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Mental Note Vol. 24

Photo by Josh Riemer on Unsplash Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone! We just wanted everyone to know how much we appreciate everyone and how thankful we are for all our readers and writers here. We wouldn’t be anywhere without you, so thank you all for bringing informative, vulnerable, and important pieces that destigmatize mental illness and mental health. Without further ado, here are ten of our top stories from last week, all of which were curated: “Just as the capacity to love and inspire is universal so is the capacity to hate and discourage. Irrespective of gender, race, age or religion none of us are exempt from aggressive proclivities. Those who are narcissistically disordered, and accordingly repress deep seated feelings of inferiority with inflated delusions of grandeur and superiority, are more prone to aggression and violence. They infiltrate our interactions in myriad environments from home, work, school and the cyber world. Hence, bullying does not happen in isolation. Although there is a ringleader she looks to her minions to either sanction her cruelty or look the other way.” “Even though the circumstances that brought me here were sad and challenging, I’m grateful for how this program has changed my life for the better. I can’t help but imagine what life would be like if everyone learned to accept their powerlessness over other people, prioritize their serenity, and take life one step at a time. We’ll never know, but I’d bet the world would be much happier.” “The prospect of spending a horrible Christmas, locked in on a psychiatric unit, was one of the low points of my life. For weeks, the day room was festooned with cheesy decorations and a sorry pink aluminum tree. All of our “activity” therapies revolved around the holidays. We baked and decorated cookies. We fashioned quick-drying clay into ornaments that turned out to be too heavy for the tree. Crappy Christmas carols were background torture. It was hard to get pissed off at the staff because they were making the best with what they had.” “Although I hate to admit it, even if my ex had never betrayed me, I still wouldn’t have been happy. I had set him up for an impossible job — to define me and make me whole. If I cannot find peace and contentment within myself, how could anyone else do it for me?” “On a personal note, significant feelings of loss and sadness can still flare up from time to time. That’s only natural; it’s no reason for self-critique. No matter how resilient we purport to be, we are all emotionally vulnerable human beings. Besides, we aren’t talking about some conceptual loss that we can just mechanically compartmentalize away — we are talking about the loss of our fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers.” “The next six weeks will be hard as cases continue to explode and government leadership remains nonexistent. I can’t control any of this. The only thing I can do is take deep breaths, remain vigilant when it comes to limiting exposure to the virus, and let lots of stuff go. I may always be a hypochondriac, but now that I recognize the beast, I’m hopeful I’ll be able to tame it.” “From anecdotal news reports and informal surveys, there is evidence that for some of us, this pandemic-imposed isolation is a boon rather than a trial. One study on mixed emotions showed that those with lower emotional stability (“moody” personalities) are actually better at responding to uncertainty.” “Every day I wish in my heart and soul that I didn’t have ME/CFS. Unfortunately, I do. It’s a result of a virus I had; 10–12 percent of people who experience a serious infection go on to develop ME. I’ve visualized life without CFS for over a year now; I can smell life without it, I can taste it. It’s in the smell of the lavender fields that I can no longer run through. It’s in the taste of the meals from my favorite restaurant that I can no longer walk to. It’s on the tip of my tongue. It’s in the potentialities; all the things I could be doing, as a twenty-four year-old, that I can’t. I cannot cross the chasm between the potential and the reality. And that’s nothing to do with manifestation.” “Whether it’s cabin fever, redundancy, loss, or general Covid anxieties, this year has caused us to be exposed to more uncertainty than ever. Uncertainty creates unease and feelings of stress. Some of us may have taken this year as one to motivate — plan dream trips, and prepare and be inspired for what the future could bring. For the rest, it has caused us to become irrational, emotional, and reserved. “To be more self-compassionate is a task that can be tricky because we always want to push ourselves and do better. Without realising it, this can lead to us being self-critical which can have damaging consequences. It’s important to notice these times when we are harsh because we can easily turn it into self-compassion, which is linked to a better quality of life.” Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone! — Ryan, Juliette, Marie, and Meredith

https://medium.com/invisible-illness/mental-note-vol-24-969b6a42443f

['Ryan Fan']

2020-12-26 03:38:10.479000+00:00

['Mental Health', 'Health', 'Psychology', 'Science', 'Neuroscience']

Your Brain On Coronavirus

Your Brain On Coronavirus A guide to the curious and troubling impact of the pandemic and isolation Photo by cottonbro from Pexels The coronavirus pandemic frustrates and confounds epidemiologists and immunologists, even after months of study. It frustrates politicians and public health officials dealing with mask non-compliance. It frustrates everyone stuck at home, whether they lost their job or adapting to Zoom. After exposure to the virus, it first enters the lungs, using host machinery to replicate. The virus itself is just a genetic sequence enclosed in a protein and lipid coat. It binds the ACE2 receptors on lung cells, with a spike protein located on its protein-lipid coat. This receptor, attached to the virus, trafficks into the lung cell. Here the virus hijacks the machinery of the cell to replicate, damaging lung tissue and spreading throughout the body. The ACE2 receptor, expressed in many regions of the body, is vulnerable to further entry of these viral particles. The ACE2 receptor regulates blood pressure, nutrient absorption and inflammation. These pathways converge and mediate brain health and disease. The novel coronavirus perplexed us for many different reasons. A large majority of people who get it don’t display any symptoms, while some display symptoms for many months and others require ventilators to breathe. It is unclear whether someone infected with coronavirus retains long-term immunity. Also, troubling findings implicate this disease in the induction of stroke and the worsening of mental health. The realization that there are likely long-term complications of coronavirus infection is worrying, as millions of people may require expensive coverage for this new pre-existing condition. Those of us lucky to avoid being infected become more socially isolated and lonely. Many studies report the worsening of mental health symptoms, especially in frontline workers, nurses and doctors. These professionals are more prone to burning out and require extra care. COVID-19 and Stroke The cells in the brain require a disproportionate amount of energy to function. When deprived of oxygen, even for minutes, the cells begin to die, leading to a variety of debilitating sensory, motor or language deficits depending. When there is blood loss to a specific region of the brain, cells cannot use oxygen to generate energy. If there is a clot in an artery, fresh oxygen cannot travel to any regions primarily supplied by that blood vessel. These events, classified as ischemic strokes, cause lifelong disability in some of those afflicted. Early findings in patients found abnormal clotting in blood vessels. Vessels around the lungs or even arterial blood-flow to the brain is interrupted. Thus, individuals infected with coronavirus who suffered abnormal blood clotting as a result, were at higher risk of stroke. In June of 2020, researchers published a report of neurological symptoms in the New England Journal of Medicine. While they did not report common symptoms of having a stroke, they showed other strange brain-related features. Of thirteen COVID-19 patients who underwent brain imaging, three of them showed signs of an ischemic stroke. A subset of eight of these patients showed other types of inflammation, while eleven presented with a lack of blood flow to the frontal areas of the brain. Though a preliminary observational study, it suggested that the coronavirus impacted blood clotting and flow to the brain. Several studies since identified swathes of patients suffering from ischemic strokes or brain/vascular inflammation. Another study reviewed the current state of evidence, concluding that 41% of patients suffering from neurological symptoms after COVID-19 infection, suffered from strokes. Larger studies however, are needed to decipher how common this is among all those infected with the novel coronavirus. Depending on which region of the brain loses oxygen, stroke may manifest as a broad range of symptoms. If cells die in an area of the brain responsible for motor movement, it later manifests in unilateral or bilateral difficulties with movement. Other common symptoms involve fatigue, challenges with balance or walking, partial paralysis, pain or inattention to one entire side of the body. It prevents individuals from doing the things they do in their daily lives, such as dress themselves or go to the bathroom independently. COVID-19 and Psychiatric Disorders Photo by Jonathan Rados on Unsplash Either through neuroimmune signalling or by directly entering the cells of the brain, COVID-19 also contributes to psychiatric symptoms and disorders. It is unclear what role it may play in their pathology, but it may worsen existing conditions or as a contributing factor in its development. One study compared individuals afflicted with the novel coronavirus to those in quarantine or the general public, finding elevated rates of depression (29.2%) in those with COVID-19. Another small study reported increased post-traumatic stress symptoms in these patients. Individuals already living with psychiatric disorders reported a worsening of symptoms in two different studies. Several other studies reported depressive and anxious symptoms worsened among essential workers. Another study surveyed >2000 individuals in Denmark, finding a reduction in overall psychological well-being measures during the pandemics. This study also reported that women were more negatively affected than men. Additionally, it recognized that many older adults living in adult-care communities during shelter-in-place orders experience loneliness and depression. A study of older adults in San Francisco found that they showed increased rates of loneliness and depression. We must do our best to check-up on our friends and loved ones. We are all affected differently by the pandemic, so it is important to recognize that the rates of anxiety, depression and stress-related disorders may arise. COVID-19 Long-Haulers Thousands of individuals initially infected with COVID-19, the long-haulers, continue to suffer symptoms many months later. On average, these individuals are women around the age of 44 who are otherwise healthy. Their infections were classified as mild severity because they could recover at home. Facing stigma and in need of a community, several groups sprouted up to support each other. Originally disbelieved, they rallied to raise awareness of their predicament within the medical establishment. It should no longer be sufficient to classify individuals infected with COVID-19, who don’t require a hospital stay, as mild. A few different studies report that most individuals affected with COVID-19 suffer from symptoms months later (Italy, UK, Germany). Intriguingly, many long-haulers did not produce high-levels of coronavirus antibodies. Many individuals experience pain, fatigue and many other debilitating symptoms. These symptoms are consistent with disturbances in the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for many automatic physiological functions like breathing or heart-rate but also influence fatigue. Preliminary physiotherapy involves reconditioning the nervous system of patients so that they may regain some of these functions. In his article, Ed Yong states:

