling out reasonably cool facts and information and may tinker with the format here and there, but for all intents and purposes, it’s done. Thanks to the miracle of modern technology, this is now available to view direct through Google Sheets (click here) or through the embedded document I’ve placed on this very website (click here). This will be an ongoing project for me now, and will most likely replace my long-form movie reviews. To be honest, writing 500+ words for every film I see has gradually become more untenable as the months have passed. Time is at a premium these days, more so than it was in 2013 when I first started writing the reviews. I’m tempted to re-purpose my film viewing so that I’m only writing about certain films. It’s certainly something much more manageable than trying to churn out 3500+ words a week on top of everything else. My zombie fixation might be a good place to start with that. Watch this space. Or possibly even this one. I’ll be back next Friday with another batch of random thoughts, and an update on my fiction writing. Until then: what do you think about the spreadsheet I’ve created? Drop me a line via the Contact page with your thoughts.

https://medium.com/simonprior/friday-thoughts-01-my-epic-film-viewing-spreadsheet-831511df03c6

['Simon Prior']

2017-07-08 22:34:53.808000+00:00

['Film', 'Film Review Spreadsheet', 'Film Log', 'Film Spreadsheet', 'Friday Thoughts']

Cohort 7 Student Spotlight: Meet Chris

Christopher Olley joined the MSDS program after obtaining an MS in Physics from Imperial College London. Continue reading to learn more about what brought him to Data Science and his experience on the USF cross country team! What were you doing before joining the MSDS program? Before the MSDS program, I graduated with an undergraduate degree in physics from Imperial College London. I came into the program about 2 months after graduating, so I didn’t have time to do much else in between! During my degree I studied abroad at the University of Freiburg in Germany for a year, where I wrote my thesis studying the resonance patterns that are created when acoustic vibrations interact with regions of intense magnetic field in the sun (sunspots). Why did you choose the USF MSDS program? I knew two graduates from the program who had highly recommended it and had gone on to get interesting jobs. For me, that was a good indicator that the program was worthwhile. The chance to work in a data scientist role at a company during the practicum placement is also pretty unique and was a big factor in my decision to come here, particularly considering San Francisco’s reputation as one of the biggest tech cities in the world. So when the cross-country and track team got in touch with me about being on the team I was already pretty much sold, as I’ve always wanted to try competing in the NCAA! What started your interest in Data Science? I did an internship in the technology department of an investment bank during my penultimate year at university, where I was working in a business analyst role. I enjoyed my time there but I wanted to apply myself to a more technical role where I could use my programming and maths skills. I found that the industry valued people who had knowledge of statistical modeling techniques, and that seemed like a good fit for my background. I also enjoyed programming during my degree and wanted a career where I could actually use some of the maths I’d learned as an undergrad. How would you like to apply Data Science after graduating? At the moment I’d like to work for larger financial organisations and consultancies because I’d get exposed to a broad spectrum of techniques and use cases for data science, which I think is useful at the start of your career. I’m also interested in sensor analytics, as I think there are some really interesting applications of this in industry, particularly as wearable devices become more widely used and everyday items become increasingly data-driven. Where is your practicum? What are you working on there? I’m working at Metromile, a startup that’s changing the way the insurance industry operates by charging for car insurance based on a per-mile basis. It’s a interesting insight into the way a well-established startup with a relatively large data science team operates, as it’s obviously very different to working in an academic environment. I’m working on using car sensor data to identify drivers based on their driving patterns, in both a supervised context with driver labels, and also in an unsupervised setting where we identify drivers for unseen vehicles. I’ve learned a lot during my time there so far and my colleagues have been very supportive. What do you like about the MSDS Program? I’ve already mentioned the practicum internship, but I also enjoy how close knit the professors and students are in the program. It’s a different experience from my final year in London where everyone was studying different courses so there wasn’t a sense of community. Here, I feel like the faculty are really personally invested in the success of the students and want to see them do as well as they can. It’s also great to have professors who are from different departments as you get to see topics from sometimes very different perspectives. Chris (green) competing in the 8K at the Wisconsin Pre National Invitational You’re a student athlete, how do you manage an intense workload from school and training for cross country? It’s definitely challenging, I think the biggest thing is accepting that sometimes you can’t do everything. If there’s an assignment that’s due the next day I can’t stay up till 3am working on it so I just have to accept that I’ve done what I can. However, I’d say that mindset does help in getting things done early, and the fact that I need to actually sleep is probably beneficial for not overworking yourself! Being on the team was one of things that drew me to USF in the first place so I never really see training as an obligation, but rather as something that I want to do. What is your favorite thing to do in SF? What do you like to do for fun or to relax? SF has some great running routes so I’d say one of my favourite things is doing a long run on Saturday around Land’s End and the Presidio. It’s a really nice route when the sun is out and you can see the bridge and across the bay. I’ve also just started salsa classes as something a bit different and those have been pretty fun so far!

https://medium.com/usf-msds/cohort-7-student-spotlight-meet-chris-7df34249d6da

['Victoria Suarez']

2019-02-12 19:26:54.750000+00:00

['Students', 'Data Science']

Top 20 US Department of Transportation (US DOT) Federal Contractors for 2016

The US federal government is the world’s largest customer spending approximately over $1 trillion annually through grants and contracts on products and services each year. In FY 2016 alone the US Federal Government spent $666B on grants and $461B on contracts. Yet only a fraction of all the 28+ million businesses in the USA ever sought to do business with the US federal government. Have you looked at becoming a Fedpreneur or a Federally focused Entrepreneur? Follow us for regular information about how to become one! US DOT’s Top Federal Contractors List Here is the list of the top 20 US Department of Transportation (US DOT) Federal Contractors for 2016 based on the Federal Government’s USA Spending website. Would you like to be on this list someday? Source and Image: USA Spending Working With US DOT? For even those who do or plan to do business with the US DOT or any other federal government agency, there is no formal learning process to vision, strategize, plan, implement, and continuously improve their federal business growth strategy. Many therefore muddle their way and lead by trial and error and often fail. ScaleUP USA has therefore developed a unique program to assist such individuals, businesses, non-profits or even state or local governments. It is called the Federal Business Acceleration Program. Federal Business Acceleration Program Our Federal Business Acceleration program has been designed after significant research, brainstorming, pilots, and interviews with government and industry professionals. The program is delivered digitally to desktop or mobile devices, is always on, highly scalable, low investment, very affordable, requires no equity dilution, and operates across America at https://www.scaleupusa.xyz/. There is a free trial for you to check out if the federal opportunities are for you or your business! Try it out today: a) Learn how to build a winning federal business including a team, strategy, and a complete business map. b) Learn how to be cost competitive in your proposal while adding value, agility, and innovation through technology. c) Explore different federal tools of the trade and how they can help you gain a competitive advantage in winning business. d) Learn the tips and tricks to write winning US federal government contract and grant proposals. Become an expert. e) Execute federal programs and projects well! Learn how to be on budget and on time. Secure premium federal contractor past performance. About the Author: Nitin Pradhan is the former award-winning CIO of the US Department of Transportation, and a first term Obama Appointee; He is the current CEO of Launch Dream and leads their Federal Business Accelerator Program and is also Managing Partner of GOVonomy, an innovation as a service for governments and government contractors. He is also a Mentor at Mach 37, the nation’s top Cyber Accelerator, Z-nation Labs (India), and on the External Advisory Board of Accenture. Business and Government leaders can connect with him on LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter.

https://medium.com/launchdream/top-20-us-department-of-transportation-us-dot-federal-contractors-for-2016-70f94a2b2b9

['Nitin Pradhan']

2017-08-15 05:42:43.174000+00:00

['Entrepreneurship', 'Government', 'Transportation', 'Federal Government', 'Startup Lessons']

Want your kids to help? Stop asking them for help!

Hello, I’m Curt Jordan. The founder of Kong Academy. A place for kids to thrive! What can you do if your kids are not as helpful as you want them to be (and let’s face it, most kids aren’t)? The first thing that you need to do is stop asking them for help instead ask them “Who is willing to be a helper?” The moment you stop asking them for help and you start asking them, “Who’s willing to be a helper?” you changed the form of the question from being about you to being about them instead. It’s not so much about your needing help but about them identifying as a helper which is more motivating to kids. It shows them a way to become more independent and grow their responsibility. If I say, “Hey, are you willing to help me?” you might not want to help. To be fair, most times people don’t feel like helping, but they want to help people. Whenever possible, it’s a good idea to say, “Look around for ways that you can be a helper.” instead of giving them a specific task. We offer them an opportunity to grow their kindness and their generosity and we are raising children who are willing to be of service to each other, which is ultimately what we want for our kids. So, if you want your kids to help out more at home start asking them, “Are you willing to be a helper?” and stop asking them for help. An easy way to get more help! Want to watch the YouTube video? Here is the link.

https://medium.com/@curtjordan/want-your-kids-to-help-stop-asking-them-for-help-2578d0812284

['Curt Jordan']

2020-12-23 21:19:10.059000+00:00

['Parenting', 'Emotional Intelligence', 'Family', 'Children', 'Mindfulness']

Skyblock Map for Minecraft PE

Do you like playing maps like Skyblocks? If yes, then the new SkyBlock map is what you will definitely like. This is a new map with unique new skins and new features. We also draw your attention to the fact that the nearest blocks will not be visible to you, in order for you to get to them you should move directly placing blocks under your feet, the further you pass the closer the islands will be. Players will also have a good opportunity to receive a small reward. This bonus is given to players after completing a certain challenge, namely after passing certain obstacles. You have to overcome various obstacles and kill different hostile mobs. On your way, you can face obstacles such as: 1. Create a shelter, namely a house that will serve you as your reliable fortress; 2. Visit all the islands; 3. Find villagers and trade with them; 4. Kill hostile mobs on the island of monsters; 5. Craft a stone generator; 6. As always, plant a tree; 7. Create your own small farm by planting a tree, building a house and taking care of animals; 8. Each player has the opportunity to invite a friend and go through all the challenges together; 9. And the last thing is to create a trap for the mobs. This is a wonderful experience for both experienced players and beginners. Below you can see screenshots of the new map:

https://medium.com/@stronger.rocky/skyblock-map-for-minecraft-pe-a823aa596e37

['Robert Weide']

2020-08-20 14:24:34.963000+00:00

['Minecraft', 'Maps', 'Minecraft Pocket Edition', 'Skyblock']

The Borderlands – Feliz Navidad from Cuidad Juarez, Mexico

Thus far my experience here in the borderlands has been full of new experiences, challenges, and friendships. My first two weeks were spent in orientation which consisted of daily group reflections, a few sessions about the history and work of Annunciation house, and daily projects at the house where we were staying. A mural in one of Annunciation House’s houses of hospitality in El Paso, Texas. In English, it reads: “I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.” Orientation was really enjoyable, mainly do to the wonderful four other volunteers who also arrived in November with me. Between cooking and doing dishes together, our morning reflections, sweeping, mopping, and organizing for hours on end together, celebrating election results, and collaborating to tend to the needs of our Covid positive guests, we quickly became quite close. During orientation, my fellow volunteers and I would typically end our nights with a movie, jam session, or just hang out and chat. Perhaps me interacting with Covid positive guests caught you by surprise? It certainly did for me! Although I had been forewarned that Annunciation House was accepting Covid positive guests, I did not expect to be interacting with them just a few days after arriving. The house where our orientation took place has ample space for guests who recently tested positive for Covid to self-isolate (fortunately most were asymptomatic). The majority of guests were not only Covid positive, but were also injured. Their injuries, usually broken legs, feet, and backs, were sustained from falling from the border fence where they were then picked up by Border Patrol and brought to the hospital. After being released from the hospital and processed by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, they are dropped off at our doors. We provide meals and a place to stay for them while they continued to recover. We also help them coordinate transportation to their family or relatives in the US where they can continue their recovery and pursue their asylum case. Amidst all of this I kept thinking about how just a few months ago I would have never imagined myself interacting so closely with people who are Covid positive, not to mention occasionally helping them perform simple life tasks such as getting out of bed and getting dressed. In fact, I can recall my stomach dropping this past March when I came across a video of nurses and doctors wearing full body suits and face shields to treat Covid positive patients. I remember feeling grateful I didn’t work in health care because I thought I could never do something like that. And here I am a few months later in a full body suit, face shield, and N95, interacting with Covid positive refugees. Life has truly felt like an adventure lately! Me suiting up with my personal protective equipment to check in with our guests and bring them lunch. After orientation in El Paso I was placed in a house of hospitality in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico. There are currently five Central American families, only women with children, residing here while pursuing their US asylum court hearings. Due to the current administration’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy, they are required to stay in Mexico while they pursue their cases, a process which takes a minimum of several months. My weekly duties consist of assigning chores, helping cook and clean, enforce the rules of the house, go grocery shopping, and help the guests with anything in particular that they need. I also spend a lot of time playing games, watching movies, and hanging out with the guests – especially the kids. One of my highlights has been spending time in the kitchen with the moms. They’ve taught me how to make several delicious Central American dishes. For Thanksgiving I made a traditional Thanksgiving feast. It was the guests’ first time trying an oven roasted turkey. Most of them loved it. Trying to master the art of stuffing, enclosing, and flattening a Salvadoran pupusa. While being here has certainly been filled with graces, I have to admit, living in a relatively small house with 15 other people has been a challenging transition for me. As my need for quietude has become more and more clear to me recently, the constant commotion and emotion here has required me to get creative with and to maximize the periods of alone time for myself that I do have, which include mornings and my weekly day off. Finding solitude in the Organ Mountains, just outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Since most of the guests don’t roll out of bed in the morning until 9:00 or 10:00 am, I’ve established a routine of waking up at 6:00 am in order to have a few hours of quiet time to start my day. My mornings typically consist of practicing yoga, relaxing in silence or with music, cooking and enjoying a hearty breakfast with an excessive amount of tea, and a group reflection with Mary and Justine, the two other volunteers here. Every week I have a day and a half off. Annunciation House provides an apartment in downtown El Paso for volunteers to use on their days off, which I have been utilizing as my home base while exploring nearby mountains and bike trails. The Franklin Mountains state park, which sits a new minutes north of downtown El Paso, has been my go-to quick escape to nature. I have also enjoyed exploring the mountains around Las Cruces, New Mexico, located 40 miles northwest of El Paso. I’ve went on several beautiful bike rides as well. My favorite was along the Rio Grande river valley which runs between El Paso and Las Cruces and is lined with pecan orchards and wineries. As for weather, the past few weeks has been 60s and sunny during the day and 30s at night. It has rained once the entire six weeks I’ve been here. Riding amongst the pecan orchards of Mesilla Valley, New Mexico. In addition to the beautiful weather, I’m feeling particularly grateful for the leisure time I have at the moment at my house in Juarez. Soon after moving in, I became frustrated with the weak and spotty internet connection in my room, and in our house in general. However, this resulted in me spending much of my leisure time reading and journaling when not interacting with the guests, which has turned out to be quite life-giving. Plus, with limited internet access, I find myself less distracted and more present. Overall, living in Juarez has been really enjoyable, although I haven’t been able to explore a whole lot due to the pandemic. One unique aspect about living here is crossing the border multiple times per week. I usually cross by bike, stuffing my backpack and pannier with everything I’ll need for my trip. It’s like a mini bikepacking adventure every week! Taking a ride along the southern side of the border. With Christmas coming in a matter of days, the spirit of house is full of excitement. While I’m sad I won’t be with my family during Christmas this year, I‘m looking forward to celebrating with the guests and experiencing their traditions. Our house is decked out with Christmas lights, decorations, and we even have two Christmas trees. Santa will be coming with gifts for all of the guests as well (most of which are hiding under my bed at the moment and need to be wrapped). We plan to leave a mask and some hand sanitizer out for him on Christmas Eve. For our Christmas feast, we’ll be making traditional Central American tamales which are wrapped and cooked in plantain leaves. I could only find one supermarket here that sells them, and only in limited quantities. Since we will need several bags, I brought up our dilemma to the store manager and he offered to put in a larger order for next week and save some in the back just for us! We’ll be having a gingerbread house making party soon, too. I’m especially looking forward to making lots of Christmas cookies with the kids. The teenage girls and I made our first batch – peanut butter blossoms – a few days ago. They were a huge hit. Wishing everyone safe and cozy holidays. Feliz Navidad, Hugh

https://medium.com/@hughtruempi/the-borderlands-feliz-navidad-from-cuidad-juarez-mexico-87b3723facfe

['Hugh Truempi']

2020-12-29 22:02:48.442000+00:00

['Migrants', 'Us Mexico Border', 'Migration']

Everyday items that will help in a snowstorm

If ATMs and credit card readers shut down during a winter storm, you’ll be glad to have cash at the ready. Keep cash just in case. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images “In a major emergency, oftentimes ATMs won’t be working and stores won’t accept credit cards, so it’s good to have extra cash on hand,” Michael de Vulpillieres, communications officer for the American Red Cross, told Insider. Fire extinguishers are important year-round, but especially during the winter. According to the Red Cross, home fires spike during the coldest months of the year due to various heating methods. “At the Red Cross, we see some major fires during extreme weather events like blizzards,” de Vulpillieres said. “You want to be careful when you’re heating your home, because there are certain fire risks.” He recommends exercising caution while using candles, fireplaces, and space heaters, which are often the cause of fires. Space heaters in particular should be placed on a flat, hard surface at least 3 feet from anything flammable. And never use your oven to heat your home. Read more: 10 dangerous mistakes to avoid during a fire Newspapers and maps can be used as insulation if you’re stuck in your car. Newspapers can help you keep warm. Photo: Billion Photos/Shutterstock Crumple the papers and stuff them under clothes to keep warm, de Vulpillieres said. Multiple different household items can be used to increase traction if your car gets stuck in the snow. Sand can help the tires move on slippery ice and snow. Salt can also help and will prevent the resulting slush from freezing again. Cat litter does wonders for tire traction, as well. If you happen to have some in your car, it’s worth using to get unstuck. Cat litter. iStock Floor mats in cars can also be used to increase traction. The mats can be placed under the tires to keep them from slipping. If you have none of these items in your car, find a nearby pine tree and sprinkle the needles in the snow. Pine trees. Photo: Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images In a pinch, pine needles and sticks can increase traction. Rocks can also be useful to get a car out of a snowbank. Adding weight to a car by pushing down on the hood or placing rocks on top of it can help increase traction when attempting to drive out of snow. Pulling a car out of a ditch is the most effective way to move it, de Vulpillieres said. “In snow, it’s better to pull than to push,” he said. Cooking spray has multiple uses during snowy weather. Cooking spray. Photo: Arina P Habich/Shutterstock Cooking spray can be used to keep car doors from freezing shut by spraying the corners. Spraying your snow shovel can also keep snow from sticking to it. Credit cards can be used to scrape ice and snow off a windshield. If you don’t have a snow brush or an ice scraper in your car, the edges of a credit card can get the job done. Insider Inc. receives a commission when you buy through our links. For more great stories, visit Insider’s homepage.

https://medium.com/insider/10-unexpected-items-that-can-help-you-during-a-blizzard-af7e453e802a

[]

2021-02-02 03:16:40.650000+00:00

['Red Cross', 'Blizzard', 'Snowstorm', 'Weather', 'Safety']

What is 3D Mapping

3D mapping, another wonder of modern technology, is a new machine vision technology in the field of cartography. While we are already familiar with 2D maps and 3D vision, it is not hard to imagine how a 3D map looks like? Don’t let the curvature of Earth hinder your view and zoom in close to your location using 3D mapping. 3D mapping means profiling of objects in three dimensions to map the objects in real-world. There are several ways for a 3D profiling of an area or object, such as using a pair of a stereo camera. Another method is to measure the depth of an object or feature from focus. You can also create a 3D effect by detecting the light field by plenoptic methods or using active 3D imaging techniques. Advantage of 3D mapping over 2D technology One of the best benefits of 3D mapping is that it provides the latest technical methods for visualisation and gathering information. Knowledge visualisation and science mapping become easier when a 3D map is available for the object/area under study. A 3D map provides a realistic view of a location that can be utilised by local authorities and planners. For the construction sector, a 3D map is as useful as a blueprint is. It is very easy to visualise floor plans on a 3D map and identify possible obstructions which may occur during construction. When you have a 3D map in front of you, you enter a world of limitless imagination where you can experiment with many visual effects virtually before the final output. From determining the position of aircraft to making your event special with projection mapping, 3D mapping is working as a magical eye. 3D map preparation 3D mapping is also referred to as “Projection Mapping” or “Video Mapping.” Many people call 3D mapping as “Spatial Augmented Reality” also. For projection mapping, a technique is used that can convert any surface into a dynamic visual display. Though many ways can create the same effect but combining the 2D or 3D data with some computer animations can highlight the required features and diminish not such relevant things. 3D mapping in GIS A Z value (other than x and y), gives an enhanced depth when you are collecting data for GIS analysis. City-planning, building information modelling (BIM), Coastal modelling, Windfarm assessment are some areas where 3D GIS works as the screen of wonders. 3D mapping and cartography is an important tool in creating 3D scenes of a location that are useful for many studies like high rise development, building interior and exterior and effects of a disaster. If you want to create a 3D map using ArcGIS, you can do it in simple steps. ArcGIS provides a feature “ArcGIS scene viewer.” Another desktop application from ArcGIS is ArcGIS Pro a desktop application. Since it is a 64-bit application, it contains many extensive 3D inbuilt capabilities. It offers the facility of working with a 2D view as well as 3D scenes at the same time, side by side. 3D mapping provides minute information like the coordinates of a fire and helps in quick disaster response. You can also use AutoCAD Map 3D software to create maps that are useful in the management and planning of resources. Integrating GIS data with CAD tools and some intelligent models, you can improve the quality and productivity of your project. Very few of us know that we can create a 3D map in Microsoft Excel as well. Enter your data into a worksheet (with X and Y coordinates) and then select the data. The column headers should not be neglected in this step. Now click on insert followed by 3D Maps and open 3D Maps to explore more. 3D mapping has numerous applications in the various fields, from science to entertainment and advertising. When the Earth is not flat, then why to represent it in 2D? Add the ‘Z’ coordinate and see your projects turning into reality.

https://medium.com/@thegeospatialnews/what-is-3d-mapping-5fb86944a96

['The Geospatial']

2019-12-07 11:31:29.612000+00:00

['3d Mapping', 'GIS']

Trading Competition Is Over!

Dear Community, We hope everyone is having a very merry Christmas and is enjoying the fabulous holiday season! We are pleased to announce that our second-ever cryptocurrency trading competition has concluded and traders were once again able to utilize the Covesting platform to trade their way to profitability, despite the market’s recent volatility. As a quick reminder to all of our competitors, we have separated winning traders into two categories: one for highest return on investment (ROI) based on percentage gain, and one based on the highest ROI by currency amount. For more information regarding the parameters and rules of the competition, please consult our Medium post titled “Trading Competition V2: $5,000 Prize Fund”. For the Relative Profitability section of the competition, we have considered portfolio yields for the period of November 26th until December 24th. These figures may differ from the “Return %” shown in the public traders list, because the latter is calculated for the entire lifetime of the portfolio and might include periods of losses or gains before the November 26th. As we announced earlier, we have excluded five traders from the rankings for deliberately exploiting illiquid trading pairs in order to inflate their Relative (%) Portfolio Profitability numbers without actually trading. For Absolute Profitability, we consider both the ‘realized’ and ‘unrealized’ value of assets that are, or have been, in the user’s portfolio in the trading period. You can read more about realized and unrealized profits/losses. 3,2,1, GO! Let’s check the winners’ ranking!

https://medium.com/covesting/trading-competition-is-over-fd7dfbf1b265

['Covesting Pr']

2018-12-24 17:19:47.358000+00:00

['Trading', 'Competition', 'Crypto', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Bitcoin']

Week 248: The Meal

This was the day. Due to COVID-19, our usual family Thanksgiving gathering had been changed. It would be difficult to forego the time with family, but we knew that safety was the top priority. So Sarah and I planned a full Thanksgiving meal for the first time. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, rolls, two different desserts, and even homemade gravy. For a recipe of this magnitude, we’re stretching the aperture of our usual Cooking With Sarah experience. Obviously, the Thanksgiving meal came on Thursday. But don’t worry — the cooking adventure still lasted until Sunday. This was going to be a new adventure, but there’s no one else I’d rather share it with than my Sarah. The Big Day Thanksgiving dawned with morning sunshine and the growing realization of the task that lay before us. We had been thawing the turkey for multiple days already. The prep work had begun in earnest long before the morning light came. But now was the time to kick things into high gear. Not long before Sarah began buttering the turkey, we realized we didn’t have any garnish to cook in the tray with the turkey. Sarah looked up a recipe and found one that called for oranges, so off I went to the store. This would prove to be a fortuitous decision later on. When I got home, I went right into chopping up the oranges. Sarah took the orange slices (a few of which were only slightly oversized), and stuffed them in and around the turkey, along with our gluten-free stuffing. Then it all went in the oven to roast for a few hours. Sarah was a whirl of action — moving around the kitchen from one thing to the next. In the midst of it all, I took a moment to pause and take the day in. We were making the full Thanksgiving meal together. This was a big deal! In that moment, I stopped to give thanks for this life and the fact that I get to share it with Sarah. The turkey wasn’t the only highlight of the day though. Usually, when we’re all together for Thanksgiving, Sarah’s Mom makes deviled eggs. This is my favorite dish at the Thanksgiving table. So, of course, we had to try our hand at making them this year. Sarah outdid herself! They were just like I remembered, and we ended up snacking on those for most of the day.

https://medium.com/cooking-with-sarah/week-248-the-meal-ad8aa41fde41

['Aaron Charles']

2020-12-12 15:39:43.906000+00:00

['Food', 'Short Story', 'Thanksgiving', 'Cooking', 'Marriage']

Virtual Make-up : Snapchat Style Glass Filter

Face without filter In this post I will describe the project that I did as a part of OpenCV vision course. The goal of this project was to take an unedited face and add glasses to it, similar to a Snapchat filter. Step 1: Detecting Landmark points First we have to detect the landmark points, using Dlib facial landmark detector. Landmark points detected Step 2: Load the image of the glass with separate alpha and RGB channels imgRGBGlass = cv2.cvtColor(imgGlass,cv2.COLOR_BGR2RGB) glassMask = imgGlass[:,:,3] glassMaskIinv = cv2.bitwise_not(glassMask) Image of Glass with transparent background We load the image of the glass and store the RGB and alpha mask in separate variables. We also store the inverted mask in a variable. Step 3: Calculate the face dimension to scale Glass image glassWidthResized = abs(points[16][0] — points[1][0]) glassHeightResized = int(glassWidthResized * origGlassHeight / OrigGlassWidth) We calculate the width of the face using points 0 and 16, and use the distance between them to scale the size of the glass image. Step 4: Determine the region of interest In this step we determine the exact place where we want to place the glass. For the y coordinate, we take the highest point of an eyebrow, which is point number 24 and we calculate the boundary points based on the point and the height of the resized glass image. For the x coordinate we take point number 27 which is the first point on the nose i.e. point directly on the center of the face. y1 = int(points[24][1]) y2 = int(y1 + glassHeightResized) x1 = int(points[27][0] - (glassWidthResized/2)) x2 = int(x1 + glassWidthResized) Step 5: Calculate the Foreground and Background Image In this step we calculate the foreground and the background mask of the glass image and the image of the girl. The way we do it is, we perform bit-wise and operation between the region of interest on the image of the girl and the inverted mask of the glass. To calculate the foreground we perform a bit-wise and between the original mask of the glass image with itself. regionOfInterestBackground = cv2.bitwise_and(regionOfInterest, regionOfInterest, mask = glassMaskInverseResized) regionOfInterestForeground = cv2.bitwise_and(glassResized, glassResized, mask = glassMaskResized) Step 6: Combine Foreground and Background image with Original Image In the final step we combine the foreground and background image and replace the region of interest in the original image with this combined image imDlibGlassCopy[y1:y2, x1:x2] = cv2.add(regionOfInterestBackground, regionOfInterestForeground) Which gives us the following image: Image of girl with Glasses filter Algorithm tried with a different image gives the following result: Image of another girl with Glasses filter. From the results we can conclude that the algorithm works quite well in terms of positioning the glasses on the proper part of the face.

https://medium.com/@poulastyab/virtual-make-up-snapchat-style-glass-filter-b7ac89fd8c9

['Poulastya Mukherjee']

2020-12-26 19:41:01.566000+00:00

['Python', 'Opencv', 'Filters', 'Computer Vision']

How to Train Your Mind Finish Task In Less Time

No task should take > 30 minutes. “Really?” Yes, hold up a bit. I felt the same way about this one the first day I read about it. Now I’m quite at home with the technique and the psychology behind it. In the book, The Magic Of Thinking Big, David, Schwartz reiterated intentionally walking faster towards creating an internal sense of urgency. As the person with a sense of urgency gets things done — and gets them in time. And it works. Allowing no task to take more than 30 minutes stands on the same principle. The aim is to help you think and act like someone who gets things done in less time. Yes, It is daunting at first, but as you challenge yourself daily, it becomes easy. The day I heard Tim Denning said, it takes about 1 hour 30 minutes to write a complete story I decided to never write a draft for more than 3 sessions of 30 mins. If I don’t finish after 3 sessions, I will head on to the final thoughts and get it ready for the editing phase. And then submit to a publication. It was almost impossible at first, now it is not as difficult. But what about bigger tasks? Be resolute; assign the same 30 mins. No task excluded. Especially with tasks that are under your control, none should take over 30 mins. Even with bigger tasks, determine to get them done within 30 mins. Most times, you won’t be able to complete them. Assign another 30 minutes after about a 5 to 10 minutes break. But never allow a task to take longer than 3 sessions of 30 minutes at a stretch. If after 3 sessions the task remains, take a break or work on something else. And then return to it 12 hours later, or preferably the next day. If you are the CEO of your company, for instance, you can apply the same rule. A meeting should not exceed 30 mins. In fact, most heavyweights entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Steve Jobs don’t subscribe to having long meetings. Implementing this rule primes your brain to come up with solutions earlier and save time for other important things in your life. I call it disciplining your mind to get things done in time. And it works. Try it. That’s how to become the person who gets things done in time, it is all about disciplining your mind.

https://medium.com/afwp/how-to-train-your-mind-finish-task-in-less-time-60b4c0f9ee8f

['Joshua Idegbere']

2020-12-22 18:27:49.028000+00:00

['Work', 'Life Lessons', 'Procrastination', 'Self Improvement', 'Productivity']

How to Make Money With Substack Newsletters in 2020: Overview

Can I make money with a Substack newsletter? For sure! But don’t expect to make a million dollars, or even $10 right away. Let’s start off by asking a few questions: Is your goal to quit your job and start a new career? Are you trying to make a new side hustle for some extra coffee money? Do you just want to start writing & creating for fun? It’s important to set your priority before delving further into Substack. But luckily for us, all three are potentially achievable on the platform! If you’re new to blogging and newsletters in general, you should also be aware that this is a long-haul game. You won’t get rich overnight, no matter what e-marketing course tells you otherwise. The only way that ever happens is if people pay tens of thousands of dollars for ads or to influencers to sneak their way into success. Or if you’re famous. I’m going to assume that you’re a normal person and don’t want to do that/haven’t starred in the latest Hollywood Blockbuster. This leads me to my mantra for success factors on any of these platforms: Time + Repetition + Quality = Success on Substack The good news is if you follow the advice below you can be on your way to making side hustle money with Substack. Or even potentially over $200,000 a month like Robert Cottrell (after many years of hard work and high quality, of course). 1. Switching careers If you’re here to start a new career — know that it takes time. I was in your shoes a bit over a year ago. I was earning a lot of money as a corporate product manager for a multinational tech company. But I wasn’t happy, so I changed things. The one regret I have is that I didn’t start my side hustle on the side. Since this is a time game, I could’ve easily researched these endeavors while still working and started them slowly. Slowly build an audience. Slowly produce content. Slowly improve my craft. I went with the accelerated version of this — I quit, traveled, and wrote every day. Sure, I’ve probably improved at a faster rate — but I’d be much happier to be slightly behind while still having a year’s worth of paychecks! I’d advise doing it on the side for a while and gain some traction before you jump head-first into it. Either way, start right now with guides like these to learn the ropes of what you want to do. There’s a lot of paid info out there, but there’s even more free stuff. I cover all the basics below to give you a good idea of if Substack is for you or not, so please read further! 2. The true side hustle For those that truly want to use Substack as a source of extra (but not the main) income — welcome to Substack! One of the nice parts about newsletters is that you don’t necessarily need to be working on them full time. The choice is completely yours if you want to put in 1 hour a week or 20. And since this is a time-based game, it makes sense to do a little work — consistently — every week to slowly build a content base. Since this is Substack and not a normal blog, your audience & following should grow right alongside your content production. Please read on for all the basics of Substack and if this is the right platform for you to start your writing/podcast side hustle on. 3. Just here for fun If you’re just looking for a way to get people to see the results of your writing hobby — Substack is also the perfect place for that. It’s free to use It’s incredibly easy to navigate and setup There’s no penalty for missing a week or two here and there There’re lots of places for you to post your writing if it’s just a hobby, but right now, my two favorites are Medium and Substack. The free-to-use factor is definitely a huge plus. And setting up a personal blog on Wordpress, etc, can take a long time to learn (or a couple of hundred bucks to pay someone). Freemium platforms that are easy to use are great for the hobby writer. And who knows, maybe people will enjoy your work enough that you start to make some cash too (or even a living)! Takeaway For all 3 of the above type of people, I believe Substack has a place for them. Just keep in mind that it takes time to be successful on this platform (or any other). But if you enjoy writing and love people seeing your work — then you’ll probably stick with it. Before you know it, you might find yourself making a few hundred extra dollars every month (or potentially a lot more later on). Let’s now look at some key facts about Substack to start.

https://medium.com/feedium/can-i-make-money-on-substack-720556e3940

['J.J. Pryor']

2020-12-23 13:59:47.118000+00:00

['Side Hustle', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Freelancing', 'Newsletter', 'Substack']

Are you really okay?

We all know this question “Are you okay?”. We hear it every single day from our friends, family, neighbors. But how often do we ask ourselves this question and answer honestly? Especially in today’s fast moving society, we are so immersed in this cut-throat race we’re all running in, doubting ourselves every time we fall, cursing ourselves and this world when we get hurt that we don’t even bother to mend the cuts and bruises that mark our bodies. It’s okay to ask for help. We’re here for you Talking about mental illnesses and health What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation.- Glenn Close When it comes to the prevalence of mental health issues in Indian society, there are many things linked to it that make it slightly more difficult for it to be addressed. One is the intangibility of such issues, and another is the stigma associated with it. For long, identifying a mental illness in one’s self was popularly synonymous to being weak or “taking things too seriously.” A mental illness is a condition that affects a person’s thinking, feeling, behavior or mood. These conditions deeply impact day-to-day living and may also affect the ability to relate to others. If you have — or think you might have — a mental illness, the first thing you must know is that you are not alone. Mental health conditions are far more common than you think, mainly because people don’t like to, or are scared to, talk about them. There’s this taboo around the whole idea of mental health and talking about our issues that it has lead to an increased rate of suicides in our country try and over the world. More and more people succumb to the thought that they are alone and do not have anyone to talk to, no one that is going to listen to them, believe them, be there for them and most importantly make them smile when they need to the most. We here at Serendipity are here to break this taboo and make sure that every person, every fighter, even you my dear reader, has a reason to smile, has a reason to believe that you’re never alone, and that in the end it does get better. About us We, at serendipity are what you can call your family. When the going gets tough and it feels like the burden on your shoulders and your heart gets heavy, we are a place where you can vent without any worry about your identity being disclosed. Even on the bluest days, we are here to remind you that rainbows exist and we are here to shower the colors of the rainbow and maybe draw the curtains of the dark room you’re in and let the sunshine through. Our Forum is dedicated to enhancing the forum experience by offering plenty of opportunities for users to engage with us in an interesting and safe online environment. The word “serendipity” means finding something good without looking for it. Our motto makes sure that you always have a smile on your face and you always have a place to completely be yourself and speak yourself without hesitation. What our company does Our small initiative is to deliver a small care package, which includes a little present which is concluded after the visitor of our website fills in a short form telling us about what is going on in his/her life and their basic preferences. Our company ensures that the identity of the person who enters their details remains protected and is not disclosed to anyone. Thus our viewers and customers would be like the part of our family here at Serendipity Whats unique about us Here at Serendipity even after our customer orders his/her care package, our qualified therapists send a personalized email to our customer asking them about how they are feeling now and based on their response and choice, offer in-person and online therapy so that people who even live far away can avail our services. What we offer as a solution (summarized) About our self care package An example of what our care packages will look like Based off of the small quiz our viewer has to complete, we assemble a small package which majorly contains the following items: 1. A self care item 2. A snack 3. An accessory 4. A note 5. A piece of clothing And after the self care package reaches our customer, a week after that day, an email will be sent to them asking them if they’re doing okay or if they further need help because then we also have the therapy option they can avail without any hesitation. All our therapists are trained and qualified professionals who are equipped of taking extremely good care of our customers and be there for them when they need the most. Why this is needed in today’s world Mental health is as important as our physical health, and especially in these trying times of the pandemic which has shook the entire world. The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic recession have negatively affected many people’s mental health and created new barriers for people already suffering from mental illness and substance use disorders. A broad body of research links social isolation and loneliness to poor mental health and in particular, isolation and loneliness during the pandemic may present specific mental health risks for households with adolescents and for older adults. The share of older adults (ages 65 and up) reporting negative mental health impacts has increased since March. Even if we keep the pandemic aside, the need for care of one’s mental health is extremely essential. India reported an average 381 deaths by suicide daily in 2019. These statistics show how neglected mental health is in India and why it needs to be addressed.

https://medium.com/@shamsyashara9/are-you-really-okay-1cb64a2f4f8c

['Yashara Shams']

2020-12-20 16:39:25.843000+00:00

['Mental Illness', 'Self Care', 'Mental Health', 'Therapy', 'Startup']

TOP 5 Reasons More Women Are Using Green Smoothies To Lose Weight, Boost Energy, And Look Years Younger

TOP 5 Reasons More Women Are Using Green Smoothies To Lose Weight, Boost Energy, And Look Years Younger Amit Kumar Oct 11, 2021·6 min read Written by Drew S., CHC, AADP, Certified Health Coach It seems life just keeps moving faster and faster these days. As a woman, you juggle so many different tasks and responsibilities, it sometimes seems unending. You manage your family, work, errands, school, social responsibilities and so much more. When you are taking care of everyone else and on the go all the time, taking care of your body and maintaining a healthy diet often falls to the wayside. You rush about to meet the demands of your life each day. Who has time to cook healthy, well-balanced meals every day when you are juggling all that? Unfortunately, the ‘quick and easy’ food choices are often the worst options for your body, but they are so convenient when you’re on the run. Couple that with all the stress, and extra weight shows up all too easily. What’s worse is that all the nutrition advice out there gets overwhelming and confusing, so most people have no idea how to eat healthy and lose weight. The great news is that just about everyone who drinks green smoothies loses weight. In fact, most people who follow my Smoothie Diet Weight Loss Program report up to 3–8 pounds weight loss in their first week! 1. Green Smoothies for Weight Loss: A major benefit of Green Smoothies is weight loss. Keep in mind, not all smoothies are created equal however. Some are very healthy while others, not so much. A proper green smoothie for weight loss includes lots of leafy greens and other vegetables, whole fruits such as a banana or apple, and water. Avoid adding dairy, such as milk or yogurt, as these add unnecessary fats and calories, and can irritate your digestive system. One major weight loss guideline is to increase your intake of vegetables, healthy fiber and fruits. Green smoothies offer a quick and convenient method for this AND they are super quick and easy to make. Just throw everything in a blender for a few seconds, pour it in a travel cup and you are ready to go. The fiber helps you feel full, reducing the urge for unhealthy snacks between meals. Mother Of 2 Loses Over 70 Lbs By Drinking Green Smoothies Watch Her Video Here Healthy Meal Replacement If you make it right, your smoothie is a perfect meal replacement. To do this, you need to add healthy fats and plant based proteins, which helps you feel full and get the nutrients your body needs with fewer calories. Click here for some helpful guidelines and recipes for boosters to turn your green smoothie into a healthy meal replacement option that will help you shed those extra pounds. Detox Your Body The fruits and vegetables alkalinize your system, cleansing toxins from your organs and blood. As your body releases toxins, you not only feel better, but you’re your organs run at optimum level. Your body processes and digests more effectively. You absorb nutrients better, helping you feel more satisfied and reduce cravings. Feel More Energized! Adding the right nutrients into your body while releasing toxins will give you a serious energy booth. You feel better. More energy also boosts your metabolism so you burn more calories. With all the responsibilities you juggle every day, won’t it be great to have the energy to manage it all and still have some left over for fun? You can play with the kids, have some fun with your spouse, or add in some quality time for yourself. Boost Your Self Confidence What? How is a smoothie going to do that? Well, first, you are making a conscious choice to do something good for you. It is a decision you can feel good about. Instead of grabbing something quick that you know is bad for you and is going to make you feel icky, you can make a quick smoothy and drink it on the go, knowing you are nourishing yourself by putting healthy food into your body. Second, as your body releases all the toxins it’s been storing up, you feel better in your body. And, of course, as you drop excess weight, you will feel better about yourself and your body. It’s an all-around win-win. 2. Beautiful skin, hair and nails: Antioxidants are natures magic pill for bringing out your natural beauty. Fresh fruits and vegetables are a powerhouse of nutrients and antioxidants. This, combined with the detoxification benefits of green smoothies leads to clear, glowing skin, stronger nails and lustrous, healthy hair. They help reduce or eliminate eczema and other skin conditions. 3. Anti-Aging: You not only get clearer skin, but the nutrients in green smoothies also help boost production of collagen, creating firmer, younger looking skin. Apples, strawberries and oranges are great choices to add to your smoothie for this. Do you ever buy those super expensive anti-aging lotions with CoQ10? Try a green smoothie instead! It’s cheaper and you know exactly what is in it. Q10 is a naturally occurring coenzyme that helps your skin stay firm and smooth. As you age, the Q10 in your body decreases. Green smoothies are a great source of these anti-aging enzymes. 4. Chronic Disease Prevention: You do all this running around for a reason. You love your family and you want to take care of them. More than anything, you want to be around to enjoy them as you get older. Green smoothies not only provide the energy to manage all the responsibilities and stress, but also help prevent chronic disease. Proper nutrition and diet is one of the best measures for preventing heart disease, cancer, diabetes and many other health conditions. Green smoothies are a wonderful source of these life-saving antioxidants and nutrients. They also support the body’s natural cleansing and detoxification processes, helping you release toxins and decrease health risks. 5. Improved Digestion And Gut Health: All that fiber is great for clearing out your digestive tract. This alone has wonderful health benefits as your health starts in your gut. A clear and healthy digestive tract brings less bloating, reduced weight, improved toxin elimination, stronger immune system, increased mental clarity, and more energy. Ready To Get Healthy And Lose Some Serious Weight Fast? Adding healthy green smoothies into your diet is a quick and easy, all-natural way for busy women to improve their health and lose weight. There are lots of delicious recipes that are quick and easy to make and won’t break the bank. Whether you are just trying to lose the last 5–10 lbs or you want to lose 30 lbs or more, I encourage you to watch this FREE video presentation and try my Smoothie Diet Program to see how effective detox smoothies for weight loss can be. Click Here To Watch The Free Presentation

https://medium.com/@kumaramit.ak7087/top-5-reasons-more-women-are-using-green-smoothies-to-lose-weight-boost-energy-and-look-years-c5cdc9d9d037

['Amit Kumar']

2021-10-11 16:10:35.811000+00:00

['Weight Loss', 'Health', 'Healthcare', 'Loss Weight Diary', 'Fat Burning Foods']

Simple image classification on raspberry pi from pi-camera using the pre-trained model VGG16 and TensorFlow

Note before you start: So, Let’s start :) Hardware preparation: Software preparation: 1 So, for that, you need to create a new file image_classify.py with the next code: #import modules from keras.applications.vgg16 import VGG16 from keras.preprocessing import image from keras.applications.vgg16 import preprocess_input, decode_predictions import numpy as np from picamera import PiCamera #load imgenet vgg16 model model = VGG16(weights='imagenet') #create photo from pi camera camera = PiCamera() #save photo with name image.jpeg in this folder camera.capture('image.jpeg') #load image and change size to 224*224 img_path = 'image.jpeg' img = image.load_img(img_path, target_size=(224, 224)) #convert image to array x = image.img_to_array(img) x = np.expand_dims(x, axis=0) x = preprocess_input(x) #predict class for image preds = model.predict(x) print('Result:', decode_predictions(preds, top=3)[0]) Let me explain what this code will do: At first, these two lines made a photo and save it to an image.jpeg file camera = PiCamera() camera.capture('image.jpeg') After that, this code will classify (predict top 3 classes) what is in the photo img_path = 'image.jpeg' img = image.load_img(img_path, target_size=(224, 224)) x = image.img_to_array(img) x = np.expand_dims(x, axis=0) x = preprocess_input(x) preds = model.predict(x) print('Result:', decode_predictions(preds, top=3)[0]) 2 run script for recognizing the image. python3 image_classify.py 3 you should see some predicts in terminal like that Simple image classification on raspberry pi from pi-camera using the pre-trained model VGG16 (Photo,GIF by Author) https://github.com/oleksandr-g-rock/simple_classification_pi_vgg16_pretrain_model_from_pi_camera/blob/main/1_ERh8oKFSssQrAIiA_Yma_Q.png Result: In this article, we created simple image classification on raspberry pi from pi-camera using the pre-trained model VGG16. In this example, I using the pre-train model VGG16, but you can try to use any pre-train model. All code is located here.

https://medium.com/@oleksandrg/simple-image-classification-on-raspberry-pi-from-pi-camera-used-the-pre-trained-model-vgg16-part-3d7ce73dde9c

['Alex G.']

2020-12-14 03:43:36.526000+00:00

['AI', 'Raspberry Pi', 'Keras', 'Machine Learning', 'Python']

Professional Advice: LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the best places to get connected with people in your field, receive job advice, keep updated on the news in your industry, and to even receive an internship for job. When creating a LinkedIn profile you want to make sure you keep it professional as possible. We have some tips and tricks for you to do just that. Profile Photo: The photo should only have you in it, keep the background simple, wear professional clothes. Headshots are always best. You can receive headshots for free from organizations like Modista or have a friend take one for you in front of a blank wall. Bio: Keep your LinkedIn bio brief and to the point. If you are currently searching for a job or internship in a certain field you can say so here. Experience: Your experiences is where you get to show off. Let professionals know about your job experience everything from retail to your most recent internship. Describe your tasks for each job in as detail and precisely as possible. Make sure to use key terms that the jobs you are applying to are looking for. Add unique experiences to allow you to stand out from the crowd. Connecting with Professionals on LinkedIn LinkedIn is the perfect platform to get connected with professionals in your industry. This can open opportunities for you when looking for internships and jobs. “When connecting with professionals on LinkedIn you are able have it set a filter so you are able see if a Kent State Alumni is working for the company you are looking at,” said Millicent Ott, The Fashion School Industry Liaison, “Kent State Alumni love to help other Kent State Students. It is always good to have those connections.” When asking to connect with professionals you want to include a message if possible. Your message can explain who you are and why you want to connect. Ask them a question about their workplace or about what they do. This will allow you to make genuine connection that you can use later on. Overall, when using LinkedIn keep your profile and connections professional. LinkedIn can open doors for you in your future career. If you have further questions about using LinkedIn email us at modsitagroup@gmail.com.

https://medium.com/@sevans49/professional-advice-linkedin-7aef49717f9e

['Sarah Evans']

2019-05-01 13:43:08.145000+00:00

['LinkedIn']

Why I won’t make New Year’s Resolutions and what I’m doing instead

Lisbon, Portugal. Hugh Culver There’s something seductive about making lists. Like New Year’s resolutions. We dream of all the changes we’re going to make — how we will be a new person in the New Year. All good stuff. The problem is about 80% of all New Year’s resolutions die on the vine and never make it past January. That’s why this year I’m going to create a New Year’s Un-resolution list. Instead of focussing on what I want to ADD I’ll focus on what I want to STOP doing. It came to me while doing a renovation. Good medicine This year, my partner and I took on renovating our home. We started by adding a garage. That was major enough but didn’t discourage us, so we took on updating the whole exterior. And now we’re inside for the Winter and using time when not working on our businesses to strip off baseboards, patch walls, and repaint. Here’s what I noticed, over and over. There’s something therapeutic about sanding down and filling a crack in a wall, or removing old shelving that collected knick-knacks and books nobody will read again. For almost 20 years my eyes were seeing those cracks and cluttered bookshelves. The stain on the kitchen ceiling from an overly enthusiastic spaghetti meal, or holes where nails that once held a picture were removed. With a little commitment, the distractions no longer pulled at my attention or called me to fix something. It was like an itch I’d been scratching (for years) stopped itching. With every room, we are undoing years of distractions, history, and, in my case, a broken marriage. It’s good medicine. In the New Year, I want the same experience. By stopping doing I can create space for what really matters to me. This is how I’m creating my un-resolutions this year. Create your un-resolutions Just like organizing a sock drawer — you need to start by dumping out everything on your mind from this year. What happened this year? What changed, improved, got worse, succeeded, failed, and stalled at the gate? Get it all out. It’s cathartic. Now it’s time to pull out the patterns. What do you keep doing that gets in your way? I have a habit of getting lost in the weeds. Big projects that could make a big difference get subjugated by minutia. While I’m busy improving a handout or fiddling with some software I’m not going after a big sales opportunity. What gets in your way? What are the cracks in the wall you need to deal with? Once you’ve spotted the patterns, turn them into stop doings. Stop doing instead of start doing Try this on for size… Instead of resolutions like “I resolve to lose 10 lbs by March 31”, agree to a stop doing, like “I don’t eat after 7 PM.” What’s the difference between defining what you will stop doing instead of start doing? “Start a ‘Stop Doing’ list. I’ll leave it as an existential dilemma on whether to put that task on your To-Do list.” — Jim Collins For you, maybe it’s all semantics, like habits and routines. I think a commitment to stop doing is about opening up space, not adding another job to my To-Do list. Stop doing is about forgiveness and moving on. Stop doing is allowing for what might come my way. Stop doing is minimalism; start doing is productivity. For example, I have stopped bringing business to bed. Whatever I’m working on in my business stops at the door to the bedroom. My bedroom is a sacred space — I need it to be business-free. I also stopped breaking my exercise promises. My workouts might change time, location, frequency, etc. But, once it’s booked on my calendar I’m there. In all of last year, I think I missed one workout that was on my calendar. Stop doing ideas Not sure where to start? Here are some of my favorite Stop Doing commitments: “You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.” — Greg McKeown, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less Stop beating myself up when I screw up (daily). Stop waiting to pick up the phone (instead of email) when the conversation is important. Stop telling myself I’ll be happier when… — instead be grateful for what I have today. Stop worrying about what other people are doing (or waiting for them to change). Stop making lists (except here, of course). Stop obsessing over: news, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and celebrities. Over to you… What are you going to stop doing in the New Year?

https://medium.com/@hughculver/why-i-wont-make-new-year-s-resolutions-and-what-i-m-doing-instead-6384688483e6

['Hugh Culver']

2020-12-11 14:49:18.915000+00:00

['New Year', 'New Year Resolution', 'Resolutions', 'Goals', 'Personal Development']

Going From Stata to Pandas

Going From Stata to Pandas A Single Guide In Three Parts, Overview This guide is for users of Stata that want to begin learning Pandas. It has been written using examples and workflows that Stata users will know well. Also, this article references data many Stata users will recognize. In Part 1.1 of this guide, I review a variety of reasons Stata users might like to begin exploring the option to work with Python and Pandas. In the next section, Part 1.2, I demonstrate cross-tabulations and summary statistics that will help you begin the data exploration process. Lastly, in Part 1.3, I illustrate a variety of simple visualizations that will help you continue the data exploration process. Part 1.1: So, you installed Python and Pandas but you’re not sure the next steps. Both Stata and Pandas provide complete (or near-complete) platforms for data manipulation, visualization, statistics, etc. Stata purports to be … A complete, integrated software package that provides all your data science needs — data manipulation, visualization, statistics, and reproducible reporting. (stata.com) Pandas purports to be… An open source, BSD-licensed library providing high-performance, easy-to-use data structures and data analysis tools for the Python programming language. (pandas.pydata.org) Reasons Stata users might look to learn Pandas Stata & Pandas Marketing Images. A collaborator is using Pandas. You’re a Stata user but the research group you’re collaborating with isn’t. They use Pandas. To be in the same sandbox you decide to learn Pandas. You’ve decided you want to expand your skillset. Ready for a new challenge? Maybe you’ve read several books from Stata’s bookstore. You’ve created and published user-written programs (known to Stata users as packages). Maybe you’ve even published one or more programs to the user community’s preferred repository at Boston College Statistical Software Components (SSC) archive. Clearly then, you’re ready to expand your skillset. You’ve lost access to Stata. Or you anticipate losing access to Stata. Stata is proprietary and its licensing fees are costly. If you have lost or anticipate losing access to Stata and you’re not interested in purchasing a license for yourself (despite the good value), Pandas is a good option. Other reasons. It doesn’t really matter why a Stata user might look to learn Pandas. This guide is an agnostic how-to that acknowledges both languages have their strengths and weaknesses. In my work, I often find that one picks up where the other leaves off. This guide assumes you have installed Python and Pandas To avoid reinventing the wheel, this guide does not discuss Python or Pandas installation beyond offering a recommendation that Stata users consider installing the intended-for-science Anaconda distribution. The examples and explanations given in this guide have been tested using the Anaconda distribution. Specifically, examples given here were created in Jupyter Notebooks which is software included in the Anaconda distribution of Python. Using Stata’s well-known example automobile dataset. I have previously discussed this dataset as one that is useful for testing or training purposes. Here is what loading this dataset in a Jupyter Notebook will typically look: Jupyter Notebook running a Python 3 Kernel. Pandas illustration using Stata’s example automobile dataset. Next in Part 1.2, I’ll demonstrate cross-tabulations and summary statistics that will help you begin the data exploration process. In the last section, Part 1.3, I will illustrate simple visualizations that will let you continue the data exploration process. Part 1.2: After installing Python and Pandas here are your next steps. Loading The Auto Dataset Loading the automobile dataset in Stata is easy: sysuse auto . In Python the process can be done in two lines. But to make the code more readable, I break it into three lines: import pandas as pd auto = 'http://www.stata-press.com/data/r15/auto2.dta' df = pd.read_stata(auto) That’s it! Easy. If you’re a new Pandas user, and if you’re following along congratulations! You’ve loaded your first dataset into memory. One of the first things you’ll notice is that working in Python, there is less ‘output.’ Output is information the language provides to help validate that the command did for you what you intended for it to do. For more on this, see my related article on Merging Data: The Pandas Missing Output. In Python, this feedback is much less extensive. To verify you’ve properly loaded the automobile dataset. Try the code df.head() which is roughly equivalent to Stata’s list in 1/5 . Here is what you should see: Jupyter Notebook running a Python Kernel. Pandas illustration using Stata’s automobile dataset. Cross-Tabulation A cross-tabulation is one of the simplest analytical techniques available. This technique involves tabulating occurrences among two or more categorical variables. A limitation of Stata is that cross-tabulations involving more than two or three categorical variables is limited. In Pandas three or more categoricals is no problem. A two-way tabulation with the automobile data set: pd.crosstab(df['rep78'], df['foreign']) Jupyter Notebook running a Python Kernel. A cross-tabulation of two variables (repair record, and manufacturing origins). Pandas illustration using Stata’s automobile dataset. Looking closely, this tabulation leaves out missing data. To get Stata to include missing data in its cross-tabulations the mi option following the tab command will provide a more complete view of the data. Putting it together in Stata it would be tab foreign rep78, mi . In Pandas two lines are needed to display a more complete view of the data: # Specify a new category among the repair records. df['rep78'].cat.add_categories('No Record', inplace=True) # Generate a tabulation using the fillna() method. pd.crosstab(df['foreign'], df['rep78'].fillna('No Record')) Jupyter Notebook running a Python Kernel. A cross-tabulation of two variables (repair record, and manufacturing origins, including missing data). Pandas illustration using Stata’s automobile dataset. Summary Statistics Summary statistics in Stata are not complicated. One of the quickest ways to get a look at continuous variables is to type sum . With the automobile data set this gives you: Summary statistics from the Stata automobile dataset. In Pandas the command that most closely mimics this output is df.describe().transpose() which will give: Jupyter Notebook running a Python Kernel. Summary statistics with the variable names across rows and statistics down the columns. Pandas illustration using Stata’s automobile dataset. Most Pandas users would use df.describe() which displays variable names across the top of the output and the statistics across each row. As a Stata user, I add the transpose() method which rotates the output to more closely match the convention that I’m used to with Stata. Bonus, in Pandas the default output also gives the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile. Of course, the 50th percentile is the ever-useful-to-know median. These additional statistics are not offered in Stata’s default output. If you’re following along and feeling adventurous, test your intuition by executing the following: df[['price','mpg','foreign']].groupby('foreign').describe() See if you can correctly anticipate what the output will be. Also, work on adjusting the code to customize it so that you can explore other variables beyond price (price) or mileage (mpg). Up next Part 1.3, illustrates a variety of simple visualizations that will let you continue the data exploration process. Part 1.3: After cross-tabulating and summarizing your data proceed with simple visualizations. Histograms and Scatter Plots Get Upgraded One of my favorite parts about conducting data exploration in Pandas instead of Stata is the combination of scatterplots and histograms — in the same plot. A histogram illustrates the distribution of one variable at a time. A scatterplot illustrates the relationship of two or more variables. Pandas provides ready access to the jointplot which combines the best of both scatterplots and histograms into one. Again working with Stata’s automobile dataset: import pandas as pd import seaborn as sns %matplotlib inline auto = 'http://www.stata-press.com/data/r15/auto2.dta' df = pd.read_stata(auto) sns.jointplot(x='weight',y='mpg',data=df, kind='scatter') Jupyter Notebook running a Python Kernel. Jointplot illustrating the relationship between mileage (mpg) and automobile weight in pounds (weight). Pandas illustration using Stata’s automobile dataset. This visualization explores the relationship between mileage (in miles per gallon on the verticle y axis) and vehicle weight (in pounds on the x axis). The visualization indicates, consistent with intuition and common understanding, that as vehicle weight increases, the vehicle mileage decreases. This jointplot shows the relationship between these two variables (weight and mpg) in addition to visualizing the distribution of these to variables. As an added bonus this visualization indicates the Pearson correlation coefficient for these two variables along with its p-value. The Pairplot Also, handy for comparing many variables across a dataset is the pairplot. The pairplot provides a matrix of scatterplots, similar to a typical correlation matrix. The following will compare mileage (mpg), weight (weight), length (length), and price (price): sns.pairplot(df[['mpg','weight','length','price']]) Jupyter Notebook running a Python Kernel. Pairplot illustrating the relationship between mileage (mpg), weight (weight), length (length), and price (price). Pandas illustration using Stata’s automobile dataset. Bonus to add a categorical comparison, here we’ll compare foreign manufacturing with domestic, we can adjust the code to include a couple of additional arguments: sns.pairplot(df[['mpg','weight','length','price','foreign']], kind='scatter', plot_kws={'alpha': 0.5}, hue='foreign') Jupyter Notebook running a Python Kernel. Pairplot illustrating the relationship between mileage (mpg), weight (weight), length (length), and price (price). In this visualization, we also compare foreign and domestic manufacturing origins. Pandas illustration using Stata’s automobile dataset. After adding the additional arguments which generate a visualization that lets you compare domestically manufactured vehicles with foreign manufacture new patterns begin to go emerge which might inform further analysis. Conclusion In three parts, this article is designed to help users of Stata think about making the transition to Python and Pandas. If the goal isn’t to transition, this guide will help Stata users begin learning a new tool that can complement your on-going work in Stata. Both Stata and Pandas have their strengths and weaknesses. At the most basic level, once you reach an intermediate or beyond level of proficiency with Stata it is worth adding to your skillset by also learning Python and Pandas. This article demonstrates techniques that will help you begin the data exploration process. Part 1.1 reviewed a variety of reasons Stata users might like to begin exploring the option to work with Python and Pandas. Parts 1.2 & 1.3 walkthrough rudimentary examples of data exploration, analysis, and visualization using Stata’s popular automobile dataset. Thanks For Reading Thanks for reading. Send me your thoughts and ideas. You can write just to say hey. And if you really need to tell me how I got it wrong I look forward to chatting soon. Twitter: @adamrossnelson LinkedIn: Adam Ross Nelson.

https://towardsdatascience.com/going-from-stata-to-pandas-706888525acf

['Adam Ross Nelson']

2021-03-01 15:12:31.037000+00:00

['Data Visualization', 'Programming', 'Statistics', 'Dataviz', 'Data Science']

Is Blazor ready for public-facing websites?

BlazorWorld’s video module Is Blazor, Microsoft’s latest front-end UI framework that runs on WebAssembly, ready for public-facing websites? I have wondered about this ever since MS Build this year, so I created this Blazor content/community website, BlazorWorld.com, to answer that question. BlazorWorld is the culmination of an idea I have been working on since AngularJS, a modular CMS that provides a platform for building various content modules on the front-end (such as articles, blogs, forums, and wikis), but having a common content infrastructure back end. I have always been interested in the various web content/community “patterns” and how they’ve been implemented (forums with phpBB and Reddit, CMS frameworks with Drupal, blogs with Blogger, social networks with Friendster, wikis with MediaWiki, etc.), and wanted to build my own open source software that brings these various patterns together in a single platform. I also wanted to build it as a framework, with a modular architecture that makes it easy to add new features for, to allow it to be used in independent projects that need social content features out-of-the-box. I decided to finally do it when SPAs started to become popular, and have been evolving this idea, as a side project, from AngularJS (or 1.0) to 8.2, migrating from one version to the next (including that painful transition to v2), working primarily with the forum module in a few demo community sites. I first heard of Blazor in a .NET Rocks episode back in 2017. I thought it was very interesting, but didn’t consider developing for it (as it seemed that WebAssembly support in browsers still had a long way to go), until Microsoft Build 2020, when Steve Sanderson’s presentation made me realize that it was getting ready for prime time. I then registered the blazorworld.com domain name, with the intention of creating a content (and hopefully, a community) website that will be the first implementation of the CMS. For the next 6 months, I migrated my idea from Angular to Blazor, starting with the forum module, and then adding profiles, articles, blogs, and videos. Being a .Net developer, I found the Blazor development experience with C# much smoother than with Angular and Javascript (though Typescript helped). I am currently working on the messages module that uses SignalR. You can follow the development of the BlazorWorld software on GitHub. For BlazorWorld.com, I want it to be much more than a showcase for the software. I want it to be an active Blazor content/community site that runs on Blazor. I intend to keep it updated not just with content on the BlazorWorld software, but also of content on Blazor in general. I also would like to invite other contributors to provide content to the site, as the world of Blazor is going to be (or already is!) too big to be covered by just one person. BlazorWorld’s forums module The current version of the software is an MVP. It, and the site, will evolve as the framework itself and the Blazor development community evolves. As of writing, .Net 5.0 is in RC2, and is a few weeks away from go-live release. I’m excited to see how the ecosystem will evolve as more and more developers will bring their ideas to the table.

https://medium.com/@jasebanico/is-blazor-ready-for-public-facing-websites-32c933fdd554

['Jase Banico']

2020-10-26 09:59:35.306000+00:00

['Dotnet Core', 'Aspnetcore', 'Blazor']

Home Camera Security System Louisville KY | 877.740.1411

With all the current advances in technology, a home security system can provide you with peace of mind that your home is protected and that your family is safe and sound no matter where they choose to spend their time, whether it be at home or away. If you are thinking about installing a home security system in your home but aren’t sure about what type of camera to get, you might want to consider purchasing a Louisville KY home security system. This is because there are several different types of systems available to choose from, including surveillance cameras, video monitoring systems, and other types of security equipment that may be needed in order to protect your home and family. Secure your home. “The most important aspect of a home or building is its foundation, and it’s that which that needs to be secured the most. A home or business without a foundation is nothing but a house that’s going to get destroyed very quickly indeed, so securing that foundation is imperative if you’re wanting to safeguard your home or possessions. For this reason, it’s highly recommended that you install an effective home security system if you’re intending to protect your home and / or possessions. Whilst many people consider putting up a home security system as a mere hassle, the advantages can be immense. This article will briefly discuss some of the key advantages of a home security system. Firstly, a home security system provides unparalleled peace of mind. Most burglars think twice before committing a burglary — and this is because they know that a home security system is monitoring for signs of alarm and will alert the police if any burglar attempts to break in. However, a burglar who actually manage to get past the alarm, and into the home will likely be caught by the surveillance camera that is linked to the alarm, and the camera then makes an immediate image of the burglar, meaning that the police are alerted immediately. Secondly, with motion detectors and wireless alarms, you are given far greater peace of mind. Without motion detectors, most home invasions could have been prevented. If a burglar breaks into your home via one of the main entrance ways, they know that there are motion detectors installed in the various rooms. When there are no motion detectors, and a burglar knows they’ve already spotted your alarm on a property, they will move on. Unfortunately, this means that you may still be asleep when a burglar attempts to break in — and if there is no alarm, and the burglar cannot see the motion detectors, they are likely to go straight through your windows or doors and into your room. Another benefit to having a home security system and window sensors is that it will stop intruders from entering the home. In the past, many intruders have used tools such as hammers to break through the windows and force open doors. However, with home security systems, if the window sensors are set off, the alarm will cause an alarm to be sent to the house, and the police will be contacted immediately. Lastly, make sure that you keep your home secured against forced entry. If you use a dead bolt lock set on your windows and doors, you will be very hard pressed to have anyone to force their way into the house. However, even if you have dead bolts on your windows and doors, it never hurts to make sure that your window sensors are always on, as well as your outdoor deadbolt locks. Many home invaders use tools to force their way into homes, so you need to make sure that you never take chances with security. A home security system and the addition of simple door and window sensors will go a long way toward stopping intruders in their tracks. However, there are other ways that you can defend yourself against intruders, including making sure that your front door locks work properly, your gate latches securely, and that your windows and doors are clear of obstructions such as overhanging tree branches, burning trash or toddlers running up and down the street. By taking preventative steps, you can often thwart an intruder in their tracks before they even have a chance to make it into your home.” “In these times of increasing security threats and home break-ins, it is very important that homeowners make the wise choice of purchasing and installing a reliable home security system. A reliable home security system will protect your home from burglaries and other home intrusions. It will monitor activity near your home and give you the crucial warning to contact you local police. However, not all home security systems are equally good, and it is therefore necessary that you do your homework in order to find a home security system that gives you the most complete protection. In choosing a home security system, make sure that you choose one that offers round the clock monitoring, so that you will be able to react quickly should any problems occur. It is also important that you choose one that comes with a guaranteed installation time. Make sure that the home security system that you get comes with at least two-way voice communication. This means that you can talk to the monitoring center without having to be in the room. Also, make sure that the monitoring center is capable of tracking and monitoring all the doors and windows in your home, and also offers round-the-clock emergency services. When shopping around for a home security system, there are many things that you need to keep in mind. There are many home security system providers in your area, and you can easily become overwhelmed by all the offers that you receive. Therefore, it is recommended that you shop around first and then narrow down your choices to the top three companies. Then compare the quality of their services, the types of products that they offer, and the price that they will charge for installation and support. By doing this, you will ensure that you end up with the best home security system for your needs and budget.” “When it comes to fire and smoke, timely detection and fast response make the real difference. Carbon monoxide alarms can help you identify and resolve problematic issues with appliances and heating systems. If you’re a landlord, having tenants with carbon monoxide alarms can reduce maintenance costs and protect your investment. Homeowners may also find carbon monoxide detectors useful. Even if your home is maintained and inspected regularly, it’s still a good idea to install a home security system with carbon monoxide detection. Fire and smoke are the number one concern for most homeowners. While it’s not always possible to completely avoid fire or smoke in your home, you can take precautions and make sure that your family is as safe as possible. The best home security system companies offer protection against fire and smoke and you can choose from several different options. Fire and smoke are the number one health risk for occupants of the home, so investing in a good home alarm security systems is a sound investment. Fire and smoke and water monitoring are designed to alert you and your family in the case of a potential emergency. Investing in home security systems with carbon monoxide detectors, water monitoring, and other sensors can make all the difference between living safely and having to evacuate your home. Water monitors are designed to alert you to elevated levels of carbon monoxide and to warn you when you need to evacuate your home in the case of a leak. Carbon monoxide monitors watch your home for elevated levels of this harmful gas before they notify you, so you don’t have to waste precious time or fuel trying to pinpoint the source.” “You need to compare the best home security systems in order to make sure that your home is safe and secure. The market is flooded with different home security products, but it can be difficult to identify the most appropriate one for your home. The best way to identify the best one is to figure out what kind of security you need for your home, whether you need a keypad for easy access control of the alarm system, a camera to monitor your building, or a monitoring center that will contact the local authorities if an intrusion takes place. Once you have determined what type of home security system you will use, then you can start looking at the various home security systems and compare their strengths and weaknesses. A home security system that is placed outside of your house is called a perimeter system, and it should primarily deter intruders. A door alarm or other form of exterior alarm is a good way to scare away intruders on a windy day, as the sound of the alarm will let them know that they will soon find themselves in serious trouble if they continue their plans to invade your home. If you want to go with a more hidden form of protection, installing motion sensitive lights is a good way to keep intruders away from your property. The most important part of any home security system is the alarm itself. An intruder detection system will alert the monitoring center if someone walks onto your property and sets off the alarm. If you have an upstairs apartment, you may want to look into installing an alarm with a siren, so you will be alerted if anyone attempts to break in. Keep in mind, most home security systems offer wireless options, which make installation much easier. It is also possible to install your own home security system with the help of a professional, so you have full control over what features you want your system to have. With a little bit of research and work, you can find a great home security system that will provide you with a comfortable home and maximum protection against intruders.” “How much do home security systems cost? If you’re looking for home security but don’t have a lot of money to spend, this article will help. Many people are choosing home security systems over homeowner’s insurance coverage. The reasoning behind this is that a security system can guard your home twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and for as long as you own your home. Additionally, many people feel that a security system gives them peace of mind that their home is protected and won’t be burglarized. Home security is a growing issue in society. A home security system will provide the peace of mind that you’ve invested in protecting your family and home. The first step to having a great home security system is to find a security company with a good reputation. There are many companies that claim to be the best but don’t make it easy to determine. The best way to do this is to ask others who have had experience with a particular security company. Once you’ve decided on a security company, you can start shopping around for a home security system. Security companies are selling home security systems from basic packages right up to complete surveillance equipment. Each type varies in price but the cost will also vary between different companies. Some home security providers include video monitoring in the basic package but may charge extra for this. Other providers may charge more for video monitoring but offer more services overall. Before buying a home security system, be sure to look at all the equipment that is included. Most home security providers include at least three of the following: When choosing a home security system, be sure that you choose one that meets your specific needs. A large home security company will have better tools than a small security company and will be able to handle any situation. Smaller companies may not offer the same customer service or technical support. Therefore, it’s important to choose one that is large enough to meet your needs. How much do home security systems cost might also depend on where you live. For example, homes in more rural areas probably aren’t as prone to attacks as homes in larger cities. In larger cities, home owners have to worry about home intrusions more because there are more people living in them. In smaller cities, many crimes can be prevented simply by using a home security system. There are also ways to protect your home and family without spending a lot of money on home security systems. Simple security measures such as installing smoke detectors, an alarm system, and even vigilant home watching are often enough to keep intruders away. However, if your home is quite isolated, home security systems are likely a must. Regardless of what your personal security needs are, it’s important to know how much do home security systems cost and understand the difference between a premium system and a budget one.” “Wireless home security cameras systems are quickly becoming one of the most popular home security options available to homeowners today. These home security devices offer many benefits for the home owner and/or family. As technology continues to advance, there are even more features to these security devices that make them so appealing to potential buyers. Many consumers may not be aware of all the options they have when shopping for a home security system. There are a variety of different home security options, including wired and wireless home security systems. This article will discuss what some of the benefits are of a wireless home security system and how easy they are to install. A home security system with a wireless option can be placed nearly anywhere in the home. They can also be placed on the windows and doors of the home as well as in the garage and outside the home. This is one of the reasons why they are so popular. Instead of having to worry about an exposed electrical wire or some other possible security issue, wireless options are much easier to install. Wireless home security systems reviews often mention some of the drawbacks of wireless options. One of the biggest concerns is being exposed to outside elements, whether this is from heat or cold. There is also the concern that if the wireless security system is compromised or disabled, it can be extremely difficult to see what is going on inside of the home. One way to overcome this problem is by placing a camera outside of the home and using the wireless system to keep an eye on the cameras inside. This is a great option to consider if you want to be able to monitor what is happening inside your home. Home security cameras systems reviews also tend to cover wireless home security systems in relation to cost. This is a good thing because the costs can vary widely. Some systems can cost hundreds of dollars, while others are only a few hundred dollars. The final thing to look for when reviewing wireless options is the overall quality of the system. If the cameras are of good quality, then you should not have any concerns about the safety of your home. The best systems will offer motion detection and also have night vision options. Wireless home security systems reviews are very beneficial when deciding which security options to choose. This is because there are several options to consider. Some people feel that they are more secure when there are cameras, while others think that there is nothing that can be done about those who are not visible. There are several options to consider, so it is important to read home security systems reviews to get the correct information.” Call Now-877.740.1411

https://medium.com/@homesecuritycamera8777401411/home-camera-security-system-louisville-ky-877-740-1411-33c361c4ca9c

['Home Security Camera']

2021-03-02 08:18:27.896000+00:00

['Best Home Security Camera', 'Home Security Systems', 'Arlo Camera Setup', 'Security Camera', 'Security Services']

AMA Recap: Gem Chasers & Ethopt

Gem Radar ✪: Ok @gemchasers, welcome to another AMA series for the day. Today we have with us @hdizzle83 @captoshi of which are from the Ethopt team. Welcome guys 🙂 Captain Toshi: Thanks, Just a moment for @hdizzle83. having some connection issues :) Look forward to answering all the questions here. Gem Radar ✪: No problems 🙂 Will wait Gail Wynand: hi Gem Radar ✪: Okay Toshi & Gail, before we dive in deeper about the actual project, it would be cool to get to know you both briefly, so please introduce yourselves to our community 🙂 What is your backgrounds, did you know each other from ethopt? Is the team public/anon, how is your past experience related to the crypto scene etc.. Captain Toshi: For sure, we are anon team to the public but not to one another internally as a team. The concept of ethopt initially started in 2017 with @hdizzle83 and cintix, who unfortunately disappeared between 2017/2018, for unknown reasons. Defi was nowhere near as developed back then as it is now, so with the growing potential for options with releases like hegic, we got together and decided it was very much worth pushing ethopt out to the community. The original smart contracts were already completed before 2018, but what awaited us was a whole new frontend modernisation and integration overhaul. Gail Wynand (aka hdizzle83): As Toshi said. I would only add that the defi scene is much larger now than in 2018 Which is why we’ve decided to push this project out Captain Toshi: We have dabbled in crypto between 2014–2018, 2020 is when we really got back into watching the scene since the release of uniswap. Gem Radar ✪: Definitely agree there. So I can see you guys have a history relating to crypto. Your not new to the sector. In fact maybe the disappearance of Gail and Cintix was a blessing in disguise? In 2018 DeFi had no traction, but currently it has a whole lot of traction, so I guess we could say timing was coincidently good. Captain Toshi: We do have a decent network, which is why we were able to launchpad ourselves initially through the unimex/yieldx team, in between all those ongoing anon scams at the time of our token sales and listing. Gem Radar ✪: So lets dive into what ethopt is all about, could you please shed some light onto it for the community? In a nutshell or in your own words, what makes ethopt different? What are some of the main benefits, and does it solve any current problems in DeFi? Captain Toshi: Absolutely, I’ll leave that one to @hdizzle83 Gail Wynand (aka hdizzle83): Ethopt is really a market for the creation and execution of fixed rate trades. You offer to lock a certain token A in exchange for another token B at a particular exchange rate until a certain period in exchange for a premium. At any point until that period, you can execute the exchange, trading token B for the locked token A, or if the exchange rate is unfavourable letting the offer expires. So at its most Ethopt is a perfect hedging protocol. In fact, at its core it’s an insurance protocol. Given the abundance of rugs, pump and dump tokens, and poorly built defi projects with hacks, token prices have proven to suffer from high volatility to the extent of being able to completely collapse in value overnight. Our platform permits you to lock in a trade which says “I will pay a premium of x, in exchange for the right to exchange ETH for this highly volatile token, or not”. So at its core, ethopt is the perfect insurance protocol Gem Radar ✪: So can we say your competitor is HEGIC? Gail Wynand (aka hdizzle83): To a certain extent. But really there is no competition. We are the only pure options exchange. We permit users to price their own options, resell options, and create an option product for any token Which hegic doesn’t permit Gem Radar ✪: So you mentioned how at it’s core this is an insurance protocol. How does this mechanism work? To further elaborate, how is the user insured by using your platform, how does this prevent rugs and also help with volatility.. Gail Wynand (aka hdizzle83): Ok let me clarify Let’s say you want to purchase a token, but you feel unsure about the team. You can lock in a trade to purchase the token for a certain amount of ETH until a certain date. Up to that date, you are free at any point in time to execute the trade and purchase the token for the ETH amount. To lock in a trade you pay a small fixed amount i.e. the premium e.g. 0.1 ETH. If the team rugs, and the token price collapses, you simply do not execute the trade, and only lose 0.1 ETH. If the team proves to be legit, and the token retains value, you can execute the trade and exchange ETH for the token. But worst case scenario you’ve only lost 0.1 ETH, instead of losing everything if a token were to lose its value So you’ve protected yourself from holding a token worth nothing Let me know if this is unclear Gem Radar ✪: I’m just trying to simplify it for the community as some people are new to this technology haha 🙂 But yes I’m pretty sure you’ve disected perfectly in laymans term. So this is solving a real problem currently faced in DeFi really. What was the main purpose of creating a native token? What are the benfits of $OPT, I can see there is staking involved correct? Gail Wynand (aka hdizzle83): So ethopt charges a 1% fee on the cost of the premium (the price of the option contract). This fee is distributed in a staking contract to OPT stakers. 100% of the fee is distributed staking OPT will permit you to generate passive income from the receipt of fees Captain Toshi: Staking Our staking model will consist of two alternative contracts. Regular OPT staking -No staking fee, but a un-staking fee of 1%, which goes to burn address. -No lock up periods, you can deposit and withdraw at anytime. -Shares 50% of the dividends. OPT LP staking(only applies for the OPT-ETH pair) -No staking or un-staking fees, since liquidity providers already bear the risk of impermanent loss. -No lock up periods, you can deposit and withdraw at anytime. -Shares 50% of the dividends. Dividends accrue dynamically, meaning you will be able to watch them go up on a real-time basis. Gem Radar ✪: Thanks for this information, so whats the current plan for Ethopt, what’s next! Captain Toshi: ethopt.io — public testing and final release update. We are closing in on the final stages for the completion of the ethopt platform, so would like to provide an update now on the expected… https://ethoptio.medium.com/ethopt-io-public-testing-and-final-release-update-5b225ccc8ddf Is our latest article, but quoting it ‘We are closing in on the final stages for the completion of the ethopt platform, so would like to provide an update now on the expected features, and details of the staking model. Before we go live on the mainnet, we would also like to go through one final round of public testing, on the ropsten network, so the whole of our community will be able to try the platform, and provide any final feedback. From there we will be able to smoothly transition into the full mainnet release.# Gem Radar ✪: So in terms of security measures, what have you done to ensure security to users? Has your contracts been audited externally? Will your mainnet be audited? Gail Wynand (aka hdizzle83): The contracts have been heavily tested by one of the premier ETH devs at the time /u/cintix, very well knows in the space. The contracts are sound and secure. Bear in mind we’ve been working on this since 2018 Gem Radar ✪: Yes that’s definitely a great sign and exciting that the launch is coming up really soon. So how will you attract users to the plaform? What will be lucrative for them? Captain Toshi: To kick off our launch we will have a lot of educational resources for those new to options to educate themselves. We will also be directly launching with trading/volume based competitions/events in order to provide incentives for trying out the platform. We may very well do something like a deposit bonus for the first 1000 deposits + trades, etc Gem Radar ✪: I think this is a good idea, having educational resources or guides for people to try this out. You really have something major here and I’m definitely keen to see you guys grow Is there any further developments we could see in the near future making use of your heavily resourced ecosystem? Captain Toshi: Definitely, with regards to options themselves, we look to implement strategies and many more things familiar to those with standard options. Since we have built an entire exchange in it’s own right, we are actively considering building out more types of exchanges ) Which would only further feed OPT stakers. Gem Radar ✪: I agree, it would be at everyones benefit if you guys continously develop around your ecosystem. Captain Toshi: Yes, we do want to take it one step at a time though and perfect each product. Gem Radar ✪: so could you please share the tokenomics of $OPT Captain Toshi: Ethereum Transaction Hash (Txhash) Details | Etherscan Ethereum (ETH) detailed transaction info for txhash 0xd1153f6aff8ecdd8722859965297eaba61d242d2afc2bde675d7c78f4a31718f. The transaction status, block confirmation, gas fee, Ether (ETH), and token transfer are shown. Captain Toshi: OPT started off with a max total supply of 2,500,000 OPT. Since early on a lot of OPT was burned, including un-sold sale tokens, and some buybacks and burns conducted by team. OPT token burns 297150 https://etherscan.io/tx/0xd1153f6aff8ecdd8722859965297eaba61d242d2afc2bde675d7c78f4a31718f 673155.80 https://etherscan.io/tx/0x481cda0245c5f84e88934728f485cf3ec52e1e5aec86273581a375a0c1f70a75 Satoshi’s Return Address 62500 https://etherscan.io/token/0x7d25d9f10cd224ecce0bc824a2ec800db81c01d7?a=0x000fb8369677b3065de5821a86bc9551d5e5eab9 (This can be considered burn unless u/cintix is to return one day) After the completion of all these token burns, the total supply of OPT is now 1,467,194.2 OPT! Captain Toshi: The total supply is now closer to 1.4 million OPT. And between 900k-1M of that is circulating, rest include time-locked team tokens and a staking/reward reserve. Gem Radar ✪: Ok, great 🙂 So I think we will move onto the community questions now, we have preselected three for you to answer. Let me know when you guys are ready! Captain Toshi: Sounds great, always ready :) Gem Radar ✪: @santacloud0 asks, How do you plan to increase the liquidity of your token in uniswap and what benefits can users who provide liquidity obtain? Captain Toshi: Linking back to our staking model, it consists of two options 1. Staking OPT alone or 2. Staking OPT lp tokens So that provides further incentive to provide liquidity Especially since it’s a 50/50 split between the two staking options, if one has a lot more staked than the other, then you can expect better payouts on the one with less staked. OPT lp stakers dont have to pay the 1% unstake fee either as opposed to normal opt stakers Gem Radar ✪: @CryptoFreed0mm asks How do you deal with pump and dump investors who just buy and sell regardless of the technology behind it? In other words: how do you plan to gain the trust of all kinds of investors? Captain Toshi: In crypto I think it is impossible to truly deal with those :) We do our best to remain transparent through things like a 9 year liquidity lock, majority team tokens vested. Try to actively show and share development progress. Gail Wynand (aka hdizzle83): To be honest pump and dumping to some extent provides fees for liquidity providers, and since the trajectory of this platform given its potential is upwards, long terms holders will naturally benefit Gem Radar ✪: Lol I agree.. Captain Toshi: Some people no matter what we do, will prefer a quicker pump and dump, just the way the space is. We want to build a long lasting community of investors who are especially in search of passive income. Gail Wynand (aka hdizzle83): We are really producing a high class exchange, made as simple as possible and non intimidating Gem Radar ✪: @foundernet asks, What can we expect to see in the long term for Ethopt? Gail Wynand (aka hdizzle83): We want options to be as familiar for average joes as trading For a normal user to be comfortable enough to naturally hedge a position with an ethopt Gem Radar ✪: Yeah and I can see you guys doing that by doing AMA’s and willingly wanting to provide educational resources for beginners. Gail Wynand (aka hdizzle83): agreed Gem Radar ✪: Toshi want to elaborate on this brother? Captain Toshi: As mentioned earlier, we are actively considering building more, being in it for the ‘tech’ can be considered a meme for most but it is proven that those building the tech and providing the value are always better off longer term. You build something people want, something people will use, and it’s only natural for such a thing to then market itself. Gem Radar ✪: Perfect, well at this stage the only thing we can do is wait for the launch, and tell people to grab a fat bag of $OPT now before this takes off to the moon lol. It’s obvious you guys know what you are doing, it’s just a matter of time before this takes off. 🚀 Thank you for dedicating your time here today with us and also educating the community and I about your project. We are excited for your launch and will be following it closely. Ethopt “ The Premier Options Exchange On Ethereum. “ You guys have a classy slogan too btw 😉 Captain Toshi: No problem, appreciate the opportunity here. Gem Radar ✪: Always welcome! Till next time, see you Toshi & Gail. AMA has ended.

https://medium.com/@gemchasers/ama-recap-gem-chasers-ethopt-77422e95c9b7

[]

2020-12-22 14:21:46.845000+00:00

['Cryptocurrency', 'Altcoin', 'Defi', 'Crypto', 'Bitcoin']

Warming Up Isn’t Optional, It’s Optimal

Warming Up Isn’t Optional, It’s Optimal Practice breeds improvement. Warming up primes practice. Photo by Bernard de Clerk on Unsplash I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, WARM UP! I’m not talking about doing little arm stretches across the chest or touching your toes. I mean a full-on, designated warm-up routine. I understand we’re all eager to start our workout. Whether that be lifting weights or sprinting on the track, all we care about are the meat & potatoes — the actual workout itself. Thus, we tend to ignore the veggies — the warm-up preceding the workout. But if there’s one common agreement among vegetables, it’s that we know they are essential for good health, yet we tend to ignore them. The same applies to our warm-up. Sure, we can choose to not do it, but our refusal to do so will eventually catch up and grab us when we least expect it. So when I see athletes — particularly young folks — who are constantly burdened with chronic knee pain, shin splints, or something of that nature while exercising, I get frustrated knowing that a bulk of those nuisances could have been prevented by a decent warm-up. Here’s the thing: Our body needs to be primed before we suddenly go full-swing on intensity. Not doing so is kinda like microwaving a cup of ramen noodles before adding water. It’s a recipe for disaster (Trust me, I’ve done this before -_-). I know, I know. The idea of warming up sounds so primitive. But it’s an investment worth spending our time and effort on that will pay off in the long run. It’s a Crime to Not Take the Time! If you or somebody you know always prefers to half-ass or ignore a warm-up entirely, consider this one question: Would you rather spend an extra 10 minutes prepping your muscles, or an extra 10 weeks resting and icing your injured body? You’d be surprised by how many athletes choose the latter. Call it laziness, ignorance, or pure ego (“Pssh I’m not gonna get hurt, it hasn’t happened before and it won’t happen now”). The fact of the matter is, nobody is safe from injuries. They’re an inevitable part of sports, of physical activity. Regardless, it’s a trade-off we’re willing to take given the indisputable value of exercise for our mental and physical well-being. Although the risk for injury is inevitable, it doesn’t mean that we should deny the reduction in injury risk provided by a solid warm-up regimen. Not to mention, warming up primes our muscles to enable peak performance, which is ultimately the ideal for any athlete It feels silly that I have to add a science-backed study to prove the importance of a warm-up because I’d figure it be a common-sense idea to prepare our bodies and mind for the workout ahead. Sadly, it’s not. Do It For You I’m a sprinter who runs track & field at my community college, and it’s a great experience. Team practices go pretty smoothly, for the most part. The only issue is that sometimes I and my teammates don’t warm-up as well as we should have. Here’s the deal, our team trains as a team, thus we have a leader — which varies day to day — to lead the warm-up. Sometimes the team leader doesn’t feel like completing the whole routine. Whether it’s due to laziness or ego, it doesn’t matter. It puts all of us at a disadvantage because if the team leader doesn’t do certain stretches, we don’t either. Plus, it’s not like we have a coach to babysit us through our warm-up every day, we’re expected to complete it thoroughly. The reason I bring this up is that it’s important to realize that warming is for YOUR benefit. Just because you have a gym buddy, teammate, or know someone who performs “just fine” with a crappy to a non-existent warm-up routine doesn’t mean that you should follow their misguided footsteps. Who knows, their “just fine” performance can probably be “just GREAT” given they took the effort to properly prepare for their workout. The message here is to not become dissuaded to complete a warm-up routine. If your buddy doesn’t want to do it, that’s THEIR choice, not YOURS. The Warm-Up Alone Doesn’t Warm You Up Once we establish a proper warm-up routine, there’s one cue that we need to keep in mind: Don’t go through the motions! Be intentional with every movement and dynamic stretch because they’re meant to get our muscles ready for the stress that’s placed upon it. For instance, if we’re performing a walking hamstring sweep, we want to feel a stretch in our hamstring. But if we’re nonchalantly bending the lower back and not feeling the hamstring stretch, it’s useless. Perform each movement with purpose. Similar to driving, we purposefully turn the steering wheel left, right, or back to the center. We’re being intentional with every movement so that we can get to our destination. If we weren’t, we’d end up at our local Starbucks instead of our intended destination (Unless it was Starbucks). The same applies to warming up. Be intentional with every movement, don’t just go through the motions. Let the Workout Begin! After our warm-up routine, we should be feeling locked and loaded to channel our inner-Kobe (or anyone you idolize) and dominate the workout. If you don’t think you’re following a well-thought-out regimen, consider googling “Dynamic stretching routine for (insert sport/activity).” In the end, all we are focused on is our improvement and performing at our best capability. Doing so requires consistent practice, only if we’re put forth our best effort. Our best effort, day in and day out, is possible with a proper warm-up plan. Plain and simple.

https://medium.com/in-fitness-and-in-health/warming-up-isnt-optional-it-s-optimal-57b843bfe640

['Brandon Sarmiento']

2020-06-09 17:22:57.859000+00:00

['Fitness', 'Running', 'Life Lessons', 'Health', 'Exercise']

The Magic of Remote Work at Digits

Back in early March, before the full extent of this pandemic set in, I kicked off our introduction to remote work at Digits as follows: To be sure, working remotely is not for every business, and not for every individual. Little did I know how soon so many businesses and individuals would be forced to make do, and how quickly fully-remote work would become mainstream. It’s been an abrupt transition… and for many, it hasn’t been easy. Over the course of the year, I’ve heard from countless startup founders, small business owners, and team leads looking for more advice on how to build effective, collaborative, productive, and happy fully-distributed teams. The last, of course, being the most challenging. For those of you that have held-off implementing major process and collaboration changes to optimize for remote work, the time to reconsider is now. While there may soon be light at the end of this tunnel — thanks to the incredible vaccine development efforts by scientists and researchers worldwide — I foresee no quick reversion to “normal”. Remote work is here to stay, and every industry that can do so will embrace it. Success in 2021 and beyond will be defined by those who adapt to remote work most effectively. Here’s what we’ve learned at Digits. If you’d rather listen than read, Stanford University has published a full interview covering our approach to remote work, as well as a short 7-minute summary as part of their free Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders podcast. What We’ve Learned, Remotely Digits went fully-remote the day we started the company in 2018, with my co-founder Wayne in Los Angeles and I in San Francisco. We knew it would be a fools-errand to try to build the company we envisioned in just one city (there’s simply too much great talent everywhere) and we both shared distinct, negative prior experiences managing multiple remote offices: the “second-class citizen” effect felt by those not frequently present at HQ is hard to overcome. So (and despite distinct skepticism from a few of our investors — don’t worry, we appreciated the push-back!), Wayne and I made the decision to embrace remote work wholesale: Digits would never own a physical, shared office, and we would design our approaches and processes from the ground-up to champion distributed work. After seeing so many different attempts at remote work by so many companies over the course of this year, and after reflecting on the most effective aspects of our own culture at Digits, it’s become more clear to us than ever what’s really important. There are now thousands of online articles pitching countless techniques for improving the remote work lifestyle — it’s overwhelming. As founders, here are the practices we believe have had the most positive impact at Digits, and the ones that we would recommend you try out with your teams today, even if you’ve previously preferred an in-person work experience. Embrace Synchronicity For many, remote work is black and white: you’re either in the office together, or you aren’t. But degrees matter. Time zones matter. In our experience, productivity and happiness go hand-in-hand with collaborating live, so we’ve made a conscious decision at Digits to agree to all work roughly the same hours: in our case, US Central Time. Folks out West tend to fire up their computers a bit earlier than they otherwise would, and those back East tend to stay on a bit later, or check back in after dinner, or once their kids are asleep. There is still a bit of skew on each side, but to have our entire team online together, every day, simultaneously, for the core hours of US Central Time is magical. Sure, there are downsides. There are incredible folks (and former colleagues from prior companies!) in EMEA and APAC that we would adore the opportunity to work with, but we have assembled an incredible team that can collaborate live across North, Central, and South America synchronously. The pros outweigh the cons dramatically, and we communicate this upfront in our recruiting materials: when you join Digits, you’re free to move wherever you want within continental American timezones. For those of you who already have colleagues spread around the globe, our advice would be to strive for team synchronicity. Here’s how. The Buddy System: Scaling Synchronicity by Shrinking Teams The traditional “two-pizza” team of 8–10 folks gathered around a conference table may work well in person, but we’ve come to realize it’s unwieldy on Zoom. Even on fast Internet connections, latency often makes it awkward to get a word in edgewise in group settings, and inevitable background noise from pets, children, construction, or everyday city life motivates a default-to-mute culture, which adds another layer of friction to highly-participatory group dialogue. That’s ok — we’ve never found large group meetings to be productive to begin with 😉 At Digits, we consciously break teams down into their smallest possible units: every project is tackled by tiny teams of 2–4 people, and in practice we found that 4-person teams often self-divide pairwise to get work done more effectively. We call this the Buddy System. Working on something by yourself is lonely. Working on it by yourself, in your home, with nobody else around, is just sad. Working on it with a buddy is awesome. In practice, substantially everything we do at Digits is tackled collaboratively by 2–3 people. They work together, synchronously, throughout the day, and decide when they want to pair on Zoom, Tuple, or Slack Audio, and when they want to go heads-down and sync back up in an hour or two. But they always know who they can count on to brainstorm with, or get feedback from, or have review their work, and they know they won’t have to wait around for it because that person isn’t elsewhere working on something else. Yes, this means we take on fewer projects simultaneously than we otherwise might, but in exchange, each work-stream gets completed far faster, at a far higher quality level, and the work day is far more enjoyable. We default to coordinating work between teams asynchronously: via shared Google Docs and Trello, in order to minimize meetings and maximize flow. Input is welcomed, and actively sought from broad groups across the company, but that doesn’t take a meeting to accomplish. Let people chime in on a doc when they have time, and then grab time with them and their buddy directly if it deserves a live conversation. After all, they’re unlikely to be in another meeting… The Maker Schedule, Writ Large One of the most challenging aspects of almost any large organization is the meetings. An endless parade of prescheduled time-blocks, which require abrupt context switching and leave little time for thought, creativity, or even a snack. How easy it is to end the day exhausted, yet with the gnawing feeling that you didn’t actually accomplish anything of note? For those with the maker mindset — with roles that require creativity and execution — this sparks terror. There is no better way to ruin the productivity of your design and engineering teams than a few poorly placed meetings. Losing half a day or more due to a couple preset commitments is not an exaggeration. At large companies, it’s a way of life. At Digits, we discovered something we hadn’t realized: scarce resources are largely to blame. Conference rooms are evil. At a traditional company (all of Silicon Valley included), I need a place to hold a meeting. It would be rude to stand around and make noise somewhere public, where others are trying to work, so I book a conference room. Genius. Except, conference rooms are in high demand, so I must reserve one in advance, and my meeting must conform to the room’s list of available slots. Without thinking about it, my meeting must now be 30 minutes or an hour long, and the time it will happen is now fixed on the calendar and broadcast in advance. This is a nightmare. It turns out that the maker schedule is not all that disrupted by the meeting itself… but rather by the presage of said meeting. There is nothing more distracting than seeing a hard-stop on your calendar in 90 minutes. Do I have enough time to build out this feature before then? Can I really sink my teeth into this design problem in less than two hours? Should I just spend this time replying to email, or triaging bug reports, or grabbing coffee? “Don’t worry,” I tell myself, “I’ll dive into my real work after that meeting.” Oh no. I also have a 2pm!? At Digits, we have full-company, all-hands meetings 3 times a week, spaced every 48 hours: Monday morning Kick-off (30 mins) Wednesday morning Check-ins (30 minutes) Friday afternoon Show & Tell (75 minutes) They are scheduled to fall at the beginning or end of the day, to minimize disruption. More importantly, we aim to schedule no other internal meetings. Sure, interviews need to be booked, and customer and partnership calls need to happen, but it’s easy to distribute interviews across the team (and monitor how frequently any given engineer is pulled into an interview) and external-facing roles tend to be less maker-schedule driven. This does not mean people don’t talk! Instead, we highly prioritize an ad hoc, interrupt-driven culture. Remember, the meeting itself is far less painful than the upcoming hard-stop on the calendar. And with no conference rooms to book, there’s no need to schedule anything in advance, so we don’t bother. Much to our initial surprise, this has lead to a bit of a utopia: our typical “meeting” is 5–7 minutes long, includes less than 6 people, and happens with just a couple minutes of notice. Everyone is typically available because they’re all working US Central Time, and they aren’t tied up with any other pre-scheduled commitments, so why not join? And in just 7 minutes, they’re right back to being productive, because the meeting wasn’t long enough to “page out” or forget what they were doing and shift them out of flow. This sounds too good to be true. It isn’t. It’s reality. Remote Work At Digits Taken together, our days and weeks at Digits look like the following: High-bandwidth all-hands, every other day, so we all know what everyone else is working on and how it’s all progressing. The complete, cross-functional visibility these provide builds confidence that the whole company is rowing in the same direction, and immediately surfaces any duplicate or conflicting efforts. Empty calendars, devoid of pre-scheduled internal meetings, so everyone can stay in flow and focus on getting work done. Tight-knit, synchronous collaboration with a buddy, day-in and day-out, so you’re never alone during the day, and you always have someone you count on to brainstorm with and get feedback from. Asynchronous, cross-team collaboration via shared Google Docs and Trello cards. Input and feedback is actively sought, but never blocked on, and each team is empowered to deliver their work end-to-end. Ad hoc check-ins throughout the day, as needed. With no notice or preparation that takes you out of flow, it’s trivial to pause for 5 minutes and share an update, or get input from another team and then go right back to being productive with your buddy. Spreading the Word A few months ago, it was an honor to be invited by Stanford to share Digits’ approach to remote work as part of the university’s Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders lecture series, and they have published the full talk here. With 2020 coming to a close, Stanford eCorner just recently published a recap of their key entrepreneurial takeaways from this year, and I was floored to be featured again. Thank you Tina :) Join us at Digits We’ve been heads-down for the past two years, building out our full vision for Digits, and we can’t wait to share it with the world in 2021. If you’re excited to join a passionate, fun-loving, fully-remote team that’s obsessed with building delightful business finance software, we’d love to get to know you! See our open positions here.

https://medium.com/@jeff_seibert/the-magic-of-remote-work-at-digits-86b37ad4d98c

['Jeff Seibert']

2020-12-04 19:46:50.149000+00:00

['Startup', 'Productivity', 'Remote Working', 'Business', 'Silicon Valley']

Data Screening

Data Screening The first important step before analyzing your data is getting to know the data. This tutorial uses R and focuses on basic data screening principles, such as checking outliers and testing general linear model assumptions before beginning data analysis. Case study: The data for this tutorial is fictitious and about psychosocial traits and abusive relationships. Let’s say I am interested in examining the roles of adverse childhood experience (ACE) and borderline personality traits (BPT)(e.g., extreme fear of abandonment, emotional dysregulation) in predicting one’s likelihood to experience an intimate abusive relationship in their adulthood. I will also consider the roles of demographic variables, such as age, race, gender, educational level, intelligence, and income, because those factors may impact one’s intimate relationships. According to the scenario, the independent variables are two continuous variables (childhood trauma exposure and BPT), and the outcomes are the tendency to be an abuser and the tendency to be abused. Race and gender are categorical variables, whereas other confounding variables are continuous. Now that you know my fictitious data let’s begin the data screening process. Step 1: Set the working directory in R. To do so, use the code: > setwd(“C:/indicate where your dataset is stored”) If you use R Studio, you can set the working directory by go to Session →Set Working Directory → Choose Directory and then identify the folder where you store your data set. Step 2: Import your data set. The foreign package needs to be installed to enable R to read your data. > install.packages(“foreign) > library(foreign) Every time you use R, you need to use library to import required packages. Once a package is installed, you do not need to re-install them. Import your data set: > data <- read.spss(“the name of your data set.sav”, use.value.label=TRUE, to.data.frame=TRUE) Don’t forget to put .sav at the end of the data file name to prevent an error. You now should see your imported data in Global Environment. I store my data as the object’ data.’ Step 3: Check basic descriptive statistics of the data. > summary(data) Here is what I get from using the code summary: According to the summary of my data set, the variables containing missing values show NA and the number of missing cases. You should also check whether each variable’s minimum and maximum values in your data are accurate, looking at min and max. Step 4: Check outliers using the Mahalanobis distance. If you don’t know what a Mahalanobis distance is, a simple explanation is a distance between a single data point plotted on a plane of given variables and the means of those variables. Mahalanobis also accounts for the covariance of the given variables, as shown in the formula: D squared = Mahalanobis distance x = Vector of data points plotted on a plane of given variables m =Vector of mean values of the given variables C-1 = Inverse Covariance matrix of the given variables and T = Transposed For example, according to my data set, let’s say I would like to explore outliers of the relationship between ACE and one’s tendency to be abused using Mahalanobis distance. If Mr. A, a participant in my study, has the childhood trauma score at 4 and the tendency score to be abused at 5, Mr. A’s data point on the ACE-abused plane is (4,5). The mean values of ACE and abuse can be obtained using the following codes. > mean(data$ACE, na.rm = TRUE) #3.445792 > mean(data$Abused, na.rm = TRUE) #5.335234 The means of ACE and Abused are 3.45 and 5.33, respectively. Thus the vector of the mean values is (3.45, 4.33). According to the above mean code, make sure that na.rm = TRUE; if FALSE, NA will be returned. Now that we have the vector of Mr. A’s data point on the ACE-Abused plane and the vector of the variables’ means, let’s generate the variance/covariance matrix using var and cov: > cov(data$ACE, data$Abused, use = “pairwise.complete.obs”, method = c(“pearson”)) #[1] 18.47806 > var(data$ACE, data$ACE, na.rm = TRUE) #[1] 0.9536436 > var(data$Abused, data$Abused, na.rm = TRUE) #[1] 1.3481234 Now that you got the variance/covariance matrix, the mean vector, and the data point vector, plug-in those parameters in the Mahalanobis formula, and you will get the distance of Mr. A from other participants in the dataset. The example of the Mahalanobis distance calculation that you just learned is about only two variables. In my data set, I have more than two variables of interest. Thus, the vectors of the means and data points will be multidimensional. Don’t worry, though; you don’t need to manually calculate Mahalanobis distances of a multidimensional dataset. R will do the work for you within just a few lines of the below code! > mahal = mahalanobis(data[ , -c(1:3)], colMeans(data[ ,-c(1:3)], na.rm = TRUE), cov(data[ , -c(1:3)], use = “pairwise.complete.obs”)) The code above calculated Mahalanobis distances of every variable in my data set except categorical variables (column 1–3) and then stored the output as the object mahal. Mahalanobis distance needs to be interpreted using Chi-sqaure statistics. Thus, the next step is to convert the whole data set to a Chi-square p-value distribution, which is always right skewed if you have a small sample size. When a sample size increases, the chi-square distribution will be closed to a normal distribution. Credit: Wikimedia Commons, link to the license: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chi-square_pdf.svg As you see from the distribution figure, the higher degree of freedom (i.e., the number of sample size), the more the curve is normally distributed. The area under a Chi-square distribution graph is always 1, and a data point can fall somewhere under the graph from 0 to 1. Chi-square statistics are used for two purposes: 1) to compare whether a sample’s distribution matches their population’s distribution (AKA’ goodness of fit test’) and 2) to compare two sets of data from a contingency table (e.g., to compare whether males tend to hold an engineering degree more than females). The first purpose is what I would consider checking outliers using Mahalanobis. I will see whether the Mahalanobis distance of any participants in my dataset is significantly different from the rest of the data set. To do so, I will convert my dataset into a Chi-square distribution and set the cutoff point at .999. Remember, the area under a chi-square distribution curve is always 1. Any data points that have a Mahalanobis distance more than .999 under the chi-sqaure curve, thus, could be considered outliers relative to other data points. Similar to what I did earlier, any categorical variables’ columns will be excluded from the analysis. > cutoff = qchisq(.999, ncol(data[ , -c(1:3)])) > summary(mahal < cutoff) Here is my results from summary. Mode FALSE TRUE NA's logical 17 1095 172 You see that 1,095 cases fall somewhere less than .999 of my Chi-square distribution curve. Only 17 cases exceed the cutoff, which perhaps could be considered unduly influential outliers. Whether to exclude those outliers, you may test your hypotheses/research questions with and without those outliers to see whether the results change. Then, make a decision based on the theory that you apply and prior research. On a side note, if you still don’t get Mahalanobis’ concept, I highly recommend reviewing linear algebra to get a sense of matrices’ and vectors’ operations because such knowledge is the key to data science. A good quick review of linear algebra can be found in the series “The Essence of Linear Algebra” by 3Blue1Brown on YouTube. This website also provides a good explanation of Mahalanobis distance and a chi-square p-value distribution. Step 4: Check correlations and multicollinearity. You do not want to use variables that share an extremely overlapping variance as you want each variable to have its predictive value. Use the following code to check correlations. > correlation = cor(data[ , -c(1:3)], use = “pairwise.complete.obs”) > symnum(correlation) A cool thing about symnum is that the command uses symbols and letters to indicate correlations. For example, ‘*’ represents 0.95 Pearson correlations and ‘B’ represents 1 Pearson correlation. You may want to look for * in your correlation output as it represents a .95 correlation. If you have highly correlated variables, use a theory in your field to support your decision whether you should drop one of those variables. Here is my symnum output. My fictitious data told me that the correlation between the tendency to be an abuser and being abused is quite high (.9). The correlation between ACE and BPD is quite high as well (.9). Those correlations are theoretically supported by childhood trauma literature, and the variables are key variables in my data. Therefore, I did not drop any of them. Step 5: Assumption check. This is the most important step that you should carefully consider because statistical models do not tolerate assumption violation. For General Linear Model (GLM), you need to meet major assumptions: LINE — Linerarity, Independence of error, Normality, and Error homogeneity. For a quick review, GLM represents ‘data +error’ modeling (Rutherford, 2001), and GLM’s dependent variables are continuous. Basic GLM models are ANOVA, regression, and ANCOVA. As my independent and outcome variables are continuous, let’s do the assumption check for a regression model. To do so, I need to build a model of interest first. If you remember, in the beginning, I would like to explore the roles of ACE and BPT in predicting one’s tendency to experience an intimate abusive relationship, controlling for demographic variables. I will select the tendency to be abused as my outcome and ignore the tendency to be an abuser for now. Thus, my model is, > model = lm(Abused ~ ACE+BPT+Race+Gender+Edu+Age+Income+Intelligence, data = data) One thing that people often misunderstand is that assumption checking is all about dependent variables. Assumption checking is centered around residuals. Before we move forward, I highly recommend you understand what residuals are. This site provides a good and simple explanation. Now let’s continue with our assumption check. Once I got my model, I use fitted.values to generate the vector of my dependent variable(Abused) and then use scale to center the vector’s data points such that zero represents the mean of Abused. Data centering enables an easier interpretation, including the interpretation of assumption checks. I also use rstudent to standardize residuals of my dependent variable. Studentized residuals are the division of a residual by its standard deviation. A greater studentized residual value indicates that the data point has the potential to be an outlier. > fitted = scale(model$fitted.values) > standardized = rstudent(model) Now that we fitted our model and standardized our residuals let’s begin our first assumption check. Linearity. This assumption check will use a Q-Q plot to see the relationship between our observed and predicted values. > qqnorm(standardized) > abline(0,1) Here is what my output looks like: To interpret a Q-Q plot, think about linear algebra principles. The plane of predicted values is generated to minimize the distance between each of our observed data points and the plane. The plane should also look linear as it is the linear combination of independent variables’ planes. If our observed values are linear, the plane of observed values should be in line with the plane of predicted values, resulting in a linear trend in our Q-Q plot. According to my Q-Q plot, the line does not look that linear, meaning that some other omitted predictors could influence my dependent variable’s data points. Thus the plane of my observed values is not in alignment with the plane of my predicted values. Perhaps my data is not linearly distributed but curvilinearly. However, as the data is fictitious, I will ignore the distribution pattern and keep going with the next assumption check. 2. Normality. One good tool to check normality is a histogram. > hist(standardized) This is my histogram. My histogram reveals a normal distribution around zero (i.e., the mean of my dependent variable after centering), although there seem to be more negative standardized residuals relative to positive ones. Some of my participants likely to score lower than the mean of the abused scale, considering the predictive role of ACE, BPT, and demographic variables. It could be that those participants are outliers, or perhaps some omitted protective factors have interfered here. 3. Error homogeneity (AKA Homogeneity of variance, homoscedasticity). This assumption requires that residuals are equally distributed throughout the dependent variable’s data points (AKA fitted values). To check this assumption, we will use a scatter plot. > plot(fitted, standardized) > abline(0,0) > abline(v = 0) If my model is accurate(i.e., the abused tendency is predicted by ACE and BPT, account for control variables), residuals should be equally distributed throughout the abused scores and around zero. This is my output. According to my scatter plot, for the fitted values below the mean (0 in the figure represents the mean of Abused), errors are not distributed similarly to the fitted values above the mean. Like my histogram results, this could signify that some protective factors may play roles in predicting one’s tendency to being abused but have been omitted. 4. Independence of errors. This assumption refers to a random distribution of residuals. Residuals should be randomly distributed and do not form a specific shape. To examine whether the assumption is met, we can see from the scatter plot we generated earlier. My scatter plot looks like a tilted rectangle with more data points below the zero value of the standardized axis and on the fitted axis’ negative side, indicating a specific form or shape of errors. The results are consistent with my assumption checks of normality and homogeneity, confirming that some omitted predictors may explain my dependent variable’s error variance. If the independence of errors is met, a scatter plot should look completely at random like the below. It should be noted that fitted values of the below plot are likely not standardized and thus data points are not centered around zero, although they look are randomly distributed. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. A link to license: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mpl_example_scatter_plot.svg I hope this tutorial is useful for your next data screening. For the full list of codes used in this tutorial, please see below.

https://medium.com/swlh/data-screening-32b7896af0a

['Kay Chansiri']

2020-12-15 11:01:15.341000+00:00

['Data Science', 'Quantitative', 'Social Science', 'Quantitative Analysis', 'Data Visualization']

API Testing with HTTPie

The Basics What is an API? When a website is created for human users, it has a graphical interface. People parse websites visually, looking for common design elements such as headers, navigation, the content section, maybe some metadata. When we build something for other developers, we call it API: Application Programming Interface. It is purely text-based and has a more formal structure. Imagine it like specified forms. The API has documentation that formally states “if you send me form X, I will respond with form Y”. Client / Server and Request / Response In the API world, we have a client and a server. The client is typically a browser and the server is where the website/content is. Typically, there are lots of clients and only very few servers. A server is both, the hardware and the software. It depends on the context. The client and the server have a request/response relationship. In this example, the client sends a GET request for the “/a/life” resource. The server responds with the status code 200 (SUCCESS) and other headers. The payload is {“answer”: “42”}. Image by Martin Thoma. The client sends a request to the server. The server sends a response back. HTTP Methods Each request uses exactly one HTTP method. The five most common methods are: GET : A GET request should never change anything. You just want to read what is there : A GET request should never change anything. You just want to read what is there POST : Create something new. : Create something new. PATCH : Update an existing object. : Update an existing object. PUT : Similar to POST and PATCH combined. The client sends an identifier. If that identifier exists, update the object behind it. If not, create the object. : Similar to POST and PATCH combined. The client sends an identifier. If that identifier exists, update the object behind it. If not, create the object. DELETE: Remove an object. So you can say: “The client sends a GET request.”. Trivia: When you just enter a URL in your browser, the browser will always send a GET request. When you fill out a form on a website, it is typically a POST request. Headers and Payload Requests and responses consist of arbitrary many headers and the payload. The headers are key-value pairs, e.g. Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET Access-Control-Allow-Origin: * Connection: keep-alive Content-Length: 66 Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8 Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2021 16:35:15 GMT ETag: W/"42-LkrMrL9tE0cI3pye0CURr5DjFK4" Server: nginx/1.16.1 X-Rate-Limit-Limit: 1000 X-Rate-Limit-Remaining: 999 X-Rate-Reset: 26685 The payload can be anything. Typically text, but it could also be a byte-stream. In the case of REST APIs, the text is typically JSON formatted: { "count": 165452, "gender": "male", "name": "peter", "probability": 0.99 } HTTP Status Codes There are 3 status codes you should know: 200: Success — Everything worked fine. 404: Not Found — you or the developers messed up 500: Internal Server Error — the developers messed up They always have 3 digits and they are grouped by the first digit: 1XX: Information 2XX: Success codes 3XX: Redirects 4XX: The server thinks that the client did something wrong 5XX: Something went wrong on the server Good resources to look up specific codes are:

https://levelup.gitconnected.com/api-testing-with-httpie-2d2d0dbe71ab

['Martin Thoma']

2021-08-24 15:02:59.342000+00:00

['QA', 'Programming', 'Software Development', 'Quality Assurance', 'Testing']

How To Celebrate Holi During Pregnancy?