https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/how-the-pandemic-affects-our-brain-and-mental-health-ae2ec0a9fc1d

['Simon Spichak']

2020-09-23 22:10:17.126000+00:00

['Mental Health', 'Coronavirus', 'Science', 'Psychology', 'Neuroscience']

Mind Your Nose

Mind Your Nose How smell training can change your brain in six weeks — and why it matters. By Ann-Sophie Barwich When it comes to training your brain, your sense of smell is possibly the last thing you’d think could strengthen your neural pathways. Learning a new language or reading more books (and fewer social media posts) — sure. But your nose? That’s because the olfactory system is one of the most plastic systems in your brain. Neuroplasticity describes how the brain flexibly adapts to changes in the environment or when exposed to neural damage. Stimulating the brain strengthens existing neural structures and further adds fuel to the brain’s capacity to remain adaptive, thereby keeping it young. And your smell system is particularly adept at repair and renewal. (Olfactory cells have recently been used in human transplant therapy to treat spinal cord injury, for example.) One reason for the olfactory system’s adaptive responsiveness is that it undergoes adult neurogenesis. Humans grow new olfactory neurons every three to four weeks throughout their entire life, not just during child development. (These sensory neurons sit in the mucous of your nose, where they pick up airborne chemicals and send activity signals straight to the core of the brain.) If it weren’t for this ongoing regeneration of sensory cells in your nose, we would stop detecting smells after our first few colds. Neural plasticity weakens as we grow old — and so does our sense of smell. Olfactory performance decreases around the age of 70 as the regeneration of olfactory neurons slows down. Yet this process of regeneration never stops entirely. Training your nose helps slow down that decline and offers a great way to increase your brain’s plasticity. That said, increasing your sensitivity to odors in the environment does not always sound desirable. Smell usually comes with negative connotations: that whiff of urine in the metro, that overpowering literal skunk, or that trail of body odor from the person walking in front of you. But paying more attention to the smells around you also has benefits, and not just for a greater enjoyment of food aromas and neighbors’ gardens. Recent studies show that olfactory abilities correspond with differences in cortical areas involved in smell processing in the brain. Johannes Frasnelli, an olfactory scientist at the University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières, explained: “We did some studies where we saw that there is a link between the structure of certain brain regions-like the thickness of the cortex and the thickness of the gray matter layer in certain brain olfactory processing regions-and the ability to perceive.” Frasnelli and his colleagues found that people with better perceptual capacities had a thicker cortex. When they looked at people who had lost their sense of smell, they also saw a reduction of cortical matter in areas involved in odor processing. That raises the question: Could you change the structure of your brain simply by smelling things? In 2019, Frasnelli’s group discovered that undergoing as little as six weeks of intense olfactory training results in significant structural changes in some regions of the brain (namely, the right inferior frontal gyrus, the bilateral fusiform gyrus, and the right entorhinal cortex). Participants were given three tasks with a cognitive component. The first task was a classification task. Participants had to organize two simple odor mixtures by ordering each from lowest to highest concentration. The second was an identification task. Participants were presented with a target odor blended with a citrus scent in a specific ratio (4%). Then they were given the same blend in different ratios and asked to order them according to quality (more citrusy or less?). Lastly, the detection task: Was the learned target odor present in a range of 14 samples of different odor mixtures or not? This entire exercise was undertaken each day for 20 minutes during the six weeks. Responses were monitored and evaluated on speed and accuracy. Such intense olfactory training led to a general improvement in olfactory performance. Plus, the increase of olfactory skill was not restricted to the training exercises but also transferred to other olfactory abilities-abilities that had not been tested as part of the training. These perceptual tests included: the detection threshold of an odor, accuracy in odor discrimination (same or different?), cued odor identification (which of these four descriptors is correct?), and even free odor identification (identifying an odor without cues!). Increasing insight into what the nose knows, and how it communicates with the brain, has broader implications-even philosophical ones. Old (yet still prevalent) cookie-cutter views of the mind coax us to believe that our senses are passive-indifferently picking up signals in the world that are then processed by the brain. Perception, in such views, is a process separate from cognition. Highly plastic systems such as olfaction present us with a much more intriguing and interwoven picture of the mind: Training your nose’s performance (just like other cognitive capacities) fundamentally shapes what you perceive by rewiring the system. Your senses are far from being impartial transmitters; what you are able to perceive in the world ultimately hinges on the depth of your cognitive engagement with it. In other words, your mind does not emerge apathetically as a product of some remarkable, intricate molecular twists performed by the brain. The mind is enhanced by what you can train your brain to do. Just like strength is a result of muscle training, cognitive training of the senses is the bodybuilding of the brain.

https://medium.com/neodotlife/mind-your-nose-f0b097d533bb

[]

2020-10-10 20:17:37.132000+00:00

['Biotechnology', 'Neuroscience', 'Brain', 'Wellness', 'Science']

The 4 Purposes of Dreams

Passionate about the synergy between science and technology to provide better care. Check out my newsletter: scienceforreal.substack.com 📰 Follow

https://medium.com/science-for-real/the-4-purposes-of-dreams-fc6719090e75

['Eshan Samaranayake']

2020-12-21 16:05:19.524000+00:00

['Health', 'Neuroscience', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology', 'Science']

Surviving a Rod Through the Head

You’ve heard of him, haven’t you? Phineas Gage. The railroad worker who survived an explosion that involved an iron rod piercing through his left cheek and out of his brain and skull. Yeah. I know. You’re probably wondering “yeah, alright sweet. What about him?” Well, let’s just say that he was a really popular patient for the field of neuroscience (Cherry, par. 1). And what I found the most interesting about this tragic event was the science of his behavior afterward. For those of you who don’t know much about Phineas Gage, let me fill you in with the help of my research. Phineas Gage, 25 years old, was a railroad worker in Vermont. One day, at work, he was using an iron rod to handle explosive gun powder. As he was using the iron rod to handle the gun powder, an explosion suddenly occurred. The iron rod then went through his left cheek and brain. Fortunately, he survived and was able to talk and walk after the accident (Cherry, par. 2–3). Why did people say that Phineas Gage was a “different person” after his accident? It actually has to do with neuroscience. The iron rod went through his brain, in particular, it went through the frontal lobe of his brain. Does this mean that the frontal lobe of your brain has to do with the kind of person you are? To answer this question, we have to understand what the frontal lobe in our brain is responsible for. Our frontal lobes are responsible for many things. Some of them are higher-order thinking, personality, and decision making. This explains why people who knew Phineas Gage said that he was a totally different person after the accident. Since the iron rod went through his frontal lobe, it means that his personality and thinking, as a whole, completely changed, making him seem like he was a whole different person due to the way he started acting. This accident and the treatment of Phineas Gage actually played a big role in the field of neurology. His case helped scientists better understand the role of the frontal cortex of the brain (Cherry, par. 16–17). Bibliography Cherry, Kendra. “The Famous Case of Phineas Gage’s Astonishing Brain Injury.” Phineas Gage’s Astonishing Brain Injury, Verywell Mind, 3 Oct. 2019, www.verywellmind.com/phineas-gage-2795244#targetText=The%20rod%20penetrated%20Gage's%20left,be%20seen%20by%20a%20doctor.