Being pregnant might deliver some further set of tasks for you however that does not imply you possibly can’t take pleasure in and have enjoyable on particular events. If you have not introduced your being pregnant to the remainder of the world, then holi could also be an excellent time to disclose such excellent news. In case you are within the later levels of your being pregnant then individuals will certainly go simple on you with out you having to say something. However you continue to have to take precautions relating to exerting your self bodily. So earlier than making any plans on your holi celebrations, have a phrase together with your physician. She might recommend your some precautions relying on the stage of your being pregnant. Can holi color have an effect on me or my rising child? Sure actually some colors could also be dangerous for you and now that you’re pregnant it is grow to be much more vital to decide on the fitting colors to play holi. Colors made at house from fruits or flowers are protected to play with. Pure colors produced from greens or natural dyes are protected for you and your child. It’s essential take precautions relating to deciding which colors are protected to play holi. At the moment there is no such thing as a centralized physique which regulates the manufacturing of holi colors. As an illustration pure heena is taken into account protected whereas black heena incorporates paraphenylendiamine (PPD) which can trigger allergic reactions. Colors that comprise both of those types of heena will probably be labelled as “pure”. Additionally, a color made with pure dyes will probably be labelled as ‘pure’ however the powder base of the color could also be dangerous. One other factor you’ll want to perceive is that colors made with industrial dyes and oxidized metals are harmful for you and your rising child. What to do in case of response from Holi colors? Click here to read the complete article

https://medium.com/@babiesnmumshop/how-to-celebrate-holi-during-pregnancy-3f376c3ae492

['Babies', 'N', 'Mum Shop']

2020-02-21 07:29:02.110000+00:00

['Breastfeeding', 'Festivals', 'Parenting', 'Pregnancy', 'Baby']

7 Ideas for a Second Floor Home Addition Project

A second-floor home addition is a great investment for growing families. It’s a wonderful way to utilize and maximize the square footage of a small property while giving everyone a chance to get creative with the addition of new fixtures and appliances. Having a second floor has many perks. First, it can give you a great view of the beautiful scenery around your home. Second, it improves air quality due to better ventilation. Third, it increases the market value of your house because of the increased living capacity. Depending on the varying requirements of a homeowner, the second floor can be utilized better when its features match the function of a specific room. A great deal of planning is needed to create a second level that will prove to be functional for the whole family. Second Floor Home Addition Ideas Set up an office. Moving your home office to the second floor is a brilliant idea because the office needs to be away from the busier parts of your home for it to be conducive to anything work-related. The ample supply of natural lighting is an added plus, so take advantage of this by locating it in a room where sunlight is present. 2. Add a playroom. Homeowners with children can take advantage of the great ventilation on the upper floor. It’s great to set up a playroom where there are windows that will give ample supply of natural light. 3. Create additional bedrooms. A growing family will need more space. By adding more bedrooms on the second level, you will decongest the ground floor dramatically. This adds harmony to the home by giving the family members more breathing room. 4. Make additional storage space. Making one of the additional rooms on the second floor a storage room is a smart move because as the family grows, more possessions are acquired. This means that you’ll eventually require more storage space than you used to. Raising children has several phases, and the items and equipment for child care may be overwhelming simply because they take up too much space. Having a spare room for these items is very beneficial. 5. A guest room. One of the best benefits of having a second-floor home addition project done on your property is having a dedicated guest room. The added floor will allow space not only for the guest room itself but for a dedicated bath and toilet for your guest room as well. 6. Create a study room. Much like the office, placing the study room or library on the floor makes it separate from the hustle and noise of a home. Children who are studying can concentrate more in this space rather than keeping on the ground floor where much of the action takes place. 7. Walk­-in closets and full bathrooms. Having more living space means you can add more luxury features to your home as well. A bedroom that can boast an impressive walk-­in closet is ideal for families with teens. A full bathroom located in between rooms can be placed for siblings to share. The full bathroom can have all the features including a shower, a bathtub, and single or double vanity options. It’s important to note that safety is always a priority for homes created for families especially ones with small children. All rooms on the second-floor must-have safety features like an escape window and ladders for emergency situations. It’s always best to be prepared in case of any unforeseen accidents and worse-case scenarios. Adding a second floor signifies growth and expansion. Your new addition means that your family is evolving. What better way to create future memories than by making sure you have ample space for new family members to come. This may not be an easy and simple project, but once you have committed to it, the tedious planning and execution will all prove to be worthwhile. Thinking about having a second-floor home addition project done in your property? Need some suggestions or advice? Dial 703 434–0001 today for a free consultation & estimate! Need help with design, construction, or renovation? Hire us! To know more about VP Construction: www.vpbuilds.com

https://medium.com/@vpconstruction/7-ideas-for-a-second-floor-home-addition-project-29f8e76c3d3c

['Vp Construction']

2021-03-05 06:05:11.721000+00:00

['Home Additions Services', 'Home Additions', 'Home Addition Contractor', 'Home Improvement Tips', 'Home Improvement']

Lead Acid Battery Market

Lead Acid Battery Market Future Outlook To Reach $84.46 Billion By 2025 The global lead acid battery market is expected to reach USD 84.46 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Expansion of the automotive industry in China, India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Indonesia, and Germany is anticipated to drive industry growth. Furthermore, increasing utilization of energy storage systems and UPS in industries including mining, oil & gas, nuclear power, electricity generation, gas turbine, construction, hospitality, banking, manufacturing, and off-grid renewable is anticipated to drive lead acid battery demand over the forecast period. Electric bikes are expected to witness growth at a CAGR of 6% from 2016 to 2025 owing to zero carbon emission and low-cost mobility. Increasing prices of gasoline and diesel fuels are expected to attract more consumers towards using these environment-friendly e-bikes. Furthermore, rising population and traffic congestion are expected to fuel the demand for e-bikes, which, in turn, is likely to boost industry growth over the upcoming years. U.S. lead acid battery market, by product, 2014–2025 (USD Million) To request a sample copy or view summary of this report, click the link below: www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/lead-acid-battery-market Further key findings from the report suggest: Motive power accounted for 24.1% of market share in 2015. These batteries are used in industrial applications including forklifts, golf carts, railroads, and mining vehicles. Increasing requirement for transport vehicles and forklifts mainly in India and China on account of rapid industrialization is expected to propel demand. Telecom sector was the second largest application industry and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5% from 2016 to 2025. The need for efficient management of wireless connections coupled with continuous maintenance of security levels is anticipated to stimulate the demand for lead acid batteries in the telecom industry. Europe accounted for 24.7% of the global market share in 2015 and is expected to foresee substantial growth over the next nine years. Widespread production of automobiles in countries including Germany, Italy, Sweden, UK, and the Czech Republic along with the presence of major automotive manufacturers, such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Volkswagen, Volvo, and Fiat, in the region is expected to aid in industry expansion. Asia Pacific is projected to witness remarkable growth in light of increasing need for energy storage systems. Rising demand for renewable energy along with favorable support from the government for the development of solar and wind energy is anticipated to drive the usage of energy storage systems. The abovementioned factor is expected to influence product demand over the upcoming years positively, and the market is estimated to be worth USD 39.42 billion by 2025. The industry is competitive in nature with major manufacturers including EnerSys, Johnson Controls, GS YUASA, Exide Technologies, East Penn, and ATLASBX Co., Ltd. dominating the global market. In October 2015, Crown Equipment Corporation launched forklift fleet run by lead acid batteries to lengthen the battery runtime and increase its efficiency. Grand View Research has segmented the global lead acid battery market on the basis of product, construction method, application and region: Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014–2025) SLI Stationary Motive Construction Method Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014–2025) Flooded VRLA Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million; 2014–2025)

https://medium.com/@marketresearchforecast/lead-acid-battery-market-5dafe9c7df19

['Rajesh Varma']

2019-08-22 09:06:51.881000+00:00

['Business', 'Battery', 'Energy']

Is serverless cheaper for your use case? Find out with this calculator.

At the end of the month, when you receive your serverless bill, you mainly see one number. If you want to compare this number with non-serverless app costs, you shouldn’t simply compare it to infrastructure costs, you should broaden your comparison and also include: a chunk of Ops salaries SaaS bills such as a monitoring tool development efforts for generic features like authentication, or efforts related to technology maturity and skills build-up This high-level perspective is key when assessing the economic value of serverless, as serverless encompasses TCO’s 3 variables in one bill. To give two concrete examples: A service such as Lambda is managed, monitored and auto-scalable by design, which means reducing the operational burden to handle classic performance issues and system maintenance. Another service like Cognito is pre-packaging an always up-to-date industry-standard way of handling authentication, users and authorisation, seamlessly auto-wired to other AWS services, which means you won’t have to spend developer days on rebuilding or rewiring something similar in your architecture. Yan Cui wrote a good case explaining how serverless indeed lowers costs when looking through the TCO lens. Deloitte published a white paper on the topic in which they compare serverless vs more traditional approaches on each TCO component using real examples. Serverless costs control: With the right set of skills, the technology enables feature-level cost optimisation There are many examples showing how cloud costs can get out of control (like this fresh one). With AWS, you cannot define cost ceilings. You can only create cost alarms. Which is not as reassuring as it should be: Denial-of-Wallet, I see you. The possibility of being hit by an over-spending is real. Just like the possibility of slow, or worse, crashed, systems in a classical architecture because of un-planned traffic. This is a direct consequence of the big shift in paradigm that serverless is. It is also an amazing opportunity: cloud providers are giving us the power to scale instantly, which reduces the effort of hiring and managing a dedicated team. To counter this over-spending fear, some Ops and Architect tasks are moving towards FinOps. As a FinOps you optimise your system “slightly” less for performance and maintenance reasons, and a lot more for financial ones. A nice illustration of this is Alex Casalboni’s analysis on optimising Lambda execution time and cost by defining the right resource allocation. Serverless gives you the tools for a complete and granular cost control over each feature and each piece of your architecture. You can see where you spend more than you should. You can assess the very ROI of a feature to better understand its impact on the business. Which is what a company always ends up looking at. Cloud providers are “merely” abstracting generic complexity away, and creating a shortcut toward more financial control. Some fixed architectural opinions help estimate a serverless project cost To help people estimate the cost of a serverless project and to share best FinOps practices, we decided to build an AWS serverless cost calculator. This calculator is meant to be easy to use while including each component of a complete architecture. Why is it different from what you can already find online? Because it relies on an opinion of what a serverless architecture should look like. That’s where we used our FinOps skills, arbitrating what services and how to use them to simplify the process of estimating an AWS serverless app cost. I agree that all architectures are different, and costs can change many-fold because of some differences. But at the same time most web applications share a lot of common elements: authentication, a database with some models, an API to get and update those models, a few files on a system, some asynchronous tasks and a couple of advanced workflows (think e-commerce checkout funnel or multi-step identity validation). When standardising what a typical serverless architecture can be, it makes easier the task of estimating costs for typical use cases. It also creates a place for thorough discussions and welcome challenges within the community to aim for consensus toward always more optimised systems. These opinionated principles can be found in my previous article: What a typical 100% Serverless Architecture looks like in AWS! I invite you to read it to fully understand the calculator. With the calculator, you have two ways to estimate: either be guided by pre-defined scenarios, or define one with your own inputs

https://medium.com/serverless-transformation/is-serverless-cheaper-for-your-use-case-find-out-with-this-calculator-2f8a52fc6a68

['Xavier Lefèvre']

2020-09-20 16:09:52.244000+00:00

['Finops', 'Serverless', 'Infrastructure', 'AWS', 'Lambda']

Basics of Functions and Methods in Scala.

When programs get larger, you need some way to divide them into smaller, more manageable pieces. For dividing up control flow, Scala offers an approach familiar to all experienced programmers: divide the code into functions. In fact, Scala offers several ways to define functions that are not present in Java. Besides methods, which are functions that are members of some object, there are also functions nested within functions, function literals, and function values. Scala is a functional programming language where it contains both functions as first-class values and methods and has both similarities and dissimilarities. Both the functions and methods are a block of the reusable code also used to store the repeated code in one place, which makes a function call to performs a particular specific task. They also make code easier to debug and modify. Photo by Cookie the Pom on Unsplash A function is a set of statements combined together to perform a specific task. The code can be divided logically into separate functions where each function is assigned a specific task. The function in Scala is a complete object which can be assigned to a variable whereas a method in Scala is a part of class having name, signature, bytecode and annotations. Function name can have characters like ++,+,-,– etc. However, functions are an object which is initialized in a variable, but methods start with the ‘def’ keyword followed by the method name, parameter list, method body with the return value. You’ll be learning the following topics: 1-Method declaration and definition 2-Method Call 3-A method with named arguments 4-Default Parameter Values 5-Variable-length Arguments 6-Recursion Function 7-Anonymous Function Method declaration and definition:- The method in Scala starts with the following parts: def 'method_name' ('parameters':'return_type_parameters') : ('return_type_of_method') = { 'method_body' return 'value' } The method in Scala starts with the following parts: 1- ‘def’: keyword which is used to declare methods. 2- ‘method_name’: is the name of your method, which is in lower camel case. 3- ‘parameters’: is method parameters that may have no parameter or one parameter only but are separated by a comma when there is more than one parameter. 4- ‘return_type_of_parameters’: need to match according to the data type of ‘parameters_list’ and is compulsory 5- ‘return_type_of_method’: is optional, but in default, ‘Unit’ is returned, but the value can be returned with ‘return’ keyword. 6- Assignment Symbol(‘=’): is optional, and if used will assign the return value and not using it will make the method not to return anything. 7- ‘method_body’: is the block of code enclosed inside curly braces ‘{}’ and consists of the required logic or certain task or operations. 8- return: is the keyword used to return the required values and also terminate the program but is rarely used in Scala. Method call:- The syntax for Method call in Scala is below: method_name(arguments) The Method call can be quickly done by ‘method_name’, which is the name of the corresponding method that you want to call with the arguments is passed. A method with named arguments:- The method with named arguments will allow passing the argument to the methods’ parameter during the method call where each of the arguments is matched one by one to the method parameters. You will see the example below of passing the arguments with Function declaration and definition along with the method call in action. object calculateResult { def funSub(x:Int, y:Int) : Int = { var diff:Int = 0 diff = x — y // return value return diff } def main(args: Array[String]) { // Function call println(“Difference of the value is: “ + funSub(8,6)); println(“Difference of the value is “ + funSub(y=6,x=8)); } } The above program gives the output as: Difference of the value is: 2 Difference of the value is: 2 The above program contains an object ‘calculateResult’, and inside it contains a method named as ‘funSub’ with both the parameters x and y having return type as ‘Int,’ the overall return type of the method is ‘Int’. It is followed by an assignment statement to assign the return value. The curly braces indicate the start of the method body, where the variable ‘diff’ is initialized with the initial value of 0. The Method call ‘funSub(8,6)’ done in the main method matches 8 to ‘x’ and 6 to ‘y,’ and the subtraction operation is carried out, and the value of ‘diff’ is returned and finally gets printed. Similarly, the ‘funSub(x=8,y=6)’ matches 6 to ‘y’ and 8 to ‘x’ to parameters in the method during method call where the order doesn’t matter where a similar operation is done and is return and result gets printed out. Default Parameter Values:- You can specify the default values for the method parameters through the initialization of corresponding values and can leave the method call empty by not passing the argument object calculateResult { def funSub(x:Int=9, y:Int=6) : Int = { var diff:Int = 0 diff = x — y // return value return diff } def main(args: Array[String]) { // Function call print( “The final value is: “ + funSub() ); } } The above program gives the output as: The final value is: 3 You can see the above program contains object defined as ‘calculateResult’ and inside that there is a method named as ‘funSub’ with the parameters x and y with both having return type as ‘Int’ and the overall return type of the method is ‘Int’ and is followed by assignment statement which will assign the return value. The curly braces indicate the start of the method body, where the variable ‘diff’ is initialized with the initial value of 0. The Method call is done inside from the main method where ‘funSub()’ calls and initialize the x to 9 and y to 6, and the operation is carried out, which makes the value ‘diff’ to be returned and printed. Variable-length Arguments:- Variable-length Arguments are the arguments that take any variable number of arguments and can be passed by the user or client. The last parameter in the method is declared using ‘*’ which needs to be repeated. object variableArgument { def main(args: Array[String]) { printAll(“Scala”, “is”, “great”) } def printAll(strings: String*) { var i : Int = 0; for( value <- strings ){ println(value); i = i + 1; } } } The above program gives the output as: Scala is great You can see the above program contains an object ‘variableArgument’ with ‘printAll’ methods where variable-length argument ‘String*’ is defined at the end and during the call of a method a list of strings can be passed. The passed list of strings is looped over and shown as output inside the primary function. Recursion Function:- Recursion plays a big role in pure functional programming and Scala supports recursion functions very well. Recursion means a function can call itself repeatedly. Try the following program, it is a good example of recursion where factorials of the passed number are calculated. object NewObj { def main(args: Array[String]) { for (i <- 1 to 5) println( “Factorial of “ + i + “: = “ + factorial(i) ) } def factorial(n: BigInt): BigInt = { if (n <= 1) 1 else n * factorial(n — 1) } } Out put of the program Factorial of 1: = 1 Factorial of 2: = 2 Factorial of 3: = 6 Factorial of 4: = 24 Factorial of 5: = 120 Anonymous Function:- Anonymous Function is those lightweight function definition which doesn’t have a name and is known to be function literal in Scala. Syntax with example for Anonymous Function are as follows: The first syntax and an example for Anonymous function is: Syntax: ('first_variable':'data_type', 'second_variable':'data_type') => "certain_expression" Example: (var1:String:var2:String) => var1 + var2 The second syntax and an example for Anonymous function is: (_:'data_type')operator(_'data_type') Example: (_:String)+(_:String) The first syntax shows that expression after “=>” evaluates to a particular value whereas a list of the variable before “=>” used for evaluating the expression. The second syntax above works like a placeholder where it accepts the value as a ‘wild card’ character only once, and then the operator is operated among them. You’ll see an example of anonymous function below: object anonymousDemo { def main(args: Array[String]) { var function1 = (var1:Int, var2:Int) => var1 + var2 var function2 = (_:Int) + (_:Int) // function call println(function1(5, 5)) println(function2(7, 3)) } } The above program gives the output as: 10 10 You can see above the object named to be ‘anonymousDemo’ with the ‘main’ function containing two anonymous functions. They are syntactically different but can produce the same result, where ‘function’1 evaluates by taking parameters from a function call as it is being called — passing the values 5 and 5, which results in output to be printed as 10 whereas ‘function2’ is also called passing 7 and 3 where it receives the value once, which accepts any valid ‘Integer’. In your case, do the addition operation and output the result. Congratulation, you’ve finished reading this tutorial. if you enjoyed my this post, So please appreciate after clicking clap button !! for reading more on Scala, you can refer below links as well.

https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/basics-of-functions-and-methods-in-scala-534a1692b8d6

['Lavlesh Singh']

2020-11-09 13:11:16.737000+00:00

['Big Data', 'Love', 'Scala', 'Spark', 'Python']

#MeToo Has Finally Reached the Sex Industry

#MeToo Has Finally Reached the Sex Industry Ron Jeremy faces 28 counts of sexual violence and 250 years in prison. Finally. Photo by Loren Cutler Porn icon Ron Jeremy has been charged with twenty-eight counts of sexual violence and faces 250 years in prison after more than a dozen women came forward to accuse him of everything from sexual misconduct, assault, rape, and sex with a minor. These offenses happened over the course of two decades. Why did Jeremy’s victims wait so long to file complaints? Elle Hell, a sex worker and one of Ron Jeremy’s victims, told the Los Angeles Times: You have everyday citizens who are already excusing and validating [Ron Jeremy’s] sexual assaults because we work in an industry where are “whores.” Jeremy’s victims didn’t step forward earlier because no one would have believed them. And even if they were believed, who would have cared? A sex worker can’t be raped. Her job is having sex. Sex workers are understood to be very much “asking for it.” When they are raped, no one is fazed. A sex worker deserves every bad thing that happens to her. Is it any wonder that Jeremy’s victims took so long to go to the police? In fact, it’s a miracle that Jeremy has been charged at all. That Ron Jeremy has been accused of assaulting and raping women doesn’t surprise me. What surprises me is that something is actually being done about it. It’s high time that #MeToo reached the sex industry. Maybe now sex workers can finally live free from the threat of sexual violence. At least now if we’re harassed, abused, or raped, we have the legal recourse to seek justice. #MeToo and the sex industry. If mainstream Hollywood actresses felt they weren’t strong enough to denounce powerful industry players like Harvey Weinstein, then sex workers have felt even more powerless in the face of the producers, directors, and establishment owners who hold the keys to their success. Sex workers have too often believed that abuse is business as usual in the sex industry. Assault is an occupational hazard of the job. Former porn actor and writer for The Daily Beast, Aurora Snow, writes of the poor treatment she’s suffered on set: I assumed that’s just how porn was. That’s how a lot of women thought back then: we accepted the status quo without knowing we shouldn’t. Complaining meant risking your job. Just as Harvey Weinstein’s behavior was excused because of the major role he played in Hollywood, big names in the sex industry like Ron Jeremy have enjoyed the same protection. Those days are over. Ron Jeremy’s indictment has sent a clear message to men in the sex industry: the abuse, assault, and rape of sex workers will no longer be tolerated. Sex workers have suffered long enough from abuse on the job. #MeToo couldn’t have reached the sex industry any sooner. Just two years ago, adult film star Nikki Benz filed a suit against adult film director Tony T for the abuse she suffered during a porn shoot in 2016. Benz alleges that during the shoot, Tony T jumped in mid-scene to stomp on her head before violently choking her. Benz claims that she begged him to “cut” but he wouldn’t. Benz filed charges against Tony T, her co-star Ramon Nomar, and the production company behind the shoot, Brazzers. The Los Angeles district attorney’s office, however, dropped her case, citing “insufficient evidence.” Even worse, Tony T retaliated by suing Benz over claims of defamation. Had Benz come forward today, perhaps she would have received the justice she deserves. Women are often young and naive when they get into the industry. Just as Hollywood producers like Harvey Weinstein preyed on young and naive Hollywood actresses, sex industry producers, directors and business owners often target young women who are new to the industry. Even if a woman is of legal age — eighteen — she may still lack the knowledge and self-confidence to stand up for herself, especially when she’s auditioning to work. Snow explains: Certain directors have reputations for preying on unsuspecting newbies, coercing them into sex (off-set) with promises of future work. A sex worker’s treatment doesn’t necessarily improve once she’s landed the job either. Snow describes one of her shoots: As a former porn star, I’ve done scenes that were so brutal I could barely drive home. I’d spend the next day curled up in a ball on my couch not wanting to move, unable to eat because everything hurt so much. At least now there’s a legal precedent for a woman to file a complaint against her employer when she’s abused on set, on the floor of “the house,” or anywhere else she may go to do her job. Thanks to the women who denounced Ron Jeremy, #MeToo has finally reached the sex industry. Negotiating boundaries in the sex industry has always been a tricky business. When you’re having sex for money, where do you draw the line? Are you allowed to say no to certain activities? Because your job is pleasing men, do you have to say yes to everything? No. Men in the sex industry have too often believed they can treat female sex workers however they want. Worse, sex workers used to have nowhere to turn. The implicit understanding was that a woman was supposed to suck it up and shut up if she wanted success in the industry. That era has ended. Men can no longer treat sex workers like garbage and expect to get away with it. Now there’s a precedent that a man can be charged with sexual violence, even if the victim is a sex worker. Ron Jeremy’s indictment is a win for female sex workers everywhere. But we couldn’t have reached this point without the courageous actions of those women who risked everything to go after Ron Jeremy. Because of them, #MeToo has finally reached the sex industry. And it’s high time it did.

https://medium.com/ecstatic-cling/metoo-has-finally-reached-the-sex-industry-c6f3ec3f0422

['Mysterious Witt']

2020-09-02 01:15:02.389000+00:00

['Feminism', 'Women', 'Sexuality', 'Equality', 'Sex Work']

Comedic Cover

Photo by Minh Pham on Unsplash I am confident I would be a great fit for this job seeing as how I am small and compact, I am more versatile than a Prius and more focused than a Fusion. I have two wonderful kids who have no sense of humor when it comes to me, but we have a third on the way so hopefully, he will be the one I actually love. I was a former chef of fourteen years, but find it more pleasant pressing ink than burgers. The lovely pandemic forced me home with my two “amazing” kids so my wife could take the easy route and work non-stop pregnant for a career. I write, I cook, I beat my kids, and pet my dog. I’m still able to make my grandmother laugh even after she passed away years ago. My goal is to make MY world laugh because apparently, my wife’s world is our children. Thank you for your consideration or not. You’ll be sorry either way.

https://medium.com/@timvarner1989/comedic-cover-d3ea7fcd59b7

['Tim Varner']

2020-12-17 18:03:35.324000+00:00

['Funny', 'Life', 'Job Hunting', 'Job Search', 'Comedy']

Do you want to radically change your life?

Do you want to radically change your life? Listening is a critical skill for growth and leadership, but how many of us actually listen well? A consultant friend of mine recently told me a story about telling his managing director that he was struggling in his current role and that it wasn’t working out. The managing director had just met with a new client who happened to love my friend, and as a result, wanted to do more business with their firm. Rather than listening to my friend’s struggles regarding the role, his managing director praised him told him that this engagement could become a good account for him. Whose interest did this managing director have in mind? Do you think he actually heard what my friend was saying? In his book, The Lost Art of Listening, Michael P. Nichols states, “When people respond to us in terms of their own preferences rather than turning to ours, it feels like they don’t really know us, don’t really get who we are, and aren’t really listening.” It goes without saying that most of us aren’t exceptional listeners. Frequent misunderstandings aren’t just the subject of marital strife, but also the cause of costly errors from boardrooms to call centres across the world. Why is listening so difficult? The answer isn’t as nefarious as some might suggest. The problem stems from the fact that our brains think much faster than we talk. The average American speaks at 125 words per minute. At this pace, we’re effectively able to listen and have room to think about other things in the spare time. Issues with listening arise because most of us haven’t been taught what to do with that spare time. Some of us commonly use this time for “multitasking” such as cleaning a room or typing an e-mail. Other times, the listener may be rehearsing their response while the other person is talking. Frequently, the listener gets an idea and pipes in to change the subject. Michael P. Nichols writes, “To listen well, it’s necessary to let go of what’s on your mind long enough to hear what’s on the other person’s.” Here are some tips for substantially improving your listening skills: Listen to what others have to say first. Listen to what they are saying and give them a fair chance. Refrain from thinking of a counterpoint. If a team member or colleague appears distant, ask them what’s going on and show them that you’re actually willing to listen. Listen without disagreeing. Put your emotions aside. Becoming emotional will distort the speaker’s real message in your mind. Listening is a critical skill for everyone, not just for leaders. Effective listening can reduce anxiety and loneliness experienced by the speaker. When we listen well, we build deeper relationships by allowing the speaker to feel known and understood. Do you want to improve your relationships and radically change your life? Grab a copy of The Lost Art of Listening.

https://medium.com/beakerandflint/do-you-want-to-radically-change-your-life-8d4709802920

['Reggie James']

2020-04-01 00:32:25.099000+00:00

['Agile', 'Leadership', 'Transformation', 'Coaching', 'Lean Startup']

The New Marriage between Paid and PR

Within the PR and advertising industries, there’s often talk about the PESO model (paid, earned, shared, and owned media). We group these different forms of media together in a catchy acronym, but they are they working seamlessly? For PR practitioners, paid promotion can sometimes feel like the black arts, and vice versa for those who work in paid media. We recently spoke with Jerrid Grimm, co-founder of Pressboard, a company that brings paid and editorial PR together, about how the lines between PR and paid activity are blurring. The Ability to Measure Sets Paid and Editorial Apart On paper, the glaring difference between paid and editorial PR is that one is paid, which means that placement is guaranteed. However, Jerrid claims the less obvious difference (and a major advantage) of paid media is the ability to measure it. This often makes it a more preferable marketing activity, because it seems a lot “safer”. This is even more prevalent online, where everything is far more measurable. With paid you can easily measure results by putting either a pixel or a script onto the page you want to track (if you have access to the backend, of course). With earned, while you can ask the publication or influencer you’re collaborating with to share that number (although in most cases this is almost impossible), it’s far more difficult and, in many cases, you cannot guarantee how many people will see a story. There tends to be a lot of guesswork involved in PR because, while you can get a rough idea of how many people view a website a month or the circulation of a magazine, you don’t know for sure how many people will actually read your story. Jerrid says to think about it this way: An online publication might regularly get 100,000 monthly views. However, it might have hundreds or thousands of pages, where only 5% get the lion’s share of views. Your story might be published with the expectation that it’ll get a proportion of those monthly views, only to learn that it received just 200. This lack of ability to measure how well a specific page is going to do has led to some number exaggeration — we only have to look at the AVE controversy to know this. However, Jerrid explains that we’re seeing a lean towards other metrics, like social media shares, likes, and views. With paid promotion, you’re essentially paying per person who sees your story, so you can pick the reach you want and adjust your budget accordingly. There’s usually a guaranteed performance you can count on and it’s far more consistent than editorial PR. PR and Paid Are Merging Paid promotion and editorial PR come from two very different backgrounds and skill sets but slowly we are seeing them merge. If you add some paid activity to your PR campaigns, you can really maximise the output. In our chat with Jerrid, he briefly covered his brand, Pressboard, and how they’re bridging the gap between the two different sides. It’s essentially an ad technology that allows brands to promote their earned media by paying for it. Instead of a publication hitting publish on your story and letting it gather dust in the depths of their site, you can refresh it and bring it back to people’s feeds by injecting a bit of money into it. Pressboard isn’t the only company which is helping promote PR activity. There has been a rise in the use of PRs using companies such as Outbrain to further promote their editorial coverage, and we are likely to continue to see this area develop. While these kinds of tools have been around for a while, Jerrid can see why the uptake of paying to promote your PR is fairly slow. “One big problem stopping this change is that PR has always circulated around the idea that it doesn’t need money, it earns it,” he says. “We’re still transitioning from this mindset, which is why it’s still very rare that you’ll see PRs managing paid promotion.” “When you spend ages on the PR side saying we don’t need your money, it’s hard going back to say that you actually do,” says Jerrid, referring to traditional PRs who prided themselves on gaining coverage with little budget. Meanwhile paid activity is leaning to PR too PR is leaning into paid activity to help with measurement and consistent delivery. Advertising is also learning from PR. The industry is becoming more consumer-centric as the general population become savvier to forceful marketing messages. This means even paid advertisement needs the hook of a good story. “There’s a move away from interruptive-style advertising like banner ads and more towards this draw of marketing,” Jerrid says, adding that we’re seeing brands favour content that’s people actively come to because it’s interesting. Without the starting point of an interesting story, neither paid promotion nor PR will work. This is where PR really thrives. It’s one of the only practices that, for hundreds of years, has been solely about storytelling — and that isn’t changing anytime soon. This means it goes hand in hand with content marketing, where the goal is to pull visitors to a site through thoughtful, insightful, and educational content. The Difference Isn’t So Different The difference between paid media agencies and PRs is primarily a difference in belief systems. Someone who thinks that marketing is more powerful when it comes from a third party is going to butt heads with someone who thinks you shouldn’t have to earn media placements if there are avenues to pay for it. However, with the changes that are happening, brands are starting to power up their stories by incorporating both PR and paid activity. They are beginning to take earned media (which Jerrid claims “becomes an asset” as soon as it’s published) and turn it into owned media to prolong its life. That might mean republishing it on your blog, sharing it through your newsletter, or linking to it from your social channels. However, what you really want is the third party publication to keep sharing it. If you get a placement on the New York Times, you don’t want them to Tweet it once and then never mention it again, right? You worked hard to get that placement and you want to keep reaping the benefits of it for as long as possible. These Are Exciting Times The convergence of paid media and editorial PR is an exciting one that brings many possibilities with it. Not only should we see more emphasis on measurement in the future, but we’re also likely to see even more creative ways PRs can leverage paid and editorial PR. If you want to hear more about Jerrid and his thoughts on how to make your PR news story last longer, download the podcast here.

https://medium.com/the-resolution/the-new-marriage-between-paid-and-pr-f159d46928d8

['Laura Joint']

2019-10-04 09:06:29.442000+00:00

['Coveragebook', 'Public Relations', 'Paid Advertising']

Shark Quest: Are the World’s Most Endangered Rays Living in New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea?

[Note: this commentary, which was originally published at The Revelator, is the sixth and final essay in a series by researchers with WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) during Shark Week documenting challenges and successes in shark and ray conservation today.] “We saw two swimming past our canoe the other day as we came to shore!” “Yes, we saw one over towards the mangroves not so long ago…” “There was one in our net near the big river…” Scientists love having a mystery to solve and gathering clues to find out if something is real or not. Since January 2019 my organization, the Wildlife Conservation Society, has been collecting evidence to confirm whether highly endangered sawfish and their relatives — the wedgefish, guitarfish and giant guitarfish (collectively and affectionately known as “ rhino rays “) — live in the coastal waters of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. Sawfish and their rhino ray relatives — all cousins of sharks — are some of the most threatened species on Earth due to their slow growth, vulnerability to capture in fisheries, and high value in international trade. Recent studies indicate that Papua New Guinea is (together with northern Australia and the southeastern United States) one of the last few strongholds for sawfish populations, making the country a global priority for shark and ray conservation. Currently sawfish and rhino rays have been well documented along the southern shores and adjacent river systems of Papua New Guinea, and also in the Sepik River, which drains into the Bismarck Sea on the northern coast of the mainland. Sawfish have also been documented in several other provinces in the country, yet no official records exist in New Ireland Province. Until now. Papua New Guinea occupies the western half of New Guinea and is the largest of the South Pacific Island nations. The uplifted reefs, limestone terrain and adjacent islands that form New Ireland Province comprise the north-easterly region of Papua New Guinea. From January 2019 to March 2020, fisher key informant surveys were conducted in coastal communities in western New Ireland Province to determine whether sawfish and rhino rays were observed within the customary waters of each community. A total of 144 sightings were made, including 85 wedgefish (blue), 36 guitarfish and giant guitarfish (green) and 23 sawfish (red) sightings. Source: WCS. The southwestern Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea is known for its renowned biodiversity, much of which lives nowhere else in the world. But that amazing animal and plant life is often both understudied and under threat. This holds true in New Ireland. The many islands of New Ireland Province, located in the Bismarck Archipelago, support coral reefs, mangroves, estuaries and tidal lagoons — typical habitats for rhino rays and sawfish. Some 77 percent of New Ireland’s human population also lives in the coastal zone, where they’re highly reliant on fish and other marine resources for food, livelihoods and traditional practices. Local communities also own most of this coastal zone through customary tenure systems, which may have been in place for centuries. Human pressure, including population growth, could threaten potential sawfish and rhino ray populations unless sufficient management is in place — but local cooperation will be key to such action. Over the past year and a half, WCS has conducted interviews in New Ireland’s coastal areas. Part of the interviews involved showing images of each sawfish, wedgefish and guitarfish species, allowing respondents to identify what they saw. To date residents from 49 communities reported that they had seen sawfish and rhino rays in their local waters. There were 144 separate sightings reported by 111 respondents, which comprised 23 sawfish, 85 wedgefish and 36 guitarfish and giant guitarfish. Roughly half the respondents stated they had seen sawfish or rhino rays either often or sometimes. Wedgefish in New Ireland Province: documented by BRUVS during the FinPrint project (left) and by scuba divers (Dorian Borcherds, Scuba Ventures) (right) When asked if the animals were targeted by local fishers, more than half the respondents said no: The animals were mostly caught accidentally. Only 9% of the sighted sawfish and rhino rays were reported to have been purposefully caught. Respondents also provided information on where, and in what condition, they had seen the animals: 77% were seen alive, 10% at the market and 2% entangled in nets. The results suggest that while sawfish and rhino rays are in the region, they are not a key fishery commodity, which is promising news for developing conservation approaches. Large-tooth sawfish (Pristis pristis) rostrum, beside a ruler, which was harvested by local community fishers from the Tigak Islands that lie to the west of mainland New Ireland. This rostrum measured nearly 30 inches in length. Photo: Elizah Nagombi/WCS. While physical and objective data has been lacking — I’m still waiting to see one of these animals in the water, myself — we have confirmed evidence of two large-tooth sawfish ( Pristis pristis) in the region (two sawfish beaks, also known as rostra, have been found in community villages since this study began), and we’ve received reports of additional sightings. WCS also conducted baited remote underwater video surveys (BRUVS) in 14 locations in the region in 2019–20, following a 2017 BURVS deployment by FinPrint in western New Ireland Province. Collectively the BRUVS documented 13 species of sharks and rays, including wedgefish (which have also been photographed by local dive operators), but no sawfish. But with that success, we’re expanding our search. Over the next 12 months, a further 100 BRUVS will be deployed in areas with a sandy seafloor, where wedgefish and giant guitarfish often rest. Because sawfish typically live in estuaries — where water is often murky — BRUVS will not work due to the poor visibility of the water. In these areas gillnets that have been carefully positioned in river outlets by trained local community members will be monitored for sawfish that may be present. If any sawfish are present in the nets, they will be documented and carefully released. Example of education and outreach materials produced by the WCS team. This poster presents management methods that can be used by community residents to help manage sawfish and rhino ray populations in their customary waters. Despite the vulnerability of sawfish and rhino rays — with five of the ten documented species in Papua New Guinea classified as critically endangered — there are currently no protection laws in place. However, since 2017, WCS has worked with over 100 communities in New Ireland Province to establish the country’s largest network of marine protected areas. The MPAs have been developed through a community-first approach, with extensive local outreach, engagement and education. In that way WCS has been actively informing local residents about the biology, threats and management opportunities for sawfish and rhino rays. We anticipate that new laws to protect and manage these endangered animals will be incorporated into the management rules for the new MPAs. While the mystery as to whether sawfish and rhino ray populations are alive and well in PNG has largely been solved, they are still rare and in need of additional conservation efforts. We hope that this work will help bring awareness and conservation action to these highly threatened species — and make sure they don’t become mythical creatures of the past. Jonathan Booth is Marine Conservation Advisor with the Papua New Guinea Program at WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society). — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Read the other pieces in this WCS series for Shark Week here: Making Our Marine Environment Safe for Future Shark Weeks Ground Realities of Shark Fisheries in India Ocean Guardians Pave the Way to Save Threatened Sharks and Rays in Bangladesh The Informal Blue Economy: East Africa’s Silent Shark Killer First Signs of Hope for Critically Endangered Wedgefish and Giant Guitarfish in Indonesia

https://medium.com/wcs-marine-conservation-program/shark-quest-are-the-worlds-most-endangered-rays-living-in-new-ireland-province-papua-new-guinea-bfa048c79224

['Wildlife Conservation Society']

2020-08-29 21:07:38.782000+00:00

['Environment', 'Papua New Guinea', 'Sharks', 'Oceans', 'Conservation']

Living Dangerously by Doing Public Philosophy

Living Dangerously by Doing Public Philosophy Michel Foucault, the French intellectual, who — following in the footsteps of countryman Jean-Paul Sartre — is often characterized as the quintessential public philosopher. Once upon a time on Twitter, I asked Nigel Warburton, Philosophy Bites podcaster in the UK, how he defines ‘public philosophy’ and I received no response, at least not from his account. However, soon after, a tweet appeared from a different handle (what I suspect was a sock-puppet account): “It is doing philosophy in public.” I immediately thought, what a banal description of such an interesting activity. I too wouldn’t be proud to offer that answer. Let’s call “It is doing philosophy in public” the ‘sock-puppet’ definition of public philosophy. What is Public Philosophy? The interrogative “what is public philosophy?” is itself a philosophical question. Formulating an adequate response is challenging, whether the respondent is a philosopher, journalist, participant in a professional meeting or an institutional leader. An answer is perhaps best arrived at by doing public philosophy — that is, by actually injecting philosophical ideas into public discourse and seeing where this takes you. Author an editorial for a local newspaper. Give a talk to members of a community organization. Serve on a citizen committee or in public office. Contribute regularly to a blog about public issues. Probably the most non-controversial definition of ‘public philosophy’ I’ve found in years of searching is Jack Russell Weinstein’s in his essay “What Does Public Philosophy Do? (Hint: It Does not Make Better Citizens)”: “In contrast to philosophy simpliciter, public philosophy denotes the act of professional philosophers engaging with non-professionals, in a non-academic setting, with the specific goals of exploring issues philosophically. In other words, public philosophy involves getting people to think about the assumptions that govern the things they do, the controversies they are immersed in, and the experiences of their day-to-day lives by looking at those aspects that are either invisible to them or taken for granted. Public philosophy and philosophy as it is usually understood are not too far apart, although their audiences differ radically. What public philosophy need not be, however, is professionalized and refined.” Weinstein claims that “[p]ublic philosophy and philosophy as it is usually understood are not too far apart,” except that “their audiences differ radically.” However, Weinstein’s definition strikes me as only a slightly elaborated version the sock-puppet definition, from “It is doing philosophy in public” to “It is doing philosophy for a general audience of non-philosophers.” (Another version I’ve heard “It is doing philosophy in a public-facing manner.”) What I’m Up To In this article I want to accomplish more than simply arrive at a definition of public philosophy. Instead, I wish to draw a ground-map of the terrain we tread as public philosophers and locate the metaphorical landmines — not in order to help others avoid them (some are simply unavoidable), but so that we can all acknowledge the risks in advance of undertaking the enterprise. In other words, the point is to speak to some of the dangers of doing public philosophy and explain why attempts to eliminate those dangers or make public philosophy a safe and sanitized space, while well-intentioned, threaten to undermine the enterprise of public philosophy itself. I’m guessing that I’ll make some enemies in the process, but here it goes. Romanticizing Public Philosophy There is no shortage of scholars and journalists who have sought to romanticize the role of the public intellectual or public philosopher. I am guilty of it myself. I argued in at least two pieces (here and here) that more intellectuals should become what the American philosopher John Dewey called “liaison officers,” fulfilling dual roles as, one, interdisciplinary scholars (i.e. bridging between specialized discourses in distinct academic disciplines) and, two, public philosophers (i.e. translating academic ideas into the language of public or everyday discourse). In this second capacity (public philosopher), the intellectual engages with the public in order to collaboratively identify, clarify and address public problems. She also seeks to educate and inform the public about issues that might appear inscrutable to all but the very few, the experts and policymakers. In this way, the public philosopher prevents the policy environment from becoming, as Walter Lippmann described in his 1922 book Public Opinion, “too big, too complex, and too fleeting for direct acquaintance,” so that citizens’ opinions grow vulnerable to manipulation by elites — in a process famously called the “manufacture of consent.” This is a wonderfully idealized picture of public philosophy, though it borders on the naïve. I’m not the only naïve one, though. Others, such as the renowned Harvard political philosopher Michael Sandel, also excessively romanticize public philosophy. In the preface to his 2005 book Public Philosophy, Sandel identifies two “senses” of public philosophy: one, to “find in the political and legal controversies of our day an occasion for philosophy,” and, two, “an attempt to do philosophy in public — to bring moral and political philosophy to bear on contemporary public discourse” (p. 5). Throughout the collection of essays, he plies his trade, analyzing a cross-section of controversial public issues, from assisted suicide to stem cell research to affirmative action to environmental pollution. Sandel is renowned for filling classes at Harvard University with hundreds of students for his first year course titled Justice and engaging them at a level you normally see only in significantly smaller graduate seminars. But the true test of Sandel’s public philosophy is whether he can engage citizens outside the university, inspiring average people who care about these issues but lack the time, attention or aptitude to read his books or attend his lectures to take action. Perhaps the first obstacle a public philosopher must overcome is the anti-intellectualism that is unfortunately rife in American society and its politically polarized culture. Professional Philosophy Associations are Also Guilty Organizations such as the Public Philosophy Network and the American Philosophical Association’s Committee on Public Philosophy (APA-CPP) are equally guilty. They too have also unnecessarily romanticized public philosophy. (Full disclosure: I served on the APA-CPP from 2012 to 2015). In 2010, the APA-CPP organized a special meeting on the opportunities and challenges of practicing public philosophy, including how to teach it, evaluate it and emphasize its value across the university and within the wider community. Two participants, Sharon Meagher and Ellen Feder, created a report titled “Practicing Public Philosophy” in which they offered a record of the event and its findings: “A consensus quickly emerged that we [participants in the 2010 American Philosophical Association meeting to discuss the value of practicing public philosophy] should not aim to define the term [‘public philosophy’] in ways that provided some sort of litmus test on whether someone was engaged in public philosophy or some project could claim the label. Rather, we worked to think about how philosophical engagement with various publics has been — and can be — valuable.” The final report by the meeting’s organizers reveals some of the initial misgivings philosophers feel about accepting such a non-traditional form of philosophical activity. Will public philosophy be required of all philosophy faculty members? Will doing public philosophy eclipse standard practices of scholarship and service? How do tenure committees evaluate public philosophy? Most of the report is laudatory, praising the activity and its value within and beyond the philosophical community. Its authors congratulate public philosophy and public philosophers for justifying the value of philosophy and the liberal arts generally, both inside and outside of the university, as well as enabling critical reflection and informed activism. The authors write: “Philosophical practice is a public good and should therefore be practiced in and with various publics. It has the explicit aim of benefiting public life and should be liberatory. Public Philosophy should assist and empower those who are most vulnerable and suffer injustice, particularly through a critical analysis of power structures.” While the report confers some much-needed legitimacy to public philosophy, the problem is that the idealized vision it offers belies some of the dangers inherent in the enterprise. Insofar as it is a fictitious rendering, the effort to state public philosophy’s value in such fanciful terms— much like the efforts to create safe spaces for its practice — are misconceived. If I were an early career philosopher reading this report, I might be tempted to engage in this romantic form of philosophical practice without a full appreciation of how perilous it can be, without knowing where the metaphorical landmines are buried. That would be dangerous. Doing Public Philosophy in Pennsylvania In February 2016, I was approached by a former student who told me that he knew several cadets at the Pennsylvania State Police Academy in Hershey who were caught cheating. At the time, I was working as a professor at Penn State University Hazleton in Northeastern PA. Despite the news reports, my former student claimed that these cadets were not so-called ‘bad apples.’ The cheating was systemic, longstanding and approved by the academy’s administration, he insisted. It would be more apt to say that apples (students) were not bad; instead, the barrel (organization) was bad. It would be more apt to say that the apples were stored in bad barrels — in this case, a police academy rife with corruption. The status quo was maintained by administrators, faculty and political backers who knew full well that many incoming cadets were so academically unprepared that they had to cheat in order to matriculate. I interviewed several of the dismissed cadets and swore to them that I would not disclose their identities and that I would exercise discretion in choosing who I shared their stories with. Those cadets who told the truth to authorities, particularly that cheating was tolerated and even encouraged at the academy, were summarily dismissed, while those who lied graduated and became troopers. I quickly realized that this was an ethical problem that had to be exposed. I also discovered that a local community college’s municipal police academy had a similar cheating incident occur only two years previous to the state police academy scandal. It was no coincidence that at both the state police academy and community college municipal police academy cheat sheets were passed from one student cohort to the next. But the similarities did not stop there. Both scandals were subsequently covered up after the administration blamed the cheating on a few wayward students. In both cases, no instructors or administrators were disciplined or terminated. Promises were then made that exams would be changed more frequently to prevent similar patterns of cheating. Finally, I unearthed another trail leading to my then-current employer, Penn State University, an internationally recognized state research university. My employer had started a project to help the state police academy recover from the bad press and improve recruitment numbers in the wake of the cheating scandal. The online education purveyor at the university I worked for, the only growing division, had experienced problems with student cheating too and were able to revise academic integrity policies and change testing procedures (by, for instance, not requiring in-person proctors). If more students cheat, then more stay in the programs and eventually graduate. Sometimes institutional sharing of best practices can be unethical, especially when it involves telling other educational institutions how to tolerate and encourage student cheating in order to artificially inflate retention and graduation rates. Between February 2016 and August 2016, I conducted research on this phenomenon of institutionally-approved cheating at these three entities, as well as the sharing of best practices between them, and eventually wrote an article about it for the on-line publication Truthout. I’d like to say that what came next was unexpected, but that would be a lie. As a result of doing public philosophy, I suffered retaliation from my employer, was harassed by the local police and bullied by the state police. In the course of six months, my website and blog were shut down by my employer, a state police trooper threatened me over the phone while I was transferring custody of my children to their mother and I was accosted and harassed by six members of the the local police department when trying to visit my children at their daycare. I found out that the former police chief of the local police department had taught for the community college municipal police academy. For shutting down my website and blog, a student of mine filed a complaint with my employer through their ethics and compliance reporting system. I filed formal complaints against the state and local police. Nothing came of these complaints. The retaliators, bullies and harassers won. But as I said, I expected that this would be the outcome. I was aware of the risks before I started the project and eventually accepted the retaliation, harassment and bullying as natural consequences of doing public philosophy. As I teach my ethics students, the Iron Rule of Whistleblowing is that when you expose the truth, those who feel threatened will retaliate. It is proof that they know what they are doing is wrong and that you are right. (Another account of this episode can be found here.) The Perils of Practicing Public Philosophy Romanticizing the role of the public philosopher can lead one to overlook the very real dangers of the enterprise. If you publicly criticize your university employer, you could become a target of retaliation. If you write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper exposing the corrupt practices of the police chief, you could be harassed by the police. If you draw attention to an issue that a college alumni network or a large professional association would rather you not talk about, you could find yourself (as well as your family) the target of a coordinated campaign of cyber bullying on multiple social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, etc.). The dangers of doing public philosophy are manifold. Push-back against public philosophers has become especially virulent in the blogosphere. Harassing messages and thinly-veiled threats are termed trolling. The people who make them are trolls. Public philosophers working in the blogosphere will inevitably face off with trolls and have to endure their trolling behavior. For instance, in his 2015 New York Times essay “Dear White America,” philosophy professor George Yancy writes a letter to his readers, asking them to acknowledge their sexist and racist biases, as well as confess the privileges they derive in virtue of being male or white. The letter was based upon nineteen interviews he conducted with a diverse group of intellectuals discussing the topics of sexism and racism. While some of the responses to his essay were positive, the overwhelming majority of commenters reacted in a negative and even aggressive manner, sending him hate mail, leaving harassing messages at his home and even threatening him with physical violence. Yancy’s essay was an exercise in public philosophy and it brought out the trolls. In the blogosphere, public philosophers are fair game for trolls. It is a minefield that awaits anyone who dares to play the gadfly or speak truth to power. Doing public philosophy in this medium involves some unique risks and consequences too. Audience members can respond anonymously or under a pseudonym, so there is little accountability for the messages they post. The question is whether someone who wishes to inject philosophical ideas into the public discourse is willing to accept the risk of being trolled and the consequent damage that trolling behavior could have for their reputation, mental health and physical integrity. If they are unwilling to accept the risks and consequences, then there are always alternatives: presenting those ideas at an academic conference with like-minded scholars or at a friendly departmental colloquium or in a supportive online discussion forum. It might be objected that the blogosphere should be sanitized, cleaned up, made more safe, so that we can all do public philosophy without the associated risks and consequences. To some extent, that is what some members of the American Philosophical Association have decided to undertake by drafting and defending their official statement on bullying and harassment, to which we now turn. The American Philosophical Association’s Statement on Bullying and Harassment On February 12, 2016, the American Philosophical Association released its “Statement on Bullying and Harassment,” drafted by members of the Committee on Public Philosophy and the Committee on the Status of Black Philosophers. I would like to give a fairly literal account of the statement, quoting it wherever possible, and then offer my response. The statement begins with a preamble affirming the value of public philosophy. The authors romanticize the public philosopher as someone who “bring[s] their philosophical expertise to the public by way of op-ed essays, public forums, teach-ins, and other venues.” The next paragraph relates George Yancy’s experience of being trolled after the publication of his New York Times essay: “Recently several authors of high-profile public essays have been subjected to vilification, racist and/or sexist verbal abuse, and outright threats of bodily harm. In the past few weeks, Professor George Yancy, in response to his essay ‘Dear White America’ . . . has received harassing emails, phone calls, and letters containing racist slurs and threats of violence. This is one very egregious example of bullying and harassment that philosophers who speak out publicly endure, and there are many more, often taking racist, sexist, homophobic, and/or ableist forms.” The following paragraph decries “bullying and harassment” based on sex, orientation, gender, race, ethnicity and disability. The authors acknowledge that philosophers are often “gadflies” who take all kinds of “intellectual, ethical and social risks in their work.” Here philosophers are portrayed as provocateurs who, due to the nature of their work, can easily become victims of bullying and harassment. However, it is equally possible that they could become perpetrators. The final two paragraphs are worth quoting at length: “Abusive speech directed at philosophers is not limited to responses by the public to published op-eds. A look at some of the anonymous philosophy blogs also reveals a host of examples of abusive speech by philosophers directed against other philosophers. Disagreement is fine and is not the issue. But bullying and ad hominem harassment of philosophers by other philosophers undermines civil disagreement and discourse and has no place in our community. Attacks that focus on a philosopher’s race, gender, or other status are unacceptable and in violation of the APA Statement on Nondiscrimination. We call upon any member who has engaged in such behaviors in the past to cease and desist. The APA condemns the activities of those who seek to silence philosophers through bullying, abusive speech, intimidation, or threats of violence. We also call upon our membership to speak out against such attacks, whether from within the academy or from the public sphere.” The authors are concerned with policing speech, specifically “abusive speech,” “bullying,” “attacks on a philosopher’s race, gender or other status” and “ad hominem harassment.” For First Amendment scholars, this kind of blanket prohibition raises alarm bells, since hate speech is constitutionally protected in the U.S. (though not in Canada) unless it directly incites violence. Short of incitement, the troll can abuse, bully and insult someone based on any personal characteristic. A common practice on Twitter involves insulting a person’s spouse or partner, even telling the target that others have slept with the person. Some respond to trolling with campaigns to censure or shame the trolls. No matter how wrong or unpalatable these messages strike us as, though, they nevertheless constitute constitutionally protected speech. When speech threatens violence or incites others to the same end, then it should be reported to law enforcement. Still, the statement’s own threatening language of “cease and desist” is odd, seemingly borrowed from the cease and desist letters authored by attorneys. These letters usually accomplish little besides intimidating their recipients into silence with the threat of future legal action that often never materializes because there is no cause for action in the first place. Similarly, the APA statement’s ban on trolling is nothing more than a paper tiger, since the kind of speech it proscribes is constitutionally protected. I publicly responded to the statement with an argument that abusive and uncivil speech should be met with more and better speech, not a ban on all unsavory forms of expression. In Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’ marketplace of ideas metaphor, the better speech and arguments will inevitably prevail, so long as the market is left to its own devices: Uncivil, provocative and abusive expressions, while offensive to our ears, are nevertheless protected in the marketplace. Threats or incitements to violence should never be tolerated. Verbal attacks or insults directed at someone because of their race, sex/gender, age or disability status should be met with better arguments, not group censure or public shaming. Let the marketplace of ideas do its work. Cease-and-desist language is for lawyers, not philosophers. An objection to my view is that some speech is simply so objectionable that it must be banned altogether from public speech forums. It poisons discourse and harms vulnerable audience members. One of the most eloquent advocates for this position is Lynne Tirrell who, in her 2017 essay “Toxic Speech: Toward an Epidemiology of Discursive Harm,” compares speech that harms to toxic substances in the metaphor of ‘toxic speech’: “Toxic speech, like any toxin, is a threat to the well-being and even the very lives of those against whom it is deployed. The level of threat can fluctuate, its power can be acute or chronic, the damage can be local or systemic, but toxicity damages all it touches. To many, this claim may seem hyperbolic, but even a sketch of the concept of toxic speech dispels the hyperbole.” Indeed, Tirrell’s account is an exaggeration of the kind and degree of harm offensive speech predominantly inflicts on its listeners. Most abusive speech consists of slurs and epithets. The typical response is that the listener feels offended. Some interpret these expressions slightly differently, understanding them as defamatory to their character or harms to their reputation. But a minority of speech directed at audiences actually precipitates violence. If the speech harms listeners’ mental health, they always have the option of exit. However, as the recent spat of incivility between gender-critical and transgender-supportive philosophers proves, the quest for sanitizing (or de-toxifying) public discourse, even within the philosophical community, is pointless. Philosophers will vigorously disagree and no official statement by an academic association (or one of its committees) will stop them from deploying uncivil or toxic speech. To summarize my argument: If we decide that some kinds of speech are unacceptable and preemptively ban them from blog discussions and comment boards, we might inadvertently restrict the best ideas and arguments from being freely expressed in these forums. Likewise, when we stop public philosophers from framing their ideas and arguments in rude and discriminatory language, we also risk undermining the enterprise of public philosophy itself. Making spaces to do public philosophy safe and sterile, free from personal attacks and uncivil language, inhibits free expression, and public philosophy depends on improvisation and the free exchange of ideas for its survival. My tactic of bracketing the insulting or abusive language is one way to proceed without establishing an outright ban on such language. The Future of Public Philosophy While I do not wish to sound alarmist, I believe that the APA’s “Statement on Bullying and Harassment” jeopardizes the future of public philosophy. The difficulty with regulating style of expression is that eventually it verges on regulating speech content. Some free speech experts describe this as “censorship creep.” It is similar to making so-called ‘safe spaces’ in universities free from the expression of offensive ideas. Over time the discussion of all controversial topics disappears from these safe-speech zones. Whether regulating speaking style or banning toxic speech outright, the outcome is ultimately to chill free expression. For public philosophers, a limit on involvement in all but the most highly regulated speech forums would spell an end to public philosophy, unless of course all public speech forums were made to resemble university faculty seminars. Since public speech forums are not safe spaces, a viable alternative is to warn early-career philosophers of the many risks of doing public philosophy and how push-back or retaliation could negatively affect their mental health, their personal safety (as well as their family’s) and their job security. When the APA Committee on Public Philosophy began taking clear positions on political issues, I immediately saw the danger this posed to its mission of encouraging public philosophy at large. (Indeed, my tenure on the committee ended at about that time.) The committee’s impulse to sterilize public discourse, to make it safe for public philosophers to participate, poses a similar hazard. Saying what positions it is acceptable for public philosophers to take and how they should express themselves inhibits the free expression of ideas and eventually ends public philosophy as we know it. A healthy future for public philosophy depends on philosophers defining and redefining what public philosophy is by doing public philosophy in public spaces before general audiences of non-philosophers. Just as street performers improvise, adding and subtracting elements to their performances, so public philosophers improvise, mixing philosophical concepts and strong rhetoric, adding and subtracting expressions, some abrasive and insulting, others rational and persuasive. Prescribing either the content or style of discourse that counts as public philosophy is equivalent to what the participants in the 2010 APA meeting on practicing public philosophy explicitly denied they would do, namely, offering “some sort of litmus test on whether someone was engaged in public philosophy or some project could claim the label.” Surely a ban on abusive and offensive speech is such a litmus test and, ultimately, if it is heeded, will spell the end of public philosophy.

https://medium.com/the-controversial-idea/living-dangerously-by-doing-public-philosophy-7a13b8a073ed

['Shane J. Ralston']

2020-01-27 16:18:07.286000+00:00

['Racism', 'Free Speech', 'Bullying', 'Sexism', 'Philosophy']

Repairing Wallpaper Damage, Fix Bubbles and Damaged Wallcoverings

A tear in your wallpaper or a trapped air bubble can easily be fixed so your wall looks perfect again. Most of the air bubbles that occur when wallpapering should have been taken care of when you hung the wallpaper by brushing them out the edges. The majority of the remaining bubbles will disappear as the glue dries and the paper tightens, but sometimes a few bubbles remain. If the wall was properly pretreated before wallpapering then there shouldn’t be many bubbles and they will be pretty easy to repair. Read Also: Repairing Wallpaper Bubbles Use an Exacto knife, utility knife or sharp razor blade to get a clean cut. Make two cuts in the paper, just the size of the bubble. These cuts will form a cross and leave you with four little flaps. Simply peel back the flaps and apply the paste with a small artist’s brush and then press the flaps firmly into position by using a seam roller. You may have a little excess paste left on the outside of the repair, remove this with a damp cloth being careful not to pry the flaps back up. How to Repair Damaged Wallpaper A damaged piece of wallpaper is a little more difficult to repair, but it’s worth the effort as you can create a near-perfect look again. This can only be done if you’ve saved some wallpaper, so remember to save some wallcovering for future repairs. Hold a piece of new wallpaper over the damaged area, carefully matching any decorative pattern, and use a sharp utility knife to slice through the repair piece and the original damaged piece. By doing it this way you’re certain to get a piece that is exactly the same size as the piece you’re removing. Carefully remove the old, damaged piece of wallpaper. It depends on how long this paper has been on the wall, but some removals will be slick and easy and others will take more effort. If the piece is pretty firmly attached steam is a good way to loosen the paste without ruining the surrounding paper. If the wall itself has also been damaged by a gouge or other major scar, putty, and sand the wall so it is once again a perfectly flat surface. Once the wall is dry and ready for paper, paste the area with a small brush and carefully apply the new piece of wallcovering, brushing out any bubbles that appear. Once this wallpaper repair dries you will once again have a great looking wall. It does take a little effort, but you’ll find it’s well worth it.

https://medium.com/@perlairisb/repairing-wallpaper-damage-fix-bubbles-and-damaged-wallcoverings-7cae08e5e9bc

['Perla Irish']

2019-09-02 08:58:15.874000+00:00

['Wall', 'How To', 'Repair', 'Decor', 'Home Improvement']

5 Important Learning Strategies for Programmers

2. Take Breaks Wait, what? That sounds unproductive! Actually, quite the opposite. We all (me at the front) set aggressive deadlines for finishing up a course module in one day just to check it off our plan and progress ahead. What we end up doing is just cramming in a lot of information in a lot less time. This is a big no! The problem here is the same as it is with binge-watching. We barely remember what happened in all the episodes. We just remember the start and the end of the series. Instead, if we watch only one episode per day, every day as we sit to watch the next episode, we exercise our brain trying to remember what has happened until now in the series. This way, we tend to remember those episodes for a longer period of time. This ever happened to you? When you are trying to fix a bug for hours and you are just tired, give up and just go to sleep. The next day when you wake up, you fix that bug within minutes! It’s because you gave that much-needed break to your brain and regained your productivity. Key take-away: Avoid cramming, take breaks as you learn so that your brain is able to process and remember all the important information.

https://medium.com/better-programming/5-important-learning-strategies-for-programmers-cdffa94a448d

['Dhananjay Trivedi']

2020-01-15 00:29:04.675000+00:00

['Software Development', 'Learning', 'Productivity', 'Programming', 'Inspiration']

RDBMS vs NoSQL

Today in the market various type of Database options are available like RDBMS, NoSQL, Big Data, Database Appliance, etc. developers can get very confused with all the choice. They do not understand why they should consider a newer, alternative database when RDBMSs have been around for 25+ years. However, many big enterprises are already using alternative databases and are saving money, innovating more quickly, and completing projects. Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) RDBMS Database is a relational database. It is the standard language for relational database management systems.Data is stored in the form of rows and columns in RDBMS. The relations among tables are also stored in the form of the table SQL (Structured query Language) is a programming language used to perform tasks such as update data on a database, or to retrieve data from a database. Some common relational database management systems that use SQL are: Oracle, Sybase, Microsoft SQL Server, Access, etc. Features Of RDBMS SQL databases are table based databases Data store in rows and columns Each row contains a unique instance of data for the categories defined by the columns. Provide facility primary key, to uniquely identify the rows Limitations for SQL database Scalability: Users have to scale relational database on powerful servers that are expensive and difficult to handle. To scale relational database it has to be distributed on to multiple servers. Handling tables across different servers is difficult . Complexity: In SQL server’s data has to fit into tables anyhow. If your data doesn’t fit into tables, then you need to design your database structure that will be complex and again difficult to handle. NoSQL NoSQL commonly referred to as “Not Only SQL”. With NoSQL, unstructured ,schema less data can be stored in multiple collections and nodes and it does not require fixed table sachems, it supports limited join queries , and we scale it horizontally. Benefits of NoSQL highly and easily scalable Relational database or RDBMS databases are vertically Scalable When load increase on RDBMS database then we scale database by increasing server hardware power ,need to by expensive and bigger servers and NoSQL databases are designed to expand horizontally and in Horizontal scaling means that you scale by adding more machines into your pool of resources. Maintaining NoSQL Servers is Less Expensive Maintaining high-end RDBMS systems is expensive and need trained manpower for database management but NoSQL databases require less management. it support many Features like automatic repair, easier data distribution, and simpler data models make administration and tuning requirements lesser in NoSQL. Lesser Server Cost and open-Source NoSQL databases are cheap and open source. NoSql database implementation is easy and typically uses cheap servers to manage the exploding data and transaction while RDBMS databases are expensive and it uses big servers and storage systems. So the storing and processing data cost per gigabyte in the case of NoSQL can be many times lesser than the cost of RDBMS. No Schema or Fixed Data model NoSQL database is schema less so Data can be inserted in a NoSQL database without any predefined schema. So the format or data model can be changed any time, without application disruption.and change management is a big headache in SQL. Support Integrated Caching NoSQL database support caching in system memory so it increase data output performance and SQL database where this has to be done using separate infrastructure. Limitations & disadvantage of NoSQL NoSQL database is Open Source and Open Source at its greatest strength but at the same time its greatest weakness because there are not many defined standards for NoSQL databases, so no two NoSQL databases are equal No Stored Procedures in mongodb (NoSql database). GUI mode tools to access the database is not flexibly available in market too difficult for finding nosql experts because it is latest technology and NoSQL developer are in learning mode Conclusion RDBMS and NoSQL both dbs are great in data management and both are used to keep data storage and retrieval optimized and smooth. It’s hard to say which technology is better so developer take decision according requirement and situations

https://medium.com/@loginradius/rdbms-vs-nosql-cb0a1e32b3d8

[]

2020-11-05 17:39:46.019000+00:00

['Database', 'Rdbms', 'Big Data', 'NoSQL', 'Developer']

Dezinformatsiya

“Disinformation” is related to “misinformation”, but while both refer to false or misleading information, disinformation is deliberately spread to deceive. The word is adopted from the Russian “dezinformatsiya”, the title of the KGB department for propaganda. A few initial observations: · The Internet makes it easier to spread disinformation, both further and wider; · Disinformation is effective in creating believers, and to exploit the gullible; · By providing direct access to any sources — be they legitimate or designed to deceive — the Internet lets you circumvent traditional gatekeepers. The Internet has made it easier for anyone to spread misinformation, lies and disinformation. One vector is social media, seen by the number of “fake accounts” that Facebook and Twitter regularly deactivate for violations like “coordinated inauthentic behavior”. These are often networks of accounts that cooperate with each other in spreading disinformation and amplifying it. While some of these accounts were foreign state and nonstate actors, others were linked to extreme domestic groups or political operatives. Regardless of who runs them, their intent is clear: They seek to create discord by spreading lies in a coordinated way. What might start as a perceived grievance can be manipulated into fear or hate and even violence. Disinformation on social media sometimes seems to be a “cottage industry”, where average users repost content, sometimes with a kind of “malignant ignorance” when it was previously debunked. Social media users don’t only repost, many create content that has an “advertising quality” to it. Social media is just one realm where disinformation and propaganda is echoed. Online media outlets also host user comment sections where users delight in insulting, repeat debunked convictions or fruitlessly attempt discussion with others. Whether these forums are used by apparently average citizens to create or further disinformation, or if the posts are made by agent provocateurs: This situation is not unlike claiming protection by the First Amendment while yelling fire in a crowded theater. “Under the imminent lawless action test, speech is not protected by the First Amendment if the speaker intends to incite a violation of the law that is both imminent and likely”, U.S. Supreme Court in Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969).

https://medium.com/@vic-winkler/dezinformatsiya-d4505e7257af

['Vic Winkler']

2020-12-24 16:26:05.696000+00:00

['Lies', 'Truth', 'Disinformation', 'Dezinformatsiya']

Case study: Designing an approachable and inspiring brand

Smartcar is a developer platform that allows mobility businesses to connect with cars. We recently introduced Smartcar’s new brand identity that communicates Smartcar’s mission of “empowering developers to build the future of mobility” in a more inspiring and approachable way. Why a redesign? Smartcar’s product has come a long way since our last brand refresh in 2019. We continuously advanced the product, partnered with new industries, and even expanded to additional markets outside of the United States. Soon we realized that Smartcar’s brand needed to evolve to match the growth of our platform. Our minimalistic design language limited the ways in which we could express Smartcar’s brand, and our developer-oriented voice hindered us from reaching audiences with non-technical backgrounds. We decided that now was the right time to refresh Smartcar’s brand both visually and content-wise. Redefining Smartcar’s brand voice In the first step of our redesign, we brainstormed the core values that Smartcar’s new brand voice should represent. We defined the following four pillars: empowering, relatable, trustworthy, and polished. Once we had established these core values, we evolved every element of our existing visual and written language to embody our brand voice and speak to businesses of all sizes and across various industries. At the same time, we made sure that our new voice would be scalable across our product, website, and marketing channels. In the first step of our redesign, we brainstormed the core values that Smartcar’s new brand voice should represent. Introducing a new visual identity Based on our newly defined brand voice, we evolved Smartcar’s colors, typography, and illustrations to form our new visual language. Colors We kept the same shade of teal as Smartcar’s primary color, but we decided to introduce a new palette of vibrant colors to accompany it. Our new yellow, green, and purple secondary colors represent the broad range of industries Smartcar serves within the mobility space. They also help to lend a stronger personality to our brand. On the Smartcar website, every page includes one of our bright secondary colors, accompanied by a contrasting dark shade of the same color. Finally, we occasionally use a light shade of tan to recreate the retrofuturistic atmosphere that was the major theme of our 2019 redesign. Typography When thinking about Smartcar’s typographic voice, we knew we wanted to appeal to both developers and business professionals at the same time. As our existing body typeface, IBM Plex, evokes a more technical personality, we decided to keep and combine it with Poppins for a fresher, more approachable headline font. Illustrations Our new illustrations are still inspired by retrofuturism. The theme of retrofuturism emphasizes that Smartcar is enabling a mobility landscape that previous generations could only dream of. We also retained the main character of these illustrations — an astronaut who interacts with a car — to draw a parallel between retrofuturistic visions of space travel and the mobility landscape that Smartcar is enabling. While the retrofuturistic theme and the astronaut character in our illustrations purport empowerment, relatability, and trustworthiness, we decided to change the style to create a more polished look. Our new illustrations are still hand-drawn but simpler, resulting in a playful but crisp feel. To bring our illustrations to life and connect them with our primary teal color, we use a shade of light blue that highlights parts of each illustration. Our new illustrations are still inspired by retrofuturism. Putting it into words Smartcar’s new brand voice also inspired major changes in our written content. While our previous copy was developer-friendly and valuable in explaining Smartcar’s product to a technical audience, we wanted to achieve two new goals: Relatable & trustworthy : Make our content more relevant and easier to understand for our non-technical audience, while still appealing to our developer audience : Make our content more relevant and easier to understand for our non-technical audience, while still appealing to our developer audience Empowering & polished: Clearly communicate the value that Smartcar provides for businesses of different sizes and industries, while still explaining the essential product details These two goals guided us when revamping our website’s content from start to finish. From the prominence of technical words like “API” and our explanation of products like Smartcar Connect, all the way to featured customer testimonials that demonstrate Smartcar’s value first hand — our revamped content aims to be helpful while appealing to our diverse target audience. Our new homepage content aims to be helpful while appealing to our diverse target audience. Finally, our new visual identity and our written tone and voice work hand in hand. For example, our new product images don’t only display our own product. They primarily highlight our customers’ products and how Smartcar helps power these products across different use cases and industries. Our new visual identity and our written tone and voice work hand in hand. Thanks for reading and check out the refreshed Smartcar brand at smartcar.com! If you have any feedback or questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me at kathleen@smartcar.com.

https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/case-study-redesigning-smartcars-brand-33d2fdd76bc8

['Kathleen Hsu']

2020-12-18 00:52:13.426000+00:00

['Case Study', 'Visual Design', 'Branding', 'Brand Strategy', 'UI']

The 5 Best Books I Read in 2020

Being cooped at home this year, I took advantage of the opportunity to dive back into reading. Here are 5 of my favourites. Photo by Ed Robertson on Unsplash One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez Image Courtesy of Waterstones This book feels like one of those stories your grandparents told you about their childhood. A tale following seven generations of a Colombian family in a far-flung settlement, this was unlike any book I’ve ever read. While totally mind-boggling, it’s ultimately eccentric and thought provoking. Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson If you're into psychology, or simply want to better understand those around you, give this one a go. Erikson’s personal anecdotes bring theories on human behaviour to life in an informal yet educational manner. It’s a short read, chock full on useful tactics on how we can better understand and react to different personalities. River God by Wilbur Smith Image Courtesy of Target I could not put this book down. As a sucker for ancient history and mythology, I found myself lugging this around everywhere, despite it being an insanely dense book. It has everything from war, to culture, romance and politics flowing smoothly throughout. This is the first book in Smith’s series, which I’ve already added to my Christmas wishlist. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles Image Courtesy of Amazon I got my copy when Singapore announced the lockdown in April, which was perfect seeing that the story follows Count Rostov who is sentenced to a lifetime of house arrest in a luxury hotel. During his time there, Towles explores his relationships formed with guests and employees, moral dilemmas and Russain history. Reading about his 30-year confinement definitely helped to put my 2 months in perspective. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari Image Courtesy of HarperCollins I hope you can sense a theme here by now. While it came out in 2011 and was pegged by some as a fictitious and biased perspective on humankind, I have to admit that I enjoyed it. For what it’s worth, Sapiens is well organised, entertaining, and provides a decent introduction to human history. I’d recommend it to anyone interested in anthropology and genetics, but be prepared to do your own research to attain more up-to-date information.

https://medium.com/@yasminsara/the-5-best-books-i-read-in-2020-7de8c9dbc25e

['Yasmin Sara']

2020-12-24 12:42:43.406000+00:00

['Reading', 'Book Recommendations', 'Book Review', 'Books']

Non-Geek Guide to Continuous Software Delivery

How to continuously deliver? The continuous delivery process starts with keyboard strokes of your engineering team and ends with the experience your customer has with the product. The goal of continuous delivery is to shorten the time and avoid mistakes between these two points in time. A well-oiled mature continuous delivery system takes deployment management burden off your engineering team, allowing them to focus on engineering and product build. As a consequence, a continuous delivery system decreases the on-boarding time for new joiners allowing them to start contributing within the first few days if not hours. While there is a great variety of different continuous delivery approaches, you can split all involved activities and steps into the following: source code management, automated and manual code quality control — including verification of your unique functional, performance, security and compliance requirements (PCI, HIPPA, etc.), stage-by-stage deployment with automated and manual acceptance testing, and production deployment and continuous monitoring. Store your code in the code repository The very first and most important step towards continuous delivery is a centralized place to store and share code. Code is the key (and sometimes the only) outcome of software engineering activities, and this code needs a place to live. This place is a common and shared environment that everybody on your engineering team knows and uses every day. You can think of a code repository as a Google Drive or Dropbox for engineers to share and work on the code. A great place to start your journey to build continuous delivery is to introduce a code repository in your organization if you happen not to have one. The code repository of choice is most often git available through providers like github, gitlab or bitbucket to name a few [1]. These providers offer powerful free tiers that will serve you for a long time until you will see a need to pay for premium features. Check-in with the team if they have any preference or prior experience before choosing any specific platform. The most common way to approach your code management is to have one code repository per product (or a piece of product) that has its distinct life cycle. For example, backend code will have one repository, a frontend website will have another, admin and a metrics dashboard will be in a third repository. Take it is a rule that every piece of code should have its repository — starting from frontend and backend code, and ending with database schema code, serverless functions, and infrastructure definition. Setting up a code repository might seem like a waste of precious time especially in a startup environment. However, look at it as a high ROI investment and major mitigation for various operational risks. Consequences of not having centralized storage for code artifacts can vary from minor things like a decrease in productivity and slow knowledge sharing to more disastrous events like loss of your entire products should your engineers’ laptops break or get stolen. The code repository is an integral part of any software development process and should be adopted by any technological company early its days. The code repository makes it possible for engineers to store and share code, track revisions, and incoming change requests. Review, inspect and test every product change All changes to your products are made by humans, and humans are prone to making mistakes — which is not bad, but rather how things are. And while we can all ask our colleagues and teams to write bug-free code — bugs still do slip through the cracks. To minimize the risk of getting bad product changes into our customers’ hands we can introduce a couple of additional hops that the change needs to jump through. First, we can employ computer programs (automated tests and various code analysis tools) to be impartial judges of the quality of changes we introduce. Second, other people on the team might be able to spot issues or deficiencies in the change the author overlooked (manual review process). Both of these steps ideally would be triggered automatically on every code change. Most of code repository providers (including github, gitlab and bibucket) provide tools to build continuous delivery pipelines. A pipeline is a set of predefined steps that run automatically following a particular event (code commit, time schedule, manual trigger). An example of a pipeline definition could be “on every commit, build the product and run automated tests on it”. Configuring and streamlining pipelines will require some time and iterations but will quickly bring the reward of stable products and happy customers. One of the options how the process of accepting new code change into repository can look as following: Submit new code change. The author of a code change submits a change request to the code repository. At this stage, code is placed in a separate “sandbox” (also known as a pull-request, or change-request). This is done to prevent potentially harmful changes to making their way into the main code base unverified. Trigger automated tests. On changes submitted to the code repository, pipeline executes tests that validate basic functionality, compliance with code style, and security standards. If the pipeline fails, it notifies the author of spotted errors and waiting for the author to provide a fix. Open a code review request. At the same, either automatically after smoke tests or on author request, the code management system opens a code review request where teammates can check out the change candidate, leave comments, improvement suggestions or ask questions. Once all involve satisfied and approve a request — change can make it to the next stage. 1–2 people to look through the code is usually enough. Once steps above are completed, your code is ready to be merged to the main codebase where it will slowly progress through a series of stages and additional verifications. Early validation of changes avoids costly impact on your customers. Setting up gatekeepers prior code merged into the main branch helps ensure that at any given moment your main code base is stable and functional. One of the additional benefits of having such gatekeepers is to allow engineers to work on different changes simultaneously and not stepping on each other toes. Each new incoming change is an increment on top of a stable and tested product. There are countless articles on how to build your manual review process as well as on how to build test automation. Below are some articles that I would recommend as a starting place to dive deeper into the topic: Deploy changes stage by stage Your code change is now ready and finally merged into the main codebase. It might be tempting to get and deploy your change right to production. However, you run a risk of having a product that has functionally correct but either fails to communicate with its downstream dependencies (database, other services), or due to miscommunication it is not what you expected to see. For these reasons, you can decide to introduce a multi-stage deployment that will first deploy your code internally — for you and your team to have a look, and then externally — for the public. In its minimal setup, it translates into two stages — a development stage and a production stage. The development stage is an environment where your product is similar way and structure as in production, with a difference that it doesn’t process production data, and only you and your team have access to it. In the development stage you can run integration tests to verify integration with downstream dependencies (databases, metric aggregators, etc.), run automated user experience tests to automatically check that all buttons, links, and fields are functional and behave as expected, as well as to try out the product by clicking through it yourself — perform manual testing. In the case of the customer portal, for example, the development stage would be a website with restricted access, in the case of an app — development stage would be a draft version of an app available through beta testing tools (like TestFlight for iOS). The production stage is the final stage where customers interact with your product. The goal of the whole continuous delivery process is to ensure that as little bugs as possible end up here. The production stage works on production data, integrates with other production services, and serves real customer traffic. While at least two stages can be considered as a minimal setup, depending on the type of the product you build (SaaS APIs, licensed software, software for hardware components, customer portals, machine-learning algorithms, etc.) you might need to have a broader set of stages. Here is a non-exhaustive list of possible options: Development stage — for your internal testing and validation — for your internal testing and validation Testing stage — to allow your customers to integrate with it in their test environment (relevant for SaaS companies) — to allow your customers to integrate with it in their test environment (relevant for SaaS companies) Performance Testing stage — to run load testing and measure the performance of a system similar in setup to production — to run load testing and measure the performance of a system similar in setup to production Canary stage — to deploy release candidate and divert production traffic partially to it. This will allow you to get a sneak peek preview of how new change will behave in production without impacting 100% of your traffic [2]. — to deploy release candidate and divert production traffic partially to it. This will allow you to get a sneak peek preview of how new change will behave in production without impacting 100% of your traffic [2]. Production stage — your final stage that your customers are continuously interacting with. All major code repository providers have pipeline solutions to enable you to configure multi-stage deployments. Some will have rich pre-defined workflows and integrations, others will give you just bare basics to build on top of them. In addition to code repository providers there are solutions focused solely on continuous delivery — for example, circleci, travisci, etc which can help you solve some unique problems like mobile testing, custom approval workflows, and others. There is no-one-size-fits-all pipeline configuration, so work with your team to figure out what stages, transitions, and notification you need and how to best configure and run your unique pipeline. Monitor, rinse and repeat If you have your code change deployed automatically, but then you manually go to the browser and nervously check if production is still up and running you can say you have a Schrödinger’s Production (analogous to Schrödinger’s Cat [3]). With almost any kind of product, you would want to continuously monitor its status, performance, and other metrics that are important for your business (conversion rates, latencies, resource consumption, etc.). Monitoring approach and a specific set of metrics will largely depend on the type of product you deliver (SaaS, IoT, mobile applications, etc.). The main point is that in order for you be able to proactively react to outages and issues with your product you would need some minimal set of health checks that will trigger alarm notifications to you and your team. Last thing you would probably want it your customers reaching out to you notifying that your product is out of order. An example of a basic health check for your backend server is a periodic ping from a monitoring system to your production server that expects a successful response. For a mobile application, it could be analytics platforms that provide you an aggregated view of your customers’ activity. Big unexpected deviations in customer activity might be an indicator of issues the newly released version. There is plenty of metric aggregators and other solutions that can help you streamline your monitoring. For example, datadog provides beautiful easy-to-configure dashboards with countless integrations for your cloud and mobile needs; or CloudWatch for those who’d like to stick to AWS. Again, when picking a tool, ask around and check-in with your team if they already have some experience with any of the monitoring platforms. This could potentially save you a lot of time finding and onboarding the right solution for your needs. Having said all that, issues do get sneak into production unnoticed despite our best efforts. In anticipation of that, you might decide to give your customers a quick and easy way to report problems with your service — a feedback form, a “report problem” button, etc. Visibility into your product operations is an essential part of continuously delivering stable and reliable software products. A well-configured monitoring system will bring you peace of mind and will save precious time should things go south. Why do I need all that? Let’s face it. Building products is hard, and what is harder is to keep the pace up when product complexity grows. Through research and analysis, it became apparent that leaving the quality of your code unattended can bring disastrous consequences to your team and to your business as a whole. Without proactive measures to continuously keep the code quality up the amount of maintenance effort grows, while the speed of delivery of new features goes down. Investing time to automate your testing and deployment processes as well as dedicating time to removing technical debt is rather a necessity than an option. Check out a nice talk by Asa Schachar on the topic of technical debt and how to proactively tackle it. Companies and startups too often fall into the trap of fast delivery and short-cuts forgetting to balance speed with sustainability. You might have heard the phrase “if it works, don’t touch it” that usually becomes a motto of teams that didn’t prioritize continuous delivery and automated validation in their development process. Investing time in the continuous delivery system will make your customers and your engineering team happier by increasing the stability of the product and increasing confidence in introducing new changes. Tailored and well-functioning delivery system will have your back even if you happen to make a mistake.

https://medium.com/swlh/non-geek-guide-to-continuous-software-delivery-aea670f99fba

['Vasilii Trofimchuk']

2020-08-04 20:28:29.075000+00:00

['Business', 'Continuous Integration', 'Continuous Delivery', 'Software Development']

BREATHE (these limbs)

I need your breath more than this world meets gravity I need your breath like the melody needs harmony I need your breath like the chest needs a cavity I need your breath like the stars need the sky and I need your breath, the wings on which the cosmos fly Intertwine our desires until yours are mine I need your breath to revive and revitalize what I’ve killed inside I need your breath without I don’t want to take another step So please, breathe. Consume me until you’re all that I see Penetrate every inch of these bones and set my skeleton free of me Take my rib take whatever you need I’ll break my spirit if that’s what you seek just please don’t hold your breath from me Spirit of the living God have your way with me Just please, breathe.

https://medium.com/@mvrkus/breathe-these-limbs-153f4dc38f61

['M V R K']

2020-12-17 07:25:47.350000+00:00

['Poetry', 'Christmas', 'Jesus', 'Spoken Word', 'Christian']

How to visualize hyperlocal COVID data

This ggplot2 chart uses the y-axis with a logarithmic (base 10) transformation. This is different from most of the things you will see around. First, the logarithmic scales are (in theory) more suited for cumulative data. Yet, they have huge advantages in this context. They allow us to zoom on the lower numbers and to avoid enthusiasm when the situation changes. In fact, as the numbers grow higher, the curves (visually) move less, the same happening when numbers decline. The smoother I have chosen is the loess, which is ggplot2's default. Given its statistical properties, this smoother (with this particular kind of data) is perfect, showing us the overall trends, reducing the noise from changes in the time series. The alternative would have been the following chart:

https://medium.com/lead-and-paper/how-to-visualize-hyperlocal-covid-data-8a7227bf1c14

['Francesco Piccinelli']

2020-12-27 14:21:10.129000+00:00

['Data Visualization', 'Data Science', 'Covid 19 Crisis', 'Covid 19']

AYS Daily Digest 03/03/2021: Iuventa crew and others may face legal charges for SAR work

AYS Daily Digest 03/03/2021: Iuventa crew and others may face legal charges for SAR work Anti-racism group in Cyprus faces closure // Desperation after evictions in Greece // Rescues off the Canaries // Calls for volunteers in France // First meeting of Frontex working group // New judicial cooperation over human trafficking Are You Syrious? Follow Mar 4 · 12 min read Photo source: Twitter FEATURE — Under fire for search and rescue in the central Med, 1,309 days later Yesterday in the digest we celebrated the wonderful news that Sea Watch 4 was freed from detention and Sea Watch 3 was given a safe port for the 363 people on board. But every triumph in one arena, it seems, always comes with a setback in another. The next setback came the following day, with the news that Italian prosecutors have completed a probe into three NGOs and 21 individuals for allegedly aiding illegal immigration in the central Mediterranean—“aiding illegal immigration” being, of course, search and rescue (SAR) work. Now, Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the German organization Jugend Rettet are under legal scrutiny for SAR operations they conducted in 2016 and 2017. The Iuventa ship, which was running migrant-rescue operations for Jugend Rettet, was seized by authorities in Lampedusa in 2017, some 1,309 days ago. “This is a political declaration of intent to criminalise solidarity, and it has a deadly consequence: people die, when they could be saved,” Iuventa wrote in a press release following the news of the probe. The prosecutors department in the Sicilian city of Trapani has notified the three NGOs and the 21 individuals that they have concluded their xczv investigation, a move that usually precedes the request of indictments. The crew of the Iuventa could face up to 20 years in jail for their work in rescuing more than 14,000 people from drowning in a mass grave. In its press release, Iuventa maintains its innocence and points out several major flaws in the prosecution’s case: The main so-called “eyewitness” who collected evidence against the Iuventa crew publicly revoked his testimony. He then stated to the press that he had been promised a job within the Italian right party Lega Nord in exchange for his witness statement. Furthermore, through a detailed reconstruction of events, renowned team of scientists “Forensic Architecture,” disproved the theses of the prosecution in a public analysis of Iuventa operations. Sascha Girke, the former Head of Mission onboard the Iuventa said: “Although we stand accused, it is us who accuse European authorities of refusing safe passage and of letting people drown.” This terrible news about Iuventa comes just on the heels of the announcement of the investigation by Italian prosecutors in Ragusa into Mediterranea Saving Humans and the Maersk Etienne tanker for their SAR work, which you read more about in yesterday’s digest.

https://medium.com/are-you-syrious/ays-daily-digest-03-03-2021-iuventa-crew-and-others-may-face-legal-charges-for-sar-work-d7f644f671e4

['Are You Syrious']

2021-03-04 18:47:01.447000+00:00

['Mediterranean', 'Digest', 'Frontex', 'Search And Rescue', 'Refugees']

My Alter is Trans

I was recently diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder. It led me to two realizations: I have three distinct alters (personalities) and probably more, and two of my three personalities are trans. First, we have my core self — Amy. She is a cis woman who is a lesbian. Then we have Ames, a non-binary bisexual. And then finally, we have Elliot, a trans, gay man. Discovering my core self wasn’t easy. How do you figure out which personality is your real personality? But I was able to do that work through therapy and journaling about my experiences. Amy is who I feel the most comfortable as, despite running from her for such a long time. It’s left an odd void in my life, however. I was just starting to make a group of friends in the trans community as a trans man, only to find out I’m cis at my core. I feel like I have to start all over again, this time making friends in the lesbian community. That’s not to say I won’t still remain friends with my trans friends — I will. I just don’t feel like I can relate to them in the same way I used to. I feel like a poser. I made a YouTube video about my diagnosis, and I pondered whether I was still trans. Comments ran the gambit, from “If you feel the most you when it’s just you, that probably means you’re cis, and the other two are Trans, which from what I’ve seen isn’t that much of a stretch when it comes to alters.” To “My two cents as a trans man, I think it would be perfectly valid to class yourself as genderfluid, your experiences as your alters are real and valid, including your experiences with gender.” So, where does that leave me? Unsure of my gender identity, for one. But I’m looking at it like this: I identify as a lesbian when I’m Amy; therefore, I’m a lesbian. Even though one of my alters is bisexual and the other is a gay man, I still look at myself as a lesbian because Amy is a lesbian. Following that logic, if Amy is cis, then I am cis. Not non-binary or trans like my alters. Therefore, not genderfluid. I guess this is my farewell to the transgender community. I love you with all my heart, and you were always there for me when I needed you. Who knows, maybe I’ll be back as Elliot sometime soon — but for right now, I’m my core self. A cis lesbian. Dissociative Identity Disorder has robbed me of so much, but the sense of solidarity and love that the trans community gave me was definitely the hardest to lose. The trans community is honestly the backbone of society, and shit wouldn’t get done without you. I will continue to be an active ally to all my ex-brothers and sisters.

https://medium.com/gender-from-the-trenches/my-alter-is-trans-65e76490a46b

['Ames Geliebter']

2020-10-07 14:52:51.838000+00:00

['Gender Identity', 'Dissociative Disorder', 'Transgender', 'Mental Health', 'Cisgender']

Parsing REST API Payload and Query Parameters With Flask.

Intro For a very long time Flask was my first choice of framework when it came to building micro-services (until python 3.6 and async/await came to life). I have used Flask with a different number of extensions depending on the situation. flask-restful , flask-restplus , webargs .. etc. All of these extensions were great until I needed to parse the request payload or query parameters, it gets painful and the reason is they are all built on top of marshmallow . Marshmallow Marshmallow is probably the oldest python package for object serialisation and parsing and probably most of the flask extensions are built of top of it. here is an example of marshmallow from datetime import date from pprint import pprint from marshmallow import Schema, fields class ArtistSchema(Schema): name = fields.Str() class AlbumSchema(Schema): title = fields.Str() release_date = fields.Date() artist = fields.Nested(ArtistSchema()) bowie = dict(name="David Bowie") album = dict(artist=bowie, title="Hunky Dory", release_date=date(1971, 12, 17)) schema = AlbumSchema() result = schema.dump(album) pprint(result, indent=2) # { 'artist': {'name': 'David Bowie'}, # 'release_date': '1971-12-17', # 'title': 'Hunky Dory' The Pros Stable and provides a lot of complex functionality The Cons Can be confusing sometimes when you use dump vs load. It is old and not using python annotations. Documentation is terrible and ugly Pydantic Another package for object parsing, validation and serialisation which is more intuitive and uses python type annotations. The Pros Uses python type annotation Documentation is fabulous, check here No dump or load Can be used for settings management as well The Cons It is new and is not yet battle tested like marshmallow There are not much flask extensions/packages built on top of it The same example written using pydantic from datetime import date from pprint import pprint from pydantic import BaseModel class ArtistSchema(BaseModel): name: str class AlbumSchema(BaseModel): title: str release_date: date artist: ArtistSchema bowie = dict(name="David Bowie") album = dict(artist=bowie, title="Hunky Dory", release_date=date(1971, 12, 17)) schema = AlbumSchema(**album) pprint(result.dict(), indent=2) # { 'artist': {'name': 'David Bowie'}, # 'release_date': '1971-12-17', # 'title': 'Hunky Dory' Here is the same exact example written in a much more intuitive way. Webargs Webargs is a popular Python library for parsing and validating HTTP request objects, with built-in support for Flask built on top of marshmallow from flask import Flask from webargs import fields from webargs.flaskparser import use_args from marshmallow import Schema, fields app = Flask(__name__) class user(BaseModel): name = fields.Str() @app.route("/") @use_args(user(), location="query") def index(args): return "Hello " + args["name"] if __name__ == "__main__": app.run() Luckily there is another webargs package which is using pydantic now, called pydantic-webargs

https://medium.com/swlh/parsing-rest-api-payload-and-query-parameters-with-flask-better-than-marshmallow-aa79c889e3ca

['Ahmed Nafies']

2020-10-25 09:59:55.540000+00:00

['Https', 'Json', 'Python', 'Web Development', 'Flask']

Launching Audioshake Live

An On-Demand Stem Creation Platform for the Music Industry We launched Audioshake earlier this year in the belief that the next wave in music innovation, re-imagination, and consumer engagement would come from stems — the different instrument and vocal parts of a song. Stems are already an important part of today’s music industry — sync licensing, spatial audio, remixes, and adaptive music all rely on stems. But their value is set to grow exponentially as new experiences emerge in social apps, fitness, gaming, hardware, and other fields that allow fans to interact and engage with musical content in new ways. But stems are not always easily available, which is where Audioshake comes in. Our best-in-class A.I. technology can take a song from any point in history and separate it into its stems, opening the song up for new uses as instrumentals, samples, and more. Since launching earlier this year, our work has been used by record companies, music publishers, music supervisors, audio engineers, and artists in commercials, documentaries, movies, podcasts, and remixes. Today we take the next step by launching Audioshake Live, a platform that lets labels, publishers, and their partners bring our A.I. technology “in-house,” and create instrumentals and stems on demand. Audioshake Live is easy to use. Platform subscribers simply upload their songs and choose the stems they want to create, choosing from six different stem types: bass, drums, guitar, instrumentals, vocals, and “other.” Audioshake quickly returns the selected instrument stems or a turnkey instrumental that is ready for pitching. Subscribers can then listen to their stems in our player, or download immediately — for use in a sync pitch, to explore a creative partnership, or to explore re-mix possibilities. Here’s how it works: This past spring, we gave a handful of record labels, music publishers, and distributors early access to Audioshake Live. First as demo testers, now as customers, we’ve been inspired to see the many ways our technology has been put to use by record labels, publishers, and music service companies like Warner Music Group, CODISCOS, Crush Music, Hipgnosis Songs Fund, Downtown Music Services, Spirit Music Group, and peermusic; distributors like CD Baby; production music companies like Audiosocket; and music supervisors like The Teenage Diplomat. Sync Licensing — Record labels and music publishers use Audioshake Live to create turnkey instrumentals that reduce all the back-and-forth involved in preparing a sync pitch, and with older songs, open up new monetization possibilities that didn’t exist due to lack of instrumentals. Our instrumentals have been used in commercials, movies, and on podcasts like Switched on Pop and Song Exploder. Remixes — Labels, songwriters, and producers use Audioshake Live to isolate vocals or remove drum beats from their songs in order to find new ways to breathe new life into their catalog. Re-masters — Audio engineers at record labels include Audioshake Live as a part of their toolbox, leapfrogging some of the more tedious parts of their task, and allowing them to focus on the highly skilled parts of their work. How to Sign Up Audioshake Live is meant to serve the music industry, and is specifically aimed at record labels, music publishers, and others who regularly need to create or use stems for their songs. If you’re in that category, please sign up for a demo! For those musicians, audio engineers, music supervisors, producers, and other authorized third parties who need to create stems on a one-off basis, we’ll continue to offer our services on a 1:1 basis. Our aim is to put this technology in the hands of everyone who can benefit from it, but to do so respectfully, in partnership with the music industry, so that artists’ copyrights and creative wishes are front and center — not an afterthought, as has often been the case when technology has intersected with the music world. If you’re in the music industry and are interested in the Audioshake Live platform, or Audioshake’s stem services more generally, please get in touch! You can find us at audioshake.ai or on Twitter @audioshakeAI.

https://medium.com/@audioshake/launching-audioshake-live-81214e3beb3f

[]

2021-07-22 19:22:36.009000+00:00

['Music Business', 'Music Technology', 'Audio Engineering', 'Deep Learning', 'Artificial Intelligence']

Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Me

I’ve been trying to find a reason to write my first story. It’s been hard. It really shouldn’t have been this much of an internal battle. Every possible outcome analysed over and over in my head; what if people don’t read it, what if people do read it, what if people react or comment… See, I have generalized anxiety disorder and the last two weeks have seen it flare up to a state I haven’t experienced for a few years. Stress, pressure, expectation, lockdown, illness – all these things have contributed to it. What I’m struggling to come to terms with is that it’s a permanent thing though. I’ve spent years convincing myself that mediation, grounding myself, being present and kind, talking and sharing my experiences. I’ve convinced myself that doing all of that will eventually somehow magically make it go away. But it hasn’t. It’s here. It’s back and it’s starting to flood into my everyday life again, into every waking minute of every waking hour. So today I called for help. More help than I’ve ever asked before. I called Samaritans and I eventually decided to seek help via CBT. My intrusive hyper vigilant thoughts are no longer welcome. No more will they dominant my thought patterns and convince me to always expect and plan for the worst. GAD is hard. Scrap that. GAD is brutal. It’s crippling. Every fibre of every muscle in my body is bursting with adrenaline whilst every part of my brain is also telling me that it’s so dangerous everywhere that I am safer staying in bed all day. It’s like a voice, another person grabbing me and pulling the strings. It is brutal, it’s hard and I’ve had enough. I can’t carry on letting it dictate me. Tomorrow I start a new chapter and begin what I imagine will be a long, long, slow and difficult journey to getting this beast under control again. I wrote this to share with others and to offer anyone else a glimmer of hope that other people feel the same. I’ll try, where my brain lets me, to keep writing on this journey.

https://medium.com/@thomasarthurb/generalized-anxiety-disorder-and-me-1653f45b79f1

['Thomas Arthur']

2021-03-22 22:11:28.497000+00:00

['First Post', 'Anxiety Disorder', 'Mens Mental Health', 'Generalized Anxiety', 'Mental Health']

5 EdTech trends in 2020

2020 is here. The last few years have witnessed a drastic and dramatic change in the learning model. The way students are being taught today is way different from earlier. Hail Technology! Technology has brought various changes in the way education is delivered. From self-learning to web-based classrooms, we have seen technology, making a considerable impact on the teaching methodologies. With many benefits to offer, digital learning is one segment which has become an important part of the Indian education system. Schools and colleges are trying to implement the best of technology to improve this teaching-learning process. Here are the list of current trends in educational technology that is embracing and making learning a fun thing to do! Custom Learning Advancement in EdTech has offered teachers a wide range of content. One can’t deny that students have become more device and tech-savvy and are exploring ways for fun learning and mediums that resonate with them. It might be solving a problem in a digital and modern learning environment, finding new ways to understand things through games or exploring the world through VR devices. Despite all the possibilities, it makes our job easier. With automation and differentiation, it is getting better as it takes less work and time to set students on the right path. It has helped students on their learning journeys. Student-Centered Learning It runs on a simple concept — Passion drives motivation. When we identify students’ interest, it becomes easier to build and deliver the right skills and knowledge in the right way. 2021 will see a strengthened focus on building lessons which are not just based on students’ interest but also their personal learning goals. As they will learn what is in their interest, they will be able to retain in their memory for a long. Adaptive Learning Adaptive learning systems use the data to adjust learning processes for students depending upon many factors. From medium to pace, it is another way of personalized learning. The goal of the adaptive learning methodology is to provide the customized content to the right audience and the right time. With this innovative method of learning, teachers can engage students and can create experiences. Emerging Technology The goal here is to facilitate more innovative and interesting teaching methods. If used wisely, the emerging technology will give access to cutting edge learning experiences without ever leaving your classroom or study table. Imagine learning about Seven Wonders of the World with a realistic simulation of the monuments. According to a survey, 82% of the teachers think that education through technology prepares students for the future. So, next time when you think of emerging technology, think of all the acronyms — AI, VR and AR. Automated Schools Many educational institutes have already adopted the concept of automated schools. They are flexible and interactive. More smart tools are coming up that includes technologies like face recognition, autonomous data analysis, ERPs and automatic administration tools. Automation not only helps in learning processes but also contributes to saving expenses on infrastructure and manpower. In years to come, technology will play a big role in this continuous shift. The technologies and instruments that we are using are evolving and becoming more data-driven. This doesn’t mean that education will become robotic, but the teachers will be able to build lessons depending upon the trends and the needs of the students. Visit us- https://www.arkinfo.in

https://medium.com/@ramakrishna-kalahasthi/5-edtech-trends-in-2020-95fdda74d4f5

['Ramakrishna Kalahasthi']

2020-12-26 07:23:38.230000+00:00

['Learning', 'Environment', 'Students', 'Education', 'Edtech']

The Musician

The Musician A Poem Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash Bound to the town, burnt by the lights, the throat ends up inside the microphone, the telling all done for the day, the thirst that crawls up and won’t leave the table till the sun has shown up again. Stopped in the car now, looking ahead, to the side, the road it gets tangled, the speakers the closest to you, love in the crowd, love in the road, trending towards the solitude of the busy, the mystery in tones. Karma, again, the distance become so familiar, a reinvigorated infinity, the lines surrounding the caravan, the instruments so many examples of violent musings, trapped on a stage, invented every night.

https://medium.com/illumination-curated/the-musician-5489691e2f1a

['J.D. Harms']

2020-12-23 17:40:59.188000+00:00

['Memories', 'Musing', 'Poetry', 'Image']

Dependency Injection Containers in Swift — Part 2

Dependency Injection Containers in Swift — Part 2 In the previous article Dependency Injection Containers in Swift we explored what a Dependency Injection Container(DIC) is, and how to create a simple one. In this article, we will explore how to pass parameters to the DIC. Currently, when resolving an object from the DIC, we don’t pass any parameters, we just use the default configuration. This may be good enough for some cases, but many times we want to configure the object being resolved. Let’s take a look at an example and what issue rises when using a DIC. ServiceThree depends on ServiceOneProtocol and some parameters. This is perfectly fine, however if we try to register this class with our DIC we won’t be able to set the parameters from the caller. Let’s see why.

https://levelup.gitconnected.com/dependency-injection-containers-in-swift-part-2-5b24f1c4238a

['Ronen Michael Harati']

2020-12-08 23:00:09.997000+00:00

['Dependency Injection', 'Decoupling', 'Clean Code', 'Swift', 'iOS']

Volatility, settlement risk and distributed ledger technology

Immediately after the March mayhem, I had a call with a friend who works in prime brokerage and custodian departments at a large bank: X: These days I receive calls from our friends in other banks to check the background of our clients (asset managers). Me: Why is that? X: Markets are very volatile. These friends are worried if clients will settle the cash on large trades. You know that cash settles T+2? Me: Yes, but 2 days are standard for cash settlement, right? X: Well, these are two very long days. After a few volatile days, people are worried that someone might default. Markets are still volatile and it is a suitable time to share our learnings around possible roles of technology in managing settlement risk. Prime brokers and custodian departments in banks exist to serve different types of asset managers that range from pension funds to hedge funds and REITs. Some asset managers use leverage, which can be more than 10 times the actual cash deposited in their account for trading. Asset managers buy financial instruments and collateralize these to support the leverage. Prime brokers are responsible for carefully monitoring the risk for each client and ensuring that total collateral covers the losses on the client’s portfolio each day. Whenever the total value of the deposited cash (capital) and collateralized securities is less than the loan provided by the prime broker, a margin call is made. Further, asset managers and prime brokers may hedge the risk exposure with highly correlated securities by taking opposite positions. Asset managers generally deal with multiple prime brokers and custodians. The true risk exposure of an asset manager is not visible to anybody outside the firm in real-time. Large banks only see a part of their portfolio and can monitor risk on that section. In volatile markets, things can break at multiple ends. Correlations used for hedging the positions disappear, price swings incur large losses and margin calls are triggered. However, even in these volatile markets, firms need to continuously trade to avoid further losses, because of liquidity constraints, hedging needs, and possibly serving a major client with years of relationships. Many of these trades require billions of dollars of payments in exchange for the delivery of assets. Now imagine a scenario when asset prices are extremely volatile, firms don’t have a complete picture of risk exposure of their counterparties and a firm enters in a trade to receive payment at T+2. These are the market conditions when the frontline of risk management and trading teams at large banks strenuously work to ensure that things don’t go haywire. Every prudent investor and responsible market participant wants its cash settled as soon as possible. Certainly, the creation of clearing houses has mitigated some of the T+2 risk (at significant cost). If immediate cash settlement can save billions of dollars for vigilant market participants, one may wonder why there is a T+2 or T+3 settlement in the markets. Another question will be what does it have to do with distributed ledger technology (DLT)? Every trade of a financial instrument creates an obligation for one party to pay cash to another party. For payments to process faster, one needs an accurate and live view of two things: payment obligations and cash liquidity. When a trade is created, it goes through a complex cycle before getting settled. The details of a single trade may be shared between a minimum of 3 to a maximum of 6 or 7 different organizations before settlement. Note that under Basel standards, the least regulated products like bi-lateral derivatives also require a third-party custodian. Once a trade is created between two parties, it gets entered into their individual databases. Intra-day or at the end of the day, these trades get sent to other parties involved for confirmation. The technology is efficient enough to share the details of the trades between multiple parties instantly. However, the last thing one wants to do is send an incorrect billion dollar payment to a counterparty. To minimize the possibility of errors and rectify any reconciliation issues, T+2 and T+3 settlement takes place in the industry. One or two extra days between trade creation and settlement are there in case trades don’t reconcile among different parties and disagreements need to be resolved. The immediate question is what gives rise to these reconciliation issues? Human error is one reason but that’s not the biggest factor. We have extremely reliable and advanced technology available to exchange information but how is it adequate in ensuring completely error-free multi-party workflow? The key issue with messaging based technology is that it doesn’t ensure the immutability of data when reconciliations take place among multiple parties. A second missing factor is the immediate, authoritative acknowledgment of reconciliation across multiple parties. Imagine a scenario where party A reconciles with B and then B shares data with C. With current market infrastructure, C will separately need to reconcile with A as nothing guarantees that data received from B are accurate. There are well-defined industry regulations around trade matching and confirmation. Further, if C doesn’t reconcile with A, B will not know for another day or so about the issue. Multi-party reconciliations with fragmented systems leave room for errors that require T+2 and T+3 cash settlements. If one tries to reduce settlement time in the capital markets network using available messaging based technology, the accuracy and precision requirements will increase drastically as it approaches instant settlement. In the next paragraphs, we explain how distributed ledger technology (DLT) can play a role in expediting settlement. However, in the below diagram we share a comparison of the cost of infrastructure to enable faster settlement with incumbent technology vs DLT. Note that this chart is based on intuition and back-of-the-envelope calculations, and requires careful verification. A qualitative comparison of the cost to expedite settlement in the capital markets using DLT and incumbent technologies The most popular criticism of the application of DLT to capital markets is that whatever the technology achieves, it can be done by a database. One may consider solving the problem of reconciliations by having a single database that all the market participants can look into. However, anybody who understands the dynamics of the market would know that this gives rise to various business problems: Who will maintain this database? How does one ensure that the party managing the database will not tamper with the natural workflow in extreme circumstances? There is a non-zero probability of databases being hacked or tampered in a real-world scenario. How can we convince all the market participants to trust this centralized database all the time? If market participants don’t trust this database, they will go back to maintain their internal ledgers. If the solution is to have a neutral third party to manage a centralized database of transactions, this model already exists in the market. The role of a neutral third-party is played by custodians, clearinghouses, or CCPs in different scenarios. In spite of these, reconciliation issues exist and every market participant maintains its own internal ledger. When data is centralized with a third party, the impact of any data breach can be huge. This reduces data security. Completely removing the possibility of errors and reducing settlement time requires all the steps from trade creation, confirmation, and reconciliations to take place on a single immutable copy of the trade across multiple parties. Distributed ledgers are effectively a single database shared among multiple parties and, secured by cryptographic tools to enhance its status to a tamper-proof ledger. This technology provides several other advantages that can address the business problems mentioned above: No single third party is managing the “shared database”. Every party on the network has its role to play through engraved business rules inside the smart contracts. No centralized party can have any influence on workflow in extreme circumstances. Each party maintains a node of DLT that is always in sync with counterparties. The trade entry, confirmation, and settlement amount calculation take place across relevant network participants. There is cryptographic verification of actions on the network and each participant can trust data in its own node. All the actions are legally binding and there is a detailed audit trail shared among all relevant participants. If a manual mistake happens, there is always a scope of mutually agreed amendments. Data is distributed among transacting participants and this drastically reduces the impact on any potential data breach and enhances data security. Since this technology drastically cuts down reconciliation issues, it has the potential to enable T+0 or even instant settlement in the capital markets. Fairom and several other startups are focused on building technology that can provide an accurate and synchronized view of obligations across capital market participants. However as mentioned above, the second piece in the settlement puzzle is the clear view of liquidity. Utility Settlement Coin by Fnality and JPM coin are projects that are working on solving this problem. Independent Stablecoins could also contribute to a solution. Fnality’s white paper nicely explains how a distributed ledger technology based solution introduces efficiency in the wholesale market. While solving both the problems of obligations and liquidity is the holy grail, progress on each aspect also introduces significant efficiency in the markets. We will share some posts in the coming weeks about how solutions like Fairom create value. Removing the settlement risk from capital markets is not going to happen overnight. While organizations have a much better understanding of the value proposition of DLT in capital markets, there are major business challenges in facilitating the adoption of this new technology. These challenges range from reimagining the existing business processes to changing the current infrastructure, which has cost billions of dollars to build. As an example, it took more than two years, once the decision was made, to move the settlement time from T+3 to T+2 in Canada on existing infrastructure. The move to T+1 or something closer to real-time was thought to introduce too many operational challenges to the market given the state of current capital markets infrastructure. In spite of these challenges, among the candidate technologies, distributed ledger technology is the most suited to pave a path for almost zero settlement risk in capital markets. If we are to develop a truly digital capital market we need truly digital tools that support real-time and immutable confirmation, settlement and event management for trades. Thanks to Jean Desgagne and Brian O’Donnell for feedback and suggestions on the post. I also thank Ahmad Sghaier for several insightful comments around a comparison of incumbent technologies with distributed ledger technology.

https://medium.com/fairom/volatility-settlement-risk-and-distributed-ledger-technology-b7f3ce6e591a

['Ajay Singh']

2020-04-28 02:57:49.075000+00:00

['Blockchain', 'Distributed Ledgers', 'Digital Transformation', 'Capital Markets', 'Risk Management']

How do we get system32 permission to save/rename/delete?