https://medium.com/live-your-life-on-purpose/surviving-a-rod-through-the-head-2e5d74db978

['Rishav Sinha']

2020-02-26 00:01:01.576000+00:00

['Brain', 'Health', 'Development', 'Psychology', 'Science']

Mentally, Young Adults Are Suffering Most From COVID

Mentally, Young Adults Are Suffering Most From COVID “When it comes to having a painful feeling, the only way out is through.” Photo created by the author on Canva Pro “Young individuals reported higher acute stress and depressive symptoms than older respondents, suggesting that despite being most deadly for older populations at the time of our data collection, the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath have had widespread impacts across populations.” — Holman et al., Science Advances 2020 It’s no secret that COVID-19 and the pandemic have been detrimental to people’s mental health. However, the group that’s suffered the most from COVID-19 is young adults, who have had the biggest mental toll from COVID. Holman et al. found that 62.9 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds reported an anxiety or depressive disorder, and a quarter found they were using more than alcohol or drugs to cope with their pandemic stress. The researchers found that a quarter of the age group “seriously considered suicide” between mid-March to mid-April. The conclusion from those findings is that young people are suffering most mentally from COVID. Unfortunately, I don’t find these findings that surprising. I know a lot of people struggle with COVID. I’m struggling with COVID, and I’m in that age range of 18- to 24-year-olds — and I experience that phenomenon as much as anyone in my age range. But Claudia Wallis at Scientific American reports on more than just the mental health of youth mental health during COVID. A report from the CDC in August found that incidences of anxiety symptoms tripled and depression quadrupled in a representative sample. And the most affected are people who had pre-existing mental health issues, people of color, and low-income individuals, so the vulnerable individuals in society are more vulnerable during the pandemic. Interestingly enough, Ettman et al. found that Asian individuals saw an almost fivefold increase in depression, and some psychiatrists who talked to Wallis attributed that to racism and slurs related to the Asian-Americans. As an Asian-American, the pandemic is forcing me to confront anti-Asian racism in a way I’ve never done so before. According to Holman et al., young people may have been more depressed because: “[They] may have had more disruption in life events: graduations, weddings, the senior year of college and of high school. All those transitions were disrupted, as well as school and social connections, which we know are very important for young people.” And the researchers also found that increased exposure to media coverage about the coronavirus led to more distress. Sensationalist reports lead to more anxiety and depression, and clearly the lack of social connection also disproportionately affects young people. Psychologist Logan Jones stresses that much of the reporting these days keeps people hooked on the news cycle, and keeps people addicted to the news. As such, Jones emphasizes the importance of keeping boundaries. “Consuming too much of this kind of news, whether actively or passively, can be very toxic, and what you hear has an impact on your mood,” Jones says. The CDC also states that the mental health of young adults has been impacted socially, emotionally, and mentally. They attribute these mental health concerns to the trauma faced at a developmental age, and all hands are on deck for parents, caregivers, and other adults to support children and young people. Part of that trauma is a result of changes in routines, employment, and educational challenges, a loss of security and safety, and missed significant life events. As a teacher during COVID, almost all of my students say they want to return to the physical school building during COVID. They report being more lonely and isolated, and can’t wait to return to see their friends and teachers again. My school is emphasizing more relationship-building activities and prioritizing mental health during lessons more than adhering to a curriculum as a result. Takeaways Well, the problem is difficult and can seem negative, but what can young people do to tackle mental health concerns during COVID? The CDC states that to fight stress during COVID, young people need to recognize and address fear, stress, and behavioral changes during COVID. Health concerns are certainly a priority for young people as well, and excessive worry and sadness leads to trouble paying attention, trouble concentrating, and trouble focusing on activities. It is also important for young people to stay socially connected. Staying socially connected through video chats, Zoom, and phone calls is also a solution. But honestly, we’re all doing the best we can, and it’s very important to recognize that as we go through our days. Whatever we’re going through is valid and reasonable, and above all, normal. For me, what’s helped my mental health is spending time with my girlfriend and my friends within reason, limiting how much I doomscroll, and get enough sleep. I try to exercise and maintain a fitness challenge, but what works for me certainly won’t work for everyone. Unicef emphasizes that it’s important to feel your feelings instead of trying to resist them, as well. According to Dr. Lisa Damour:

https://medium.com/the-partnered-pen/mentally-young-adults-are-suffering-most-from-covid-5f690c81c897

['Ryan Fan']

2020-11-19 15:27:36.001000+00:00

['Society', 'Mental Health', 'Health', 'Nonfiction', 'Coronavirus']

How to Turn Your Popular Blog Series Into a Bestselling Book

How to Turn Your Popular Blog Series Into a Bestselling Book Thoughts from someone who’s done it five times Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash Every serious writer’s dream is to see their name on a bestselling book — one that people eagerly read, review, and tell their friends about. Is that your dream? It can come true. Your words can reach further and do more good than you ever imagined. You’re already here on Medium writing for the masses. Maybe you have a blog, too. I’ll bet you’ve noticed it’s infinitely easier to get traffic here than it is on your own property. Why is that? When it’s your own place, you have to invite people to come. They won’t necessarily see you when they’re surfing the web, looking for content like yours. The keywords might bring your site to the top if you’ve done your homework and bought a few (or a lot of) ads. If you’ve got a hefty budget to spend before you make a dime, that can be a great way to go. But what if you don’t? Hope for those on a limited budget When you first start out, you’ve got a big dream. You know your story is good. You know it can change people’s lives. It doesn’t matter if it’s truth or fiction. The truth is, even fiction has a bit of truth in it. If it didn’t, it would be fantasy. We need things to make sense, even in a made up world or we can’t follow what’s happening, much less believe it enough to read it. I write nonfiction, most of the time, so what I share here will come from that perspective. If you’re a storyteller, there are still principles here you can use to promote your work. So stay with me, okay? The beauty of writing on a platform like Medium is you don’t have to spend a dime to get paid. You do have to spend time — and we all have some of that. Here’s how you’ll spend it: Brainstorming ideas Refining those ideas into drafts Editing your writing for prime time Sharing a bit on social media, your own work and the work of others You can cash in on community when you contribute something valuable to it. The more valuable it is, the more likely others will read it, comment on it, and share it. When you do the same for others, some will want to pay you back. Generosity is the key to growth. Write to learn what people want A book is an ambitious project. Some say it takes a year or more. Others say you can write a book a week. I’m not sure I advocate either of these approaches. I say writing a book should take long enough for it to be effective. Depending on your subject and how much time you have, that could take three months or nine months. If you know a lot up front, the process will be shorter. If you have to do a lot of research, budget that time in. So what makes a book effective? How do you answer that question? Photo by bruce mars on Unsplash First, your book is effective when it satisfies a reader’s need. What do your readers want? If you have a following, you already know, don’t you? They probably want a few things like: Entertainment Information Hope An escape Chances are, they want a mix of these things. As you blog, invite your readers to talk to you. Use that feedback to discover what’s missing in their lives that they want more of. Then you can take on the responsibility to provide it to them. If they feel the need strongly enough, they’ll buy. Second, your book is effective when it fills a gap. Don’t just write another leadership book because people buy a lot of them. The same goes for romance, historical fiction, writing advice, or whatever your speciality is. Give them something they can’t get anywhere else. How do you figure out what’s missing? Read a few other books, preferably the bestsellers. What do they cover? How well do they do it? What might you do even better than this author? Scan the reviews. Is there something people want that the book doesn’t cover? Is there something people complain about that you can make irrelevant in your book? Read the most popular reviews, positive and negative. Make notes. Then use what you learn to make your book shine. Talk to people who’ve read these books if you can. Ask them what they liked about them, and what they didn’t. What do they wish the author had covered that he didn’t? What did the author include that they think should have been left out? Feel free to reward those who help you with a free copy of your awesome book. Third, test your material in blog posts and refine it in the book. Before you write your draft in silence and refine it for your book, why not test it with the people who already read your content? You’ll learn a lot this way: Whether your readers think your idea is as good as you do What questions they have about your content How clearly and persuasively you’re making your points Wouldn’t you rather know this before you spend a year in front of your desk writing your masterpiece? Better to let it walk in public first before it runs on the digital presses. If you’re worried people might not buy your book when they can read it online, here’s a bit of insurance to nudge them forward — include some surprises in the book that they can’t get anywhere else. Also, you don’t have to transfer it word for word if you don’t want to. You’ll probably need to add some transitions so it all flows together. This will become clearer as you work through your blog series. By the time you’re done, you’ll have a book that already took a test drive before you hit publish. There’s no guarantee you’ll be the number one bestseller, but you’ll sure have a better shot than you will with a book you write on speculation. When you already have a following, at least some of them will be eager to buy your book on day one. Photo by Kenny Luo on Unsplash Finally, it’s not all about you There are so many people trying to sell something now it’s ridiculous. And yeah, I know, I’m asking you to be one more of them. You can set yourself apart by focusing on service. Sure, you’ve gotta get paid. We all need to eat. You soften the blow when you provide more value than what it costs to get that value. People are already spending money on books, courses, and the like. They buy when they believe what they’re getting is more valuable than the cash in their pocket. When you test drive your book on your blog, you can establish value as you go. Each post should add to the overall value of the total package. With all that going for you, you’ll have no guilt. Marketing won’t feel so slimy. You know your book is good, and you can stand behind it with honest pride. Make it about them and they’ll make your dream come true. Do that and I’ll see you on the bestseller list!