Its Quite Simple. I am answering this step wise. Copy the file to any other location. Modify that file and save it as per your need. Rename the file from system32 directory or delete it from there. Now copy the file (Created in Step 2 )to the same directory (System 32). That’s Done!! Also if you want to give the permission to do all this changes then these steps need to be followed. Go to System32 folder where you need to change permissions. Right-click on it and select Properties from the drop down list. The System32 Properties dialog box opens. Click on the Security tab and then select the Advanced button. Click on the Owner tab. Currently the name for Current Owner is Trusted Installer. To change the Owner, click the Edit button. Select the account you would like to change the Owner to which would normally be your account or the Administrators account. Click OK OK to exit out of System32 properties dialog box and returned to folder.Again right click on the System32 folder and open the Properties dialog box. Navigate to the Security tab and select the Edit button. Click on the Username in the list you want to edit the permissions for, which should be the same as the Current Owner of the folder. Tick the box to allow Full Control and click OK OK to exit out from menu. Now you are done and you will be able to delete and copy the files in System 32 Directory.

https://medium.com/@brajeshofficial/how-do-we-get-system32-permission-to-save-rename-delete-95cbe26e862a

['Brajesh Kumar Singh']

2020-06-03 06:56:06.237000+00:00

['Hacking', 'System Administration', 'Windows', 'Settings']

Little Sapling

To Baby Harper Photo by Noah Buscher on Unsplash Little Sapling, next time I see you, you’ll have mastered the art of balance and reminded yourself how to grow upright toward the sun, although the sun rooted within you before your first cry and your smiles warm us with delight, even as we sense the ache to come — knowing that such trust, faith, and openness will burn off like clouds at dawn as the clock quickens.

https://medium.com/weeds-wildflowers/little-sapling-6908d0c2b68f

['Jenine Bsharah Baines']

2020-08-10 14:41:00.852000+00:00

['Poetry', 'Nature', 'Life', 'Trees']

How I Manifested $1000 in Overnight: 5 Secrets to money overnight! By Expect Alexander

How I Manifested $1000 in Overnight: 5 Secrets to money Overnight By low of attraction expect Alexander. Our relationship with money can be a funny thing. I didn’t realize it until this year, but my money mindset was nowhere close to where it needed to be. I dive deeper into my money block below, but in a nutshell, I realized I was scared to make and have a lot of money, and that mindset hindered me in so many ways. How can you ever be financially successful if you’re subconsciously telling yourself that money is a source of evil and you don’t want a lot of it? It’s pretty much impossible to manifest money fast in that circumstance. Don’t get me wrong, money won’t just fall off a money tree because you ask for it. Manifesting is the art of co-creating with the universe, so like anything else you manifest, the money will likely come from taking action and working toward your money goals. It may sound unbelievable but one night I decided to stop the BS relationship I have with money cold turkey. I chose to be okay with having a lot of money and told the universe to bring it my way. In the next week, I made almost $1,000 unexpectedly with the first payment coming in the very next morning. I’m NOT joking — this is how I manifested $1000 in overnight ! It was because of work I put in previously (the money came through affiliate links on my blog and commissions for my e-commerce business), but they manifested when I asked for it. And I had no idea those funds were coming to me. It.is.CRAZY I tell you. Crazy. If you’re wondering how to manifest money overnight, here are 5 tips to master your money mindset and attract more income! Bonus Video For Manifesting Money Quickly Get Free Video Prestation How To Magically Manifest REAL, Spendable Cash Starting In The Next 24 Hours… BY low Of Attraction expect Alexander.. How to manifest money overnight What Does ‘Manifestation’ Mean? There are many ‘definitions’ of the word manifest, but the simplest would be that a manifestation is ‘something that is put into your physical reality through thought, feelings, and beliefs’. This means that whatever you focus on is what you are bringing into your reality. You may focus and manifest through meditation, visualization or just via your conscious or subconscious. This process is called manifesting! For example, if you have been thinking about getting a new job and you focused on exactly what you wanted and when you wanted it, your thoughts and feelings would be strong surrounding this. You could then try to meditate or visualize your goal and this can help to manifest it into your reality. If you then got your new job and it was everything you wanted, you would have successfully manifested it into your life. So, now that you know what manifestation means, it’s time to find out how manifestation works. How Does Manifestation Work? Like with the Law of Attraction, a manifestation is where your thoughts and your energy can create your reality. If you are constantly being negative and feeling down, then you are going to attract and manifest negative energy. The first thing to do when manifesting is to take a look at your thoughts and feelings. Are you feeling negative? Do your thoughts surround negativity? If so, you could begin to manifest things you don’t want in your reality. This is why it’s important to clear your mind and have a positive mind when you are wanting to manifest. How to manifest money overnight Manifestation doesn’t just work with your thoughts, there has to be a form of action on your part. This could be actually applying for the jobs that suit what you are looking for and going to the interviews. Trying to visualize your thoughts and feelings about your job; will then help you to feel more positive and motivated to make these changes a reality. This will then push you to take some action and, ultimately, manifest your goals into your life. 5 Simple Steps Manifest Money Overnight Manifestation Step 1: Choose What You Want To Manifest When you decide on something specific to manifest, it’s vital that you know exactly why you want this specific thing in your life. And when you’re trying to manifest something in just 24 hours, you also have to pick something you believe you can manifest in a day. So, for example, there’s little point in saying you want to start a new business in 24 hours unless you actually believe you can attain this goal in the next day. However, you may well believe that you can successfully manifest the next step in your journey to a new business in a day, in which case you might set that as your goal (e.g. to complete a business plan, get a loan you need, or find someone to collaborate with). When picking a thing to manifest, ask yourself the following questions: Do I really want this, in my heart of hearts? How will I benefit from having this? When I think about having this, does it feel right? How will it be good for me and for others? Whatever want should be the greater good, and something you want in itself; most likely something that’s a significant step on the journey towards a greater manifestation goal. So, in sum: decide what you want, really connect with the intention to have it, and believe that you will receive what you ask for. Manifestation Step 2. Believe That Money Is A Good Thing Practice affirmations that focus only on the positive feelings you’d enjoy if you had the money you desire. For example, you might try an affirmation version of the old “living as if” trick. In other words, speak like you already have the money! An example affirmation might be “I can afford everything I want or need in my life without stress or worry.” Another might be “Everywhere I go, I attract financial prosperity and abundance.” Experiment with several wordings and choose the affirmation that strikes a special chord with you. Repeat it in the mirror every day. Manifestation Step 3: Visualize For You Money You probably already know the basics of visualization and have at least tried to practice those techniques a couple of times. On your current manifestation quest, start by going somewhere that’s quiet and private, and spend just a minute on visualizing the thing you want. Pour all your energy and concentration into seeing it with your mind’s eye, and let all the good feelings about the object or outcome well up inside you This step works best if you do a multi-sensory visualization; if you can see, hear, smell, touch and (if relevant) taste the outcome you’re looking to create. Make it as real as you possibly can, so it’s almost like it’s yours already. Add as many details as you can, and don’t try to imagine exactly how the thing or outcome becomes yours; instead, focus solely on the end result of receiving what you desire. Don’t think about how your desired object or outcome will manifest and don’t try to see it coming to you through any particular person or means. Your focus should be on the end result of receiving the thing of your desire. Manifestation Step 5: Take Action To Manifest You Money You can spend the rest of your day pretty much living as you normally would; there isn’t any particular action you need to take in order to make manifestation possible (your intentions are what will determine your success). Rather, once you’ve finished steps 1–2 as described above, you are just waiting for what you want to appear. However, if you feel the urge to do something specific; whether it immediately makes sense or it’s more of an intuition-based yearning. Then consider following your gut and taking that action. If it feels natural, do it! If you find that you don’t get the outcome you want within 24 hours or less, look back at the first two steps and go back through them. Sometimes, writing down what you want (and some of the answers to the specific questions posed) can give the universe the extra nudge it needs to fuel your manifestation. There are some common reasons why you might not be manifesting quickly. In particular, consider whether you’re doubting the process; do you either not believe you’ll get what you ask for because you don’t think you deserve it, or perhaps doubt whether it’s possible to manifest using the Law of Attraction? Any kind of negative feelings (e.g. anxiety, worry, anger, and doubt) or negative beliefs can inhibit your results.

https://medium.com/@manifestation-money/how-i-manifested-1000-in-overnight-5-secrets-to-money-overnight-by-expect-alexander-3c0f61d1e0a0

['Law Of Attraction']

2020-11-23 13:56:09.715000+00:00

['How To Manifest Something', 'Low Of Attraction', 'How To Manifest Anything', 'Manifestation', 'How To Manifest Money']

DeFi Warp Finance Recovered 75% of Stolen Crypto Assets

The decentralized Finance Platform Warp Finance reported that it recovered $5.85 million worth of crypto assets from $7.7 million stolen from the Protocol last week. On December 18, the DeFi Warp Finance Protocol was attacked using flash loans. Taking a look… https://t.co/UzyDETcmur This is the second attack whish uses multiple flash liquidity, flash swaps via Uniswap and flash loans via dYdX We will see very complex things via @AaveAave V2 batch flash loans 🙂 https://t.co/jAjWa3WAi6 - Emiliano Bonassi | emiliano.eth (@emilianobonassi) December 17, 2020 The hacker was able to withdraw stable coins worth $7.7 million from the platform. Over the weekend, the Protocol’s developers said they were able to recover most of the stolen crypto assets. Securing the lost assets was the responsibility of the Warp Finance team and they will return approximately 75% of the users deposited assets. Recovered crypto assets will be distributed to affected users in an amount proportional to the amount of W-USDC and W-DAI held at the time of the attack. The developers of the Protocol intend to compensate users for losses and will distribute debt tokens of the platform (IOU) to each victim. IOU tokens will be distributed in the coming days. According to the developers statement, the attack involved several flash loans taken through the dYdX platform and several quick swaps through Uniswap. The DeFi industry is actively developing this year. Recently, the dappradar portal released an annual report, according to which the volume of transactions in DeFi has increased more than 12 times in 2020. Originally published at https://thecryptobasic.com on December 22, 2020.

https://medium.com/the-capital/defi-warp-finance-recovered-75-of-stolen-crypto-assets-e269ff006562

['The Crypto Basic']

2020-12-23 02:31:49.492000+00:00

['Cryptocurrency News', 'Altcoins', 'Decentralized Finance', 'Crypto', 'Defi']

Do Military Leaders Suffer Imposter Syndrome?

In 1985, Dr Clance first began her research into Imposter Phenomenon (1). Defined as the internal experience of intellectual phoniness, Dr Clance studied the phenomenon amongst high performing women. Today, we often refer to the phenomenon as Imposter Syndrome. In 1978, Clance and Imes studied 150 high performing women. Despite all their success, these women felt they were imposters who did not belong. Clance and Imes stopped short of concluding that only women experienced the phenomenon. Additional research has since indicated that men do succumb to similar feelings. Do leaders, new to a position or role, experience similar feelings? Clance concludes that the Imposter Phenomenon consists of six characteristics: The Imposter Cycle The need to be “special” or to be the very best Superman/Superwoman aspects Fear of failure Denial of competence and Discounting praise Fear and guilt about success To be considered as an Imposter, two of these characteristics must be present (2). In the military context or any competitive industry, the need to be “special” is prevalent. You have to stand out amongst your peers when competing for positions or postings. Which then breeds fear of failure. And if you then miss out on the position/posting, increased denial of competence ensues. While this might not be the case amongst all military leaders, it is something that I’ve experienced. Not only in a leadership role but in previous postings too. Imposter Syndrome is something that commonly addressed amongst creatives and entrepreneurs. I am yet to come across it in my professional circles. Perhaps it is seen as taboo to discuss your feelings of inadequacy in fear that it will have adverse consequences. How do we combat Imposter Syndrome? Employing a feedback loop that offers evidence-based reporting, both positive and negative, is one method I’ve found useful. It doesn’t involve page long reports but providing a “pat on the back” or an example of a different approach has worked well in my experience. And I’ve seen it from great leaders I’ve worked with throughout my career. I’m sure there are other methods, styles and examples of how leaders have addressed Imposter Syndrome. I intend on finding out these examples and documenting them. In the meantime, to combat my own Imposter Syndrome, I will continue to make consistent progress towards my goals. Please leave a comment with any experiences or suggestions on how to combat this internal struggle.

https://medium.com/@james-tew/do-military-leaders-suffer-imposter-syndrome-277953abd175

['James Tew']

2020-12-23 02:11:52.846000+00:00

['Imposter Syndrome', 'Military', 'Leadership', 'Productivity']

What Obama Just Said In South Africa And Why It Matters

In his Obama way he said: Let me tell you what I believe. I believe in a vision of equality and justice and freedom and multi-racial democracy, built on the premise that all people are created equal, and they’re endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. And I believe that a world governed by such principles is possible and that it can achieve more peace and more cooperation in pursuit of a common good. That’s what I believe. Turns out he was only warming up, and that this was going to be a pep talk/instructional lecture on what to do next as a global community. He told us we have no choice but to move forward: We have a better story to tell. So if we’re truly to continue Madiba’s long walk towards freedom, we’re going to have to work harder and we’re going to have to be smarter. We’re going to have to learn from the mistakes of the recent past. The first step is to create economic opportunity for all: For almost all countries, progress is going to depend on an inclusive market-based system — one that offers education for every child; that protects collective bargaining and secures the rights of every worker — (applause) — that breaks up monopolies to encourage competition in small and medium-sized businesses; and has laws that root out corruption and ensures fair dealing in business; that maintains some form of progressive taxation so that rich people are still rich but they’re giving a little bit back to make sure that everybody else has something to pay for universal health care and retirement security, and invests in infrastructure and scientific research that builds platforms for innovation. He took a jab at the ultra-rich: I mean, it shows a poverty of ambition to just want to take more and more and more, instead of saying, “Wow, I’ve got so much. Who can I help? How can I give more and more and more?” The second step is in honoring the dignity of others: Some principles really are universal — and the most important one is the principle that we are bound together by a common humanity and that each individual has inherent dignity and worth. Now, it’s surprising that we have to affirm this truth today. More than a quarter century after Madiba walked out of prison, I still have to stand here at a lecture and devote some time to saying that black people and white people and Asian people and Latin American people and women and men and gays and straights, that we are all human, that our differences are superficial, and that we should treat each other with care and respect. I would have thought we would have figured that out by now. He took us on a riff about our common humanity: It is a truth that lies at the heart of every world religion — that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us. (Applause.) That we see ourselves in other people. That we can recognize common hopes and common dreams. Don’t you get a sense sometimes — again, I’m ad-libbing here — that these people who are so intent on putting people down and puffing themselves up that they’re small-hearted, that there’s something they’re just afraid of. With generosity of spirit: Now, we have to acknowledge that there is disorientation that comes from rapid change and modernization, and the fact that the world has shrunk, and we’re going to have to find ways to lessen the fears of those who feel threatened. The third step is about strengthening real democracy: It’s not just about who has the most votes. It’s also about the civic culture that we build that makes democracy work. Democracy depends on strong institutions and it’s about minority rights and checks and balances, and freedom of speech and freedom of expression and a free press, and the right to protest and petition the government, and an independent judiciary, and everybody having to follow the law. Importantly, he asked us to divert our attention from the capitals to the grassroots: Because that’s where democratic legitimacy comes from. Not from the top down, not from abstract theories, not just from experts, but from the bottom up. Knowing the lives of those who are struggling. Democracy means being in touch and in tune with life as it’s lived in our communities, and that’s what we should expect from our leaders, and it depends upon cultivating leaders at the grassroots who can help bring about change and implement it on the ground and can tell leaders in fancy buildings, this isn’t working down here. And the fourth and final step is to maintain our relationship to hope: It is tempting to give in to cynicism — to believe that recent shifts in global politics are too powerful to push back; that the pendulum has swung permanently. Just as people spoke about the triumph of democracy in the 90s, now you are hearing people talk about end of democracy and the triumph of tribalism and the strong man. We have to resist that cynicism. What’s more, we need one another: We don’t just need one leader, we don’t just need one inspiration, what we badly need right now is that collective spirit. And, I know that those young people, those hope carriers are gathering around the world. Love comes more naturally to the human heart, let’s remember that truth. Let’s see it as our North Star, let’s be joyful in our struggle to make that truth manifest here on earth so that in 100 years from now, future generations will look back and say, “they kept the march going, that’s why we live under new banners of freedom.”

https://medium.com/discourse/what-obama-just-said-in-south-africa-and-why-it-matters-1b665d55e906

['Annika Erickson-Pearson']

2018-07-28 16:11:00.083000+00:00

['Youth', 'Obama', 'Politics', 'Hope', 'Globalization']

Journey on finding my true soul while living off grid with coastal community in Lamalera

Journey on finding my true soul while living off grid with coastal community in Lamalera Megginesia Jan 27·3 min read It’s been awhile I have been living with the community in Lamalera but it’s hard to tell how my feelings were at the very first time to be here since last year. Honestly, it’s not my first experience to live with coastal community in Eastern Indonesia. This time, I should embrace all the challenges I have here. First, I am vegan. I can tell that fresh produce in this place is quite tricky to find. The only fresh vegetables I can find in my daily intake is from Meringue tree or in local language it’s called ‘motong’ or ‘merungge’ (re: Kelor/ Indonesian). I can say that all the difficulties here are my blessings and privilege during my time on the island. Fortunately, I also have ‘different kind of preferences in eating’. I prefer to eat local produce such as sweet potato, corn, cassava, and all local veggies that I could get here. Maria (ia) is a good cook and great company for me. She knows one of my fav foods; popcorn.. She made ‘local popcorn’ out of dried corn we harvested from the last crops :) Second, the access. Both for communication and transportation or logistics. The only provider I could use in Lamalera is T-Sel and it’s only for calling or texting. No internet signals so far in Lamalera B, the place where I usually live, come, back and forth. There’s a public transportation or usually we called it otto (bus). The road isn’t that easy, rocky mountain areas and so challenging. My first time went there I spent almost 5 hours on the road by motorbike. But as I get used to it, I able to enjoy the views and all the journey, thus eventhough it took hours to get there I won’t complain anymore. Hehe The looks of the road during dry season. Third, I am blessed in disguise. Two points I emphasized that lots of challenges above, but on the other hand I feel it’s such a blessing and a turning point for me in accepting life. How to enjoy every given things and moments from God and Nature to me. Lamalera, the place where I accept myself as it is, content with all the limitations or achievement so far, accept the challenges, feel always enough, able to make peace with my self (even though it ain’t easy), know myself and my surroundings better, and more importantly is that I am given a place and time to learn about life; how to survive, how to live our lives to the fullest, laugh ourselves, love ourselves more, and better understand what this life is about. The day I took a break after my journey back to the village. It’s quite contemplative though :) It took sometimes for me to accept all of them. But the only thing I could say is the biggest gratitude and thank you for the love and abundance I have gotten during my journey in here. I won’t stop experiencing and learning. No such words as late or too complicated. I just need to embrace all the challenges and be more patient and courageous. All takes time, indeed. Thank you Mother Nature and my patient soul.

https://medium.com/@megginesia/journey-on-finding-my-true-soul-while-living-off-grid-with-coastal-community-in-lamalera-9fa2378bed4d

[]

2021-01-27 02:42:47.820000+00:00

['Travel Writing', 'Living Off Grid', 'Journey Of Life', 'Nusa Tenggara Timur', 'Finding Yourself']

How to Protect Your Construction Business Revenue During Budget Restrained COVID-19 Environment?

The Present Scenario of the Construction Industry Though the effect of COVID-19 has started to slow down, the long-hauled impact it has created on the construction industry is still persistent. From project owners to contractors, subcontractors, and project managers, all have faced the reduced cash flow adding more pressure to the projects. Since the safety requirements have become stricter than ever, there has been a significant decline in the labor supply along with the shortage of material which has pushed the material pricing to cut down the profits. Adding to this, contractors and construction firms have started spending more money on safety essentials such as masks, gloves, sanitizers, and other products. Also, the loss of labor has made even the simplest tasks consume more time adding to the time required to complete the projects. As most of the manufacturing plants were restricted to function due to safety aspects, the material shortage has become another obstruction to the project’s success. The restriction on imports, cost of logistics, and delays have all caused damage to the revenue-making many contractors and construction companies to struggle for survival. Tighter Budget & Project Managers Even though contractors are taking maximum efforts to protect the cash flow, there has been significant pressure on the project managers to control the project budgets while generating profits. As project managers must take the responsibility for driving profit percentage, it has become even more difficult for them to sustain through these tough times. Therefore, contractors are looking forward to technology solutions that can help yield profit even from tighter budgets. Project managers have the responsibility of maintaining the profit percentage by keeping track of the variance with project finances, which may be difficult at times. However, planning your goals with the right techniques could prove to be beneficial in yielding profits from tighter margins. Planning Cash Flow Projections & Job Forecasting The primary step which project managers need to take for the project’s success is planning cash flow projections as it helps contractors to locate the income source while defining the budget for the essential expenses. Moreover, it is necessary that project managers should keep a check on operational costs while working on material and equipment purchases. It can help project managers have visible trends for cash flow. Also, the data can be used to work on the job forecasting process for existing and future projects while measuring profits, loss, and average income required for planning expenses or checking possible loan requirements to complete the project. Measuring Estimated Time for Completion When it comes to sustaining profit margin, project managers must have a keen observation of the estimated completion time for projects. This can either be done using construction accounting software which can check on true costs and time spent on a particular activity as well as the entire project. Also, determining true costs even includes project managers to check for change order data such as labor, material, and subcontract data which can help filter profits from the expenses. And to meet such goals, contractors can switch to construction project management software that is designed to automate the recording of all the expenses, checking time for completion, and cutting any chances of unexpected loss due to delays. Adding to that, the data determined for estimated time for completion of a project and activity can be further used to plan the decisions for upcoming projects while generating the scope for improving the profit margins. How to Sustain Healthier Profit Margins? The entire process of sustaining the profit margins begins with the management of expenses, time management, and keeping a check on project budgets. Since project owners can hold contractors and project managers accountable for all the time and money consumed, contractors can simply switch to intelligent construction management software that can handle all the data related to accounting, ERP, CRM, and project management. Also, using such technology can help project managers to have command over change orders while checking costs anticipated for change implementation, material planning changes, schedule adjustments, etc. This data can be used to create real-time progress reports while delivering access to more precise billings, invoices, progress reports, and On top of this, using an integrated construction accounting software can be used to process real-time progress reports, drawing a more accurate picture of the variances in the job. Also, this can provide project owners easy access to progress details, invoices, and billings which can improve the entire payment process. Overall, using a software solution can help project managers to stick to the right path of project progress while aligning with the budget and profit margins. This gives them easy access to expense management and allows timely project development while maintaining the transparency of the entire project. The Crux Though working on project planning, expenses, change orders, and profit management may all seem like an effortless process, the goal of the contractors is all about bringing precision to the deliveries. Therefore, it is significantly important to keep track of project resources and business decisions to have a business advantage. Therefore, it is necessary that contractors must make the right choice when adopting a cloud-based integrated construction accounting software that can add to the profits while meeting the project goals. Concluding it all, planning revenue and sustaining profit margin in a budget restrained environment is all about precision with estimated time completion, keeping a check on project trends, effective forecasting, and making sure that the project must head in the right direction with respect to time. Good Luck! Are you struggling with profit margins due to shrunk project budgets during COVID-19 landscape? Get the necessary support from the experts. Visit www.projectpro365.com

https://medium.com/projectpro365/how-to-protect-your-construction-business-revenue-during-budget-restrained-covid-19-environment-f103335dc9f2

['Scarlett Jonathon']

2020-12-11 08:08:42.310000+00:00

['Construction', 'Construction Management', 'Construction Industry', 'Accounting Software', 'Accounting']

NASA selects companies to collect lunar resources for Artemis demonstrations

#NASA; #LunarResources; #ArtemisDemonstration ​NASA/Canadian-Media: ​NASA has selected four companies to collect space resources and transfer ownership to the agency: Lunar Outpost of Golden, Colorado; Masten Space Systems of Mojave, California; ispace Europe of Luxembourg; and ispace Japan of Tokyo. Overall, the new NASA contracts with these companies total $25,001, NASA reports said. NASA. Image credit: Twitter handle Space resources will play a key role in NASA’s Artemis program and future space exploration. The ability to extract and use extraterrestrial resources will ensure Artemis operations can be conducted safely and sustainably in support of establishing human lunar exploration. Moreover, in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) will play a vital role in a future human mission to Mars. Like many other operations, ISRU activities will be tested and developed on the Moon, building the required knowledge to implement new capabilities that will be necessary to overcome the challenges of a human mission to Mars. “These awards expand NASA’s innovative use of public-private partnerships to the Moon. We’re excited to join with our commercial and international partners to make Artemis the largest and most diverse global human space exploration coalition in history,” said Mike Gold, NASA’s acting associate administrator for international and interagency relations. “Space resources are the fuel that will propel America and all of humanity to the stars.” https://youtu.be/V7bhhKOON_o A great deal of work remains to be done to develop robust ISRU capabilities. Both robotic and human explorers will test new technologies and techniques. “Leveraging commercial involvement enhances our ability to safely return to the Moon in a sustainable, innovative, and affordable fashion,” said Phil McAlister, director of Commercial Spaceflight Development at NASA Headquarters. “A supportive policy for the recovery and use of space resources provides a stable and predictable investment environment for commercial space innovators and entrepreneurs.” Companies will collect a small amount of lunar regolith from any location on the Moon and provide imagery to NASA of the collection and the collected material, along with data that identifies the collection location. Subsequent to receiving such imagery and data, an “in-place” transfer of ownership of the lunar regolith to NASA will take place. After ownership transfer, the collected material becomes the sole property of NASA for the agency’s use under the Artemis program. NASA solicited fixed price quotes using simplified acquisition procedures and selected companies using the “low-priced, technically acceptable” selection method. The agency evaluated quotes and assigned a pass-fail rating based on their ability to satisfactorily meet the requirements of the solicitation. Companies were then selected from the acceptable proposals, in accordance with the agency’s available budget, starting with the lowest-priced proposals. Details about the selection are: Lunar Outpost proposed collection for $1 following the arrival of a lander to the lunar South Pole in 2023. ispace Japan proposed collection for $5,000 following arrival in 2022 of a lander to Lacus Somniorum on the Moon’s northeastern near side. ispace Europe proposed collection for $5,000 following arrival in 2023 of a lander to the lunar South Pole. Masten Space Systems proposed collection for $15,000 following arrival in 2023 of a lander to the lunar South Pole. Companies will receive 10% of their total proposed price upon award, will receive 10% upon launch, and the remaining 80% upon successful completion. NASA’s payment is exclusively for the lunar regolith. The agency will determine retrieval methods for the transferred lunar regolith at a later date. Companies must take all actions to perform the contracts in full compliance with the Registration Convention, Article II, and other provisions of the Outer Space Treaty, as well as in accordance with NASA’s other relevant international obligations. NASA will continue to publicly release data and scientific discoveries gained through the safe and sustainable lunar exploration to benefit all of humanity.

https://medium.com/@abajaj033/nasa-selects-companies-to-collect-lunar-resources-for-artemis-demonstrations-7a27102db593

['Asha Bajaj']

2020-12-03 21:50:25.633000+00:00

['Astronomy', 'Astronomy News', 'Artemis Demonstration', 'NASA', 'Lunar Resources']

Learn About SQL Injection Attacks

Preventing SQL Injections You can see that SQL injection is a severe vulnerability that you should prevent. Let’s now talk about how you can prevent them in your web applications. You might have heard of several SQL injection prevention techniques, like prepared statements, approval listing, typecasting, and escaping. But what are the pros and cons of each option, and when should you use them? Prepared statements Approval listing Typecasting Escaping Prepared statements First, let’s talk about your best option: prepared statements. Prepared statements are also called parameterized queries, and they make SQL injections virtually impossible. Before we dive into how prepared statements work, it’s important to understand how SQL queries are executed. SQL is essentially a programming language, and your SQL query is essentially a program. When the SQL program arrives at the SQL server, the server will parse, compile, and optimize it. Finally, the server will execute the program and return the results of the execution. And when you insert user-supplied input into your SQL queries directly, you are basically rewriting your program dynamically using user input. So an attacker can supply data that interferes with the program’s code and alter its logic. And prepared statements work by making sure that user-supplied data does not alter your SQL query’s logic. Prepared statements are SQL statements sent to and compiled by the SQL server before any user-supplied parameters are inserted. This means that instead of passing a complete SQL query to the server to be compiled, you define all the SQL logic first, compile it, then insert parameters into the query right before execution. After the parameters are inserted into the final query, the query will not be parsed and recompiled. Anything that was not in the original statement will be treated as string data, not executable SQL code. So the program logic part of your SQL query will remain intact. This allows the database to distinguish between the code part and the data part of the SQL query, regardless of what the user input looks like. For example, here’s how you would implement a prepared statement in PHP. <?php $stmt = $mysqli->prepare(“SELECT Id FROM Users WHERE Username=? AND Password=?”); $stmt->bind_param(“ss”, $username, $password); $stmt->execute(); ?> In a prepared statement, you would define the structure of the query first. You write out the query without its parameters and put question marks as place holders for the parameters. The SQL server will then compile this string as SQL code. You can then send over the parameters of the query separately. The ss here means that we are providing two parameters, which are both strings. And finally, you execute the query. Something else to remember here is that using prepared statements does not necessarily mean that you are safe from SQL injections. You also have to use them correctly. For example, here let’s say we concatenate the user input within the prepare function, then execute it right away: <?php $stmt = $mysqli->prepare(“SELECT Id FROM Users WHERE Username=’$username’ AND Password=’$password’”); $stmt->execute(); ?> If you don’t send user input separately as parameters to your prepared statement but instead still build your SQL query by joining strings together, you are still vulnerable to SQL injections even when using prepared statements. Approval listing Let’s say that your program allows users to sort their emails by some criteria. And if the user sorts their emails by the date the email is sent, the application will execute this SQL query to retrieve the emails. SELECT Title, Body FROM Emails WHERE Username=’vickie’ AND AccessKey=’mykey_123' ORDER BY Date DESC; The SQL ORDER BY clause allows the query to specify which column to order the results by. This query will return all of the user’s emails in our table sorted by the Date column in descending order. But you want your users to be able to choose which field their emails are sorted by. In this case, you cannot use prepared statements to secure the query. Prepared statements can only be used to protect fields that are not needed during the compilation process. You cannot use prepared statements in column names, table names, SQL operators, or within an ORDER BY clause. So if you need to use user-supplied input in these fields, approval listing would be the most appropriate defense against SQL injections. Approval listing refers to only accepting input values that are known to be legit, and rejecting all other input. In this case, you can use an approval list of column names for the ORDER BY clause, instead of allowing arbitrary input from the user. Let’s say that users can only sort their emails by date or by the email's sender. You can check if the user input corresponds to one of the allowed values and then insert it into your SQL statement. Here is how you might implement the protection in PHP. <?php if($_POST[“order_by”] == “Date” || $_POST[“order_by”] == “Sender”) { $order_by = $_POST[“order_by”]; } $stmt = $mysqli->prepare(“SELECT Id FROM Emails WHERE Username=? AND AcessKey=? ORDER BY $order_by”); $stmt->bind_param(“ss”, $username, $accesskey); $stmt->execute(); ?> You can also map user-supplied values into predefined strings in the program to avoid concatenating user input into SQL queries. For example, if you want your users to sort their results either in an ascending or descending way, you could let users specify a boolean value that would then be mapped to a string to be inserted into the query. <?php if($_POST[“order_by”] == “Date” || $_POST[“order_by”] == “Sender”) { $order_by = $_POST[“order_by”]; } $sort_by = “ASC”; if($_POST[“desc”] == “1”) { $sort_by = “DESC”; } $stmt = $mysqli->prepare(“SELECT Id FROM Emails WHERE Username=? AND AcessKey=? ORDER BY $order_by $sort_by”); $stmt->bind_param(“ss”, $username, $accesskey); $stmt->execute(); ?> Type casting If your user input should be a simple data type like a boolean, a number, or a date, you could also convert the user input string into a safer data type before it is appended to the query. This is called type casting and can be used to protect against SQL injection without using prepared statements. For example, let’s say that you also allow users to retrieve their emails with their user ID. And you know that the provided user ID should always be an integer. SELECT Title, Body FROM Emails WHERE Id='2' AND AcessKey='mykey_123'; In this case, you can convert the user input string into an integer before you insert it into the SQL query. This will ensure that the input is a number and that no special character that can influence the SQL logic would survive the conversion. <?php $id = (int)$_POST[“id”]; $accesskey = $_POST[“access_key”]; $stmt = $mysqli->prepare(“SELECT Title, Body FROM Emails WHERE Id=$id AND AcessKey=?”); $stmt->bind_param(“s”, $accesskey); $stmt->execute(); ?> You might have noticed that we could have just used prepared statements in this example. And you are absolutely right. I recommend using prepared statements whenever possible instead of type casting because prepared statements work for all data types. This way, your coding style can remain consistent for all types of user input. The type casting method should be reserved for when prepared statements are not available. <?php $id = $_POST[“id”]; $accesskey = $_POST[“access_key”]; $stmt = $mysqli->prepare(“SELECT Title, Body FROM Emails WHERE Id=? AND AcessKey=?”); $stmt->bind_param(“ss”, $id, $accesskey); $stmt->execute(); ?> Escaping The last way you can prevent SQL injection is to sanitize and escape user input carefully. This means that you encode or remove special characters that might mess with the SQL logic. For example, some special characters that should be sanitized or escaped include the single quote (‘), and the double quote (“), which often allows attackers to break out of a parameter string. There are also special characters specific to each type of database that you need to take care of. This technique should only be used as a last resort, and if possible, you should not rely on it because it does not guarantee it will prevent all SQL injection in all situations. It is easy to miss out on some special characters that could construct a SQL injection attack. Let’s look at this query again. What if you want your users to be able to sort their emails by a random field? If you cannot determine an approval list that can be used in this situation, you can first escape the user input string and then insert it into the query.

https://medium.com/better-programming/learn-about-sql-injection-attacks-ce9f8940a5ab

['Vickie Li']

2020-11-03 17:47:00.598000+00:00

['Cybersecurity', 'Programming', 'PHP', 'Software Development', 'Hacking']

Make an Un-Smart New Year’s Resolution

As we approach the end of the year, many of us find ourselves contemplating possible New Year’s resolutions — lose some weight, exercise more, read X number of books, start a new hobby, etc. In creating a list of New Year’s resolutions, we may find ourselves seeking to craft S.M.A.R.T. goals — goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound. We have probably all heard about the importance of setting S.M.A.R.T. goals to ensure a better likelihood of actually accomplishing those goals we set for ourselves, but is there ever a time when setting a S.M.A.R.T. goal isn’t so smart? In exploring this question, perhaps we should start by asking another question: Have you ever known a person that was so obsessed with personal achievement and accomplishment that they were blinded to the needs of others around them? Such a person may be so focused on setting and working to achieve S.M.A.R.T. goals that they walk around with blinders on, frequently referring to their S.M.A.R.T. day planner or chore list, completely focused on accomplishing the task at hand, and nothing else. How do you feel when you are around such a person? Do you feel important? Do you feel valued? If we stop and really think about it, the answer is probably no, or at least not as much as we may like. Additionally, have you ever found yourself so focused and driven to accomplish a particular task or goal that you failed to pay enough attention to those around you? Have you ever been called on it by a friend or loved-one? If so, how did you feel? Did you feel that you truly achieved success through the accomplishment of your task or goal? If we stop and really examine our own hearts, I think we would find that accomplishments achieved independently, and sometimes in spite of others tend to be less intrinsically rewarding and more hollow and shallow. Certainly, goal setting and a personal drive for self-improvement and achievement are important personal attributes to have. Furthermore, we do not live in a world of extremes. Just because we are goal and achievement-oriented does not mean that we cannot also be attuned to the needs of those around us. However, if you are like me (tending to be more obsessed with goals) then perhaps a new approach to goal-setting may be in order. Rather than setting goals that tend to be more “me oriented,” perhaps it is time to set goals that are centered on others. That is why I propose that this year we adopt goals that are not so S.M.A.R.T. In this New Year, my main goal is to not be so focused on personal achievement and success, but rather be focused on the success of others. This means that, while I still must strive for success in my personal work and family pursuits, I will place more emphasis on looking for opportunities to help and be more keenly attuned to others’ needs, wants, desires, and aspirations. I will work to help them accomplish their goals and dreams. You may easily note that this goal is not specific, measurable, or time-bound, in the conventional sense, though I do believe that it is attainable and realistic. Furthermore, such a goal can be measured, though not empirically. It can be measured by the smiles we get from those we help and the warmth in our heart that accompanies other-centered service. Ironically, I believe that the best and surest way for each of us to accomplish great things in this life is not by focusing on what we need to do to better ourselves and our own situation. Rather it is by focusing on what others need us to do to better them. When we focus on helping others, things in our own lives have a tendency of falling into place, often better than we could have ever planned on our own. Though S.M.A.R.T. goals and resolutions certainly have their place, perhaps it is time to focus less on ourselves and more on those around us. It is time to set New Year’s resolutions that aren’t so S.M.A.R.T!

https://medium.com/@jon-westover/make-an-un-smart-new-years-resolution-470572584f84

['Jonathan H. Westover']

2020-11-15 19:02:04.702000+00:00

['Smart Goals', 'New Year Resolution', 'Goal Setting']

[Review] Pix2Pix: Image-to-Image Translation with Conditional Adversarial Networks (GAN)

In this story, Image-to-Image Translation with Conditional Adversarial Networks, Pix2Pix, by Berkeley AI Research (BAIR) Laboratory, UC Berkeley, is presented. In this paper: Conditional adversarial networks are investigated as a general-purpose solution to image-to-image translation problems. are investigated as These networks not only learn the mapping from input image to output image , but also learn a loss function to train this mapping. , but also This approach is effective at synthesizing photos from label maps, reconstructing objects from edge maps, and colorizing images, among other tasks. This is a paper in 2017 CVPR with over 7000 citations. (Sik-Ho Tsang @ Medium) There is a funny online demo for Pix2Pix: https://affinelayer.com/pixsrv/

https://medium.com/@sh-tsang/review-pix2pix-image-to-image-translation-with-conditional-adversarial-networks-gan-ac85d8ecead2

['Sik-Ho Tsang']

2020-12-25 15:35:41.094000+00:00

['Artificial Intelligence', 'Convolutional Network', 'Gan', 'Generative Adversarial', 'Deep Learning']

Hands-on with APIOps

This autumn we’ve taken some great steps in APIOps: Apidays Helsinki meetup in September featured a discussion on how specification standards like OpenAPI and especially the upcoming OpenAPI 3.1.0 help in automating and improving the API development presented by Marjukka Niinioja from Osaango, a recent OpenAPI initiative member We also saw a hands-on demo by Tessa Viitanen, Techie Stories on using Hypertrace, an open-source platform for compliance with APIs developed by Traceable.ai. Tessa shows and leads the discussion on how to potentially use it for real-time monitoring and even compliance checks for APIs and distributed systems. Tessa’s demo starts on the video at appr. 30 min. In October, we had the first APIOps Cycles coffee break discussing with community members Meenakshi Khatri, Ikenna Nwaiwu, and Miguel Angel Muñoz on how they are using APIOps Cycles method to work with their teams and API products and how to use and potentially improve the method, for example, the design style guide. We even did a short hands-on session with one of the canvases in APIOps Cycles to show how it’s used. We simulated how a German team had worked on their payment APIs. And last but not least we had a joint event with Dallas and Helsinki (and honestly, people from at least 3 continents) in October. We had a great panel with Emmelyn Wang, Bri Crow and Marjukka Niinioja answering audience questions and discussing what are the skills needed for API development and API Economy from a recruiting point of view and how does APIOps Cycles method help multi-disciplinary teams to develop better APIs with Lean startup, product management, and MVP spirit. Want to attend, speak, or sponsor the next events? Contact the local organizers or our community support at info(at)osaango.com and join the discussion around APIOps Cycles and get tips on how to use it in our Slack (find the Join us link at https://www.apiopscycles.com/)

https://medium.com/apiops/hands-on-with-apiops-f11d57c4fd0

['Marjukka Niinioja']

2020-10-20 14:01:13.313000+00:00

['Observability', 'Apiops', 'API', 'Api Development']

Where Do the Jets Go From Here?

Where Do the Jets Go From Here? Well, the New York Jets can all but say goodbye to Trevor Lawrence after this past Sunday. New York defeated the Los Angeles Rams 23–20 in the biggest upset of the season. While a win is usually a good thing for an NFL franchise, this one stings for Jets fans. The win pushed New York out of the number one pick, causing Jacksonville to be the leader in the Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes. The Jaguars have had an easier schedule this season, giving them the tiebreaker over New York. Now all hope isn’t necessarily lost for the Jets. While it’s unlikely, there’s a possibility Jacksonville wins one of their final two games. The Jaguars still must face the Bears and Colts (who ironically gave Jacksonville it’s only win of the season). If the Jags can somehow pull off an upset, New York would jump back into the number one pick. The Jets however, would have to lose their remaining games against the Browns and Patriots. New York secured their first win of the season Sunday against the Rams. Joe Scarnici/Getty Images The odds are slim though. Come draft time New York will likely have to select someone other than Trevor Lawrence. So what’s the plan now? The Jets will certainly have options. The first being the consolation prize of Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields. Fields is the number two ranked player, but I’m not completely sold New York would take this route. In many mock drafts the Jets were selecting Lawrence at one, while the Jaguars were taking Fields at two. With the order now flipped however, the presence of Sam Darnold may cause New York to hesitate on Fields. The Ohio State QB hasn’t looked as great this season as he did his sophomore year when he had 51 total touchdowns and just three interceptions. This season Fields has 20 total touchdowns and five interceptions in six games. His numbers are still impressive, but are they enough to convince New York he can save their franchise? If I had to guess I would say no. So that leaves the Jets with two realistic options: take a non-quarterback at two, or trade back for more selections. The first option would likely take out any uncertainty about who New York would select. The second option would increase that uncertainty to about two players. Let’s start with selecting a non-QB at two. Has Justin Fields done enough to make New York move off Darnold? Jay LaPrete/AP If the Jets take a player other than Justin Fields with the number two selection, it’s going to be Oregon tackle Penei Sewell. The junior lineman is widely regarded as the best non-quarterback in the draft. As a sophomore, Sewell was a unanimous All-American, the Outland trophy winner, and even received Heisman votes. Sewell as been tabbed as a generational prospect, and perhaps the best tackle prospect ever according to Pro Football Focus. New York needs help in a lot of places, and offensive line is at the top of that list. Quarterback Sam Darnold has been sacked the ninth-most times this season despite missing four games. The lone bright spot on the o-line is rookie Mekhi Becton. Becton has been one of the better rookies all season. He has earned a 75.5 grade this year according to Pro Football Focus. Becton also ranked ninth on ESPN’s NFL rookie rankings as of week 10. The lone hesitation of taking Sewell at two would be both he and Becton typically play left tackle. Good thing there’s two tackle spots, because that won’t be enough for New York to pass on a generational talent. It would be very difficult for the Jets to pass on a talent like Sewell. Mark Ylen/Mid-Valley Media If the Jets decide to not take the Sewell route, that leaves them with the option of trading back. This is a real possibility considering how many holes New York has on it’s roster. The Jets already have nine selections in the upcoming draft, including five in the first three rounds. But when you’re a team as bad as New York, you can never have too many options. So if the team decides to move back, two players emerge as New York’s first possible selection: LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase or Alabama’s DeVonta Smith. It’s obvious the Jets need help in the passing game. The team’s leading receiver this year is Jamison Crowder with 576 yards. As a matter of fact, Crowder is the only player on the Jets with over 500 receiving yards. Enter the debate between Chase and Smith. Recency bias would tell you DeVonta Smith is the choice. He’s the current favorite for the Heisman after an impressive season of 1,511 yards and 17 touchdowns. Ja’Marr Chase however, would likely be the correct choice. Despite opting out, Ja’Marr Chase is still the top receiver in this year’s draft. Josh Auzenne/WAFB-TV No disrespect to Smith, but Chase was incredible the last time he was on the field. The LSU receiver opted out of this season to focus on the NFL draft. He however, won the Biletnikoff award his sophomore season. Chase finished with 1,780 yards and 20 touchdowns. Numbers which are better than DeVonta Smith’s. Not to mention Chase outperformed his LSU teammate Justin Jefferson last year, who if you hadn’t noticed is tearing up the NFL. So while it stings at the moment for New York fans, all hope isn’t lost. Maybe Jacksonville surprises everyone down the stretch. But even if they don’t, New York still has options to dramatically improve their team.

https://medium.com/@jacobburns2424/where-do-the-jets-go-from-here-4c1815571f79

['Jacob Burns']

2020-12-21 18:05:57.562000+00:00

['NFL', 'Trevor Lawrence', 'Justin Fields', 'NFL Draft', 'New York Jets']

The Old Playlist

I used to have a special playlist that I would listen only when I got upset. The playlist was a list of 2000s-2010s songs. When it appeared to be the last song on my playlist, I would press the start over button and the song played starting from number one. Thus, I always put them either on my phone or laptop so that I could repeat when I felt certain way. Most of the song on my playlist were ballads, either because I just like ballads in general or the fact that ballad songs could understand my sadness better. But, they gave me a certain energy in a strange way. I found the best way to listen to ballad song was by lying down on bed with my face closed with pillow so no one would notice. And did not forget to use a handsfree for the best experience. I listened to the song while my imagination also played this movie on my head. Suddenly, I was already the main character of the song. After some repetitions, I felt asleep and when I woke up, I felt like I was the happiest person on earth. (I felt much better after listen to some songs and sleep) Yep, I guess I was quite a dramatic at my young age. But, I clearly remember when it came to this upsetting feeling, I always came back for this playlist because of this effect. In fact, this habit stick out for years. And the Playlist? I could hardly change it or add couple new songs. I think, my playlist was likely equipped by security (made by my brain, I guess) that made me feel lazy or just didn’t bother to search or add any. It was like a comfort zone for me and I didn’t mind staying with it. This is what it was until one day… One day, I felt something off happened inside me. I was yet never able to recognize that feelings until recently. This unknown was so abstract and hard to describe. For years, I never took this ‘unknown” for serious and as I became more overwhelmed with myself, I felt nothing but overthinks that could stay for days, making me upset for longer. At that time, I didn’t know what to do. I tried my best to cope with overthinking by listen to my playlist as I’d always done. But, as time goes by, and it became worse, my playlist just didn’t work out for me anymore when I felt certain way. For fact, I never listened to any playlist for a moths because I could not even concentrate listen to any songs. I could hardly sleep as I always got overthink and got headache every night. Neither could I cry nor felt like this was the “right” me. I was controlled by those thoughts became numb. Before I realized what that “unknown” was, I had no clue it would have some connections with the way I’d have lived. I had no clue because no one assist me and even I didn’t fully understand what I was going through. Apparently, it is something that they called as “mental illness”. Now, that I look back, it was more like a process of acceptance and forgiveness. It was an experience to find my true identity. So, back to how I managed this “unknown”. The first thing that I did was trying to understanding what had happened. I changed my self for the sake of my peace. When I figured out what happened, I became more acceptance toward myself. Then, I started to know myself better. As I was coping with my inner self and trying to be present, my preference also had changed. It also changed my favorite colors, my favorite author, even changed my favorite songs. I guess, your preference does describe either your personality or emotion you have. And I learn a lot from that. Somehow, I think I could pull out some conclusion that my old playlist did give some clues about this “unknown”. The song itself could actually represent the mellowness and unhappy me inside. Now that I have figured things out, I realize I less listen to ballad nowadays. Instead, I’ve become more addictive toward RnB. Anyways, I never forget my old playlist though and still listen to it once in a while. But, it’s more like the happy me who listen to it.

https://medium.com/@alfatihahamini/playlist-57eb32c42f57

['Alfatihah Amini']

2021-08-25 09:25:29.330000+00:00

['Relief', 'Anxiety', 'Songs', 'Mental Illness', 'Acceptance']

2016 year in review

2016 year in review 2016 was a great year for me. And now, when it has almost ended, is a great opportunity to review it. I will use last year’s format and talk about some of my achievements, future goals and this year’s reading list (it is in the end of the post). Writing This year I’ve written 10 posts on various topics. I’ve written almost 2 times less posts than last year, but some of my posts are way longer than my usual posts (the agile estimations series are 32 pages long!). This year the posts were less technical and they talked about management soft skills, self-improvement and leadership. These posts are hard to write. Despite that I think that this is the kind of posts that I should keep writing. However, I do want that some of my posts to be also technical. 2017: I want to write at least 12 posts. One post a month My favorite posts of 2016 Public Speaking This year I had a single public talk about website localization in a meetup (video will be up soon). It was great experience since I like presenting very much. I tend to present quite a lot internally in my company but no enough externally. 2017: I want to present at least 4 times at external meetups and conferences Mentorship I’ve done a lot this year. From leading different efforts and changes in the company to managing my project and day to day team responsibilities. Some of things went well and others are still in progress. I think that one of my strengths is the ability to execute and finish almost anything. This is all thanks to plenty of opportunities and guideless that allowed me to gain this experience. However, I think that my next step is not to keep executing lots of different efforts by myself. It is time to share the knowledge and start delegate my wishes to others, provide them with the different opportunities and guidance like that was given to me. 2017: I want to mentor others and help them make things happen Learning After 5 years I have finally finished my Computer Science degree. This is one the achievements that I’m happy that it is over, however I’m still proud I’ve done it. This year I’ve also learned React.js and its eco system. In this year I want to learn a “big data” language, like R or Go or even Scala. I have a serious lack of knowledge when it comes to this area. I also want to learn the “electron” framework for creating desktop java script applications. And I want to strengthen my Node.js and React Native skills. They are not as strong as I want them to be. 2017: I want to learn a new programming language, Electron framework and strengthen my node.js and React Native skills. I want to build at least one project for each of this stack Open source This year I’ve contributed only once to an open source project (Polly, you can read about it in this post). In this year I want to make a bigger contribution to the open source community. 2017: I want to contribute to at least 4 different open source projects. Sports This year was a hard year for me in terms of sports. Until May I was exercising like I was used too, 3–4 times a week in the gym and also running 10km 3 times a week. However, after the Mountain to Valley race, my knee was hurt and it forced me to stop exercising and running the way I wanted until now. 2017: I want to heal my knee and slowly come back to run at least 15km by the end of 2017 Reading I commute to work by train. I hate traffic. It is enjoying and forces you to stay focused on the road, without almost any ability to concentrate on something else. On the train however, I can sit comfortably and do whatever I want. It is 40 minutes, twice a day when I can work, write, rest and of course read. So I try to leave this time for reading. This year I’ve managed to read 13 books this way and also read a lot of stuff online (1% top reader of Pocket ). I love reading both books and online posts, however the books I find the most satisfying and teaching. In the end of the post you can find my 2016 reading list. 2017: I want to read at least 13 books. The best for last — 2016 reading list I want to share with you the books I’ve read and recommend the top 3. This is a must read book for every manager. It has great tips for almost every possible situation. I started to use many of his recommendations and I already see the results. Very interesting book about the startup world. It focuses on the reasons for actually taking an idea and making it into a real product. It has a very unique view and it is written by one of the greatest enterpanures in the world. I’m sure that you heard at least someone recommend this book. It touches parts that no one else talks about. This book makes you think, a lot. Here are the rest, I enjoyed all of them.

https://medium.com/dennis-nerush/2016-year-in-review-6a3fe433ccf7

['Dennis Nerush']

2017-01-04 07:26:53.228000+00:00

['Leadership', 'Self Improvement', 'Goals']

Performing Analysis of Meteorological Data

In this blog we are going to analyse the data from the Weather data-set of Finland, a country in the Northern Europe. You can find the data-set on Kaggle (https://www.kaggle.com/muthuj7/weather-dataset).We are going to use the numpy, pandas and the matplotlib libraries of Python. Following is the Hypothesis of the Analysis : “Has the Apparent temperature and humidity compared monthly across 10 years of the data indicate an increase due to Global warming.” Let us start by importing the required libraries and our data-set: Libraries required for analysis Importing our data-set Here is a small preview of how our data-set looks: First 5 entries of our data-set Now we need to drop the unwanted data, convert the data in to our need and resample our data : Here is how the data looks after resampling: First 5 entries of resampled data-set Now let us plot our data in a line graph As we can see, both the peaks and the troughs are almost same throughout the period of 10 years. Here is a plot of the average temperature and humidity of the month of April over 10 years. We can clearly see that there is a sharp rise in temperature in the year of 2009 whereas there is a fall in temperature in the year of 2015. Hence we can conclude that global warming has caused an uncertainty in temperature over the past 10 years while the average humidity as remained constant throughout the 10 years. I am thankful to mentors at https://internship.suvenconsultants.com for providing awesome problem statements and giving many of us a Coding Internship Exprience. Thank you www.suvenconsultants.com.

https://medium.com/@puneetakshit56/performing-analysis-of-meteorological-data-222887c77370

[]

2020-10-06 09:17:16.186000+00:00

['Sentiment Analysis', 'Kaggle', 'Data Science', 'Data Visualisation', 'Python3']

Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Market to See Wonderful Rise during 2021–2026 with High CAGR Growth

Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Market to See Wonderful Rise during 2021–2026 with High CAGR Growth shubham k Dec 27, 2021·4 min read Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Market 2021–2026 Straits Research has recently added a new report to its vast depository titled Global Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Market. The report studies vital factors about the Global Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Market that are essential to be understood by existing as well as new market players. The report highlights the essential elements such as market share, profitability, production, sales, manufacturing, advertising, technological advancements, key market players, regional segmentation, and many more crucial aspects related to the Global Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Market. Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Market The Major Players Covered in this Report: Criteo, Facebook Ads Manager,, Trade Desk, Dataxu, SocioMatic, Tubemogul, AdForm, Centro Inc, Adobe, Amazon (AAP), Mediamath, Appnexus, Sizmek, Oath Inc, Amobee Get a Sample PDF Report: https://straitsresearch.com/report/Demand-Side-Platform-for-Programmatic-Advertising-market/request-sample Segmentation is as follows: - By Product Type, , RTB (Real Time Bidding), PPB (Programmatic Premium Buying), By Application, , Retail, Automotive, Financial, Telecom The report specifically highlights the Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising market share, company profiles, regional outlook, product portfolio, a record of the recent developments, strategic analysis, key players in the market, sales, distribution chain, manufacturing, production, new market entrants as well as existing market players, advertising, brand value, popular products, demand and supply, and other important factors related to the Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising market to help the new entrants understand the market scenario better. Important factors like strategic developments, government regulations, Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising market analysis, end-users, target audience, distribution network, branding, product portfolio, market share, threats and barriers, growth drivers, latest trends in the industry are also mentioned. Regional Analysis For Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Market: North America (United States, Canada, and Mexico) Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia, and Italy) Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, and Southeast Asia) South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, etc.) Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa) In this study, the years considered to estimate the market size of the Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising are as follows: • History Year: 2014–2019 • Base Year: 2019 • Estimated Year: 2020 • Forecast Year 2021 to 2026 The main steps in the investigation process are: 1) The first step in market research is to obtain raw market information from industry experts and direct research analysts using primary and secondary sources. 2) Extracts raw data from these sources to extract valuable insights and analyze them for research purposes. 3) Classify the knowledge gained by qualitative and quantitative data and place it accordingly to make final conclusions. Key Questions Answered in the Report: • What is the current scenario of the Global Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Market? How is the market going to prosper throughout the next 6 years? • What is the impact of COVID-19 on the market? What are the major steps undertaken by the leading players to mitigate the damage caused by COVID-19? • What are the emerging technologies that are going to profit the market? • What are the historical and the current sizes of the Global Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Market? • Which segments are the fastest growing and the largest in the market? What is their market potential? • What are the driving factors contributing to the market growth during the short, medium, and long term? What are the major challenges and shortcomings that the market is likely to face? How can the market solve the challenges? • What are the lucrative opportunities for the key players in the Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising market? • Which are the key geographies from the investment perspective? • What are the major strategies adopted by the leading players to expand their market shares? • Who are the distributors, traders, and dealers of the Global Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising market? • What are sales, revenue, and price analysis by types and applications of the market? For More Details On this Report: https://straitsresearch.com/report/Demand-Side-Platform-for-Programmatic-Advertising-market About Us: Regardless of whether you’re looking at business sectors in the next town or crosswise over continents, we understand the significance of being acquainted with what customers purchase. We overcome the issues of our customers by recognizing and deciphering just the target group, while simultaneously generating leads with the highest precision. We seek to collaborate with our customers to deliver a broad spectrum of results through a blend of market and business research approaches. This approach of using various research and analysis strategies enables us to determine greater insights by eliminating the research costs. Moreover, we’re continually developing, not only with regards to where we measure, or who we measure but in how our visions can enable you to drive cost-effective growth. Contact Us: Company Name: Straits Research Email: sales@straitsresearch.com Phone: +1 646 480 7505 (U.S.) +91 8087085354 (India) +44 208 068 9665 (U.K.) Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Market Growth, Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Forecast, Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Industry Trends, Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Market Share, Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Industry Size, Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Market Data Analysis, Demand Side Platform for Programmatic Advertising Market Overview”

https://medium.com/@shubhamk.straitsresearch/demand-side-platform-for-programmatic-advertising-market-to-see-wonderful-rise-during-2021-2026-8ffec1af1ae8

['Shubham K']

2021-12-27 07:21:09.389000+00:00

['Programmatic Advertising', 'Market Research Reports', 'Demand Side Platform', 'Digital Marketing', 'Advertising']

Singapore’s digital responses to Covid-19

To combat the pandemic, the city state has rolled out digital platforms to enable contact tracing and border verification. Has its investment in digital infrastructure and talent paid off? Image credit: Prasit Rodphan/Shutterstock.com Singapore is a small and young city state in Southeast Asia. It has a population of 5 million, with limited land space, and no natural resources. To ensure that the country has modern infrastructure and talent required to remain competitive, Singapore set up digital-focused organisations such as GovTech and SmartNation (both of which are directly under Prime Minister’s Office). When the pandemic decimated air travel and Singapore plunged into recession, it was only natural that the country turns to its investment in technology to recover its vitality. Covid-19 has put these taskforces to the test. In the digital sphere, there are 3 initiatives: SafeEntry, a national digital check-in system TraceTogether, a contact-tracing system Universal Verifier for test results and vaccination status at borders 1. SafeEntry, the national digital check-in system SafeEntry is a platform that logs the personal information of individuals when they check-in to a venue. If a Covid-19 positive patient has been identified, the government would have records of the list of people who entered the same venue visited by the patient. At entry points across Singapore, a QR code is placed at the entrance and exit for visitors to complete their check-in before entering/when exiting. There are 4 options to check in: (1) scan your NRIC on a reader, or scan SafeEntry QR code using your (2) phone, (3) SingPass app, (4) TraceTogether app/token. SafeEntry app screenshot A successful implementation requires cooperation from 2 main audience: individuals and businesses. For most individuals with mobile phones, the process is only a slight inconvenience. 3 out of the 4 options to complete SafeEntry requires scanning of QR codes. This means there is a hassle of locating QR codes, and scanning them (the processing power of which is highly dependent on venue lighting, users’ camera, and app). Ease of implementation is highly correlated with the level of tech-savviness of the population. GovTech took care of the less tech-savvy population by providing the NRIC scan option, and also the ability to check-in on behalf of other parties. On the other hand, businesses incur costs of employing staffs at entry points, plastering QR codes, and renting/purchasing temperature-taking equipment. For hotspots like shopping malls, additional scanners are required for NRIC check-ins. These are additional costs to bear in addition to the impact that Covid-19 may have brought upon their businesses. There are many trade-offs for this way of processing check-ins. Even though businesses are required to implement these checks, the burden of the deed lies upon individuals to perform them on their own, using their own devices. Checks are done on a sampling basis as it is impossible for the staff to use ‘eye power’ to check every screen for date/time/location stamp. A digital ID scan to a reader would be a more foolproof way than a QR code-and-show method, but more cost will be required. Nonetheless, unless there is a physical gantry tied to the scan results (like in train stations), someone will always need to be stationed at the entry points to “pressure”. The best opportunity for businesses would have been the information collected about their patrons. Fortunately, Singapore didn’t choose this shrewed approach to coerce businesses to cooperate. SafeEntry information are encrypted and stored in the government’s server and accessible by authorised public office holders only where necessary. As it is impossible to verify this, it requires trust that the government will not abuse such data for purposes other than contact-tracing. It is noteworthy that the government was able to enforce SafeEntry on businesses and individuals to a good level of success. As a small country with high digital penetration and data connectivity, it has an advantage in mandating this digital process. Singapore even passed a new law COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020 to lay out the rules for compliance. For countries that have stark contrasting degrees of infrastructure development across its districts/islands, conflicting state-federal laws, or low digital adoption across demographics, enforcement of these measures would have been challenging. As a stop-gap measure to support contact-tracing, SafeEntry is as good as it could get within such a short timeframe. The current option struck a good balance between cost-minimisation for businesses, and ensuring a decent level of compliance for all individuals. Worthy of mention: SingPass, a nation’s digital account Prior to Covid-19, SingPass was mainly used as a password to apply for government services. As the key information holder, the app rose to the challenge of being a platform for SafeEntry check-ins. I like that it uses biometric authentication so I don’t have to key in my password each time I check-in. It also has clear UI, which is important as the app needs to be friendly across age groups. Very quickly, the SingPass app has evolved to also become a robust channel for SafeEntry. However, more needs to be done before SingPass can be relied upon as a verification tool. Just the other day, I was denied entry at a local bank branch (POSB) when I tried to use SingPass digital NRIC. It appears that even the nation’s most digitally advanced bank has not adopted the SingPass verification. 2. TraceTogether, a contact tracing system using Bluetooth TraceTogether (TT) is a contact-tracing system that uses Bluetooth to record the distance between users and the duration of their encounters. It takes the form of an app and a physical token. TraceTogether app screenshot When phones with TT installed/ TT tokens are nearby one another, they exchange anonymised proximity information using Bluetooth (not GPS). When an individual tests positive, MOH will collect these information for contact tracing. The main inconvenience for individuals would be having to turn on their Bluetooth at all times. Managing data privacy Seeing how the TT system seems capable of trespassing to location tracking, an interesting part of TT lies in its handling of personal data. Unlike the venue information collected by SafeEntry, the proximity logs are kept decentralised on individual phones at all times. However, it’s not completely decentralised. A Covid-19 positive individual needs to upload his logs to the government where contact-tracing experts will be tasked to identify individuals based on the data collected (ie. classifying them as safe/not safe). Singapore chooses this approach to balance between sufficient data protection with the need for accurate identification. There are plenty of reassurance that TT does not breach personal privacy. The TT open-source source code, OpenTrace, and the BlueTrace Protocol upon which TT was built on, have been published online for global references. In fact, to hammer home the point that TT is laser-focused on managing the pandemic and not as a stalking device for Big Brother, the app will ‘cease functionality at the end of the outbreak.’ People bought this assurance. In fact, more than 70% of Singapore residents did. 2 million have downloaded the app while 1.75 million have collected their free tokens. Smart Nation Minister Vivian said that ‘TraceTogether may be the world’s most successful digital contact tracing programe”. In the semi-ideal world for contact tracing, the government would have a live map that identifies all individuals and tracks their exact locations across Singapore at all times. It could even report the position of their masks to assess the potential for transmission. When activated, it could easily shortlist suspected individuals by plotting the time spent, distance apart from others, and the status of their masks in those periods. But in the real world, we can only do a proxy of such proximities and transmission potential. When Singapore soon mandates only TT-SafeEntry check-ins, it would provide the best proxies for first 2 data points; location and proximities. For a temporary solution that is expected to cease together with the outbreak, Singapore is investing significantly to develop the software, ensure its security, design and manufacture the tokens, and coordinate the distribution across the island. There is no doubt that it takes contact-tracing very seriously. The county’s small population and size, good digital foundations, and strong enforcement power have contributed to the rapid adoption of these digital platforms. 3. Universal verifier for test results In lieu of an available vaccine, countries still need to rely on COVID-19 test results to determine who should be allowed through its borders. Currently, paper certifications used at borders are susceptible to fraud and errors. In recent times, a few firms have announced plans to create digital health passports using blockchain. Accredited labs will issue a health certificate, such as a QR code, to passengers for them to present at borders. The UI screenshot of a trial to verify test results and vaccination status from foreign clinics and hospitals Given that Singapore welcomes over 20 million tourists each year, there is a much pressing need to verify foreign health certifications than to issue one. Hence, it makes sense for Singapore to invest in a universal verifier so that certifications from hospitals worldwide can be read. Singapore Airlines is working with IATA and Affinidi to trial such digital verification of health certificates, and has met with some successes. On 23 Dec, a returning Singaporean from Japan has successfully verified his digital heath certificate via a verifier at Changi Airport. If implemented across countries, Singapore could set the stage for a global standard for travelling. When vaccination adoption is added as a requirement for travel entry, this universal verifier may even include vaccination status of the individual. Conclusion Generally, Singapore has done well in creating these platforms quickly for contact tracing to contain local transmission. The county’s small population and size, good digital foundations, and strong enforcement power have contributed to the rapid adoption of these digital platforms. In terms of execution, it created a robust MVP that the country can work with (ie. various check-in options), while working on a dedicated service (TT). In the meantime, other apps like SingPass benefited from digital enhancement. When the use of SafeEntry is deflected to TT, SingPass will be positioned to tap on its huge pool of existing userbase to grow. While adopting a tech-approach to contact tracing, Singapore did well in ensuring its implementation strikes a balance between efficacy, business cost, and societal needs, so that all things considered, deploying them provides more benefit than costs. It removed the requirement for a exit check, relied upon sampling, and ensured that less digitally-savvy are taken care of. It has communicated these initiatives clearly, and made information available in multiple languages. To the “sensitive flowers of the West”, these mandatory information collection may seem like a blatant infringement of freedom and privacy. These concerns have thus far not hit the Asian shores in Singapore yet. Generally, I believe that the people in Singapore are still prioritizing the interest of the country above that of the individual. After all, there is no individual to talk about when the virus can very well wipe out the small population. There’s also a ‘stick’ — Singapore’s ability to enforce its laws on people who violate the rules. Facing these sombre options, the default path would be to trust in GovTech’s assurance of privacy concerns. It was prudent to set up its digital taskforces early so that it could react quickly at a time like now. There are other activities under its digital road map that i didn’t mention (Hawkers Go Digital e-payment adoption, and other tech-related plans). But it required a force as big as Covid-19 to accelerate them. It would be foolish to think that we have arrived at the end of the game. SafeEntry and TT are platforms created in response to changes. It must have been costly and excruciating to scramble them together. Moving forward, Singapore should take these learnings and deploy technology to prepare for changes, or even better, to direct the way the changes are going to happen. As a country that has become successful relying on global connectivity, nowhere else do we see this desperation unfolding as much as the air travel sector. Hence, a universal verifier would be a key thing to assess if Singapore has the leadership and technological potential to guide changes and thrive in the future.

https://medium.com/@ongmbe/singapores-digital-responses-to-covid-19-c49bf4c58ed7

[]

2021-01-02 02:08:15.683000+00:00

['Singapore', 'Digital', 'Covid']

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Our World Traveler’s Blog Community

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Our World Traveler’s Blog Community We hope you‘re happy and safe for the holidays! Dear writers and followers of World Traveler’s Blog, Our community has come a long way in these past few weeks, and it’s all because of our writers and readers who so love the written word! Photo by S&B Vonlanthen on Unsplash Some of us are still traveling. Others are remembering their travels or experiencing new travels through our writers. Whatever you get from this travel writing community is wonderful. I hope it eases these difficult times and you feel as I do that sharing our experiences with others brings us all together! Wherever you are in the world, we hope you are safe and happy. Maybe you are sharing the holidays with your family and friends, or you will be on the ski slopes. Or perhaps it’s Christmas on the beach this year (that’s where I will be). Wherever it is, we would love to hear about your travels! Send us a story, or simply comment below on what you will be/have been doing over the winter holidays! We would really love to hear from all of you, even if only some well wishes. All the best from your friends and colleagues here at World Traveler’s Blog! By the way, writers, you should hit the follow button on our publication! This will help boost your stories higher in the search! Follow each other while you’re at it and boost our whole community! Darrin Atkins R. Rangan PhD Patrick Duane Jairam R Prabhu Rosa Diaz Katharina Daun Malky McEwan Josh Balerite Acol Sean Suskind Muhammad Nasrullah Khan Gina Pacelli Hello Katie Kodes Mil H. Liv Mello Maria Barros Elan Cassandra Olivia Wilkinson Galit Birk, PhD L. Wachi Taylor Ashley Danielle Gibson Karen DeGroot Carter Richa Khare Ahmad Abdullah Jax Hudur Sam Dixon Brown M Sakahawat John Levin Eunice X. Aimée Gramblin ◦•●✿ Christina M. Ward ✿●•◦ Joe Love Vespera Lucia Nick Keehler Leah Brodsky Orit Rindner Ajita Amanda Yuk Katie Sheps Panos Grigorakakis Alison Marshall Kristina Jancar Barbara Radisavljevic LucyWolf Sanduni Samarakoon Fatimah Alayafi Charlotte Brown Cristinamiceli Zaineb Nawaz Aigner Loren Wilson Cody James Howell PhD (Raiden) Anne Bonfert Gaby Spadaro Sutong Cathy Clarke Kaitlyn Holmgren Sumera Rizwan Indubala Kachhawa Emma Comeaux Quy Ma Sh*t Happens — Lost Girl Travel Nanda Jurela W.Y. Chan Marcus Franke Lisa Hanson Jhemmylrut Teng Stephanie Tolk Nicole Cooper Misbah Ul Haq Syed Debra Howell "Chilly Bin" Millennial in Crisis Glad Doggett Mary DeVries Vivek Naskar Alyssa Chua Mathias Lukas Alexander M. Combstrong Myriam Ben Salem Antonija Osojnik Melissa Shapiro Haider Jamal Abbasi Stay safe, travel well, and keep writing! -Cody and Marcus You just read another post from World Traveler’s Blog A collaborative project from a diverse group of adventurers and digital nomads sharing the world through inspiring stories. The more you know, the better you travel!

https://medium.com/world-travelers-blog/merry-christmas-and-happy-holidays-to-our-world-travelers-blog-community-17fe2068b73d

['Cody James Howell Phd', 'Raiden']

2020-12-24 07:49:21.986000+00:00

['Travel', 'Holidays', 'Writing', 'Community', 'Christmas']

A Better Understanding of Principal Component Analysis by implementing it on MNIST Dataset using Python.

This is my first article on medium. Here, I’ll be giving a quick overview of what Principal Component Analysis is, why do we need it and how to do it using Python on MNIST Dataset. Principal Component Analysis Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a statistical technique that is used to reduce the dimensionality of the data (reduce the number of features in the dataset) by selecting the most significant features that capture most of the information about the dataset. PCA operates by finding the Principal Components of data, (directions where there is the most variance in the data) and project it onto a smaller dimensional subspace while retaining most of the information. By projecting our data into a smaller space, we’re reducing the dimensionality of our feature space. The feature that causes highest variance is the first Principal Component. The feature that is responsible for second highest variance is considered the second Principal Component, and so on. In simple words, PCA is a method of extracting important features (in the form of components) from a large set of features available in a dataset. MNIST Dataset MNIST is a computer vision dataset which contains images of the handwritten digits with each image being 28 pixels in height and 28 pixels in width, for a total of 784 pixels. Now we will be performing PCA for visualization on this dataset using sklearn . from sklearn import decomposition pca=decomposition.PCA() # configuring the parameteres # the number of components = 2 pca.n_components = 2 pca_data = pca.fit_transform(standardized_data) # pca_reduced will contain the 2-d projects of simple data print("shape of pca_reduced.shape = ", pca_data.shape) shape of pca_reduced.shape = (42000, 2) # attaching the label for each 2-d data point pca_data = np.vstack((pca_data.T, l)).T # creating a new data fram which help us in ploting the result data pca_df = pd.DataFrame(data=pca_data, columns=("1st_principal", "2nd_principal", "label")) sn.FacetGrid(pca_df, hue="label", size=6).map(plt.scatter, '1st_principal', '2nd_principal').add_legend() plt.show() PCA is one of the way to reduce high dimension features (say 784 in MNIST dataset in our example) to lower dimension without losing the variance of the original data. Steps to arrive PCA: lets take our dataset as matrix A Step 1: Preprocess A i.e standardize the dataset. Step 2 : Find the co-variance of the A , let’s say co-variance matrix as S. Step 3: Find the eigen values and eigen vectors for the co-variance matrix, S Step 4 : Find the dot product of the eigen vector and co-variance matrix , S Eigen Values — Gives us the percentage of variance of the features. Eigen Vectors — Gives us the direction of the features . # PCA for diemnsionality reduction (not visualization) pca.n_components = 784 pca_data = pca.fit_transform(standardized_data) percentage_var_explained = pca.explained_variance_ / np.sum(pca.explained_variance_); cum_var_explained = np.cumsum(percentage_var_explained) # Plot the PCA spectrum plt.figure(1, figsize=(6, 4)) plt.clf() plt.plot(cum_var_explained, linewidth=2) plt.axis('tight') plt.grid() plt.xlabel('n_components') plt.ylabel('Cumulative_explained_variance') plt.show() # If we take 200-dimensions, approx. 90% of variance is expalined. Here we plot the cumulative sum of variance with the component. Here 200 components explain the almost 90% variance. So we can reduce the dimension according to the required variance. Reference:https://colah.github.io/posts/2014-10-Visualizing-MNIST/

https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/a-better-understanding-of-principal-component-analysis-by-implementing-it-on-mnist-dataset-using-ebbfaefe017b

['Rohith Reddy Anugu']

2020-10-28 12:51:07.346000+00:00

['Dimensionality Reduction', 'Principal Component', 'Sklearn', 'Visualization', 'Python']

When Disney becomes Disney+, where does the magic go?

Branding and user experience (UX) are often considered two distinct disciplines that coordinate only occasionally, for example, when developing a website or an app. However, at its core, UX is about understanding users and customers, and then designing useful products that encourage positive experiences. Branding, in its essence, is a promise for this customer. It is the promise that allows the customer of that brand to know what to expect. Not only what to expect from the brand’s products, but also about how it looks, speaks and acts. It is the experiences with any points of contact of the brand, including digital products and media roll-outs, that will reinforce the user’s perceptions about a brand or undo them. It is vital to the reputation of this company that users not only have positive experiences with the developed digital products, but experiences that reinforce the values ​​and ideals that this brand claims to embody. This user experience with the brand is perennial — it doesn’t end when he stops using the product. It is present all the time with the user, through actions and communication objectives that, faithful to the brand values, inspire the user to return. Isolated in themselves, products can provide excellent experiences, but it is the values ​​of a brand that give the reason that the user needs to embark on these journeys. Once Upon a time.. Aurora Miranda & Pato Donald — The Three Caballeros (1944) Not only because we almost had our own Disneyland in 1961, but Disney has always maintained a great relationship with Brazil. The company has always operated in the country bringing its films, animations, comics and other products, becoming part of our lives, mixing with our culture, influencing and reflecting our perception of how these stories — inspirational fables about creativity, dreams and imagination — are told. For years, Disney operated alongside major national broadcasters such as Globo and SBT, in agreements and partnerships that aimed to bring the brand’s “magic” to all Brazilian homes, thanks to the reach and massive power of public television. Even so, the distribution of films and programs was never exclusive to any of these channels, being present in all possible formats — from cassette tapes to DVDs and Blu-rays, found both in humble newsstands and large hypermarket chains — besides subscription channels like Disney Channel, Disney XD, Jetix and Disney Junior, as well as Radio Disney, composing decades of an omnipresent presence in the national market. The message that brand branding has always sought to communicate was consistent and clear: Disney’s magic has always wanted to be accessible in Brazil. A new arena One day, however, this fantastic kingdom was forced to lift the doors of its castle and surround its borders: Disney was entering the great war between streaming services, following the leadership of Netflix, which after promoting a disruption in the rental sector films, innovating the business model, invaded the area of ​​content production, becoming rival to the companies from which it licenses its catalog, such as, for example, Disney itself. Surrounded by both major producers like HBO and CBS, as well as new players like Amazon and Apple, who see streaming as a profound change in the way we consume content, Disney also decided to establish itself. On November 17, the Disney + service arrived in Brazil. The platform, which unites the productions headed by Disney, in addition to the entire production catalog of Pixar, Marvel and National Geographic, still promises exclusive films and series, at a monthly fee of almost thirty bucks a month. However, a kingdom of this magnitude cannot be consolidated without causing distortions in a market increasingly disputed by giants. Seeking to offer an attractive product to consumers, Disney has stopped licensing its content to third parties, compromising the catalog not only of other streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, but also of all pay TV and open TV channels that displayed the brand content. In September of this year, as a farewell to the linear channels, the company promoted marathons of Pixar animations, Marvel films and Star Wars, before these contents were exclusive to Disney +. Around the world, Disney has already been canceling its linear channels and focusing on its streaming platform. The global pandemic of COVID-19, in a way, contributed to accelerate this scenario. A study by Leichtman Research Group Connected 2020 found that 80% of American homes have at least one device connected to the internet — smartTVs, Chromecasts, Apple TV, game consoles, etc. Most importantly, 40% of adults watched TV through a connected device. Only four years ago, the percentage was 19%. In other words, 2020 will also be marked in history as the year when streaming overtook cable TV in the number of registered accounts in the world, reaching 1.1 billion. The trend is true for Latin America as well. And of course, for Disney, this scenario is even more auspicious. 2019 was the year that the company achieved the best results in its history, with the hype managed from the narrative conclusion of real cultural events like Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, as well as the live-action remake of classic brand titles such as The Lion King. After years of faithfully following and consuming narrative journeys through various products in different channels, so present that these stories can easily be confused with our own lives, the rat lift the doors of his castle and is, conveniently, with the knife and the cheese in his hands. Journeys, collective and parallel In early October, the company sent a press release informing that it is ending the distribution of DVDs and Blu-rays of its contents in Brazil and Latin America by the end of the year, in addition to a restructuring in the process of creating projects for films and series. With this, the company puts streaming distribution as a priority. “People in Latin America and the world are used to seeing fragmented content, with films that are seen here, there, subscribe to a cable system or film channel, but that will end. Disney content will no longer be available through any third party reseller, cable channel or on-demand offer other than Disney + […] this is an aggressive decision ”. — said Diego Lerner, president of Disney in Latin America. Considering the global scenario, the difference of Disney + is exclusivity, but in Brazil, this is exclusive for whom? “Me, after I convinced my mother to subscribe to Disney+ even though I had Netflix, Globoplay, Amazon and Spotify” “How I see who has Disney +, Amazon Prime, Spotify, Globoplay and Netflix” Contrary to what is initially imagined, this format of content distribution does not bring more accessibility to the user, but rather reveals a very evident cut of class, after all, this access becomes exclusive only to the restricted portion of the Brazilian population that has, not only a good internet at their disposal, but also the possibility to invest monthly in information, entertainment and culture, among the various platforms available on the market. This aggressive movement has strong side effects on the user’s perception of the brand, which translates into new touchpoints that this user will be forced to establish on their own, in order to continue their journey with the products developed by the company, regardless the ideal onboarding established by Disney+. “Waiting for the 6 year old boys’ video tutorial with a crooked audio of how to log in at Disney+ for free” “I just wanted a friend to give me their Disney+ login” More than that, these parallel user journeys reveal stories that are more real and true about the behavior and the way the brand audience seeks and consumes this content, oblivious and uninterested in market fluctuations and disputes between titanic conglomerates. In other words, for those whom the magic of Disney is of real worth, the verticalization and exclusivity of a platform doesn’t matter. The last decade has brought us the revolution of streaming platforms, but it has also revolutionized the way in which we relate to entertainment. Popular culture has become increasingly rich, inclusive, challenging and free, where the role of the team of executives in suits as gatekeepers of this content no longer fits. Within our communities, that role is now ours. We become opinion makers, not only indicating what to watch, but how to watch, undoing inconveniences of price, language and copyright, actively participating in the collective journeys and experiences of other users with the brand. A branding that aims to lead this revolution needs to be aware that it is necessary to reflect the promise of its values ​​in its institutional behavior, not just in its products. And this is accomplished either by applying the brand attributes to interactions in experience guidelines, structuring maps of how the company interacts with its audience, or by applying constant user perception tests about the brand. Especially because developing products and services that do not portray a company’s culture and purpose, even if they are aligned with the needs of users, tend not to be sustainable in the long run. And if there is one thing that Disney’s own enchanted fables have taught us all these years, it is that for every Sheriff of Nottingham, with its infinite public taxation, there will always be a Robin Hood waiting in the forest. Where there is a East India Trading Company, megacorporations looking for large commercial monopolies, it is natural that in these waters you will also find pirates.

https://bootcamp.uxdesign.cc/when-disney-becomes-disney-where-does-the-magic-go-2ef55f4baf6c

['Andre Matt']

2020-12-23 06:04:01.880000+00:00

['Disney', 'Collective Journey', 'UX', 'Streaming', 'Branding']

How to make your Coindelta Account more secure?

How to make your Coindelta Account more secure? Coindelta Security Dear Coindelta Users, Account security has always been our top priority since the dawn of Coindelta. Here are few measures to increase your account security. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) We advise everyone to use Google Authenticator App or Authy as their primary 2FA method to secure their Coindelta account from mail porting attacks. you can follow the security tips highlighted in our Support to use Authenticator. Email: Your email address is one of the most important connections between you and your Coindelta account! Make sure it is secure! Do not use the same password on your email account that you do on your Coindelta account. If your email provider offers it, activate 2-factor authentication (2FA) on your email account to add an extra layer of security. Password: Use a complex and unique password that is not shared or similar to those used on any other websites. These Guidelines provide some information about what makes a strong password. It’s also a good idea to change your password periodically (about every 3 months) and use a completely new password each time. Using a password manager such as 1Password or LastPass makes this easy to manage and brute force. Also, never disclose your password to anyone. A Coindelta Team Member will NEVER ask for your password. Be aware of Phishing: Be on the lookout for emails pretending to be from Coindelta (you may have heard this called “phishing”). This is the most common way customers are compromised. Be sure to check for the “LOCK” symbol appearing in your browser’s address bar when you access Coindelta which indicates that your connection is secure. If this symbol is not present, double check the URL. Bookmark important websites (Coindelta, email, banks, etc) and only visit those sites from those bookmarks. Avoid clicking links or opening attachments in emails. Coindelta will always communicate to you from support@coindelta.com and no-reply@coindelta.com. Never reply to emails from any other account and report to us immediately otherwise. Bookmark Coindelta: Bookmark https://coindelta.com/ in your browser, and only ever use this link to access the website. IP Activity: You can check the IP login activity and verified devices on your account anytime by signing-in and visit this page: https://coindelta.com/profile/session.(note that this URL requires a login.) Secure your computer: Don’t install too many software on your computer. Avoid installing unknown software on your phone or computer. The Unknown software may include malicious software created to steal your information. We recommend using a dedicated computer, install Linux on it, the chrome browser, a password manager plugin and nothing else. Secure your Internet: We recommend always using a wired connection. If you have to use a WiFi, we recommend you to route all your traffic through VPN. Beware of Scammers and Fraudsters: Telegram Coindelta group on Telegram is a platform for users to interact & discuss various news from Crypto-Community. Also, The Coindelta-Telegram group is partially used to provide instant support to user queries. Remember that no one from Coindelta-Admins will ever ask you to send money to any address for any reason. If someone asks you to do this, he or she is trying to scam you and they should be ignored. Report these users to an administrator privately. Twitter Scammers are impersonating official Coindelta accounts and tweeting to ask for deposits to specific addresses in return for gifts. You will lose your tokens if you do this! Official Username of Coindelta on Twitter — coindelta_. Few of such accounts are mentioned below. Coindelta will never announce for any crypto giveaway. Coindelta will never ask you for your login OTP, Passwords. Through calls or emails. Report such incidents immediately by a raising ticket on Support. In case you think that your account has been compromised, contact us through creating a ticket by sending an email to support@coindelta.com and provide as many details as you can. Stay tuned for more announcements! Coindelta Website Coindelta Twitter Coindelta Telegram Group Coindelta Announcements With love for the Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies, Coindelta Family

https://medium.com/coindelta/how-to-make-your-coindelta-account-more-secure-c8d6c4dc4cac

['Shashi Bhukya']

2018-05-21 07:55:47.639000+00:00

['Trading', 'Security', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Exchange', 'Bitcoin']

Power to the Foodcast

Once considered niche, the food-themed podcast or “foodcast” has officially entered the mainstream, touching on all aspects of the food world — from food history programs and personal narratives about food to inspiring conversations on diversity in the field. But what exactly attracts listeners to “foodcasts” and how did such a visual topic become so tantalizing for the ear? F ROM RADIO TO TV AND BACK The first food-themed radio programme, launched in Paris, France in 1923. The show, Cooking with Pomiane, aired on the TSF, the earliest version of wireless terrestrial radio, and was hosted by Édouard de Pomiane, a noted scientist and doctor-turned chef. Pomiane’s show explained the technical aspects of cooking and gave listeners recipes to follow at home. He later published dozens of cookbooks with simple recipes that were translated and read the world over. Pomiane’s American counterpart, The Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air, hosted by a fictional Betty Crocker, launched around the same time to help America’s home chefs navigate their post-war kitchens. Julia Child on The French Chef These first food broadcasts gave people a sense that they, too, could be chefs by explaining the complexities of recipes to listeners in a way they could understand. The recipe-focused cooking format was so popular that it was used as a basis for food-themed television programming. Enter Julia Child’s eponymous cooking show and today’s dedicated food networks: The Food Network and The Cooking Channel, not to mention the international popularity of programmes such as Top Chef, Iron Chef and Master Chef which have all been adapted into dozens of languages. Food television showed every onion being cut, every dough being punched, and of course, every mouthwatering meal brought to the table. Food broadcasts in audio-form never stopped though. They were often broadcast as specials, or as food-themed episodes around the holidays. But every now and then radio documentaries about food culture and lifestyle programs would break into the mainstream. Programs like The Kitchen Sisters’ Hidden Kitchens series (broadcast on NPR) gave listeners a peek inside the everyday cooking routines of average Americans. Hosted by Frances McDormand, the program served as kind of audio tour through America’s home cooking, bringing listeners a vision of American food from sea to shining sea. Food shows became so popular that dedicated stations like The Heritage Radio Network launched, sharing hundreds of food-themed broadcasts since it’s founding in 2009. The Splendid Table Podcast Lynne Rosetto Kasper’s original Splendid Table (now led by award-winning food journalist Francis Lam) gave listeners more than just a cooking show, it gave them deep insight and knowledge into food culture. A typical episode can touch on a myriad of topics, ranging from different cooking methods to the complex relationship between food and mental health, and more. The show, now in its 24th year airing on Minnesota Public Radio, and its accompanying podcast, brought those interested in food from all over to the audio table. Television stars were often guests, bringing food tv back to audio once more: Julia Child was often a guest, and the late great Anthony Bourdain made an audio appearance as well. When podcasts became more mainstream in 2015, it was only natural that telling stories about food in this medium should follow. Just as the podcast boom was starting, Christopher Kimball’s public radio show and podcast Milkstreet Radio gave listeners a chance to enjoy food culture in a variety show format that mixes interviews with narrative storytelling. In launching his foodcast, the founder of America’s Test Kitchen went even deeper into subjects that television just couldn’t cover in a 22-minute programme. “With TV, you have the visuals to keep people interested. But with audio, you have to keep giving listeners new and interesting things to tune into. There’s also so much more freedom: You can talk to anyone, anywhere in the world on any topic, and that gives you an infinite number of possibilities when it comes to content, ” said Kimball. FOODCASTING TODAY The latest additions to the foodcast world have everyone from food journalists, to famed chefs, and even home cooks taking on the food beat from all kinds of angles: From the upscale to the everyday, these shows give listeners a different vision of the food and restaurant world. The 2019 James Beard Food Podcast award winner was Copper and Heat, a narrative podcast that explores the inner lives of female chefs, as reported by chef Katy Osuna. Inspired by other food podcasts like Dan Pashman’s The Sporkful and The Splendid Table, Katy and her co-producer Ricardo Osuna decided to give chefs a platform to talk about their experiences in the kitchen — from the good to the bad, and everything in between. Copper and Heat won the 2019 James Beard Award for Best Food Podcast “We wanted to have conversations about food with the people making it. No one was talking about cooks so we felt like the show could give them a platform to talk. It’s actually the perfect medium to talk to cooks because that anonymity helps them feel comfortable which helps us bring people into the kitchen without having to show it,” said Katy Osuna. And it’s not just famous chefs using the medium to tell stories. Foodcasts address important and often overlooked issues affecting the industry. Racist Sandwich, founded by Soleil Ho and Zahir Janmohamed, discusses diversity in the food world, allowing chefs and food entrepreneurs of all origins to share their stories. “The food conversation is inherently a visual one, but what makes audio interesting is that it lets you have that conversation with no distractions, so you can get to what’s real. That’s my favorite thing honestly,” said Racist Sandwich producer Juan Diego Ramirez. These foodcasts dare to take on difficult subjects and often tackle questions that those in the industry have difficulty addressing so earnestly in other mediums. Rather than glamourize the job with the perfect end result, the audio medium makes it real. By stripping the content to the essential, the food podcast breaks down the barriers between the perfect final product that goes up on Instagram, and the time spent thinking about and preparing it. SPONSORS GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT With that much impact, it’s no wonder that some of the most popular podcast sponsors are focused on food. Advertising revenue in the podcasting industry is set to hit the $1 billion dollar mark in the next few years. And, though they don’t just sponsor food-themed podcasts, brands like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron have seen the potential in the audio medium as a tool to talk about food. According to a recent Edison research report, 50 percent of listeners listen to podcasts while cooking or baking. But monetization remains a challenge, even for the most popular shows. All of Racist Sandwich’s producers work full-time jobs in addition to making the show, and though they’ve successfully funded several short series (including an upcoming one on food in France), the show is now on hiatus. “I do wanna say, please invest in foodcasts because there are food conversations that people can learn from. [As] an editor, it’s really hard: it’s our labor of love. We spend hours working on it and our Kickstarter supporters helped keep us going over the years, helping cover equipment and production costs. It’s the people’s podcast and we’re proud of that,” said Ramirez. AROUND THE WORLD IN A SOUNDBITE According to Chartable, today there are 4,879 food-themed podcasts in the Apple Podcasts library. Though most foodcasts are in English (81.2 %), there are food podcasts in quite a few other languages as well, including French, German, Swedish, Japanese and Chinese. Foodcasts have come full circle, using sound to bring us back into the kitchens of the past, and present. And what of the birthplace of food broadcasts, France? Well, since the podcast boom touched French shores in 2017, food podcasts are among the most popular shows in France’s Apple Podcasts listing, with independently produced shows ranging from narrative shows on everyday food culture like Culture Miam and Plan Culinaire, to interview shows like Bouffons Podcast or Casseroles Podcast that explore stories behind our favorite foods. Wherever they are in the world, foodcasts are succeeding at making us listen to food in the same way we watch it. For a list of foodcasts to listen to while cooking, check out our curated playlist with Radio Public. Lory Martinez is an independent podcast producer based in Paris, France. She makes a lot of foodcasts in French and English including: A Poêle Podcast on chefs’ inner lives, Dinner for One podcast, on getting over a breakup one solo dinner at a time and the upcoming Wine School Dropout podcast, on demystifying the wine world. The Bello Collective is a publication + newsletter about podcasts and the audio industry. Our goal is to bring together writers, journalists, and other voices who share a passion for the world of audio storytelling. Subscribe to the Bello Collective fortnightly newsletter for more stories, podcast recommendations, audio industry news, and more. Support our work and join our community by becoming a member.

https://bellocollective.com/power-to-the-foodcast-967f63d8ca18

['Lory Martinez']

2020-08-25 20:08:43.826000+00:00

['Podcasting', 'Food Podcasts', 'Podcast', 'Foodies', 'Features']

Air Cargo Containers Market Statistics, Analysis & Forecast To 2024

Asia Pacific will contribute significantly towards the air cargo containers market place. This growth is attributed to the proliferating e-commerce activities across the region. Further, the increasing trade activities including transportation of cargo and goods related to the pharmaceutical industry is further strengthening the market proliferation till 2024. Industry participants are offering innovative solutions for pharmaceutical products transportation across the region. Industry participants are continuously investing in R&D for introducing innovative air cargos for special purpose air freight, fueling the air cargo containers market growth over the projected timeframe. For instance, in April 2018 SmartContainers introduced a innovative SkyCell multi-material shipping container with specialized multi-material unit load device (ULD) for shipping pharmaceutical products that require safe and temperature-controlled shipping, providing a positive outlook for the air cargo containers market expansion. Request Detailed Table of Contents of this Report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/3050 Based on aircraft, air cargo containers market place is segmented as passenger aircraft and freighter. Newer aircrafts are designed with a focus on increasing belly capacity for passenger aircrafts for carrying cargo. However, freighters are most essential for transportation of materials owing to advantages offered including highly controlled goods transport, improved reliability, unique capacity consideration, and direct routing, providing a positive outlook for the business expansion. Based on weight cargo aircraft segment is further sub divided into standard body (less than 45 tons), medium widebody (40–80 tons), and large (greater than 80 tons) aircrafts. Increasing demand of regional express services in emerging economies will boost the standard body aircraft. Additionally, replacement of retiring airplanes and expansion of fleet to meet projected traffic growth will further increase the demand for freighters over the forecast timeframe, positively influencing the air cargo containers market place till 2024. Air cargo containers market is segmented based on position of containers into main deck and lower deck container. Increasing usage of lower deck containers in both wide body passenger and freighter aircrafts will spur the segment demand till 2024. Additionally, special lower deck containers designed for specialized aircrafts will further strengthen the segment demand over the study period. Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/3050 The global economic downfall coupled with increasing trade protectionism is considerably hampering the world trade. Additionally, volatility in fuel prices is further posing a threat to the air cargo containers market place. However, trade agreements between countries will minimize the threat of trade protectionism over the forecast timeframe. For instance, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that implementation of the WTO Trade facilitation Agreement (TFA) is expected to reduce trade cost between 12% to 18%. Currently the industry witnessing increasing shipment of lithium-based batteries. These batteries are compact and carry more energy compare to its size, that increases threat of accidents. As per the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) between 1991 and 2016 lithium batteries related accidents accounted for 138. Thus, industry participants are focused on introducing improved quality, light weight, and fire-resistant containers, providing a positive outlook for the air cargo containers market share till 2024. Few players in the air cargo containers market place include Nordisk Aviation, Vinyl Technology, Inc., VRR, Dyneema, Granger Plastics Company, Satco Inc, Cargo Composites, Safran, Nordisk Aviation Products, Horizon International Cargo, Delta Air Lines, Inc., ACL Airshop, DoKaSch GmbH, Envirotainer AB, and PalNet GmbH Air Cargo Products. Strategic partnerships and collaborations for developing newer products are among the prominent strategies adopted by the industry participants for improving their market share. About Global Market Insights: Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology. Contact us: Arun Hegde Corporate Sales, USA Global Market Insights, Inc. Phone:1–302–846–7766 Toll Free: 1–888–689–0688 Email: sales@gminsights.com BLOG: http://freeautomotivenews.com/ Web: https://www.gminsights.com

https://medium.com/@rbose032/air-cargo-containers-market-statistics-analysis-forecast-to-2024-3435d9a66a1

['Rahul Bose']

2019-02-06 11:49:57.796000+00:00

['Trade', 'Market Research Reports', 'Aerospace', 'Business Development', 'Business']

Order Online alcohol in Kolkata for your husband, boyfriend in New Year 2021

Alcohol gifting is tricky and it holds true for genders and age brackets, socio economic status as well. We all know that men are hard to shop for. However, the question is what do men really want as a gift in the role of a family man, husband, single males like boyfriend? The traditional way of surprising males in the western world is ‘alcohol gift basket’, which is like sending him a booze bouquet. There are variations as well, being a Kolkatan or Calcuttan, you can personalize a gift basket or gift set from a wide variety of liquor; whiskey, scotch, bourbon, vodka, rum, gin, tequila, and more. You can also gift together with their favorite sports gear and cloths. However, when it comes to surprising Kolkata males in WestBengal, the booze goodies will create a boom impact. You are bound to impress your husband, boyfriend in December 2020 if you are creative in your intent and approach. As males grow up, their requirement matures, and alcohol is one of them, though it may not be an open drinking statement but within a close friends’ circle at office or at friends’ place. So whether it is a get well soon gift for a male friend or husband, or a happy birthday gift, Christmas gift and New Year gift, this time in Kolkata @LIQUESIP offers you an idea to gift that is male lifestyle centric. You can use liquor delivery apps in Kolkata services that can act as surprise, instead of a booze gift basket. Remember you don’t have much choice, due to COVID19, and understand or gauge your man, offer alcohol gift basket full of their favourite beer, wine, and liquor along with dark chocolate shipped to their door. We at LIQUESIP in Kolkata, which is managed by Kolkata municipal corporation (KMC), take pride in offering some of the best liquor, spirits, alcohol, booze that Kolkata men love along with Bengali starter dishes. So whether you are looking impress Kolkata males, remember to probe during conversation about their favorite ones. As a female you may not have idea, but ask what is what like whiskey, smokey scotch, tasty tequila, very cool vodka, roast worthy rum, bourbon with a bite, or gin. LIQUESIP the liquor delivery apps in Kolkata offer you peace of mind. We will help you send premium beer, wine and spirits to Kolkata locations such as — #Ruby #Dhakuria #Rashbehari Avenue #Baghajatin #ChandniChowk #Chowbaga #ScienceCity #Tangra #ParkCircus #Kalighat #Tollygunge #Tagore Park #Jadavpur #SouthCity #Ajoy Nagar #Kalikapur #Kasba #Ballygunge #Moulali #Acropolis #Salimpur #Gobra #Hazra #Exide #CamacStreet #BeckBagan #Lord’sMore #BowBazar #Esplanade #Purbachal. LIQUESIP in Kolkata liquor baskets can be delivered to your door as birthday gifts, holiday gifts, thank you gifts, wedding gifts, bachelor party gifts, corporate gifts, custom gifts, personalized gifts, thank you gifts, house warming gifts, valentines gifts, fathers day gifts, Christmas gifts, and graduation gifts just to name a few. So choose from @LIQUESIP website (www.liquesip.com) or download Liquesip liquor delivery apps from Google Playstore to get rum delivery in Kolkata, whisky delivery in Kolkata, vodka delivery in Kolkata, beer delivery in Kolkata, gin delivery in Kolkata, wine delivery in Kolkata, champagne delivery in Kolkata to impress your husband, boyfriend in New Year 2021. .

https://medium.com/@liquesip/order-online-alcohol-in-kolkata-for-your-husband-boyfriend-in-new-year-2021-ea1ecd68f80e

[]

2020-12-27 09:10:09.613000+00:00

['Alchohol', 'Liquor Store Online', 'Online Shopping', 'Home Delivery', 'Liquor']