https://frankmckinley.medium.com/want-to-turn-your-blog-into-a-book-6360e4b1d670

['Frank Mckinley']

2020-01-28 03:36:58.566000+00:00

['Books', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Writing', 'Marketing', 'Productivity']

Dr Faisal Dar — Pioneer of Liver Transplantation in Pakistan

Dr Faisal Dar — Pioneer of Liver Transplantation in Pakistan Dr. Fasial Dar is the pioneer of liver transplantation in Pakistan. He works at Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad where he conducted the first ever transplant in 2010 of a 9 year old boy. Recently, along with his team he has successfully completed 200 transplant surgeries in Pakistan. Fatima Arif: Give us some of your personal background; your family and education background. Dr. Faisal Dar: I was born in Faisalabad; but due to my father’s death when I was very young; my family decided to move back to our native village, Kotla Bhalot, in Kharian, District Gujrat. There I completed my basic education from a local school, leading to Matric and F.Sc from Kharian Cantt. My MBBS is from Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore. After that I completed my FCPS (surgery): Fellow of College of Physicians & Surgeons from Pakistan. Then I went to Ireland for my FRCS (Surgery) Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. This was followed by Fellowship in Liver Transplantation/Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery from Kings College London School of Medicine, UK. Additionally, I am also a Fellow of European Board in Transplant Surgery (FEBTS — Transplant Surgery). FA: When did you decide to become a doctor, was it a personal choice or like the majority here your parents idea and how did you decide to opt for this specialty? FD: My family wanted me to join Pakistan Army; becoming a doctor was my own choice. Since I qualified the merit list for medical college; so it was easy to convince my family to let me follow my calling. Surgery was my passion since the start and that is why after completing my house job I decided to go for my fellowship in general surgery. After completing my training and exams I went to UK for further specialization in 2003. At that time there was no liver transplant and hepatopancreaticobiliary surgeons in Pakistan and considering the huge need for this facility in our country I decided to opt this specialty. FA: Share your journey of how the liver transplants started and what is the procedure whereby patients are selected? FD: The first liver transplant in humans was done in 1963. Liver transplant went through two decades of evolution and scientific work, and it was only in 1983 when liver transplant was accepted as the standard treatment for liver failure. Since then huge number of liver transplants are carried out across the world. Living donor liver transplant (in which a healthy individual donates a part of his liver to his beloved one) started in early 1990’s; the techniques and procedures got matured by 2000, and now living donor liver transplant is the standard accepted options for patients with liver failure in countries where donations after brain death does not exists. After completing my training at King’s College Hospital, London, I decided to come back to Pakistan and start liver transplant program in my country. I was lucky to get good colleagues and tremendous support from the management to get the basic work done before we could do our first liver transplant on 30th April 2010 at Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad. Personally it was a very happy and emotional moment and a great honor for me as a doctor to be the pioneer of liver transplantation in Pakistan. Patients go through an extensive assessment process to determine their candidacy for liver transplant. In short any patient who’s liver has failed either due to a chronic disease (like hepatitis B & C, autoimmune liver diseases etc.) or suffer from acute liver failure (due to hepatitis E, A or other viruses, drugs or toxins) and patients who have developed liver cancer can benefit from liver transplant. Patients who are unfit to go through such a major operation (due to severe heart or lung disease) or patients who have advanced cancer are not considered for liver transplant because they will not benefit in short or long term from liver transplant. FA: How are patients who can’t afford the procedure included in the process and how is there funding secured? FD: Liver transplant is one of the most complex operation in the medical field. In order to conduct a liver transplant there are some minimal standards that need to be followed by the hospital. Without these basic set standards and the highest level of skill set it is not possible to do a liver transplant successfully. Someone has to bear the cost of the operation. At the moment majority of the patients pay out of their own pocket. Some are funded by the insurance companies, some by the Government and some by different NGO’s. Pakistan is a beautiful country. Its natural beauty comprising of landscapes, deserts, rivers, planes and the mighty mountains is matchless. The people of Pakistan are loving and caring, known for their hospitality. FA: What is the future you see for Pakistan’s medical community in terms of the latest treatments and technology? FD: Technology is not a big issue as the world has become a global village and access to technology has been made easier. The most important factor is the human resource. Pakistan needs expat doctors to come back; transfer knowledge, techniques and train the future generations to the latest available treatments in the world. FA: Share one inspiring story that you came across over the period of your career that had a lasting impact on you? FD: The story that had an impact on me and is close to my heart is from our first liver transplant at Shifa International Hospital. The patient, Muhammad Yasin, a 9 year old boy who was in a need of liver transplant. He was the only son after seven daughters, and none of the family members had a matching blood group for them to donate a part of their liver to save his life. It was his 21 years old cousin; Humaira; a university student who volunteered herself to go through an operation to save her cousin’s life. The courage of this young girl, the bond of the family and the faith they had on us was amazing. It has been three years down the line both, Yasin and Humaira are living a normal life. FA: Pakistan faces brain drain, specifically in the medical field. What is your take on it and in your opinion what is the solution to this problem? FD: Personally, I think Pakistani doctors need to go abroad to get exposure to the Western world, that not only enhances their medical knowledge, but it grooms them. Furthermore this exposure adds to their confidence while at the same time teaches them better patient care procedures. However, I also believe that these doctors after improving their skills should come back and serve Pakistan. A lot of responsibility also lies on the Government to improve the public sector hospitals and to redefine service structure for doctors. If our hospitals are upgraded and the doctors are offered decent salaries, I think a lot of doctors will prefer coming back home. FA: What is your message to the international community about Pakistan, where you would like to change at least one stereotype about the country and its people? FD: Pakistan is a beautiful country. Its natural beauty comprising of landscapes, deserts, rivers, planes and the mighty mountains is matchless. The people of Pakistan are loving and caring, known for their hospitality. Our youth is really talented and determine to work for a better future. There are macro level issues, like corruption, bad governance and terrorism that are the obstacles in the materializing of the country’s true potential. I hope to play whatever role I can to help our younger generation break these shekels and realize their dreams.

https://medium.com/storyfest/dr-faisal-dar-pioneer-of-liver-transplantation-in-pakistan-e6f373cb0ea

['Fatima Arif']

2019-02-28 06:01:04.914000+00:00

['People', 'Storyfest', 'Health', 'Pakistan', 'Storytelling']