Let’s Make the Cannabis Industry More Black & Brown

My journey with cannabis began in high school. After school, I would consume it with friends. One day, we thought it was a good idea to smoke in my backyard while my mom was home. We definitely got caught, yelled at, and lectured about how it wasn’t a good idea for young Black people to smoke weed. From that day forward, I was determined to change her mind and continue to consume cannabis. My name is Victoria Jonas. I am a social journalism and documentary specialization student at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. For the past year and a half, I have served as a social journalist in the cannabis community. Before I tell you about my journey as a cannabis social journalist, I want to ask you a question: have you ever consumed cannabis? Most people will answer “yes” to that question. However, many people feel shy or embarrassed to admit they consume weed publicly. Although I’ve never been discreet about my cannabis consumption, I understand why others might be. The decades of criminalization and stigmas associated with weed has made it a taboo topic, especially in Black and brown communities. For this reason, I decided to make Black and brown cannabis consumers my target audience, with a focus on Black women. I’ve been apart of this community for about a decade. But, I decided to take a step back to examine and understand the needs, wants, questions, and concerns of Black and brown cannabis consumers. So, I did what any great social journalist would do. I started showing up to community events and meetings (both in-person and virtually), observing, listening, and asking questions. Community members provided me great insights. “I want to know more about legalization.” As I continued to perform my social journalist duties (listening, observing, showing up even when I didn’t need anything, and engaging the community), I began to discover the key community issues for Black and brown weed consumers. “Marijuana use is roughly equal among Blacks and whites, yet Blacks are 3.73 times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession,” according to the American Civil Liberties Union in 2013. This quote is pretty old but it’s the core of why Black and brown people should have more access to the legal cannabis market. Black and brown communities were harassed and arrested the most for weed. Those same communities were/are the target of the war on drugs, which is why social equity and social justice programs are so important! The core responsibility of a social journalist is to serve a community. So, I saw gaps and developed significant ways to fill them. I used stories, videos, creative content, events, and social media to entertain, educate, engage, and help change weed stigmas in Black communities. So, my first solution to achieve my goals in this community was to create my own cannabis community: Buddafly Effects. Buddafly Effects is a cannabis lifestyle, creative weed content, and infused meals + baked edibles brand that I launched in July 2020. Similar to the meaning of The Butterfly Effect, Buddafly Effects means making small changes in cannabis that will make a larger impact over time. The purpose of Buddafly Effects is to create a platform where I can engage and inform Black and brown cannabis consumers. Instagram is where I have the largest following. I used creative weed posts, IGTV videos, Reels, and Instagram stories to cultivate a community of Black and brown cannabis consumers. The audience is growing daily and the content receives a lot of views, likes, and comments. I also used infused foods to connect further with Black and brown cannabis consumers. And the feedback has been all positive. “The snickerdoodles were the bomb. They got me through recovery from a minor surgery and election week…Would love to order again.” The cannabis industry is shifting! Marijuana is legal for adults in 11 states and Washington D.C. Medical marijuana is legal in 34 states. Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed the MORE Act bill, which removes marijuana from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act. The further I go into this community, people are viewing me as a weed expert or cannabis influencer. They often ask me questions about the changing cannabis industry. My social journalism journey continued with me developing a solution to keep Black and brown cannabis consumers informed. *Please watch the above video! Buddafly Buzz is a weekly cannabis newsletter in video format. I invite the community and audience to consume weed with me as I inform them of the latest cannabis news, updates, and information. The Buddafly Buzz series has only one video so far, but engagement has began on YouTube (where it’s hosted) and Instagram (where it’s promoted). Buddafly Effects and Buddafly Buzz receive a lot comments, likes, sends, reposts, and views. I wish I could show and highlight every comment or DM I receive. But honestly, there are too many. Yet, the two comments that stood out were from The Cannabis Cutie and Cannabis Noire, both are Black women and cannabis influencers with large followings. I admire their work. So, their comments were reassuring as a social journalist and as a new influencer within the cannabis space. I also wrote an article about how Hip-Hop shaped weed culture for Kaptial Magazine. But honestly, this journey wasn’t easy. I faced challenges like imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and being a one-person team. To build a community and gain their trust, I had to step out my comfort zone and become a weed expert/cannabis influencer. It was hard at times but I did it! I am proud of the work I did for and on behalf of Black and brown cannabis influencers. Going forward, I will confidently continue to serve this community. I came a long way from smoking weed in my backyard and getting caught by my mom. She is now very informed about cannabis and fully supports the work I’m doing in this community. The advice I would tell future social journalism students is to find a community that truly interest you and show up often, not only when you need something. This past year and a half pushed me much deeper into my weed passions. So deep that I’ve decided to become a full-time weed expert and cannabis influencer after I graduate from the Craig Newmark Gradute School of Journalism on December 18, 2020. So, spark a conversation with me and let’s talk cannabis!

https://medium.com/@vickyjonas/lets-make-the-cannabis-industry-more-black-brown-a7c91d14fc1

['Victoria Mba-Jonas']

2020-12-17 21:07:44.841000+00:00

['Cannabis Legalization', 'Community Engagement', 'Cannabis', 'Social Equity', 'Social Journalism']

How to de-escalate a heated situation at work 🔥

Ever felt your cheeks go hot in a meeting? I sure have. Sometimes it’s because I’ve felt dismissed, sometimes because I’ve felt attacked. But in a work setting, I have to somehow control that reaction and find a way to de-escalate. Here’s a method I’ve used successfully in a lot of heated moments. Find the unspoken fear In my experience, when situations get really heated, there’s normally an unspoken fear driving it on one or both sides. Fear makes us all behave in pretty destructive ways, and it’s particularly damaging in the workplace. For example, If I fear losing control and react by micro-managing, I would make a lot of other people’s lives pretty miserable and create a huge ripple effect in my company. Over the years, I’ve found that if you can find and name that underlying fear, you can change the conversation and usually take the heat out of it. It could be as simple as saying: Can we take a step back for a second? This isn’t usually a problem — what’s your concern? In a lot of cases, the other person will be happy with the break in tension and will tell you their concern. Then, you can focus on solving it together. De-escalating trickier situations Sometimes, it’s not that easy. De-escalating can be pretty tough if everyone’s already in fight or flight mode, including yourself. In tougher situations, try following these three steps: Ask yourself — what is your underlying fear in this situation? Pause the conversation (I literally say “can I press pause for a second?”) and share that fear with the other person. Be quiet and see what they say next. Nine times out of ten, this de-escalates the situation and the other person engages with you. I think it works for two reasons: 1) because you’ve stopped the conversation long enough for everyone to take a breath, and 2) because you’ve taken the risk to be vulnerable first, proving to them that they’re safe enough to stop arguing and voice their own concerns. Making it safe to talk about fear I’ve been using this method for a few years, and colleagues are now used to me trying to find the unspoken fear. One of my colleagues said the other day, “hold on, let me do that Danae thing, I think what I’m really afraid of here is…” I was so happy about this — not because she attributed it to me, although that was cool — but because it’s now so safe to talk about fear that she was doing it on her own. To me, that’s a strong sign of healthy communication and means we can focus on solving problems together. How to be human at work — join the free newsletter Managing people is the best part of my job. It’s also hard. I write a newsletter every week about being human at work and the lessons I’ve learned — if you’d like to read it, subscribe here for free or use the link below. Thanks!

https://medium.com/@danaeshell/how-to-de-escalate-a-heated-situation-at-work-277d407468da

['Danae Shell']

2019-10-13 19:13:19.504000+00:00

['Management And Leadership', 'Work', 'Management', 'Conversations']

Know when to Go Out, Know when to Stay In, and Get Things Done

Just before the lockdown, I went to a some rammed, stuffy rooms in Bristol to see something that was politically completely inconceivable five years ago. Here, socialist historians, tenants rights activists, self-professed communists, Labour MPs, non-binary Marxist-Leninist physicists and trade unionists got together to talk about the future of the second-largest city in the south, and about the future of the left more generally. It used the abundant community infrastructure around Stokes Croft and St Pauls (advice: if you want better community buildings, have a good riot) for this purpose. Every talk was well-attended, and many were rammed; the talks were interspersed with concerts, comedy (of a sort) and other non-obviously political events. I didn’t participate in or overhear a single conversation about the Labour Party leadership. This was Bristol Transformed 2020, and it roughly sums up the reasons why I’m not leaving the Labour Party. Since I last used this thing to try and convince people not to vote for Keir Starmer, I’ve not seen much that has made me revise my views. Both the main candidates have been a little worse than expected, Starmer in his supine and invisible non-opposition to the government’s chaotic, ideological and bizarre response to the pandemic, Long-Bailey in her rabbit-in-headlights response to the bullying show trial of the Peston-hosted Jewish Labour Movement hustings (Starmer, to his credit, did not feel the need to implausibly claim he was a Zionist, and the ability to not answer stupid questions is one of the better things about being extremely lawyerly). Starmer’s shadow cabinet roughly confirms the optimistic view of his campaign — that his refusal to tack to the right was a matter of conviction rather than cynical selectorate-courting. It’s dominated by the soft left, far more so than Ed Miliband’s cabinet or even Corbyn’s first cabinet. The right have few positions, and one of them (Ian Murray) is by pure default, as the last man standing in Scotland, representing the famous Red Base of Morningside. Scotland and ‘Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster’ aside, there is no job for the right of the Party, nothing for Hilary Benn, Jess Phillips, Stephen Kinnock, Yvette Cooper, Wes Streeting, Neil Coyle, Stella Creasy et al. I can’t see the CDUK MPs coming back. But the socialist left are nearly as marginalised, with just three positions for Socialist Campaign Group MPs — Rebecca Long-Bailey, Marsha de Cordova and Cat Smith. Some predictions are easy to make. There won’t be much of a bounce, and this will be blamed on the non-inclusion of the right by these MPs and their mates in the media. The soft left is necessarily amoebic; it stands now essentially on the 2017 Labour Manifesto, a document they would never have had the gumption to come to of their own accord. The pressure to shift away from it will be vast. Starmer remains hugely uncharismatic, the Facebook uncles have already started sharing memes claiming he refused to prosecute Jimmy Savile as Director of Public Prosecutions, and there appears to be zero attempt at the slightest contrition about the disastrous People’s Vote strategy, the single policy that made the biggest difference between the near-miss of 2017 and the meltdown of 2019. In fact, the biggest factional choice move seems to have been the exclusion of anyone who opposed a second referendum, whether on the socialist left (Jon Trickett) or the right (Stephen Kinnock). I’d far rather see this lot in government than the Tories, and so would you. No doubt lots of us will get our feet wet in 2024 trying to convince 60 year old men in ex-council houses that Keir Starmer didn’t help out Jimmy Savile and John Worboys, just as we tried unsuccessfully to convince them that Jeremy Corbyn didn’t in fact support Hezbollah, Hamas and the Provisional IRA. This shadow cabinet not only shows little obvious contrition for the second referendum, it also snubs Dawn Butler, Kate Osamor and Clive Lewis. The general Zone 2 Dinner Party look of the cabinet, and its unsurprising ignoring of the young leftists elected in 2019, suggests that the two failsafe demographics that backed Labour in 2019 — the intersecting blocs of BAME voters and under-40s — are going to be taken very much for granted. The plan seems to be to win in 2024 by taking votes from the Lib Dems and to a lesser extent the Greens, while simply ignoring places threatened by the Brexit Party and lost to the Tories; a sort of ‘High Wycombe Strategy’, with no obvious idea of how to speak to Leigh or Blyth. Where does this leave the socialist left? Nowhere much. This won’t be our cabinet, or our leadership. We can apply some pressure, and it may or most likely may not be listened to. I would like to be wrong, but I suspect COVID-19 isn’t going to win any elections for us, as anyone who remembers 2008 can tell you. The orgy of Keeping Calm and Carrying On and Cleaning for the Queen will go on and on, and fear seldom ever leads to a shift leftwards. The fact that the Tories are now literally carrying out lots of the 2017 and 2019 Manifestos has so far been noticed by nobody who doesn’t have a Twitter account. Just as much as it could be the post-Brexit Tories’ Black Wednesday, it could be their new Brexit, creating a new base, with the mass nationalisations and the enormous expansion of the welfare state credited to dishy Sunak and Battler Boris, who himself took the virus on his own wobbling chin, rather than to their ransacking of our platform. We may never see again anything like what we had for four years: the prospect of an insurgent socialist movement taking power in Britain, of all fucking places, and the main positions of state being filled by hardened class fighters and pioneers such as Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Diane Abbott. That should be mourned, and that’ll be long and tough. It can’t be wished back. I certainly intend to forgive absolutely nobody. Which brings us back to where we started. I was surprised by Bristol Transformed, and by the fact just as many people were there in the first week of March 2020 as they were in 2019. It was surreal to be at this massive, young, enthusiastic, diverse, funny, non-sectarian left event while friends texted me appalling Primary results for Bernie Sanders. I think every participant who had come to Bristol from shell-shocked London and Manchester was amazed at how optimistic the event was. It drew together, as the local Transformed events do, the infrastructure we’d built up since 2015, which is roughly as follows. Umbrellas: Momentum, The World Transformed. Media and Think-Tanks: Novara, New Socialist, Tribune (and its reading groups), Autonomy. Activism: ACORN, Renters Unions, Climate Change campaigns, the many ‘Labour Campaigns for X’. Unions: Unite, GMB, CWU, FBU, and — yes — the ultraleft non-TUC unions such as CAIWU and the IWGB. Within the Party: Young Labour, and the Community Organising Unit. Add these to the existing organisations like the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy and the now much larger, younger and more exciting group of socialist MPs in the Socialist Campaign Group, and the left is still stronger than at any time since the early 1980s. It has a natural leadership, too, in those new MPs, mostly young, charismatic and interesting — Zarah Sultana, Sam Tarry, Apsana Begum, Navendu Mishra, Charlotte Nichols, Olivia Blake, Nadia Whittome, Claudia Webbe. What do we do with this? I think what we do is based on what you could see in Bristol, that is: activism not in Parliament and over the leadership of the Party, which is not ours, and may not be again for a very very long time, but on a local level. It means making a thousand Prestons where currently there is one (possibly two if one counts Salford). It means a return to council housing, it means councils working with Renters Unions, and it means an end to outsourcing. It might also mean, if we are to do these, confronting not only entrenched, right-wing councils, who will fight that tooth and nail, but also, the government. Already, Sadiq Khan — the figure who by far the most resembles Starmer — has seen the government reject his GLA’s last London Plan for being too radical on climate change and balloting on estate regeneration. The soft left claim, constantly, to back Preston style municipal socialism, council housing, a clampdown on landlordism and democratised planning. Let’s see if they’ll back that right down to the wire and a confrontation with the government, because that is what it might well take. Here, defending the Community Organising Unit will be essential. Moreover, building and helping the radical left outside of the likes of London, Manchester and Bristol is essential. There will be a Teesside Transformed, and I’m told a Plymouth Transformed, but there needs to be much, much more of these. The new leadership shows little interest at winning back what we lost in the Midlands and the North. That gives the left the field there, an opportunity we would be foolish to lose by relitigating the divide over the EU, or, even more so, by writing off everyone who voted Leave as troglodytes lost to the left. This was always suicidal, and it still is. Similar points could be said of workplace politics. Strike action is at a historic low, and class struggle was all but nonexistent in the four years of Corbynism — not because all the energy went into it, as the sectarians will claim, but simply because it has been in constant, uninterrupted decline. The RMT will be the next target — a union that did not reaffiliate, largely because of the influence there of the sects. That left infrastructure must be used to defend the RMT if the threat to outlaw transport strikes is carried out, just as it must defend the posties and the UCU strikers in the struggles happening just before the lockdown. I would also love to see an end to the war between the established unions and the ultraleft gig economy organisers at IWGB and CAIWU, and instead, a mutual learning develop between these, as both will be under severe attack — we can already see this in the way that insecure workers will benefit little from the government assistance being offered in the lockdown. That’s what we have. We can try to use it to try to create the next generation of microcosms, the next experiments in municipal socialism and functioning local social democracies. We have to at least try and build our own Poplar and Lambeth, our own Clay Cross and our own Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire, and our own GLCs and LCCs, which have after all usually thrived in periods of Tory hegemony nationally; bases where we can show people on the ground, in reality, in real time and real experience, that things can be better, something not nearly enough people believe. The freeing up of energies that a disconnection from Parliament — where nothing is going to happen, for a long time — makes this the ideal focus for our energies for the next five years. This was always a weakness under Corbynism, and its record in local government was poor to non-existent (the Preston model, though devised by Bennites, predated the left’s capture of the leadership). Yet so far, almost the opposite has happened. There have, for instance, been pitifully low turnouts in the Labour GLA selections, despite a strong socialist platform being offered by Liam Young. These are our instruments now, and we have to try and make them work. Away from Westminster, into the Town Halls.

https://medium.com/@owenhatherley/know-when-to-go-out-know-when-to-stay-in-and-get-things-done-d696e0f8da2

['Owen Hatherley']

2020-04-06 18:02:09.153000+00:00

['Revenge', 'Local Government', 'Socialism']

Impact Of Online Teaching And Learning In Higher Education

Impact Of Online Teaching And Learning In Higher Education Projectclue12 Jun 1·3 min read Institution of higher education have increasingly embraced online education, and the number of student enroll in distance education program is rising rapidly in colleges and universities. Today’s students are exposed to a technological era in which they are engulfed with an array of mobile technology and learning tools to include, ipads, computers, iphones, interactive audio or videoconferencing, webcasts, instructional videos via CD-ROMs or DVDs and computer-based systems transmitted through the Internet (The National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). You might like to view more: Research Works For Students Mobile devices provide education to students by allowing them to download necessary materials, immediately, to help fulfill requirements for issues they are confronted with daily (Bonk, 2009). Digital learning tools such as webcams, electronic books, and audio devices for recording lectures, to be used by students at their convenience, are effective tools offered by educational institutions to increase students’ success rate with course requirements. Electronic books can reduce the cost of and ensure use of most current reading materials, and a larger variety of sources. The growth of these devices has provided instructors new and innovative tools to promote teaching and learning for students with varied educational needs. Not only are technology devices necessary for success in the online environment, but the design of the online program, including the instructor, the curriculum, and student support services accompanied by a strong sense of community and connectedness within the program, are significant as well. At the same time, misconceptions and myths related to the difficulty of teaching and learning online, technologies available to support online instruction, the support and compensation needed for high-quality instructors, and the needs of online students create challenges for such vision statements and planning documents. In part, this confusion swells as higher education explores dozens of e-learning technologies (for example, electronic books, simulations, text messaging, podcasting, wikis, blogs), with new ones seeming to emerge each week. Such technologies confront instructors and administrators at a time of continued budget retrenchments and rethinking. Adding to this dilemma, bored students are dropping out of online classes while pleading for richer and more engaging online learning experiences. Given the demand for online learning, the plethora of online technologies to incorporate into teaching, the budgetary problems, and the opportunities for innovation, we argue that online learning environments are facing a “perfect e-storm,” linking pedagogy, technology, and learner needs. The call for application of E-learning in schools is to infuse and inject efficiency and effectiveness in the teaching-learning process. Thus, in a developing nation like Ghana, E-learning is currently encountering the challenges of material devices like the availability of computers, well equipped computer laboratories coupled with internet facilities, videophone systems and teleconferencing devices, fax and wireless applications, digital library, digital classrooms, multimedia systems and the problem of multimedia courseware development among others (Global Information Technology Report, 2010). Other studies revealed that there is a limited trained teacher for E-learning, lack of facilities, infrastructures and equipment (Ikemenjima, 2005; and Jegede & Owolabi, 2003). E-learning has already influenced the field of teaching, training and development in the developed world. An increasing number of higher institution courses are now taught on the internet and are increasing student numbers (Chang, 2001). Many educational stakeholders are of the opinion that online learning is the future method for their training programmes (Barron, 1999). However, the field lacks enough documentation to show that E-learning is an effective delivery mechanism in relation to the individuals being taught. Aroyo and Dicheva (2004) indicated that many researchers in the area of education systems are concerned with moving their research to a coherent space of collaborative intelligence from scattered intelligent. There are limited studies that have investigated the perception of distance learning students on the influence of e-learning on their academic performance. This study will therefore investigate the impact of online teaching and learning in higher education. A case study of Sandwich Early Childhood students in Takoradi.

https://medium.com/@projectclue1/impact-of-online-teaching-and-learning-in-higher-education-8202b4455406

[]

2021-06-01 13:21:06.403000+00:00

['Online', 'Impact', 'Higher Education', 'Learning', 'Teaching']

Scratch to SOTA: Build Famous Classification Nets 5 (ResNet)

Photo by Rashi Raffi on Unsplash Introduction The advent of ResNet family at the end of 2015 shattered many computer vision records. Its model ensemble achieved 3.57% of top-5 error on ImageNet classification challenges (nearly halved GoogLeNet’s 6.67%). It attained a 28% of relative improvement on COCO object detection challenge, by simply replacing the detector’s backbone. It surely popularized the usage of skip connection (now it is everywhere!). In fact, ResNet is so effective that Geoffrey Hinton expressed some degree of regret that his team did not develop a similar idea into ResNet. In this article, we will go through the ideas behind ResNet and its PyTorch implementation. Overview Motivation and rationale behind skip connection. ResNet structures and bottleneck design. PyTorch implementation and discussion. ResNet Basics Motivation We have got VGG19 and GoogLeNet (which has 22 layers) up till now, why don’t we just design a VGG100 or a GoogLeNet with 200 layers? The reason is that adding depth has diminishing margin of return. The accuracy will improve up to certain point then deteriorate. “Oh, it’s overfitting, right?”, we’d make this educated conjecture. However, it is not the situation. If we add more layers to our VGG or GoogLeNet, not only will the validation accuracy decrease, so will the training accuracy. The graph below shows this phenomenon. It shows that the deeper network cannot even fit the training data as well as its shallower counterpart. This observation is quite counter-intuitive. If we append more layers to a network, the “solution space” of the deeper network should contains that of the shallower network. If the newly added layers can at least learn an identity mapping, the deeper layers should have a no-worse performance. The gap between the ideal and the reality, or the theory and the practical, is signified by this observation. While the mathematics ordains that a deeper network has higher power of representation, our current solver is incapable of arriving at the desirable locations in this larger solution space. To partially overcome this gap, VGG networks trained its layers in stages (or used better initialization), GoogLeNet added auxiliary classifiers, ResNet implemented the skip connections. Skip Connection The authors of ResNet addressed this degradation problem by letting the layers of a network derive a transformation of the feature to add to the feature itself instead of transforming the features directly. As shown in the figure below, the two weight layers learn a “residual mapping” F(x) to add to the original feature x . If the underlying desirable transformation the layers are to achieve is H(x) , layers without skip connection are forcing its mapping F(x) to approximate H(x) , while layers with skip connection are approximting H(x) — x . This design is based on the hypothesis that it is easier to incrementally modify the previous feature maps than to transform the previous feature maps directly. In the case that no modification is needed for good model performance, it is easier to push the output of the layers to zero than to learn an identity mapping. At the same time, just like in the GoogLeNet which used auxiliary classifiers to enhance the backward flow of the gradient, these skip connection also alleviates the problem of vanishing gradients. The lower layers that are more remote from the source of gradient flow can enjoy a boost in gradient signal via the “express way” of skip connections. This really simple modification allows us to increase the depth of the network drastically. A 152-layer network can now be trained as to be seen soon in this article. The last bit of details remain about this skip connection is how many layers should a skip connection skip? ResNet eventually lets the connections skip 2 or 3 layers. While more layers can be skipped too (check out DenseNet, whose skip connections leap over a range of layers), the authors point out skipping just one layer is not advantageous, as whose formula Wx + x is the same as (W+I)x = W'x . It is essentially the same as layers without skip connections. For implementation, the original feature map and the newly transformed feature map are added before the ReLU activation. Bottleneck Block The figure above shows the basic block implementing skip connections in the vanilla way. However, for layers with a large number of filters, the complexity is too big to manage. The trick of using 1x1 filters to downsample the number of channels is used again here. As shown in the figure on the left, the number of channels is first squeezed to a small number, before applying filters with larger receptive field. To let the output have the dimensions as the input (so we can use skip connection), we expand the number of channels again. The skip connection is always between feature maps of many channels, the feature maps with less channels form the “bottleneck” of the block. (Some readers may have heard of inverted residual/bottleneck block, introduced by MobileNetV2. Its skip connection is between feature maps of smaller dimension. We will look into that in a future article.) With this bottleneck block, even the 152-layer ResNet has lower complexity than VGG16, despite the 8 times increase in depth. Wow!! Structure of ResNets The original paper introduced 5 variants of ResNet with 18, 34, 50, 101 and 152 layers each. This table shows their architectures. Other than the first two layers, the first blocks of each module (conv(x)_1) also have a stride of size 2 to halve the spatial dimension. Every time the spatial dimension is halved, the number of channels doubles. The structures of ResNets are straightforward, other than a small complication. The skip connection of the first block in each module need to be modified. The reason is that doubling of the channels happens at the first block. Hence, the skip connection will be placed between two feature maps of different number of channels. There are two ways off-the-shelf to address this issue. The first one is tjo zero-pad the previous feature map for addition. The second one is to use 1x1 filters yet again to expand the previous feature map’s depth. In author’s experiments, the second way is superior in accuracy. The implementations of ResNet generally adopt the second design. Unlike all the other networks introduced in this series so far, ResNet only has one fully-connected layer to further reduce the network complexity. The final feature map is simply average pooled across spatial dimensions before going into this linear classifier. Code To build ResNet, let’s first create a helper class called Conv2dBn as before. It is because all convolution layers in ResNet are followed by batch normalization. The basic version of the residual block is coded as below. There are two things to note about this code. Firstly, notice that the bias parameter is set to False for Conv2dBn() . The reason is that, with batch normalization, the mean of each channel is subtracted from the feature map, removing any effects of the bias term in the Conv2d beforehand. The bias term in the BatchNorm2d() will instead offer the offsets. Secondly, as mentioned above, filters of size 1x1 is used as self.res to match the input and output feature maps’ channel size if stride is not 1. Else, identity function is used. The bottleneck block is coded below. self.squeeze and self.expand are 1x1 filters that reduces the channel size before increasing it back for skip connections. Next, we create ResNet template that can help us build all the 5 ResNets with a simple config file. The code below shows the typical __init__() and forward() method of such class. Two builder methods are shown below. __build__module() method makes each of the 4 residual modules. basic_block parameter refers to whether we want to use the vanilla Block or Bottleneck , num_blocks parameter refers to how many such blocks are in the module, planes refers to the input, intermediate and output feature map’s number of channels in each block, stride is the stride size for the first block in each module. _build_modules() method helps compute the number filters used for each module and calls _build_module() method to build these modules. The _init_weights() method is shown below. The only issue is probably the mode for kaiming_normal_() . The official Torchvision model used fan_out here. The reason for my choice of fan_in is same as that in the VGG article here. We have finished our template/builder class now. Let’s transfer the networks’ structure from the table to a config dictionary. “num_filters” refers to the number of convolution filters in the first module. For Bottleneck , it has two numbers, one for the squeezing 1x1 filters / 3x3 filters and one for the expanding 1x1 filters. The number of filters for other modules will be calculated by _build_modules() methods. "num_blocks" refer to the number of blocks used in each of the 4 modules. Finally, we can build all 5 ResNets with the config dictionary and the builder class. Conclusion The two main concepts for ResNet are skip connection and bottleneck block. The former allows us to train very deep networks while the latter reduces the complexity of these networks dramatically. For various computer vision tasks, ResNets are often the default models to be used for preliminary investigation. Many real-time applications use the like of ResNet50 to form their feature extraction backbones. Deeper ResNets are usually used in competition for better accuracy at the cost of lower speed. Up till this article, we have finished four very famous models. These four models aim to pack as much depth/transformation as efficiently possible to push the boundary of classification accuracy. However, there is another research direction that works to lower the complexity of models as much as possible without sacrificing to much accuracy. In the following articles, we will introduce three of such models — SqueezeNet, MobileNetV1 and MobileNetV2.

https://medium.com/swlh/scratch-to-sota-build-famous-classification-nets-5-resnet-dab4f8444a43

[]

2021-02-05 01:49:54.885000+00:00

['Pytorch', 'Image Classification', 'Step By Step Guide', 'Machine Learning', 'Computer Vision']

Episode 2: The Disappearance

Welcome back to your favorite established series of stories that you plan on sharing with everybody, but first you need to read it. So, let’s continue on! “Are we a just two puzzles pieces meant for each other and no one else?” -Jake If getting drugged was not bad enough for Jake. Now, he was feeling a unique sensation throughout his whole body. “Why am I feeling so much!” Jake yelled out trying to understand it and all Erica could do was console him. “We will figure this out together, don’t worry Jake!” Erica smiles nudges her head on top of his. “What happened to the man Chase who gave me whatever this was? Did he tell you what this could possibly be?” Jake looked over at Erica who was not sure if she should come out and tell him. “You can tell me anything, you know this right?” Jake said admittedly. “I know. But this is a lot to take in Jake. This is unusual. I thought this could only happen in the stupid movies like in the one that is on now. In my wildest dream, maybe my wildest, but still could not believe that this drug he gave you did what he said.” Erica looked down at him and he looked up at her glazed over, tired. “Do you remember the movie and TV show Limitless?” Jake just nodded waiting for the response. “It is a drug similar to this. It makes you feel superhero and enhances your senses to a level where it could give you potential hallucinations. Now, the last part I am not sure about. But looking at you, it is taking a toll on you.” Erica rub his arms to see if he would snap out of it. He stood up not wanting to rub his arms anymore, it was driving him crazy inside that she was taking care of him. He remembered back ten years ago when the suppose love of Erica’s life Josh cheated on her. She was distraught and completely shaken. Anyone would be if your new fiance cheated on you with no other than your best friend since seven years old. Completely twisted. All she could do was drench a waterfall of tears on Jake’s shoulder who just stayed the whole night. These are the moments filled within Jake’s head that he goes back to for comfort. This is a constant reminder that life is not always as you expect it to be. “Wait so I am like Bradley Cooper then and I can do anything!” Jake screams out lifting his arms in victory. “Will you be quiet and calm down for a second to let me figure this out?” Erica announced being stern. “Okay, okay. But I thought he originally gave me something to kill me and now I am finding out my senses are enlightened.” Amazed Jake looked around from side to side. “But there is something I do not get.” Erica just looks over at him awaiting a reply. “I see people that are not actually here. So am I seeing the spirits of those who have passed away and am I now a ghost whisperer like Jennifer Love Hewitt in that show Ghost Whisperer. If so, I will pull a Shaggy and Scooby-Doo and take myself back to regular Jake.” Confused Jake looks around as if an answer will just come falling down from the sky. “Take it easy Jake. I am here for you and with you. We will figure this out together by finding that couple I trusted shamefully. Now, which direction could they have possibly gone.” Erica looks curiously around even squinting her eyes to view her surroundings around the drive in movie theater. “How’s those eyes for binoculars work?” Jake looked at her jokingly. “You are unbelievable. Well, Mr. Limitless who is scared of ghosts or spirits, whatever you call them. Help me with you extraordinary eyesight since us regular folk pale in comparison to yours.” Erica looks at Jake sideways to take that as a hint just to do it. “Fine, I will!” Jake looked around and did not see anything out of the ordinary except of intense sensation in his noise smelling the snack stand. “Why is everyone so obsessively with butter on their popcorn. I just do not understand this fixation. Put some on there to get it flavor but if you are just in it for the melted butter. Get a cup, fill it up and drink it. Problem solved.” “It baffales me what goes on inside of your brain, I just do not get it half of the time. But here look at this I got a clue. Come close and use your remarkable sense of touch on this footprint. Can you notice what direction it took?” Erica said cheerfully proud of herself for discovering this. The footprint was of a converse sneaker which both of them as well as a lot of others were wearing since they went to seen a teen type movie. Instead of Jake arguing with Erica, he bent down and put his hand over the footprint to find a path where this person was off to. “If my remarkable sense of touch is correct, they went that direction.” Jake pointing the way to the Northwest of their current location. “Oh, this brings us into the forrest if we go down this way. Is it possible they live around here?” Erica thought about it carefully and just shrugged it off. “Let’s go and see what we find.” “Great! The rational one out of us two is throwing caution to the wind. I am liking this sudden shift of me becoming the reasonable one here.” Jake established with Erica just brushing it off. Both of them grab some snacks and drinks on the way as they walked the direction Jake saw. Before crossing the lines from the movie grounds to the forest, Jake felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. As if a force wanted him to go this way and follow whoever gave him this drug. “Let’s just be cautious, okay!” Jake said before heading in. “Absolutely, I am here with you every step of the way!” Erica smiled toward Jake. The both of them disappeared into the forest.

https://medium.com/@lylegrossi/episode-2-the-disappearance-3a304fa7e0e0

['Lyle Grossi']

2020-12-19 18:18:14.608000+00:00

['Mystery', 'Storytelling', 'Connection', 'Love', 'Limitless']

Solving my first regression problem

How I began my journey of data science and the learnings from solving my first regression problem Photo by Maximillian Conacher on Unsplash It’s the middle of the pandemic. My friend casually mentions Data Science in one of our conversations. Being a computer science graduate, I have heard the terms ML, AI, DS etc a million times. For some reason, I had always abstained from trying this field out. But the field had always fascinated me. The world of predicting things and computers taking decisions themselves always felt sort of magical. Bored due to the lockdown and travel restrictions, I decided to give it a try. I started out by googling about how to go about things in the world of Data Science. So I got my dose of motivation from the source that every millennium prefers, random Instagram videos, and started Andrew Ng’s Machine learning introductory course on coursera. And thus, began my journey towards data science (pun intended). So there I was, done with the first step of being a Data Scientist. The important question was, what next? My friend suggested that I should pick an area within data science and try to solve a few elementary problems in that area. The various areas within Data Science include regression, classification, natural language processing, time series analysis etc.. Since I always find the act of a computer by itself predicting things quite fascinating, I decided to go with regression. Overview In this article I will take you through my journey and explain the steps of solving your first regression problem. We will be implementing the following steps: Picking a data set Pre-processing of data Implementing regression algorithms like linear regression( Ridge and Lasso) and XgBoost Regression Picking the right model Note: For this implementation, we will be using Python programming language along with a few libraries like pandas, matplotlib, sklearn etc. Picking the Right Data Set Being a beginner, I did not want to involve myself massively in the data engineering and preprocessing parts as of now. I started looking around for cleaned datasets for regression problems on Kaggle. I found a data set about housing prices from the State of Iowa in the USA which looked fascinating and decided to try the problem out. The dataset is present here. Some of the features are the ones you would expect like the area of the house, the neighbourhood, utilities present etc. But the dataset also contains features which go into a lot of depth about each house like fireplace quality, garage type, basement condition etc. There were a few reasons for picking this dataset : This is in the ‘Getting Started’ section of Kaggle, hence I knew that this would be beginner friendly. I checked out the data set and found that it was largely complete hence it required minimal preprocessing. The description of the problem stated that it would be ideal to learn advanced regression techniques. If any of the above mentioned factors differ for you, I would suggest you to find a data set of your choice. For Example, if you have solved a few regression problems and are aware of different libraries, you could pick an unclean data set to learn more about preprocessing techniques. For this particular data set, we will use the read_csv function of pandas library to import the dataset : import pandas as pd trainData = pd.read_csv('<path_to_file>') testData = pd.read_csv('<path_to_file>') Preprocessing the Data The data set contains features which have alphanumeric characters, 1 digit numbers, 5 digit numbers, NAs etc as values. Hence, it is very important to get the data in a format such that none of the variables are skewed and the algorithms perform to the best of their abilities. Initially, as a beginner all I had heard about was Normalization. But as I started reading guides about normalization, I found out that log transforming values is also a method to reduce the skew of the values of variables. Log transforming is the process of considering the logarithmic values instead of the actual value of the variable. For this problem, when I compared the results of log transformation against normalization, the results with log transformation were marginally better. Hence we will go with log transform here : # Joining train and test data to preprocess, will separate out later all_data=pd.concat((trainData.loc[:,'MSSubClass':'SaleCondition'],testData.loc[:,'MSSubClass':'SaleCondition'])) First, taking log of the housing prices in the training set : #log transform the target values trainData["SalePrice"] = np.log1p(trainData["SalePrice"]) Then, we find out the training variables which have a skew > 0.75. These values will be log transformed as well : #log transform the target values trainData["SalePrice"] = np.log1p(trainData["SalePrice"]) #extract features which are pure numeric numeric_feats = all_data.dtypes[all_data.dtypes != "object"].index #calculate skew of features using lambda functions skewed_feats = trainData[numeric_feats].apply(lambda x:skew(x.dropna())) #extracting indexes features which have skew > 0.75 skewed_feats = skewed_feats[skewed_feats>0.75] skewed_feats = skewed_feats.index #log transform features all_data[skewed_feats] = np.log1p(all_data[skewed_feats]) The present dataset contains values which are both non numeric and numeric. To use the various python libraries available we need to convert the non numeric to numeric values. Here, We will use something called one-hot encoding. One-hot encoding breaks down one variable into several indicator variables. For the explanation of one-hot encoding along with a few examples check out https://pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/reference/api/pandas.get_dummies.html. Now we will convert our non numeric values to numeric values. This is easily done by using the pandas function get_dummies : #Dummy Data all_data = pd.get_dummies(all_data) Next, we will fill in all the NA values by the mean value of that column : #Fill NAs with mean of column all_data = all_data.fillna(all_data.mean()) The final step is to convert split pre processed data back into training and test samples : #creating matrices for sklearn X_train = all_data[:trainData.shape[0]] X_test = all_data[trainData.shape[0]:] y = trainData.SalePrice As an additional step of preprocessing you can try to check the feature descriptions file and decide if you want to remove a few features from the training data if you think that they might not be extremely useful. I would recommend doing this after implementing Lasso Linear Regression as it will help you decide if a feature is useful or not(more on that later). Done! The data is now in a usable format. Now we move to the very interesting part, the regression algorithms Regression Algorithms In the following methods, we will be choosing the root mean square error(rmse) as the metric to measure the performance of a model. The rmse should be as close to 0 as possible. Linear Regression — Ridge Regression( L2 Regularization) Ridge regression is a variation of Linear Regression. Ridge regression is usually applied when variables in the data set suffer from multicollinearity. In ridge regression, we generally end up adding a degree of bias which prevents overfitting of the data set. The reason why Ridge regression is known as L2 regularization is that the penalty term has a squared magnitude of coefficient. To know more collinearity, read here : https://ncss-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/themes/ncss/pdf/Procedures/NCSS/Ridge_Regression.pdf and to know more about the inner workings of ridge regression watch : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q81RR3yKn30&ab_channel=StatQuestwithJoshStarmer Coming to the python code of ridge regression, we first implement a method which gives us the cross validation score of a particular linear model def rootMeanSquareError_CrossValidation(model): rmse_negative= cross_val_score(model, X_train, y, scoring="neg_mean_squared_error", cv = 3) rmse = np.sqrt(-rmse_negative) return(rmse) # The returned rmse is array of 3 numbers as the cross validation is done 3 times, as signified by the cv=3 parameter Now, we implement the learning model. The Ridge regression model takes a parameter alpha which is known as the degree of bias. We loop through an array of alpha values and plot a graph of root mean square error versus alphas. alphas = [0.05, 0.1, 0.3, 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 30, 40] ridgeReg_cv = [] for alpha in alphas: temp = rootMeanSquareError_CrossValidation(Ridge(alpha)).mean() ridgeReg_cv.append(temp) ridgeReg_cv = pd.Series(ridgeReg_cv, index = alphas) ridgeReg_cv.plot(title = "Validation") plt.xlabel("alpha") plt.ylabel("rmse") alpha vs rmse. Image by Author Now, we find out the minimum value of root mean square error from this graph: ridgeReg_cv.min() Output : 0.12834043288009075 We see that the rmse values is 0.12834043288009075. We will later use this value to compare the performance against other models. Hurray! We have our first regression model implemented. Now, onto the next one. 2. Linear Regression — Lasso Regression ( L1 regularization ) Like ridge regression, Lasso Regression also adds a bias term to add bias to the learning process. The main difference between both the methods is that in Lasso Regression, the bias term has the modulus of the coefficient. Since the degree of regularization is 1, lasso regression is called L1 regularization. Due to the inner working of lasso regression, there is a possibility of the coefficient of a variable becoming ZERO. This means that in a Lasso regression model, there is a possibility that a feature might be eliminated from the learning process. This is not the case in Ridge regression. To know more, watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGf0voTMlcs&ab_channel=StatQuestwithJoshStarmer In the code, we will use the LassoCv method with a list of alphas. Also we will use our method defined above to find the root mean square error : model_lasso = LassoCV(alphas = [5, 1, 0.1, 0.01, 0.001, 0.0005]).fit(X_train, y) rootMeanSquareError_CrossValidation(model_lasso).mean() Output rmse: 0.1242464172089154 In this case, the Lasso model performs slightly better than the ridge regression model. As mentioned above, Lasso regression can help us in determining which of the features in the dataset are actually being used. We will pick the top 5 features which are being used and the 5 features which are being least used by Lasso Regression model and plot them : coef = pd.Series(model_lasso.coef_, index = X_train.columns) importance = pd.concat([coef.sort_values().head(5),coef.sort_values().tail(5)]) matplotlib.rcParams['figure.figsize'] = (7.0, 8.0) importance.plot(kind = "barh") plt.title("Coefficients of features in the Lasso Model") Here is the output : Image by author As you can see from the graph above, the feature given the most importance is ‘GrLivArea’ which is the living area square feet and the least used feature is ‘RoofMatl’ which is roof material. If you think about it, this is kind of intuitive because when buying a house, a person would first focus on the living area of the property along with the neighbourhood and would consider the material of the roof as a bit of low priority. Yay! We implemented our second linear regression model! 3. XGBoost This is the third and final regression model that I implemented. Before moving on, I would highly encourage you to check out decision trees and random forests as the XGBoost model is sort of related to these two topics. XGBoost is a very powerful model. It uses the concept of Boosting. Rather than training each model of isolation of each other, the algorithm iteratively creates new random forests of a certain predefined depth to essentially, correct the errors made by the previous model. XGBoost is extremely fascinating! To learn the inner workings of the model watch : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtD8wVaFm6E Coming to the code, we first convert our train and test data into a format which is accepted by xgboost. The learning of this algorithm is different from Ridge or Lasso Regression. In XGBoost, we first use the xgb.cv method to hypertune the various parameters to get the best possible model. Here I have tuned my parameters max_depth, eta and min_child_weight using a trial and error method. To do a grid search for the best parameters , check out https://blog.cambridgespark.com/hyperparameter-tuning-in-xgboost-4ff9100a3b2f and https://machinelearningmastery.com/tune-number-size-decision-trees-xgboost-python/ import xgboost as xgb xg_train = xgb.DMatrix(X_train, label = y) xg_test = xgb.DMatrix(X_test) params = {"max_depth":2, "eta":0.1, "min_child_weight":1} model = xgb.cv(params, xg_train, num_boost_round=1000, early_stopping_rounds=50) print(model['test-rmse-mean'].min()) Output rmse : 0.123212 Now that we have learnt the best parameters, we will use the XGBRegressor with our best parameters final_model_xgb = xgb.XGBRegressor(min_child_weight=1,n_estimators=360, max_depth=2, learning_rate=0.1) final_model_xgb.fit(X_train, y) Congratulations! We have now successfully deployed our third regression model! Picking the right model To pick the right model, we can generally go with the model giving the least amount of root-mean-square-error as this will be the model which will predict the results closest to the real value. Just to summarize the rmse value of our 3 models : Ridge Regression : rmse = 0.12834043288009075 Lasso Regression : rmse = 0.1242464172089154 XGBoost : rmse = 0.123212 As per the performance metrics, I chose the XGBoost model as it has given me the best performance. After I was done with finalizing my solution, I found out there was another way of trying to pick a final model. A weighted average of two or more models can be taken. To code that out, we will first make our predictions with the models we want to consider and then find the weighted average of them : lasso_predictions = np.expm1(model_lasso.predict(X_test)) xgb_predictions = np.expm1(final_model_xgb.predict(X_test)) preds = 0.35*xgb_predictions + 0.65*lasso_predictions That’s it! Just to recap, we just implemented 3 different regression models and learnt so much about the inner workings of these algorithms. I would highly encourage this activity to any Data Scientist beginning their journey. All the best!

https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/solving-my-first-regression-problem-ffbd76d9032e

[]

2020-12-22 16:38:54.373000+00:00

['Regression', 'Data Science', 'Tutorial', 'Beginner', 'How To']

The future of recruiting is marketing and 5 top tools for lead generation.

A lot of companies have been saying for a few years that the future of recruiting is marketing. Recruitment website visitors now account for 20–30% of traffic. What this means for employers is that, unless your website is optimised for mobile, up to one-third of visitors will be receiving a poor experience. This could be even higher for companies that are embracing social media and especially Facebook since about half of Facebook users are on mobile. Social media recruiting is by far one of the biggest trends in the recruitment industry this year. Recruiters are using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn to leverage brand awareness, as well as engage and interact with candidates and clients. In today’s busy digital marketplace, job ads are popping up everywhere online and across social media. In a matter of minutes, candidates can find hundreds of jobs in their field that might interest them. With such a small window of opportunity to get the attention of the best talent, it is vital that you get your recruitment marketing right. To stay ahead, it is more important than ever for recruiters to start thinking outside the box when creating and delivering a recruitment marketing strategy. A critical component of good recruitment marketing is to adopt a multichannel approach. This involves automating methods of delivering job ads to various channels (e.g. via email, on Facebook, on job boards) and then creating a schedule to post an ad to them all at the same time. This helps you reach the widest possible audience and allows you to create and develop templates that work for you. It also gives you the ability to connect with potential candidates outside traditional channels and outside of traditional office hours. So your job ads continue to work even after you’ve gone home for the evening. With the right solution, you can take your recruitment marketing to the next level, drive more of the right candidates to your job applications, foster connections to passive candidates who might be a fit for future roles, and hire top talent faster. As anyone who has queued overnight in the cold for the latest smartphone will tell you, keeping up with technology isn’t easy. But with many HR departments taking more responsibility for resourcing, it is essential to get to grips with the myriad recruiting channels, tools and technologies that have emerged in recent years. An overwhelming majority of today’s candidates are passive candidates, who aren’t looking for a job. As a result, HR teams are struggling to capture their attention. According to a recent Glassdoor research, 76% of hiring managers admit attracting top talent is their greatest challenge. A recruiter with a high-quality talent pool is unstoppable! Imagine that for any new role; you had a collection of top-quality candidates waiting to be chosen. A talent pool should be made up of a diverse range of candidates which could include referrals and people who have applied but missed out on original positions. Creating a talent pool won’t happen overnight; it will take time and be a constant project. So, my advice to you is to start pooling your talent, right now! And that’s just a start. You can really dive deep by adding stronger social publishing and analytics tools and using Google Analytics for campaign tracking per social source. Even further, recruitment marketing platforms track social analytics on a larger scale, in conjunction with all of your other talent acquisition efforts. This can be mirrored for your lead generation efforts as well. Knowing which actions are worth repeating. This is where tracking the effectiveness of your lead generation attempts becomes such an important part of the process. You should always have a strong sense of which pieces of content are attracting the most people to the top of your applicant funnel, and how each of your targeted demographics are responding to your messaging. Track the number of impressions for each ad or post, the click rate (or the click-through rate if appropriate), and the conversion rate for every other step in the process. As you nurture those leads, you should be utilising the same approach — closely tracking what works and what doesn’t, and doing more of the former and less of the latter. Don’t get caught in the never-ending cycle of staying in a safe place and avoiding change, which of course was bred in us by millions of years of navigating the wilderness and surviving predators. The next important step involves recruitment marketing automation. Collect all information about your target group. Create an inventory for the actions they take, the behaviour they display on your website, the content they find interesting, etc. Then use this knowledge to offer them appropriate content at the right moment. Qualify (score) all actions. Depending on their behaviour, you can very precisely divide the content you offer into what is of interest to them at that moment in time While traditional recruitment practices remain effective, they can be pretty slow and can lead to lost opportunities. In this modern-day when everything can be done online, there are always new techniques worthy of consideration. Here are five useful online tools you can use to help boost your online recruitment lead generation: Meet Alfred — LinkedIn Automation, it runs in the background viewing profiles, making connections and sending messages. They are always updating the system with new features. Worth the money. Lempod — Always wondered how people go so much engagement on average posts. This is the answer. Join relevant pods to automatically get likes but from relevant people in your industry. $5 to join 1 pod which could have 60 people in it etc. Hubspot — What they offer for free is amazing. CRM, Email notifications, website forms, automation and a fantastic LinkedIn tool. You can connect your Outlook or Gmail and set up email automation for free. SourceHub — It’s free and so easy to use — a brilliant boolean tool which can be used with LinkedIn, Twitter and Github — you can be very selective with your search and find your target markets. Feedly — I use this on a day to day basis. I have all my content sources organised in categories and can share across my social platforms and blog instantly. If you struggle to find content to share — then this is the tool for you. Not every recruitment or talent acquisition organisation has the budget to recruit a marketing manager, and while it may be in the long-term plan, there is a way to get started today. I specialise in Recruitment Marketing — from building websites to coming up with lead generation strategies, digital marketing and SEO. Get in touch today to discuss this more detail or visit my website https://duncanjcarter.co.uk

https://blog.duncanjcarter.co.uk/the-future-of-recruiting-is-marketing-and-5-top-tools-for-lead-generation-e1371140361b

['Duncan Carter']

2020-11-26 14:21:22.252000+00:00

['Marketing', 'Recruitment', 'Website Design', 'Lead Generation', 'Recruitment Marketing']

Unclear Future for Marine Fuels

This article was originally published on Sustaining Capabilities. The UN shipping regulator, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), recently adopted two major air pollution regulations to reduce the negative environmental effects of shipping. International trade is crucial to the functioning of the global economy, and has played a major role in the gains in well-being observed over the last two centuries. Today most of that trade is done using container ships, but the fuel most commonly used in the shipping industry — basically what is left at the end of the crude oil refining process after everything else has been removed — produces more air pollution per unit energy than most other fuels. A single container vessel emits sulfur oxides equivalent to 46m diesel-burning passenger vehicles, and the shipping industry emits roughly the same amount of carbon dioxide as Germany each year. The first regulation, IMO 2020, was adopted in October 2016 and addresses sulfur oxides (SOx). IMO 2020 cuts the allowable SOx in shipping fuels from 3.5% to 0.5%. This is in line with a long string of similar mandates, beginning in 1997 when the maximum allowable sulfur content of fuel was set at 4.5%, and then reduced to 3.5% in 2008. Since SOx is a local ambient air pollutant, its effects are especially prominent near where it is emitted. For this reason, the IMO designates a number of regions Emissions Control Areas, where controls on emissions are more strongly enforced than on the open seas. The second regulation, an initial strategy adopted in April 2018, resolves to bring the shipping industry into accord with the Paris Agreement by reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2050. To do this, the IMO pursues a regulatory framework, paired with initiatives to build capacity. The regulatory aspect includes an increase in strengthening the current energy efficiency framework, establishing a programme to monitor and improve the energy efficiency of existing ships, and requiring that newly-built ships to meet energy efficiency standards. The capacity-building measures include provisions to assist in the development of public-private partnerships, and to facilitate technical cooperation between countries. Technological innovation is often touted as a key to decarbonization and reductions in ambient air pollution in general. Indeed, the development of new technologies have driven massive cost reductions in renewable energy to date, and will certainly play a role going forward. However, there are very few alternatives to liquid petroleum fuels for sea and aviation transport for the near future. Further, even if good alternatives did exist, there is an important distinction between the adoption time of a technology, and the intensity of its eventual use. While innovation can spur the development of new technologies, emissions will only be meaningfully reduced if said technologies are widely deployed. It is the role of environmental policy to facilitate that deployment. Both of the IMO regulations discussed here mandate an emissions limit, and allow actors the freedom to select how best to meet the requirement. To comply with IMO 2020, most shippers will probably switch fuels to a 0.5% sulfur fuel. While this is the most straightforward option for shippers, it comes with challenges related to the availability and price of these fuels. For example, refineries are finely tuned to receive certain types of feedstocks, and to produce certain types of distillates and residuals. New requirements may change the location of the cheapest fuels, requiring shippers to alter long-established routes. Additionally, there is currently no standard refining process for 0.5% sulfur fuel and some engines may not be able to efficiently burn all new blends. Finally, 0.5% sulfur fuels are more demanded by other uses than the residual oil they use now, threatening to subject shipping companies to greater fuel price volatility. Another option shippers have to comply with IMO 2020 is to install scrubbers that reduce SOx in the fuel exhaust stream. The principal benefit of taking this route is that it would allow ships to continue burning their current residual oil, eliminating some uncertainty around whether engines will be compatible with new 0.5% sulfur fuel oils. However, installing a scrubber requires a hefty up-front cost. Using cheaper fuel will likely recoup the installation cost over time, but the time that will take is determined by the unknowable differential between the residual oil they burn currently and 0.5% sulfur fuels. Due to this payoff time, scrubbers are probably not an option for older ships. Finally, shippers can switch to liquefied natural gas (LNG). The relatively low-pollutant concentration of natural gas combustion products means that this option would protect shippers against any future environmental regulations beyond IMO 2020. However, retrofitting an existing vessel to burn LNG is prohibitively expensive, so a company needs to be considering the purchase of a brand new vessel. Additionally, LNG requires a larger volume of storage than does fuel oil, reducing the amount of cargo a ship can carry. Finally, LNG comes with safety concerns that are not present with bunker, so crew training needs to be more intensive. While the measures to curb local and global ambient air pollutants are sometimes conflated, the two categories require different strategies to mitigate. Global ambient pollutants can only be reduced by burning less fuel, or by burning fuel with a lower carbon content. Toward the former, ships can significantly improve fuel efficiency through measures as simple as travel speed reduction, regular propeller and hull cleaning, and waste heat recovery. Toward the later, switching from their current residual oil to LNG or biofuels could also the amount of carbon emitted by ships. LNG has the challenges mentioned above, and biofuels are associated with uncertainties about engine compatibility. There are many uncertainties surrounding the coming IMO regulations and how shippers will respond due to the sheer number of decisions shippers need to make. What is clear, though, is that prices for getting goods from one place to another will increase. Companies have the option of eating the costs themselves, although shareholders are unlikely to be keen on this. The alternative is to pass costs on to customers. The possibility for shipping companies to do so is highly dependent on the type of contracts they have with customers. Achieving compliance with coming IMO regulations will no doubt be a challenge for shipping companies, but one well worth taking on.

https://rmcguine.medium.com/unclear-future-for-marine-fuels-22f73171838d

['Ryan Mcguine']

2019-06-10 18:21:51.772000+00:00

['Climate Change', 'Air Pollution', 'United Nations', 'Shipping', 'Industry']

James Comey Is No Hero

Former Director of the FBI James Comey’s disdain for partisan politics, and commitment to the rule of law and justice is well known. He is a respected, former prosecutor who has held high-profile jobs in the DOJ under Democratic and Republican administrations. Comey views himself as an apolitical public servant, and in his own words doesn’t “give a hoot” about politics. For many anti-Trumpers, he is a hero who refused to follow President Trump’s illegal orders and improper requests when he was asked for personal loyalty and to end the FBI’s investigation into former national security advisor Michael Flynn. Comey has gone to great lengths to sell himself to the public as this apolitical and dedicated public servant, even going so far to publish a book on his career. Comey really was apolitical and has a great deal of integrity, but these traits became part of his persona and reputation. In the 2016 election he began to care more about his reputation as an apolitical public servant then actually being apolitical. The result of caring more about his reputation than anything else was that he mishandled the Clinton email investigation and helped Trump win in the 2016 election. Comey as the F.B.I. director was overseeing the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails. After a long and thorough investigation, Comey and his team concluded that Hillary Clinton had done nothing that warranted criminal charges. Under normal circumstances this would be the end, but Comey broke protocol and decided they had to have a public press conference on why they weren’t charging Hillary Clinton. This was highly improper, abnormal and violated strongly held DOJ norms and rules prohibiting speaking to the public about investigations. Even more so when you are not charging that person with any crimes and publicly speaking about the investigation could interfere with an election. Worse Comey presented the press conference in the tone and matter he would have done if they had found misdeeds that warranted criminal charges. The result was that Comey made it appear that Hillary Clinton was guilty of serious crimes as her critics claimed, that the FBI was letting her off the hook for political reasons, and he unintentionally interfered with the election. Why did Comey do this? Because he knew that if he didn’t do something like this, Republicans would attack him as a partisan hack who was trying to curry favor with the likely future president. His precious reputation would be smeared in the public. Comey refused to back down and even doubled down, releasing a completely unnecessarily update on the investigation eleven days before the election, despite other officials in the DOJ urging him not to do so. This update probably cost Hillary Clinton the election, but hey at least Comey’s reputation was protected? Comey has developed a series of rationales as to why he had to do all of this, but they are all unconvincing to say the least. When the right thing to do was to remain quiet and take the heat, he chose to protect his reputation at the cost of the country and the integrity of FBI. I will never forgive him for these mistakes and for putting his reputation first over more important things. For these mistakes he even deserved to be fired. That is not say that Trump’s firing of him was legitimate. Trump didn’t fire him because of his mishandling of the email investigation. Trump is, and was, perfectly fine with the mishandling of the email investigation because it helped him in the 2016 election. He fired him because Comey refused to drop the “Russia thing.” A good analogy is this. A boss fires a woman who mishandled her job but admits in an email to a friend that he really fired her because she was a woman.