Sunlight — The Natural Supplement For Our Mental Health

Sunlight — The Natural Supplement For Our Mental Health The science behind how the sun is related to our mental wellbeing Photo by Rampal Singh on Unsplash Yoga, meditation, binaural beats, aroma therapy. All of these are our attempts at improving our mental health. More than ever, this generation has spoken out about mental health issues and have taken considerable steps in order to try and improve our mental health. Yet, amongst the many techniques that seem to be popular, it’s surprising that being under the sunlight isn’t something that everybody does. After all, it’s completely free and can be done easily (at least when it isn’t winter). Sunlight and Serotonin Experts often associate exposure to sunlight with the release of serotonin. And this has been proven by science. A study conducted to find the relationship between serotonin, sunlight, and the season found that the rate of serotonin production is directly related to the prevailing duration of bright sunlight. At the same time, as the luminosity of the sunlight increased, the rate of serotonin production also rose rapidly. Furthermore, it has been reported in Times that autopsy studies found higher levels of serotonin in individuals that passed away in summer than those who did in winter. This difference in serotonin level was attributed to the differing amounts of sunlight available between the two different seasons. So… exposure to sunlight is associated with the release of serotonin. But what does that have to do with mental health? Serotonin (also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine) is actually a neurotransmitter and is known as the natural ‘feel-good’ chemical. This is due to its role as a natural mood stabilizer and its ability to reduce the symptoms of depression. As such, by increasing the rate of serotonin production, sunlight acts as a natural mood booster, allowing one to feel happier while reducing the negative effects that are often associated with depression. In fact, in 2018, a study conducted by Chinese researchers found that moderate exposure to sunlight correlates to an improvement in memory and motor learning in mice. While humans might function differently from mice, this study suggests that a similar relation could be happening for us. Additionally, results from another study also suggested that exposure to sunlight is associated with the cognitive decline one experiences. In this study, the researchers found that individuals with a decreased exposure of sunlight experienced a higher probability of cognitive decline. This was especially true for individuals with existing depression. Sunlight and Melatonin Apart from serotonin, sunlight plays a key role in the release of another chemical — melatonin. However, instead of being produced when it is sunny, melatonin is produced when it is dark. The lower the light intensity, the more melatonin secreted. While serotonin is a feel-good chemical, melatonin is the natural hormone that promotes sleep in our bodies. As it becomes dark, our body secretes more melatonin in order to prepare us for sleep. This means that melatonin is essential to help us regulate our sleep cycles. However, there is evidence that suggests that shift workers who work through the night (and as such, are less exposed to sunlight) produce less melatonin. Without this sleep producing hormone, one could possibly experience insomnia and low quality sleep from sleep disturbances. As quality sleep is key to maintaining a healthy mind, exposing yourself to sunlight can help encourage your body to create melatonin, allowing you to get a good night’s rest (and an improved mental state). Furthermore, normal melatonin secretion is key to maintaining our bodies’ natural circadian rhythm. As a disruption of the natural circadian rhythm is known to increase the risk of depression, going under the sun to maintain healthy levels of melatonin production could be key in helping you keep depression at bay. Lack of Sunlight Leaves You SAD With sunlight playing key roles in the creation of serotonin and melatonin, a lack of sunlight can actually lead to a condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD is actually a form of depression that typically affects individuals during the winter seasons (explaining the lethargy and helplessness you might feel when winter comes). While sunlight is not the only factor, it is suggested that SAD primarily affects individuals in winter as one is less likely to be exposed to strong sunlight. And this points to the importance of sunlight exposure. In order to help reduce the possibility of SAD (especially when it isn’t even winter yet), try your best to expose yourself to natural sunlight as much as possible. Who knows, that might just be the key to helping you keep illnesses like SAD at bay. Sunlight and Vitamin D Apart from serotonin and melatonin, sunlight plays a key role in helping our bodies synthesize vitamin D. A fat-soluble vitamin, vitamin D promotes calcium absorption (strengthening your bones) while also supporting the immune system. A lack of vitamin D in one’s body actually increases the risk of osteoporosis, jaundice, and cardiovascular diseases. As physical well being is tied closely to one’s mental health, getting a healthy dose of vitamin D helps protect your mental wellness by maintaining your physical health. Besides physical health, vitamin D also has a surprising role in mental health as well. Researchers have found that when one has a vitamin D level of below 20 nanograms per millimeter, the risk of depression is raised by as much as 85 percent when compared to individuals with vitamin D levels of more than 30 nanograms per millimeter). Studies done also suggest that there is a casual relation between taking vitamin D supplements and an improvement in symptoms for those who suffer from depression. As few foods offer vitamin D naturally, going out into the sun might be the best (and easiest) way to help your body get enough vitamin D. But How Much Sunlight is Enough? Of course, we’ve all heard warnings that tell us not to go out into the sun. As sunlight is made up of ultraviolet (UV) rays, experts often warn us about prolonged exposure to strong sunlight. After all, UV rays damage our skin cells, promoting the formation of blemishes and wrinkles while increasing the risk of skin cancer. However, Dr. James O’Keefe, a cardiologist who studies the relationship between vitamin D and cardiovascular health, believes that we are evolved to be in the presence of direct sun exposure, claiming that having some direct sunlight helps benefit our health greatly. In fact, WHO has published guidelines regarding the amount of sunlight exposure we should have. With the beneficial effects of sunlight exposure, WHO suggests getting 5–15 minutes of unblocked (e.g. no sunscreen, no long sleeves) sunlight on our face, arms and hands 2–3 times a week. With more and more of us spending an increased number of time indoors, going out for occasional sunlight exposure can greatly help improve your mental health. Of course, as UV rays can still cause your skin harm, do keep your direct sunlight exposure short and avoid periods with strong UV radiation (e.g. noon). If you are going to be out in the sun for an extended period of time, protect yourself with sunscreen. And for those with skin conditions, it might be good to ask your doctor for advice before heading out to bask in the sun.

https://medium.com/wholistique/sunlight-the-natural-supplement-for-our-mental-health-7f59d5fa4492

['Jerren Gan']

2020-12-16 10:47:37.171000+00:00

['Self Improvement', 'Mental Health', 'Health', 'Wellness', 'Science']

Occam’s dice

Occam’s dice Distrusting biological metaphors “The aim of science is to seek the simplest explanation of complex facts. We are apt to fall into the error of thinking that the facts are simple because simplicity is the goal of our quest. The guiding motto in the life of every natural philosopher should be ‘Seek simplicity and distrust it.’” — Alfred North Whitehead Simplicity is powerful. Economists seek minimal models to describe market fluctuations, and our greatest mathematicians use the guiding light of elegance to discover their next great truths. But is this preference a fundamental reflection of nature’s workings, or an aesthetic one? Occam’s razor — positing that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one — is particularly abused in biology. As Eve Marder has long argued, biological systems are equipped with redundant strategies and contingencies that confound the interpretation of even the most tightly controlled biological experiments. Even the idea of probing a “controlled” biological system merits careful reflection. By controlling for variables, we stray from reality, instead describing an abstract, manipulated system, and often still failing to account for the hundreds of cellular mechanisms we don’t yet know about. (Take, for example, surprising work from Didier Stanier and colleagues, who recently reported that knocking out a gene with CRISPR leads to the expression of homologous genes to compensate for the loss.) In a debate held a decade ago, Richard Dawkins and Lynn Margulis argued about the role of symbiosis in evolutionary theory. An exasperated Dawkins asked: “why on earth would you want to drag in symbiogenesis when it’s so unparsimonious and uneconomical?” Margulis replied: “because it’s there.” Parsimony for parsimony’s sake is not parsimonious in the biosciences. It’s important to recognize that our formalization of biology is fundamentally historical — philosophers like Hans-Jorg Rheinberger, Bachelard, and others have argued that biology has been primarily technology (rather than hypothesis) driven. The ideas of biology are inextricable from the technology that produces them. As Rheinberger put it: “phenomena and instrument, object and experience, concept and method are all engaged in a running process of mutual instruction.” Our resultant understanding of nature is dominated by our choice of experimental system, which includes our instruments, the model organism, even the culture wherein a discovery is made: the knowledge generated is, in some very real ways, as contingent as the processes it describes. We fit discovered phenomena with simple handles — reduced, for practical purposes, to a sort of currency to be exchanged between labs, resorting to pale metaphors when communicating the natural mysteries. It’s clear why we do this. It’s in part a heuristic shortcut, making things easier to wrap our heads around. We want to understand nature — we, being individual humans, not as the vague “human collective.” We therefore seek truths comprehensible to a single intellect; and so, as the parable goes, we’re searching for our keys under a streetlamp. Even so, it seems so inherently obvious, so inarguable that true things should be simpler things. The instinct to discover the rules of nature is older than man: the nervous system is biology’s greatest prediction algorithm, and it dutifully learns patterns whose knowledge might enhance its chance of survival (science being the formal application of this impulse). Thus, human thought is underpinned by an unconscious aesthetic laid down in the nervous system itself. Studies suggest we naturally tend to find satisfaction in simplicity, in learnability (often through repetition)— in that which is easy to process. In music, for example, the most universally enjoyable songs lie somewhere between tedious simplicity (like the worst of pop) and unpredictable entropy (like some modern composers). We’re just acting after our nervous system’s modus operandi when we seek learnable patterns. Maxims that appear to be self-evident — e.g. something along Occam’s logic, “a simpler explanation is better” — may only appear to be so because they’re rewarded within the system that evaluates them. That is, they’re self-reflective: the nervous system, itself effectively a simplifying model of its environment, seeks to uncover patterns that render its existence more manageable. It’s evaluating a reductive internal model against its own implicit function. The mind is a causality inferring machine: the impetus to ascribe linear causal relationships is inbuilt to our nervous system. Armed with this hammer, the whole messy universe looks like an elegant nail. Of course, ultimately, what we want to do with science is to uncover what Dawkins has referred to as “economically expressed rules.” We are interested in the objects of life primarily because they point us to the process of life. We don’t count the color bands of a beetle for the sake of knowing this fact, but because our understanding of rules often emerges from collections of observations — in the beetle’s case, for example, untangling the logic of developmental programs. But is there even a clear boundary between biological object and process? For example, it’s often said that biological entities perform computations (we’ll ignore, for the time being, the fact that no one can agree what is meant by computation): the organism an object, and computation its process. In doing so we suppose a separation between software and hardware, algorithm and data. But organisms are also the result of computations: cells can be thought of as “testing hypotheses” during the development of an embryo, for example. Both evolution and nervous systems are the results of computations becoming embodied in the architecture of their computers. Even in machine learning, as Sunderhauf et al. recently argued, “there is a spectrum — rather than a dichotomy — between programming and data.” Indeed, the success of machine learning, despite its inelegance, underscores the fact that simplicity isn’t necessarily a useful goal. Evolution has never (until, perhaps, soon) operated by reason, but rolls of a die. The resultant systems are rife with feedback loops and interdependencies. Neuroscientists too often conflate observational studies with causal explanations of behaviors, but a description or manipulation of what neurons or networks are active during a behavior is not the explanans of that behavior. ‘Necessary and sufficient’ doesn’t work the way neuroscientists usually use it. Thirty years ago, Randolf DiDomenico and colleagues proposed that we avoid making causal claims in individual papers, and instead build them from multiple studies using various techniques and approaches. Given the sheer complexity of these networks and amount of data we’ve generated, this is increasingly beyond the scope of individual human intellect. All this is to say: think hard about what it is you wish to show with your studies. Be humble in your claims. Pragmatism may be a more holy grail than Truth. Or, as Hemingway (perhaps apocryphally) advised: kill your darlings. Want more? Follow us at The Spike Twitter: @kellybclancy

https://medium.com/the-spike/occams-dice-258aace751c4

['Kelly Clancy']

2018-08-22 14:55:56.262000+00:00

['Machine Learning', 'Science', 'Neuroscience', 'Psychology', 'Artificial Intelligence']

To Quickly Build Trust, Tell Your Origin Story

Photo credit: Leo Leung People want to know why you do what you do. If you’re an entrepreneur, your investors, customers, and employees want to know why you founded your company. Apply for a job, and recruiters ask about your career path. If you’re a freelancer, everyone is curious about how you got started. Why do we crave origin stories? Because they reveal character. Superman is a good guy because his planet exploded, his parents sent him to Earth, and the Kents raised him to fight evil. Steve Jobs became a trusted CEO, in part, by bouncing back from failure. My dad thrived as a home builder, but only after terminating a partnership with a prominent colleague whose practices he found unethical. In other words: Your origin story helps people decide whether or not to trust you. How to Craft a Powerful Origin Story: The 5 Essential Elements In strategic messaging and positioning engagements with CEOs, as well as business storytelling workshops for teams, I’ve helped hundreds of people construct origin stories. The best instantly convey not only trustworthiness, but also traits like commitment, persistence, and curiosity. So what makes a great origin story work? At the heart of every great origin story is a single event that forever changes the course of the teller’s life. Typically it arises out of failure or disappointment; sometimes it’s an unexpected discovery. Very frequently, another person illuminates a new way forward. Can you pinpoint the event that set you on your current path? (Yes, we all have one.) The event doesn’t have to be life-changing in the “I won the lottery” sense (though congrats if that happened). It just has to reorient you towards what you’re doing now. Once you’ve identified your event, construct your origin story around it using the following five components, and tell it in this order: 1. Once upon a time… How was your life before the life-changing event? Most importantly, what did you want back then? Share relevant details: How old were you? Where did you live? When did this happen? (No, you don’t literally have to start with “Once upon a time…”) For example, here’s the “Once upon a time…” for my origin story: Back in the dot-com years, I was living in Manhattan, struggling to fund my startup. It was not going well. One VC attached a hand-written note to his standard rejection letter: “Andy, I rate every business plan I receive on a scale of one to 10. Yours is a one.” At the bottom, he wrote, “P.S. Not a compelling story.” 2. “Then one day…” Next, describe your life-changing event. If possible, tell this section as a scene with details that the listener can sense (visualize, hear, smell, etc.). Again, here’s mine: One day, I’m walking up Broadway, when I notice a huge sign in the window of a Barnes and Noble. The sign says, “For anyone who wants to tell a compelling story,” and it’s pointing to a book about screenwriting. I buy the book. 3. “Because of that…” What relevant events were then set in motion? What obstacles did you have to overcome? Basically, describe what happened next: That night, I read the book from cover to cover. It’s written in the language of feature films (three act structure, etc.), but much of it seems to apply to telling the story of a startup. I rewrite my pitch and send it to a new batch of investors. 4. “Until finally…” What was the turning point — the moment when you really committed to the new path? It’s especially effective to reflect here on how you changed and what you learned: After receiving the revised pitch, several investor groups invite my team to their offices, and four months later we have a term sheet from a prominent Silicon Valley venture firm. The numbers, the team — all remained same. The only thing that changed was how we told our story. 5. “So now…” Last but not least, describe what you do now, and connect it to the story. So now I help leadership teams craft strategic messaging and positioning, which is really just their story — the story they use to power fundraising, sales, marketing, recruiting, and product. I also teach storytelling workshops for teams. And I can trace it all back to my failed pitch. Swap Origin Stories with Others to Quickly Build Stronger Relationships Once you’ve drafted your own origin story, tell it a few times to see what works. That’s not to say you should introduce yourself to strangers with “Once upon a time...” But if you’re embarking on a relationship with someone new — a customer, a prospect, an investor— and they ask, try it out. Pay particular attention to where they lean in. Also, ask others to tell you their origin stories. Listen closely, and you’ll quickly learn about their character, values and desires, which can be helpful in all sorts of relationships. As one woman in my recent General Assembly workshop said after swapping origin stories with a classmate: “There’s something about sharing these stories that makes me feel instantly connected.”

https://medium.com/the-mission/want-trust-share-your-origin-story-78db82157cca

['Andy Raskin']

2016-07-06 19:45:00.648000+00:00

['Entrepreneurship', 'Personal Development', 'Startup', 'Marketing', 'Storytelling']