https://medium.com/@NeoLiberalHillaryistHawk_85819/james-comey-is-no-hero-e6f9934e7a55

[]

2018-12-18 15:43:04.815000+00:00

['Hillary Clinton', 'James Comey', 'FBI']

Gathering data sources to coordinate census outreach activities

What is the Census and why is it important? Every 10 years, the US Government is required by the Constitution to count every single resident in the United States. This exercise has happened since the founding of the country and determines both political representation and monetary resources to every single community in the country. The State of Illinois allocated $29mn for FY2020 and an additional $14.5 were recommended for FY2021 to support a coalition of municipalities, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations to reach out to the communities they serve to ensure all residents fill out their census forms. Billions of dollars and at least 2 Congressional representative seats are at stake for the State of Illinois. The Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) and the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Urban Planning and Public Administration (CUPPA) have an inter-governmental partnership to coordinate the efforts of over 360 organizations involved in community education, engagement, and responses to the 2020 Census. The State of Illinois recognizes the challenges presented by the need to coordinate across so many different organizations and geographies. Due to the impact of COVID-19 on field efforts to engage residents, many organizations are conducting virtual townhalls and other online meetings to reach their constituents. IDHS and CUPPA’s mission is to support this large ecosystem of organizations and provide them with the tools to maximize the results of their outreach efforts. An emphasis of the project was to enhance peer-to-peer learning and collaboration opportunities among all of the organizations that are conducting field activities. Challenge Wepo started working with IDHS and CUPPA a few months before the beginning of the 2020 Census. IDHS and CUPPA needed quick deliveries of prototypes to validate them with the large community of organizations involved in the outreach efforts. First, IDHS and CUPPA asked the developers to design and build a solution with the goal of aggregating social media activity and the events promoted by the organizations involved. Due to the sudden revisions of the outreach plans because of COVID-19 and the large number of entities involved, it was important for them to have a one-stop solution to monitor outreach activities. Second, the coordinators of the program needed to be up-to-speed with the latest data on response rates. The outreach efforts needed to be particularly focused on hard-to-count and low-responding communities. Solution Wepo worked together with IDHS and CUPPA to understand how to best address their needs. After gathering all the requirements and specifications of the project, our engineers proposed the development of a web platform to aggregate social media activities of the organizations involved. In addition, Wepo suggested the use of the official U.S. Census Bureau to create a historical dataset of the response rates at different levels of geographic aggregation. Particularly due to the shift to online activities because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was important for all the entities involved in the project to have an online platform where they could see each other’s activities, get new ideas, and coordinate the promoted events. The developed platform collects data using the APIs of the social media platforms most commonly used by the organizations involved. In addition, Wepo developed a Machine Learning model to classify the content retrieved from the organizations’ social media profiles with the goal of identifying content promoting various events, including webinars, online meetings, and virtual townhalls. Outcome The high number of organizations involved and the need for continuous test and validation of the new features introduced was addressed by identifying clear milestones that could be met with quick cycles of design, prototype, validation, development, and delivery. Every component of the system was designed as a containerized microservice, loosely coupled with the others, giving the development team the possibility to daily release new features in a completely transparent way. IDHS and CUPPA now have a platform that provides them with a clear picture of the activities of the organizations involved. Moreover, our data science team worked closely with IDHS and CUPPA to reshape the response rates data collected from the U.S. Census Bureau’s APIs in a useful and clear format. IDHS and CUPPA have provided the Census outreach organizations cohort with a tool that allows them to track each other’s activities and organically share content and ideas without any distraction. The organizations can share among themselves the approaches used to maximize the results of their efforts while drawing on best practices based on their experiences. The public has a census events calendar that they can consult to choose the most appropriate event to gather knowledge about the census. Tools Data Science & Machine Learning: Python, Spacy, TensorFlow Web Development: Node.js, React Databases: MongoDB, Postgres Deployment: Docker, Kubernetes, Nginx, Seldon Cloud Provider: Google Cloud Platform Conclusions Our team worked with excitement throughout the whole project. We consolidated our best practices in the whole pipeline of design, development, validation, and deployment. We drew out a plan with the teams from IDHS and CUPPA and implemented the data collection processes for all the data sources needed. We extracted useful information from the different sources of data used in the project. Then, we successfully used Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing techniques to speed up the process of identifying events from retrieved social media content. Lastly, we created all the interfaces needed to serve the content and information generated by the developed tools, including a web platform and automated reports.

https://medium.com/wepoinc/gathering-data-sources-to-coordinate-census-outreach-activities-b06ab08b4161

['Riccardo Pressiani']

2020-08-17 17:39:17.131000+00:00

['Case Study', 'Web Development', 'Software Development', 'Data Science', 'Census']

Gerascophobia: The Fear Of Getting Old

Every breath we take, every moment that passes, we get a little bit older. A little bit wiser? Perhaps, but definitely not always. Time is one of those precious commodities none of us can ever get back, yet so many of us waste freely. We all age. Some better than others. Some gracefully, some too quickly. Some of us coast through life, while others struggle. Some live life to the fullest, while some merely exist. As my 40th birthday looms over me like an ominous storm cloud, I try to suppress the overwhelming anxiety that ultimately comes whenever I think about it. That number. 40. Why is it that a number has the power to give me heart palpitations and bring me to the verge of tears? The smart girl in my head — the one who still feels like she’s 25 — knows it has to be more than simply turning a certain age. It has to be more than hitting that dreaded fourth-decade milestone. It all came to the surface recently, with a murky mixture of surprise, sadness, and a little bit of muted relief. While eating a piece of lemon sponge cake and having a light-hearted conversation with my mother, the subject of age somehow came up. I don’t recall the context now — only that once again I was dreading December. Now I sit here reliving that conversation, and once again am forced to admit truths to myself that have been buried. I say ‘buried’, but that’s not entirely true — I have thought, and even spoken the words before. But had not put the pieces together until now. And here it is. It’s not really a fear of getting older that I’m feeling. No. Not fear, but regret, wistfulness, sadness, and anger. I always thought I’d be so much farther along in life by the time I hit 40. I thought I would own my forever home by now. I would have my dream career. Would have travelled to different corners of the world. Be financially well-off — not necessarily wealthy, but on the plus side of comfortable at least. You know, the normal stuff! Instead, I’m still renting. I work a job for a boss at a company that isn’t mine — and although I have a pretty great boss, it’s his company, not mine. I live practically pay-check to pay-check — like the vast majority of North Americans, and I’ve never been on what I call a ‘real vacation’. You know, the kind where you have to get on a plane (silly requirement to be considered ‘real’, I know). As I voiced this out loud in my mother in law’s kitchen while picking cake crumbs off my plate, the words echoed in my head, sounding almost disembodied. Whenever I had thought about it before, it had felt hollow and generic — now it makes my heart beat a little bit erratically. Why should I feel fear and anxiety over a number, just because I have an 8–5 job or I’ve never been on a tropical vacation? It sounds so superficial and shallow, doesn’t it? I don’t like it, but I can’t help it. Yes, I have a day job, but I’m working hard to chase my dreams so I’m eventually able to make my time my own. No, I may not own my own home, but at least I still have a home, and that’s more than I can say for way too many people in this country. I may have never been to the tropics (yet!), but I get to wake up every day in the most beautiful country on earth (in my humble opinion), and I get to call it home. I have family and friends who love me, and I have been beyond blessed with the most incredible daughter. In hindsight, I’ve come pretty damn far! So why, I ask myself again, do I dread my next birthday? I want to say bring on 40! Bring on another 40 beyond that, and possibly a few extra years past that as well. I just can’t quite put the enthusiasm behind those words that I’d like to. I’m going to keep chasing those dreams, and striving to reach all of those yet to be achieved — yet completely attainable — goals. A silly number that does nothing but tell me how many trips around the sun I’ve had — how many years of wonderful experiences and beautiful memories I’ve had — that number shouldn’t be allowed to cause me fear, or anxiety, or regret. Live your life every day to its fullest — count every blessing, you’ll find there are more than you think! Don’t waste a minute of the precious time you’re given on this Earth, but wherever you’re at in your life now, know that it’s not too late. It’s never too late. Don’t let your age define your dreams!

https://medium.com/1-one-infinity/gerascophobia-the-fear-of-getting-old-d8256ef783f6

['Edie Tuck']

2019-10-09 19:26:54.351000+00:00

['Life Lessons', 'Anxiety', 'Carpe Diem', 'Aging', 'Regret']

How to Create a Seaborn Palette That Highlights Maximum Value

While working on my latest data science project, I realized I needed a way to quickly highlight the maximum value in each of my visualizations, so my reader could focus on the conclusion to each of my analyses. I was using seaborn plots in my project, drawn to their simplicity and beautiful built-in format, and thought there must be an easy way to add a special color palette: one color for the maximum value, and one color for all other values. When my search came up empty-handed, I realized I could use what I had learned about Python functions to write my own function. This would simplify the formatting process throughout my notebook and could be replicated in projects to come. Here is a step-by-step guide to creating a maximum-highlighting palette — I hope it will be useful to you as you put together your own seaborn bar plots. Step 1: Import Necessary Libraries import matplotlib.pyplot as plt import seaborn as sns The only packages we require for this example are matplotlib and seaborn, as we can use built-in datasets from seaborn to demonstrate the power of this function. Step 2: Load Dummy Dataset and Create Grouped DataFrame iris_df = sns.load_dataset('iris') grouped_iris_df = iris_df.groupby('species').mean().reset_index() Seaborn comes with a number of built-in datasets — for this example, we will work with the Iris Flower Dataset. Demonstrating this seaborn function works best working with a grouped DataFrame, since the function will automatically highlight the highest group in the set as a separate color. In this example, I grouped the iris dataset by the mean values for each species. We cannot forget to reset the index after grouping, otherwise our graph will not plot properly. Step 3: Decide on Default Colors Matplotlib list of colors The image above shows a list of some of the colors you can use in your visualization. I would recommend writing the function so that there is a default color for the maximum value we want highlighted and a color for all other values; you can always pass in different colors if you so choose, but using defaults will save you time and errors if you forget to list a color each time you use the function. I would suggest using a muted color, such as ‘lightgrey’, as the color for the bars you are not highlighting, so that the one colored bar stands out as much as possible. Step 4: Write the Function def set_custom_palette(series, max_color = 'turquoise', other_color = 'lightgrey'): max_val = series.max() pal = [] for item in series: if item == max_val: pal.append(max_color) else: pal.append(other_color) return pal In the above function, we are creating a list of strings that correspond to the matplotlib colors, that will be input into the palette parameter of our seaborn plot. Let’s explain the break down of each part of the function. def set_custom_palette(series, max_color = 'turquoise', other_color = 'lightgrey'): The function is called set_custom_palette, an apt name, and requires a series parameter in order to run. You should pass the series being used as your dependent variable in the visualization, since it is the maximum of this series that we want highlighted. In our example this will be the ‘sepal_length’ column. We also set our default color for the maximum color as turquoise and all other colors as light grey. max_val = series.max() pal = [] This part of the function defines the maximum value of the series as max_val. We also created an empty list called pal, which will list out our color palette in the correct order after the function is run. for item in series: if item == max_val: pal.append(max_color) else: pal.append(other_color) return pal This for loop iterates through each item in the DataFrame series being used as our dependent variable. If the item is equal to the maximum in the series, the highlighted or ‘max_color’ will be appended to the empty pal list. Otherwise, the other color, in our case light grey, will be appended. When this function is called, the pal list created will color each item in our bar plot as the correct corresponding color. Calling set_customer_palette on the grouped_iris_df[‘sepal_length’] will return a list of colors, and this list is what passes into the palette parameter of the seaborn box plot. Step 5: Test the Function and View the Seaborn Plot plt.figure(figsize=(12,9)) ax = sns.barplot(x = 'sepal_length', y = 'species', data=grouped_iris_df, palette=set_custom_palette(grouped_iris_df['sepal_length'])) ax.set_title('Average Sepal Length by Species') ax.set(xlabel='Sepal Length', ylabel= 'Species'); And there you have it — a beautiful Seaborn plot that automatically “highlights” what I want the viewer to focus on: the maximum value of the dataset, which is the virginica average sepal length. You can then use this format throughout the rest of your visualizations so you can have a coherent looking presentation. As my next project, I am going to explore writing a function that can further automate this bar plot, to save even more time when creating identical, aesthetically pleasing plots.

https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-create-a-seaborn-palette-that-highlights-maximum-value-f614aecd706b

['Samantha Knee']

2020-12-09 03:07:49.703000+00:00

['Data Visualization', 'Python', 'Colors', 'Seaborn']

It Wasn’t Religion That Led Me To Denounce My Greek Letters, It Was Hypocrisy

I know more than likely where this conversation will go. I’ve already grappled with the backlash that may or may not come from it and have accepted my obligation to speak on it anyway. Having been a member of a Black Greek-letter organization for over 10 years, I know all of the talking points, rebuttals, and clap backs. Fortunately, I’m not writing this for the approval or pacification of the audience I used to belong to. So let the backlash come. I struggled with the decision to denounce my Greek letters for years. It wasn’t a religious decision or a financial decision, it wasn’t even a philosophical decision, but still, I struggled with how my peers might perceive me. A fear that’s been the crux of my relationship with Black Greek life since the tender age of 17. I had no business pledging a sorority, especially not at that age. As an adult, I wouldn’t join any organization that used “do your research” as their unofficial motto. Especially an organization that knew full well that all the research in the world wouldn’t reveal much, only intensifying the curiosity and leading me right back to its doorstep in search of answers. But in my adolescence, I was captured by the allure of it all. The sisterhood, the social elevation, the infinite connections, the historical significance, it all seemed so right. That whimsical naïveté ended just minutes into my first night in the basement when the same young woman who encouraged me to pledge and essentially took me under her wing would bust my lip open for wearing the wrong color underwear. “Y’all better get y’all line sister,” she said sternly. That would be the last time I didn’t adhere to the strict guidelines set forth by the women bringing us into the fold. And what other choice did I have? Abandon my line sisters with whom trauma had forged a seemingly unbreakable bond, only to become a walking pariah on campus. You may not have known when someone was pledging but you sure as hell knew when they dropped. My other option wasn’t that much better. Ditch the only respected way to join a historically black Greek organization and go full-on paper. And I wasn’t about to set myself up to have paper planes tossed at me in public places; to have people I called my sisters ignore and avoid me in social settings; to be physically pushed out of party strolls and laughed off of step shows stages. I knew all too well that I was better off being a renegade than being an actual card-carrying member of the organization. Nobody cared whether you had an identification number or if you could attend regional conferences if you could take wood until the sun came up, that was far more important. So I committed to enduring the process because it was the lesser of three evils, that’s what I thought. Pledging makes you hard, and I’m not just talking about your ass. I’m talking about your soul. People did things in that basement that most people would find horrifying. Adult women AND men were paying their visits, testing us both physically and mentally, eager to take part in our process. Not for their delight of course, what 40-something-year-old man takes joy in paddling a bunch of teens to the point of vomiting? No, these adults with careers and spouses and children were abusing college students for our benefit. It’s not enough to be “made” if no one’s there to vouch for you. These people were doing us a favor. And the light at the end of the tunnel, one day we’d be able to pay it forward. We would pass by other students also in the process of earning their psychological stripes from other organizations. All of us avoiding eye contact, avoiding the grass, avoiding each other’s gut-wrenching realities but inside we knew what was going on, everyone did. One day we’d hear about a young woman having her leg broken pledging another organization, being hospitalized as a result, and subsequently ending the process for her line sisters. But who cared about her leg? She knew what she signed up for and nobody forced her to pledge in the first place. Ultimately, the young woman would cooperate with an internal investigation resulting in the suspension of various members of the chapter. Only making things tenser for those of us who still had journeys to complete. When the news broke, we whispered about the possibility of having it a little easier. Maybe the severity of the matter and the fact that it all happened so close to home would guilt our molders into using a softer hand. Instead we received the following warning, “I dare one of y’all to try that shit. Just drop. Don’t ruin it for everybody else.” And so we persisted, through the beatings and the degradation and the chastisement and the intimidation and the financial strains and the failed classes. All of us seeing it through to the end, all except one. A legacy on our line who had been hospitalized twice throughout our process. She quickly earned the label as “The Rock” and was everybody’s favorite. Known for her ability to swallow blows from some of our most aggressive visitors, she could endure the most pain and so they made sure that she did, on full display. She did so unfazed until the skin on her backside became so hardened from excessive bleeding under the skin that it was like hide. She could no longer handle the physicality of the process and none of us could blame her. We were called in for an emergency meeting, during which we were punished severely for her decision. Advised that we were suffering as a result of our inability to keep our line together. What kind of sisters let one of their own drop? Although she had informed us of her decision and the chapter had agreed not to contest her application for official membership, the underlying message was that we were to be eternally grateful for whatever torture we were subjected to. Did we have any idea how many women would die to be in our places? We did. We’d heard the stories, and what a strange pseudo attempt at motivation. We were instructed to separate ourselves from our fallen sister. We were given a long list of things she couldn’t do, we were to police her behavior in public places, continuously reminding her of her weakness. One chapter meeting she brought up the social torture we were subjecting her to and we knew we were all guilty. As things heated up she was attacked viciously. Leaving the meeting (and ultimately the university) bloodied and defeated. Later, we would get word of her suspension along with other members of the chapter she transferred to. The cause of said suspension: hazing. How did we become so calloused? This would be the theme for most of my college career as a member of a Black Greek-letter organization. I didn’t get the sisterhood I so desperately desired, but I did get a lot of attention. Attention that I thought was good at the time. Guys saw fresh meat and jumped at the opportunity to seduce a neo or two with the promise of the perfect Black Greek couple. Girls saw social status and were suddenly vying for the bestie position, offering to type your papers, buy your boyfriend sneakers, blow their meal plan feeding your entire chapter, just about anything to gain some favoritism. One really sick method for weeding out potential interests was to pressure a young girl to engage in sexual activity with a male member of a BGLO and then blackball her for being a salacious trollop when she obliged. And for the girls who did pass our sick challenges, they were left to endure the consequences of our unresolved trauma. I would continue on this way until my own suspension, tearing young black women down in the name of sisterhood. Promising them some imaginary rebuilding process at the end, one that I knew didn’t exist because I hadn’t even experienced it myself. As I found myself cloaked in a candlelit room, kneeling at an altar and swearing oaths, I thought to myself, what part of sisterhood is this? In my adolescence, I didn’t have the foresight to know better. These were adult decisions being made by a group of children, no wonder it costs some of us our lives. I wasn’t bothered by my suspension, I saw it as a much-needed break from my organization. What did bother me was how quickly the same people who “made” us were so eager to abandon us. “This is a nonhazing, nonpledging organization” they regurgitated. One woman in particular who rarely missed an opportunity to trek down those basement steps was spearheading the reprimand party. “What on earth would cause you all to participate in something like this??” She barked. “Is that the spirit of sisterhood?” As far as I knew, yes, and so did she. The hypocrisy was too much, I was over it. Over her. Over lying to myself. Over lying to young girls who would give anything to join the fold. I had risked everything in the name of my organization and year after year I couldn’t figure out why. Ultimately I would denounce my affiliation fully, a request my organization would deny on paper. Oddly enough, you got in the same way you left, when they said you could. But they didn’t own me anymore so it wasn’t their call and I removed every aspect of the organization from my social life. Unfortunately ridding myself of the affiliation didn’t do anything to rid me of the fear. Even in therapy sessions when the topic would come up, I shied away. Still protecting their secrets under the twisted guise of loyalty and discretion. Encountering young women who would likely follow the same path in search of a community that wasn’t healthy enough to foster their growth and remaining quiet. I watched them covet membership to organizations that proudly proclaimed black lives matter while staying mute about the many black lives they’d claimed along the way. To the young women who came to me seeking answers and guidance, I apologize for denying you the truth. Yes, Greek life isn’t for everybody and if we were honest about what it entailed upfront more people could make that determination on their own. To those who will discredit my experiences by arguing that I’m bitter, I say that you’re right. I am bitter. I’m bitter that people my mother’s age thought it their right to beat me mercilessly for weeks all while singing the praises of an organization who would turn a blind eye to the abuse of young black women. I’m bitter that I paid to be a hypocrite. I’m bitter that I was led to believe that how much pain I could endure had any bearing on how devoted a sister I could be. I’m bitter that I celebrated elitism and the intentional cultivation of hierarchy amongst black people. I’m bitter that I believed my affiliation would give me any leg up in the real world, an affiliation I often had to explain during interviews with white employers who couldn’t have cared less. I’m bitter that I allowed fear to keep me bound to an oath I was too young to understand. For those who will say that their experience was nothing like mine, I’m happy for you. I wouldn’t wish my experience on my worst enemy. It changed me and the women with whom I stood arm in arm permanently. Some of us will never recover. To those of you who will say this is some personal vendetta, I understand that you need to believe the best about your organization. It’s part of your conditioning. But this is no vendetta, this is liberation through transparency and no one has the right to abuse me and then silence my pain. Some of you will wish death on me because you’ve been bred to see violence as a means to an end. Some of you will spend hours scouring the internet to find any sort of personal information to invalidate my claims, I hope your organization is compensating you for all your hard word. But this is my story to tell, whether your bylaws approve of it or not. And if it keeps even one young woman from sacrificing herself to uphold the reputation of an organization that wouldn’t save her if she were dying, literally, then I’d say it was all worthwhile.

https://arahthequill.medium.com/it-wasnt-religion-that-led-me-to-denounce-my-greek-letters-it-was-hypocrisy-2b0f763993b1

['Arah Iloabugichukwu']

2020-11-21 08:31:31.218000+00:00

['Toxic Relationships', 'BlackLivesMatter', 'College', 'Trauma', 'Greek Life']

For Founders: How to Effectively Address Competition in Your Pitch?

Credits: The Matrix Reloaded (2003) Over the past years, the entrepreneurial ecosystem has changed considerably. Good news for founders is lower launching costs and more capital available. But this has led to increased competition. As a result, understanding the competitive landscape is key to make investment decisions. Investors spend an increasing time looking at the different players in the space and understanding what’s the USP of the opportunity at hand. That’s why founders should proactively take this as an opportunity to better explain what’s different and unique about their product or service in their pitch. It is hard to be impartial when assessing competition and this might be why competitive landscape often look like this: Graph 1: Traditional Competitive Landscape — Credits (1) Graph 1 says: This is how I Score versus the other Players when I play the Games “Something we are great at” and “Something we are also not bad at :)” This means that we are asked to trust the founders on 3 important matters: 1. Games “To apprehend this market, the two more relevant dimensions to consider happen to be “Something we are great at” and “Something we are also not bad at :)”” 2. Players “We don’t have any other significant players in the space” 3. Scores “This is how my competitors are rated” Interestingly, the discussion is often around Players and Scores — “We are cheaper than X”, “We have a better UX/UI than Y” — but it is rarely centered around the Games. But I wonder…

https://medium.com/kerala-ventures/for-founders-how-to-effectively-address-competition-in-your-pitch-5870490a1528

['Marc Laurent']

2019-10-09 09:07:26.583000+00:00

['Kerala Ventures', 'Pitch', 'Startup', 'Pitch Deck', 'Competition']

“Tapioca”, the flutter package to edit videos easily and not using FFmpeg

“Tapioca”, the flutter package to edit videos easily and not using FFmpeg あんはる Feb 14·3 min read https://pub.dev/packages/tapioca Introduction Hi, I’m Anharu. I’m a Japanese junior-high-school student. I developed "tapioca", the flutter package to edit videos easily and not using FFmpeg. I personally published this package to capture a video and apply text and color filters to it in the beauty app I had developed. Surprisingly, many people seem to get and try my package! (Unfortunately, I cannot know a count of the package downloaded because pub.dev does not publish it ) my package is introduced in websites for engineers, such as StackOverflow. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/64068672/how-to-get-coordinates-scale-and-rotation-data-of-a-widget-in-flutter https://flutterforum.co/t/flutter-video-filters/2878 Features Not depend on FFmpeg > FFmpeg is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) version 2.1 or later. ( https://ffmpeg.org/legal.html ) if an application relies on FFmpeg, you should follow the license. (https://video.stackexchange.com/questions/14802/can-i-use-ffmpeg-in-a-commercial-product) It’s complex and troublesome. So, in order to get rid of the troublesome problems, “Tapioca” does not depend on FFmpeg. before editing Apply a filter apply a pink filter import 'package:tapioca/tapioca.dart'; import 'package:path_provider/path_provider.dart'; final tapiocaBalls = [ TapiocaBall.filter(Filters.pink) ]; var tempDir = await getTemporaryDirectory(); final path = '${tempDir.path}/result.mp4'; final cup = Cup(Content(videoPath), tapiocaBalls); cup.suckUp(path).then((_) { print("finish processing"); }); pink filter Apply a blue filter import 'package:tapioca/tapioca.dart'; import 'package:path_provider/path_provider.dart'; final tapiocaBalls = [ TapiocaBall.filter(Filters.blue) ]; var tempDir = await getTemporaryDirectory(); final path = '${tempDir.path}/result.mp4'; final cup = Cup(Content(videoPath), tapiocaBalls); cup.suckUp(path).then((_) { print("finish processing"); }); blue filter Overlay texts import 'package:tapioca/tapioca.dart'; import 'package:path_provider/path_provider.dart'; final tapiocaBalls = [ TapiocaBall.textOverlay("text",100,10,500,Color(0xffffc0cb)), ]; var tempDir = await getTemporaryDirectory(); final path = '${tempDir.path}/result.mp4'; final cup = Cup(Content(videoPath), tapiocaBalls); cup.suckUp(path).then((_) { print("finish processing"); }); overly texts Overlay images import 'package:tapioca/tapioca.dart'; import 'package:path_provider/path_provider.dart'; final tapiocaBalls = [ TapiocaBall.imageOverlay(imageBitmap, 300,0), ]; var tempDir = await getTemporaryDirectory(); final path = '${tempDir.path}/result.mp4'; final cup = Cup(Content(videoPath), tapiocaBalls); cup.suckUp(path).then((_) { print("finish processing"); }); overlay the image Development I’ve developed a mobile app with Flutter, but I’ve never developed an app with iOS(Swift) and Android(Kotlin). So, it is hard to develop the package because I need to use Swift and Kotlin to implement MethodChannel. more info about MethodChannel↓ In order to process videos, in Android, the package depends on Mp4Composer-android , and in iOS, the package depends on AVFoundation. [wanted] Looking for collaborators now, Due to studying for college entrance exams(Feb 2022), I can not manage the repository. I want to develop the repo to add new features after finishing the exam. So, I am looking for collaborators if you’re interested in this, please comment on the issue or contact me↓↓ My Twitter → https://twitter.com/_anharu

https://medium.com/@anharu/tapioca-the-flutter-package-to-edit-videos-easily-and-not-using-ffmpeg-2e1a85824796

[]

2021-02-14 02:58:58.822000+00:00

['Ffmpeg', 'Flutter', 'Dart', 'Video Editing']

S1/E7 : Professionals Season 1, Episode 7 <Full Stream>

WATCH FULL EPISODES Professionals Season 1 Episode 7 [ULTRA ᴴᴰ1080p] ⚜ — Official~Watch Streaming !! Professionals (2020) Se1Ep7 Season 1 Episode 7 : 7 — Full Episodes Show Info Name Episode : The Hunted Network : Viaplay Genres : Drama Action Thriller 🔴 Now Streaming :: CLICK HERE Professionals is set against a backdrop of international espionage and corporate sabotage in the 21st century’s privately-funded space race and follows hardened former counterintelligence officer Captain Vincent Corbo. After their advanced medical satellite explodes on deployment, billionaire futurist Peter Swann and his fiancée, medical visionary Dr. Graciela “Grace” Davila, turn to Corbo. Corbo assembles a team of experienced professionals to investigate the incident. They learn that any combination of Swann’s business rivals, corrupt governments officials, and a shadowy crime syndicate could be behind the attack and represent a continued threat. ⚜ Professionals Season 1 Episode 7 [4KHD Quality] ⚜ Professionals 1x7 Watch Full Episodes : The Hunted Viaplay ⚜ Official Partners “[Viaplay]” TV Shows & Movies ▼ Watch Professionals Season 1 Episode 7 Eng Sub ▼ ⚜ — WATCH FULL EPISODES Professionals Season 1 Episode 7[ULTRA ᴴᴰ1080p] Professionals is set against a backdrop of international espionage and corporate sabotage in the 21st century’s privately-funded space race and follows hardened former counterintelligence officer Captain Vincent Corbo. After their advanced medical satellite explodes on deployment, billionaire futurist Peter Swann and his fiancée, medical visionary Dr. Graciela “Grace” Davila, turn to Corbo. Corbo assembles a team of experienced professionals to investigate the incident. They learn that any combination of Swann’s business rivals, corrupt governments officials, and a shadowy crime syndicate could be behind the attack and represent a continued threat. Link WATCH Eps .1 ⚜ — 360p : CLICK HERE ⚜ — 480p : CLICK HERE ⚜ — 720p : CLICK HERE Professionals S1E7 Streaming Online On Viaplay 🔴 Now Streaming ⇨ CLICK HERE ProfessionalsProfessionals 1x7 ,Professionals S01E7,Professionals Viaplay,Professionals Cast,Professionals Season 1,Professionals Episode 7,Professionals Premiere,Professionals New Season,Professionals Full Episodes,Professionals Watch Online,Professionals Full HD,Professionals Season 1 Episode 7,Watch Professionals Season 1 Episode 7 Online ❖Enjoy And Happy Watching❖ Within the many cinematic tales that have been produced, legal drama films have certainly been up there; hitting viewers with heated (and sometimes poignant) narratives that showcase a variety of multi-faceted viewpoints that deliver the truth and unmask the falsehood of the system. From the jail cell’s of a prison to the presiding courtrooms, legal dramas display plenty of human emotions of the individuals; projecting tales of injustice doing and who is really to blame for the wrong doings as well as demonstrating the views of the case on today’s society (i.e. social standing, race, religion, gender, etc.). Of course, Hollywood has produced many legal / courtroom tales that have demonstrated such cinematic level feature films, including several memorable ones like 100000’s 2020 Angry Men, 1980’s To Kill a Mockingbird, 2020’s A Few Good Men, 2020’s Philadelphia, 2020’s Helstrom Fear, 2020’s Dark Waters, and many others. Now, Warner Bros. Pictures and director Destin Daniel Cretton present the latest legal drama endeavor with the film Just Mercy; based on the biographical memoir “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption” by Bryan Stevenson. Does the movie find strength within its story or does it lost within legal courtroom narrative? ✓ I do not Viaplay this song or the Image, all credit goes, It’s so Awesome. Subscribe and Share with your friends! to my channel. See for more videos!!. I want to say ‘thank you’ for being the friend!! Atelevision show (often simply TV show) is any content produced for broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, cable, or internet and typically viewed on a television set, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed Viaplay Oneween shows. Television shows are most often scheduled well ahead of time and appear on electronic guides or other TV listings. THE STORY After graduating from Harvard, Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) forgoes the standard opportunities of seeking employment from big and lucrative law firms; deciding to head to Alabama to defend those wrongfully commended, with the support of local advocate, Eva Ansley (Brie Larson). One of his first, and most poignant, case is that of Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx, who, in 22927, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 27-year-old girl in the community, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and one singular testimony against him by an individual that doesn’t quite seem to add up. Bryan begins to unravel the tangled threads of McMillian’s case, which becomes embroiled in a relentless labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt unabashed racism of the community as he fights for Walter’s name and others like him. THE GOOD / THE BAD Throughout my years of watching movies and experiencing the wide variety of cinematic storytelling, legal drama movies have certainly cemented themselves in dramatic productions. As I stated above, some have better longevity of being remembered, but most showcase plenty of heated courtroom battles of lawyers defending their clients and unmasking the truth behind the claims (be it wrongfully incarcerated, discovering who did it, or uncovering the shady dealings behind large corporations. Perhaps my first one legal drama was 2020’s The Client (I was little young to get all the legality in the movie, but was still managed to get the gist of it all). My second one, which I loved, was probably Helstrom Fear, with Norton delivering my favorite character role. Of course, I did see To Kill a Mockingbird when I was in the sixth grade for English class. Definitely quite a powerful film. And, of course, let’s not forget Philadelphia and want it meant / stand for. Plus, Hanks and Washington were great in the film. All in all, while not the most popular genre out there, legal drama films still provide a plethora of dramatic storytelling to capture the attention of moviegoers of truth and lies within a dubious justice. Just Mercy is the latest legal crime drama feature and the whole purpose of this movie review. To be honest, I really didn’t much “buzz” about this movie when it was first announced (circa 2020) when Broad Green Productions hired the film’s director (Cretton) and actor Michael B. Jordan in the lead role. It was then eventually bought by Warner Bros (the films rights) when Broad Green Productions went Bankrupt. So, I really didn’t hear much about the film until I saw the movie trailer for Just Mercy, which did prove to be quite an interesting tale. Sure, it sort of looked like the generic “legal drama” yarn (judging from the trailer alone), but I was intrigued by it, especially with the film starring Jordan as well as actor Jamie Foxx. I did repeatedly keep on seeing the trailer for the film every time I went to my local movie theater (usually attached to any movie I was seeing with a PG rating and above). So, suffice to say, that Just Mercy’s trailer preview sort of kept me invested and waiting me to see it. Thus, I finally got the chance to see the feature a couple of days ago and I’m ready to share my thoughts on the film. And what are they? Well, good ones….to say the least. While the movie does struggle within the standard framework of similar projects, Just Mercy is a solid legal drama that has plenty of fine cinematic nuances and great performances from its leads. It’s not the “be all to end all” of legal drama endeavors, but its still manages to be more of the favorable motion pictures of these projects. Just Mercy is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, whose previous directorial works includes such movies like Short Term 2020, I Am Not a Hipster, and Glass Castle. Given his past projects (consisting of shorts, documentaries, and a few theatrical motion pictures), Cretton makes Just Mercy is most ambitious endeavor, with the director getting the chance to flex his directorial muscles on a legal drama film, which (like I said above) can manage to evoke plenty of human emotions within its undertaking. Thankfully, Cretton is up to the task and never feels overwhelmed with the movie; approaching (and shaping) the film with respect and a touch of sincerity by speaking to the humanity within its characters, especially within lead characters of Stevenson and McMillian. Of course, legal dramas usually do (be the accused / defendant and his attorney) shine their cinematic lens on these respective characters, so it’s nothing original. However, Cretton does make for a compelling drama within the feature; speaking to some great character drama within its two main lead characters; staging plenty of moments of these twos individuals that ultimately work, including some of the heated courtroom sequences. Like other recent movies (i.e. Brian Banks and The Hate U Give), Cretton makes Just Mercy have an underlining thematical message of racism and corruption that continues to play a part in the US….to this day (incredibly sad, but true). So, of course, the correlation and overall relatively between the movie’s narrative and today’s world is quite crystal-clear right from the get-go, but Cretton never gets overzealous / preachy within its context; allowing the feature to present the subject matter in a timely manner and doesn’t feel like unnecessary or intentionally a “sign of the times” motif. Additionally, the movie also highlights the frustration (almost harsh) injustice of the underprivileged face on a regular basis (most notable those looking to overturn their cases on death row due to negligence and wrongfully accused). Naturally, as somewhat expected (yet still palpable), Just Mercy is a movie about seeking the truth and uncovering corruption in the face of a broken system and ignorant prejudice, with Cretton never shying away from some of the ugly truths that Stevenson faced during the film’s story. Plus, as a side-note, it’s quite admirable for what Bryan Stevenson (the real-life individual) did for his career, with him as well as others that have supported him (and the Equal Justice Initiative) over the years and how he fought for and freed many wrongfully incarcerated individuals that our justice system has failed (again, the poignancy behind the film’s themes / message). It’s great to see humanity being shined and showcased to seek the rights of the wronged and to dispel a flawed system. Thus, whether you like the movie or not, you simply can not deny that truly meaningful job that Bryan Stevenson is doing, which Cretton helps demonstrate in Just Mercy. From the bottom of my heart…. thank you, Mr. Stevenson. In terms of presentation, Just Mercy is a solidly made feature film. Granted, the film probably won’t be remembered for its visual background and theatrical setting nuances or even nominated in various award categories (for presentation / visual appearance), but the film certainly looks pleasing to the eye, with the attention of background aspects appropriate to the movie’s story. Thus, all the usual areas that I mention in this section (i.e. production design, set decorations, costumes, and cinematography) are all good and meet the industry standard for legal drama motion pictures. That being said, the film’s score, which was done by Joel P. West, is quite good and deliver some emotionally drama pieces in a subtle way that harmonizes with many of the feature’s scenes. There are a few problems that I noticed with Just Mercy that, while not completely derailing, just seem to hold the feature back from reaching its full creative cinematic potential. Let’s start with the most prevalent point of criticism (the one that many will criticize about), which is the overall conventional storytelling of the movie. What do I mean? Well, despite the strong case that the film delves into a “based on a true story” aspect and into some pretty wholesome emotional drama, the movie is still structed into a way that it makes it feel vaguely formulaic to the touch. That’s not to say that Just Mercy is a generic tale to be told as the film’s narrative is still quite engaging (with some great acting), but the story being told follows quite a predictable path from start to finish. Granted, I never really read Stevenson’s memoir nor read anything about McMillian’s case, but then I still could easily figure out how the movie was presumably gonna end…. even if the there were narrative problems / setbacks along the way. Basically, if you’ve seeing any legal drama endeavor out there, you’ll get that same formulaic touch with this movie. I kind of wanted see something a little bit different from the film’s structure, but the movie just ends up following the standard narrative beats (and progressions) of the genre. That being said, I still think that this movie is definitely probably one of the better legal dramas out there. This also applies to the film’s script, which was penned by Cretton and Andrew Lanham, which does give plenty of solid entertainment narrative pieces throughout, but lacks the finesse of breaking the mold of the standard legal drama. There are also a couple parts of the movie’s script handling where you can tell that what was true and what fictional. Of course, this is somewhat a customary point of criticism with cinematic tales taking a certain “poetic license” when adapting a “based on a true story” narrative, so it’s not super heavily critical point with me as I expect this to happen. However, there were a few times I could certainly tell what actually happen and what was a tad bit fabricated for the movie. Plus, they were certain parts of the narrative that could’ve easily fleshed out, including what Morrison’s parents felt (and actually show them) during this whole process. Again, not a big deal-breaker, but it did take me out of the movie a few times. Lastly, the film’s script also focuses its light on a supporting character in the movie and, while this made with well-intention to flesh out the character, the camera spotlight on this character sort of goes off on a slight tangent during the feature’s second act. Basically, this storyline could’ve been removed from Just Mercy and still achieve the same palpability in the emotional department. It’s almost like the movie needed to chew up some runtime and the writers to decided to fill up the time with this side-story. Again, it’s good, but a bit slightly unnecessary. What does help overlook (and elevate) some of these criticisms is the film’s cast, which are really good and definitely helps bring these various characters to life in a theatrical /dramatic way. Leading the charge in Just Mercy is actor Michael B. Jordan, who plays the film’s central protagonist role of Bryan Stevenson. Known for his roles in Creed, Fruitvale Station, and Black Panther, Jordan has certain prove himself to be quite a capable actor, with the actor rising to stardom over the past few years. This is most apparent in this movie, with Jordan making a strong characteristically portrayal as Bryan; showcasing plenty of underlining determination and compelling humanity in his character as he (as Bryan Stevenson) fights for the injustice of those who’s voices have been silenced or dismissed because of the circumstances. It’s definitely a strong character built and Jordan seems quite capable to task in creating a well-acted on-screen performance of Bryan. Behind Jordan is actor Jamie Foxx, who plays the other main lead in the role, Walter McMillian. Foxx, known for his roles in Baby Driver, Django Unchained, and Ray, has certainly been recognized as a talented actor, with plenty of credible roles under his belt. His participation in Just Mercy is another well-acted performance that deserve much praise as its getting (even receiving an Oscar nod for it), with Foxx portraying Walter with enough remorseful grit and humility that makes the character quite compelling to watch. Plus, seeing him and Jordan together in a scene is quite palpable and a joy to watch. The last of the three marquee main leads of the movie is the character of Eva Ansley, the director of operations for EJI (i.e. Stevenson’s right-handed employee / business partner), who is played by actress Brie Larson. Up against the characters of Stevenson and McMillian, Ansley is the weaker of the three main lead; presented as supporting player in the movie, which is perfectly fine as the characters gets the job done (sort of speak) throughout the film’s narrative. However, Larson, known for her roles in Room, 2020 Jump Street, and Captain Marvel, makes less of an impact in the role. Her acting is fine and everything works in her portrayal of Eva, but nothing really stands in her performance (again, considering Jordan and Foxx’s performances) and really could’ve been played by another actress and achieved the same goal. The rest of the cast, including actor Tim Blake Nelson (The Incredible Hulk and O Brother, Where Art Thou) as incarcerated inmate Ralph Meyers, actor Rafe Spall (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and The Big Short) as legal attorney Tommy Champan, actress Karan Kendrick (The Hate U Give and Family) as Minnie McMillan, Walter’s wife, actor C.J. LeBlanc (Arsenal and School Spirts) as Walter’s son, John McMillian, actor Rob Morgan (Stranger Things and Mudbound) as death role inmate Herbert Richardson, actor O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Long Shot and Straight Outta Compton) as death role inmate Anthony “Ray” Hinton, actor Michael Harding (Triple 9 and The Young and the Restless) as Sheriff Tate, and actor Hayes Mercure (The Red Road and Mercy Street) as a prison guard named Jeremy, are in the small supporting cast variety. Of course, some have bigger roles than others, but all of these players, which are all acted well, bolster the film’s story within the performances and involvement in Just Mercy’s narrative. FINAL THOUGHTS It’s never too late to fight for justice as Bryan Stevenson fights for the injustice of Walter McMillian’s cast against a legal system that is flawed in the movie Just Mercy. Director Destin Daniel Cretton’s latest film takes a stance on a poignant case; demonstrating the injustice of one (and by extension those wrongfully incarcerated) and wrapping it up in a compelling cinematic story. While the movie does struggle within its standard structure framework (a sort of usual problem with “based on a true story” narrations) as well as some formulaic beats, the movie still manages to rise above those challenges (for the most part), especially thanks to Cretton’s direction (shaping and storytelling) and some great performances all around (most notable in Jordan and Foxx). Personally, I liked this movie. Sure, it definitely had its problem, but those didn’t distract me much from thoroughly enjoying this legal drama feature. Thus, my recommendation for the film is a solid “recommended”, especially those who liked the cast and poignant narratives of legality struggles and the injustice of a failed system / racism. In the end, while the movie isn’t the quintessential legal drama motion picture and doesn’t push the envelope in cinematic innovation, Just Mercy still is able to manage to be a compelling drama that’s powerful in its story, meaningful in its journey, and strong within its statement. Just like Bryan Stevenson says in the movie….” If we could look at ourselves closely…. we can change this world for the better”. Amen to that!

https://medium.com/professionals-series-1-episode-7-hd/s1-e7-professionals-sea-1-episode-7-full-stream-4391b0a442dd

['Indri Santia']

2020-12-14 17:18:56.017000+00:00

['Action', 'Thriller', 'Drama']

One Reason NOT to Go to Church

I know, I know, shouldn’t I be encouraging people to go to church, not send them away? To be clear, I can give you a million reasons to go to church. My intentions of this post is to to stress to people that there are wrong reasons to go to church too. If you yearn for God’s love and to have a genuine, Christian community to be there for you through all aspects of life, by all means go. But there is one reason why I went to church when I was younger and it was the WRONG one. On page 14 of my book I talk about one of the first times of going to church. I was a little nervous and unsure of what I was walking in to, but the reason I went was to make my girlfriend happy and that’s what kept me going back for months…. I was trying to make SOMEONE ELSE happy. Not me, not God. DO NOT go to church to make someone happy. There are soooooo may other reasons to go and can bring a it can bring a tremendous amount of joy to one’s life. Going for that reason takes away from the true value of it, and could ultimately lead you into an un-biblical church like I experienced. As a Christian we are to love one another. To love is to be patient, kind, never giving up, the list keeps going. So it’s fair to say that to love someone is to bring HAPPINESS to another’s life, and we should strive to do that. But, the whole point of going to church is to not make someone happy, it’s to make YOU happy. If we are to try to make anyone happy and seek their approval it’s God. I have some good news though… He’s already happy with you! He already approves of you! You’re extremely valuable to Him and he has proved it by sending His son to die for YOU.

https://medium.com/stumbling-forward-to-be-a-better-person/one-reason-not-to-go-to-church-c1559c5d53e1

['Jesse Walters']

2017-02-06 15:59:06.349000+00:00

['Religious Freedom', 'Happiness', 'Christianity', 'Religion', 'Church']

How tо Gеt Great Photos Evеrу Tіmе

Whаt аrе уоur memories of a fаmіlу photo ѕhооtѕ? Arе they оf dressing up іn your bеѕt сlоthеѕ and ѕіttіng uncomfortably fоr hоurѕ іn a hot studio whіlе being blinded by thе саmеrа flаѕh? Or wеrе уоu a brіdеѕmаіd аt a wеddіng whеrе уоu еndurеd hours of being photographed іn a drеѕѕ thаt rеѕеmblеd a Chrіѕtmаѕ tree dесоrаtіоn? If ѕо, then уоu may not have fоnd fееlіngѕ for photo ѕhооtѕ. Hоwеvеr, іt dоеѕn’t hаvе tо bе thіѕ wау. Armеd with a digital саmеrа and a sense of fun, уоu might fіnd thаt fаmіlу рhоtо ѕhооt tіmе can mеаn fun for everyone. One plus with using a dіgіtаl саmеrа іѕ thаt the pressure tо gеt thе photo rіght thе fіrѕt tіmе іѕ eliminated. If someone blіnkѕ or соughѕ or іf уоur ѕоn mаkеѕ dоnkеу еаrѕ bеhіnd уоur daughter’s head, ѕіmрlу tаkе another shot. You don’t hаvе to рrіnt аnуthіng thаt’ѕ nоt great. However, a dіgіtаl camera can’t perform mіrасlеѕ аnd ѕоmе рrераrаtіоn beforehand wіll еnѕurе thаt fаmіlу рhоtо ѕhооtѕ gо оff wеll. First (аnd mоѕt іmроrtаntlу), make ѕurе уоu know hоw уоur camera wоrkѕ. If you’re nоt соmfоrtаblе wіth it, practice fіrѕt аnd dоn’t gеt еvеrуоnе tоgеthеr untіl уоu’rе ѕurе уоu саn wоrk the саmеrа confidently. Thіѕ includes undеrѕtаndіng how to set the rеmоtе tіmеr if уоu plan to ѕеt uр the саmеrа to ѕhооt оn іtѕ оwn. Alѕо make sure уоu hаvе a tripod оr some surface hаndу tо put thе саmеrа on tо kеер іt steady. Play dress uрѕ when сhооѕіng сlоthіng for thе shoot, organize it ѕо еvеrуоnе’ѕ clothing wоrkѕ wеll tоgеthеr. A ѕіmрlе ѕоlutіоn is tо gеt everyone іntо a white T-ѕhіrt аnd bluе jеаnѕ оr blасk T-shirt аnd black jеаnѕ or аnоthеr combination thаt lооkѕ smart. Alternately, juѕt plan fоr clothing colors thаt аll wоrk wеll tоgеthеr — all раѕtеlѕ, аll dаrkѕ еtс. аnd аvоіd соlоrѕ thаt clash оr аrе similar but not thе ѕаmе. Sеttlе fоr solid соlоrѕ іn рrеfеrеnсе tо раttеrnѕ or flоrаl. Alѕо avoid clothes with logos on thеm unless you’re рhоtоgrарhіng a tеаm аnd thеу’rе аll wearing tеаm оutfіtѕ. Lосаtіоn Scout оut a ѕuіtаblе lосаtіоn to use. The lосаl park іn ѕрrіngtіmе is a good place to ѕhооt because there are plenty оf flоwеrѕ tо аdd соlоr аnd thеrе wіll bе chairs аnd tables оr ѕwіngѕ аnd roundabouts thаt еvеrуоnе саn ѕіt оn. If you muѕt ѕhооt indoors find a room with light wаllѕ, lоtѕ оf nаturаl lіght and shoot on a ѕunnу day with аll thе wіndоwѕ and blіndѕ ореn. Alѕо еnѕurе you hаvе an uncluttered аnd nеutrаl background behind уоur ѕubjесtѕ. Place реорlе сlоѕе to thе lіght ѕоurсе to еnѕurе they’re wеll lit. Nеvеr plan a fаmіlу рhоtо ѕhооt аt night — the flash will wash оut thе соlоrѕ іn еvеrуоnе’ѕ fасеѕ аnd the рhоtоѕ wоn’t bе flаttеrіng. On thе оthеr hаnd, when you’re рhоtоgrарhіng оutѕіdе оn a sunny dау, turn уоur flаѕh оn (yes, On!) ѕо іt іѕ fоrсеd tо flаѕh. When уоu dо thіѕ, you wіll еnѕurе that people’s faces аrеn’t marred bу unѕіghtlу ѕhаdоwѕ. If young kіdѕ іnѕіѕt on taking their favorite dоll оr toy wіth them, аll thе bеttеr — they will bе mоrе comfortable іf they hаvе familiar items around thеm. In thіѕ саѕе, соlоr сооrdіnаtеѕ thе child’s clothes wіth the соlоrѕ іn the favorite tоу (or vісе vеrѕа). When рhоtоgrарhіng, spend tіmе with еасh child аnd tаkе a ѕеrіеѕ оf photos оf thеm bу themselves (wіth аnd wіthоut thе tоу). Pаіr uр thе сhіldrеn tоо аnd tаkе рhоtоѕ оf thеm interacting wіth еасh оthеr. Provided уоu hаvе рlеntу оf ѕtоrаgе on your саmеrа’ѕ card, shoot lоtѕ of рісturеѕ tаkіng tіmе оut occasionally to make sure thеу are fосuѕеd аnd frаmеd аttrасtіvеlу. If уоu’rе рhоtоgrарhіng асtіvе уоung children, рut уоur camera onto sports mоdе tо speed uр thе ѕhоtѕ so уоu frееzе thе action аnd don’t get оut of focus pictures. Enlіѕt thе hеlр оf a frіеnd tо lооk аftеr the уоungеr children whіlе уоu take photos оf the оldеr оnеѕ. If thаt frіеnd іѕ also аblе to use the camera, hе оr ѕhе саn tаkе photos of all the fаmіlу together. If уоur mаkе уоur shoot fun аnd if еvеrуbоdу is lаughіng and еnjоуіng thеmѕеlvеѕ, уоu wіll gеt ѕоmе wonderful саndіd ѕhоtѕ thаt show your fаmіlу аѕ they really аrе. And dоn’t fоrgеt to tаkе рlеntу оf рhоtоѕ — аnу еmрtу space on your mеmоrу саrd аt thе end оf thе day іѕ a wаѕtеd opportunity. 4 Bеѕt Tірѕ for Great Family Phоtоѕ The fаmіlу сlоwn when оnе of thе kids insists on ѕtісkіng оut thеіr tongue or acting up, аllоw them twо оr three shots dоіng juѕt that. Thеn insist thаt thеу аrе sensible fоr the rеmаіndеr оf the ѕhооt. Kеер thе “ѕіllу” рhоtоѕ іn a ѕаfе рlасе — you’ll gеt уоur rеvеngе whеn they turn 21 whеn you ѕhоw оff thеѕе рhоtоѕ tо аll thеіr friends. Nеrvоuѕ Folk Whеn someone is nervous and won’t rеlаx, trу ѕоmе funnу еxеrсіѕеѕ. Aѕk thеm tо ѕсrunсh up their ѕhоuldеrѕ аnd face rеаllу tіght thеn, оn command, tеll thеm to let gо. Capture thеm аѕ thеу rеlаx into реаlѕ оf lаughtеr аnd уоu’ll gеt a wonderful ѕhоt. Dіvеrtіng their attention to something else whіlе уоu tаkе thеіr рhоtо can hеlр too. Move in (and оut) For more іntеrеѕtіng photos tаkе some uр сlоѕе and оthеrѕ frоm further away. Also vary thе аnglе and ѕhооt frоm frоnt оn, a higher роѕіtіоn аnd then gеt down lоw аnd ѕhооt uрwаrdѕ. Mix uр your shots аnd hаvе еvеrуоnе lооkіng into thе camera for some аnd lооkіng elsewhere for оthеrѕ. Pоѕіtіоnіng people Phоtоѕ dоn’t hаvе tо be taken uѕіng formal ѕеаtіng аrrаngеmеntѕ. Trу еvеrуоnе ѕіttіng оn thе grаѕѕ оr have thе kids lie dоwn and take the рhоtо fасіng down onto thеm. Sіt аn adult bасkwаrdѕ оn a chair or cross legged оn a tаblе or look for other іntеrеѕtіng аnd varied роѕеѕ. Tаlk tо thе реrѕоn уоu’rе shooting, tеll them thеу’rе dоіng grеаt аnd kеер them relaxed — remember this іѕ fun!

https://medium.com/@oluwaseunosunbade/how-t%D0%BE-g%D0%B5t-great-photos-ev%D0%B5r%D1%83-t%D1%96m%D0%B5-14777b7d9a27

['Oluwaseun Osunbade']

2021-12-30 10:51:25.354000+00:00

['Photograph', 'Photos', 'Câmera', 'Photography']