Four Exercises to Strengthen Your Writing

A few months ago, I wrote an article sharing several writing exercises from famous authors. Just as pianists practice scales to strengthen their skills like rhythm and timing, writers can sharpen specific skills through deliberate practice. Since publishing that original article, I’ve been searching for more creative writing exercises, and I discovered four more gems that I’m excited to share with you today. Struggling to write effective dialogue? Or craft vivid descriptions? Or maybe you’re facing writer’s block? These creative writing exercises will help you overcome those obstacles. Let’s dive in. (Please note that links to books on Amazon might be affiliate links which means I’ll earn a small commission if you buy through the link with no extra cost to you. Thank you!) The George R.R. Martin Exercise for Writing Effective Dialogue At the Neuchâtel Fantastic Film Festival in Switzerland, an interviewer asked fantasy writer George R.R. Martin what qualities are needed to be a good writer. Among several pieces of advice, Martin stressed the importance of having “a good ear for dialogue and the way people actually speak … the individuality to give each character his own method of speaking.” Easier said than done, right? Lucky for us, Martin went on to share a writing exercise that can help you sharpen your dialogue skills: I sometimes teach writing classes. And there are various exercises you can give to students. One of them is to describe a half dozen different characters. Write a speech for each of these different characters without a name tag. Just say, “Here’s a priest, here’s a soldier, here’s a housewife”… Invent whatever you want. Write a speech for each of them in which…they don’t give their name…just make each speech sound different from the other so you can instantly know just from the words this is the priest speaking, this is the prostitute speaking… If they all sound the same, you have a problem. They should sound different. A bonus tip: make sure to read your dialogue out loud. That’s a fantastic way to test whether your conversations sound authentic. The Dani Shapiro Exercise for Banishing Writer’s Block Ever sit down at your computer to begin writing a new short story or a new personal essay, but instead you find yourself having a stare down with the blank screen? You may type a few lines, but after several minutes you delete everything. You just can’t seem to find the right words to continue. New York Times bestselling-author Dani Shapiro has the perfect writing prompt for you. In an interview, she shared two words that instantly help banish writer’s block, My favorite prompt is based on a book that was published a long time ago by a writer named Joe Brainard, and the title is ‘I Remember’…In the book every single sentence begins with the phrase, “I remember.” …When I give that exercise at retreats, I look out from where I’m sitting at a sea of people, and not one of them hesitates. Those are extremely evocative words. I mean, try not to finish a sentence that begins with “I remember.” And so what I suggest to people to do is to just begin — have a special notebook, begin with the words “I remember” and write a sentence. Drop down a line, begin with [“I remember”], not trying to connect memories. If you think about the way memory works, it doesn’t work in a narrative line. It doesn’t connect. We don’t tell ourselves stories in our heads. We have these disparate memories that don’t connect. And when we allow them to be associative and to bounce one off the next, it creates all sorts of interesting material. People almost invariably find memories that they didn’t know that they had, or they make connections that they didn’t know they had. So it’s a good springing off point. You can use this prompt to spark ideas for anything from blog posts to short stories. I share more strategies for fighting writer’s block in my article here, and I share tips for getting ideas for new blog posts in my article here. The Robert McKee Exercise For Writing With Originality Robert McKee’s screenwriting workshops have earned him an international reputation. His screenwriting students have included over sixty-five Academy Award winners and two hundred Emmy Award winners. I’m currently rereading his wonderful book Story where he deep dives into everything that you need to know to write powerful stories. In one chapter, he discusses the importance of originality in storytelling and how clichés make our writing shallow and boring. He writes, The source of all clichés can be traced to one thing and one thing alone: The writer does not know the world of his story… As they reach into their minds for material, they come up empty. So where do they run? To films and TV, novels and plays with similar settings. From the works of other writers they crib scenes we’ve seen before, paraphrase dialogue we’ve heard before, disguise characters we’ve met before, and pass them off as their own… Knowledge of and insight into the world of your story is fundamental to the achievement of originality and excellence. But how can we come to know the world of our stories better? Here’s one exercise McKee provides: Lean back and ask, “What would it be like to live my character’s life hour by hour, day by day?” In vivid detail sketch how your characters shop, make love, pray — scenes that may or may not find their way into your story, but draw you into your imagined world until it feels like déjà vu. While memory gives us whole chunks of life, imagination takes fragments, slivers of dream, and chips of experience that seem unrelated, then seeks their hidden connections and merges them into a whole. Having found these links and envisioned the scenes, write them down. A working imagination is research. The Brian Kiteley Exercise for Writing Unique, Sensory Descriptions Finally, let’s end with an exercise that will help us write unique, sensory descriptions so our writing comes alive. The ability to describe something vividly is an essential skill for every writer to master, no matter whether you’re a blogger, novelist, or copywriter. Vivid descriptions transform your paragraphs from vague and boring to engrossing and memorable. In his book The 3 A.M. Epiphany, author Brian Kiteley shares a collection of “uncommon writing exercises” that can help you transform your fiction. Here’s one that gives a unique approach for writing evocative descriptions: Synesthesia, according to M.H. Abrams in ‘A Glossary of Literary Terms’, is a description of “one kind of sensation in terms of another; color is attributed to sounds, odor to colors, sound to odors, and so on.” Here is an example of synesthesia from Bruno Schulz’s Street of the Crocodiles: “Adela would plunge the rooms into semidarkness by drawing down the linen blinds. All colors immediately fell an octave lower; the room filled with shadows, as if it had sunk to the bottom of the sea and the light was reflected in mirrors of green water.” Schulz describes a change in color by means of a musical term. Writers consciously and unconsciously employ this peculiar method to convey the irreducible complexity of life onto the page. …Use synesthesia in a short scene — surreptitiously, without drawing too much attention to it — to convey to your reader an important understanding of some ineffable sensory experience. Use sight, sound, touch, taste, and, especially, smell. In my short story “The Island”, I played with synesthesia when I described the aroma of a pastry baking in an oven: “It smelled of sunlight and warm breezes rustling the branches of island trees.” Make sure to check out this article where I share three more techniques that will help you write vivid descriptions. The Takeaway In my original article where I shared five writing exercises, I also shared this quote from Ray Bradbury, I know you’ve heard it a thousand times before. But it’s true — hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. These four exercises are a fantastic way to give your writing skills and imagination a workout. You can use the exercises when you’re feeling stuck and are looking for a writing prompt to trigger your inspiration. Or you can use them when you want to spend time sharpening your skills in order to take your writing to the next level and inspire your readers.

https://medium.com/copywriting-secrets/four-exercises-to-strengthen-your-writing-c183f0c0119e

['Nicole Bianchi']

2020-06-01 15:50:56.250000+00:00

['Productivity', 'Writing', 'Fiction', 'Books', 'Creativity']

Facing Three Fundamental Coronavirus Fears

1. Since immunity to the novel coronavirus may not last long, doesn’t the virus need to be eradicated in order for the pandemic to end? Humans generally become immune to a pathogen after immunization or recovery from an infection. Depending on the particular disease or vaccine as well as host characteristics such as the age and health of the individual, immunity can last a lifetime or may be short-lived. Moreover, immunity is not an ‘either/or’ process. Our immunity to different pathogens doesn’t just suddenly switch off. Instead, it wanes over time. It is true that a person’s immunity to the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, probably only lasts a few months to a few years. It is also true that outbreaks of two other coronaviruses earlier this century, SARS and MERS, were indeed contained, although not technically eradicated. However, the other four known human coronaviruses, HCoV-229E, -NL63, -OC43, and -HKU1, are considered endemic. These viruses, which have been around longer than the other three, are continuously circulating through the population and typically cause no more symptoms than the common cold. Interestingly, there is historical evidence that the four endemic coronaviruses were likely the cause of pandemics, or at least epidemics, in the past. Of course, this would have been long enough ago that people didn’t know what a coronavirus was, but humankind managed to recover anyway. These older coronaviruses now permeate among the population. People often become exposed at a young age, and, as with SARS-CoV-2, the vast majority of children have no symptoms or a minor respiratory infection. Even though immunity to these viruses diminishes over time, because they are endemic and continuously circulate through the population, every few years our immune systems are again exposed and receive a refresher course on how to kill the virus. With possible exception to geographically isolated locations like Iceland and New Zealand, SARS-CoV-2 is on a path to becoming endemic like its older endemic coronavirus siblings. In fact, since March, for most regions containment has no longer been a strategy for managing SARS-CoV-2 as it was during the previous SARS and MERS outbreaks. SARS and MERS have a higher fatality rate than Covid-19, and it is for that very reason they were able to be contained. Since patients infected with SARS and MERS were more often symptomatic, generally developed more severe symptoms, and had a shorter period of time between exposure and the onset of symptoms, cases were recognized sooner, contacts were more easily traced, and further spread was prevented through quarantining. “The coronavirus is spreading too rapidly, and too broadly for the U.S. to bring it under control with testing and contact tracing.” — Dr. Anne Schuchat, CDC Deputy Director, 6/29/20 While contact tracing and quarantining strategies remain important during the Covid-19 pandemic, they are aimed at protecting vulnerable groups and reducing the overall transmission of the virus rather than ultimately containing or eradicating the virus. At this point eliminating SARS-CoV-2 worldwide is essentially impossible. Fortunately, however, as was the case with the four endemic coronaviruses, eradication is not a requirement for the pandemic to end.

https://medium.com/microbial-instincts/facing-three-fundamental-fears-about-the-coronavirus-261ba270f402

['Bo Stapler']

2020-08-11 19:37:46.296000+00:00

['Health', 'Science', 'Wellness', 'Coronavirus', 'Covid 19']

For Creatives, Silence Isn’t Always Golden

As an architect and the author of a book about the psychology of creative space design, I have long wondered why contemporary creatives cluster so willingly in noisy coffee shops. Granted, there’s scientific research that caffeine fuels the imagination, but doesn’t the surrounding din interfere with their ability to think creatively such that no amount of chemical stimulation can compensate for the distraction? Certainly, many eminent creatives from the past shunned clamor. Consider Marcel Proust. To remark that the French writer was sensitive to auditory interference would be an understatement. The man was positively neurotic about it. He treated the bedroom in his Paris apartment where he wrote like a sensory deprivation chamber — shutters closed, drapes drawn, the walls lined with sound-absorbing cork. It wasn’t enough. He wore earplugs too. Anton Chekhov was similarly beset by hypersensitivity to sound. So was fellow obsessive Frank Kafka, who described his condition in his signature surreal style by saying that “I need solitude for my writing; not ‘like a hermit’ — that wouldn’t be enough — but like a dead man.” Sadly, by the time he got his wish, it was too late to do anything about it. The correlation between high-level inventiveness and difficulty in filtering out sensory inputs is understandable, given that open-mindedness is a hallmark of the creative personality. The problem for off-the-chart geniuses like Proust, Chekhov, and Kafka was that their minds were a bit too open. Everything got through. Hence the extreme measures they took to avoid being immobilized by incoming stimuli. Fig. 1: Optimal noise levels for creative processing compared to other conditions. After Ravi Mehta, Rui (Juliet) Zhu, and Amar Cheema (2012). Illustration by the author. From My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation. Then again, most of us aren’t Marcel Proust. According to research data from 2012, people generally reach peak performance under moderately noisy conditions — 70db (decibels), to be precise. It just so happens that this is roughly equivalent to the chatter in a typical coffee shop or restaurant on a relatively busy day (Fig. 1). As to why this is the case, the scientists who authored the study offer a theory: We theorize that a moderate (vs. low) level of ambient noise is likely to induce processing disfluency or processing difficulty, which activates abstract cognition and consequently enhances creative performance. A high level of noise, however, reduces the extent of information processing, thus impairing creativity. Translation: silence isn’t as golden as it sounds. Absolute noiselessness tends to focus our attention, which is helpful for tasks that entail accuracy, fine detail, and linear reasoning, such as balancing our checkbook or fixing a Swiss watch. It’s less supportive of the broad, big-picture, abstract mind-wandering that leads to fresh perspectives and a creative work product. On the other hand, excessive noise overwhelms our sensory apparatus and hinders our ability to properly process information at all. In between lies the sweet spot — noise not so loud that we can’t hear ourselves think, and not so quiet that we can’t help but hear ourselves think. Living room and fountain details. Bellevue, Washington. Architecture by David Coleman Architecture. Interior design by Elizabeth Stretch for Stretch Design. Photography by Paul Warchol. There’s a caveat to the data, however: the noise has to be white. For the record, the technical definition of white noise is noise containing multiple frequencies with equal intensities. More colloquially, the phrase refers to a constant background noise, especially one that drowns out other sounds, and which takes the form of meaningless or distracting commotion, hubbub, or chatter. Why is it important that the noise be white? Because otherwise you’re prone to tune into and attempt to discern the source and meaning of the sound, which diverts too much of your conscious attention from your task to be a useful tool for diffuse thinking. How to Make Noise When There Isn’t Any How can we creative mortals who don’t care for the smell of coffee, lack the funds to construct an oceanside villa, or live in urban environments where trees are scant benefit from the finding that a particular type and level of noise can promote insights? Here are a few options to consider: Get the app. Yes, Virginia, there really is an app for everything. Use the search term “noise” to bring up dozens of sound generating programs in your smartphone’s app store. You’ll also see a broad selection of metering apps for measuring decibel levels at home. Some of the app companies operate websites that let you download audio files of white noise soundtracks onto your computer or play them directly through a browser. A couple of my favorite sites include Raining.fm, which offers tracks simulating — what else? — downpours, rolling thunder, and heavy thunderstorms, and Coffitivy, which specializes in — what else? — coffee shop buzz. Living room. Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Architecture and interior design by Richard Davignon and Doris Martin for Davignon Martin Architecture + Interior Design. Photography by Eymeric Widling. Get or hack a sound generator. Another option is to purchase a desktop appliance designed to emit white noise. They’re smallish devices, typically placed on night tables and in babies’ rooms to help occupants fall asleep. For an architectural solution, think about installing an indoor or outdoor fountain — few things in life are as pleasantly hypnotizing as the mellifluous whoosh of water descending onto water. Price points run the gamut from low-cost store-bought products to sky’s-the-limit custom installations. DIY contrivances also abound; consult the Internet for guidance. Let in or keep out external noise. City dwellers and people who reside along busy highways might have a ready-made noise machine right outside their window: road traffic. Open your windows to varying degrees or use sound muffling, such as drapery, to see if you can calibrate ambient noise to fall within the optimal range. A less cacophonous strategy for harnessing exterior sounds would be to park yourself on a bench or beach that lies within earshot of ocean waves. It’s like having an always-on fountain, only bigger. Listen to music. Like noise, music can have a positive effect on idea formation, while affording the listener far greater pleasure than the usual restaurant ruckus. But music is a huge subject in itself, and so must wait for another article!

https://medium.com/the-creative-mind/for-creatives-silence-isnt-always-golden-16e1697ea489

['Donald M. Rattner']

2019-10-28 20:01:02.360000+00:00

['Writing', 'Psychology', 'Interior Design', 'Design', 'Creativity']

This 10-Minute Routine Will Increase Your Clarity And Creativity

“Your subconscious mind works continuously, while you are awake, and while you sleep.” — Napoleon Hill Your subconscious never rests and is always on duty because it controls your heartbeat, blood circulation, and digestion. It controls all the vital processes and functions of your body and knows the answers to all your problems. What happens on your subconscious level influences what happens on your conscious level. In other words, what goes on internally, even unconsciously, eventually becomes your reality. As Hill further states, “The subconscious mind will translate into its physical equivalent, by the most direct and practical method available.” Consequently, your goal is to direct your subconscious mind to create the outcomes you seek. Additionally, you want to tap into your subconscious mind to unlock connections and solutions to your problems and projects. Here’s a simple routine to get started: Ten minutes before going to sleep: “Never go to sleep without a request to your subconscious.” — Thomas Edison It’s common practice for many of the world’s most successful people to intentionally direct the workings of their subconscious mind while they’re sleeping. How? Take a few moments before you go to bed to meditate on and write down the things you’re trying to accomplish. Ask yourself loads of questions related to that thing. In Edison’s words, make some “requests.” Write those questions and thoughts down on paper. The more specific the questions, the more clear will be your answers. While you’re sleeping, your subconscious mind will get to work on those things. Ten minutes after waking up: Research confirms the brain, specifically the prefrontal cortex, is most active and readily creative immediately following sleep. Your subconscious mind has been loosely mind-wandering while you slept, making contextual and temporal connections. Creativity, after all, is making connections between different parts of the brain. In a recent interview with Tim Ferriss, Josh Waitzkin, former chess prodigy and tai chi world champion, explains his morning routine to tap into the subconscious breakthroughs and connections experienced while he was sleeping. Unlike 80 percent of people between the ages of 18–44 who check their smartphones within 15 minutes of waking up, Waitzkin goes to a quiet place, does some meditation and grabs his journal. In his journal, he thought-dumps for several minutes. Thus, rather than focusing on input like most people who check their notifications, Waitzkin’s focus is on output. This is how he taps into his higher realms of clarity, learning, and creativity — what he calls, “crystallized intelligence.” If you’re not an experienced journal writer, the idea of “thought-dumping” may be hard to implement. In my experience, it’s good to loosely direct your thought-dumping toward your goals. Consider the “requests” you made of your subconscious just before going to bed. You asked yourself loads of questions. You thought about and wrote down the things you’re trying to accomplish. Now, first thing in the morning, when your creative brain is most attuned,after its subconscious workout while you slept, start writing down whatever comes to mind about those things. I often get ideas for articles I’m going to write while doing these thought-dumps. I get ideas about how I can be a better husband and father to my three foster children. I get clarity about the goals I believe I should be pursuing. I get insights about people I need to connect with, or how I can improve my current relationships. To be sure, you’ll need to practice this skill. It may take several attempts before you become proficient. But with consistency, you can become fluent and automatic at achieving creative and intuitive bursts. Conclusion: “A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.” — James Allen Mental creation always precedes physical creation. Before a building is physically constructed, there’s a blueprint. Your thoughts are the blueprint of the life you are building one day at a time.When you learn to channel your thinking — both consciously and subconsciously — you create the conditions that make the achievement of your goals inevitable. You are the designer of your destiny. This simple routine will help you crystallize where you want to go, and how you will get there.

https://medium.com/the-mission/this-10-minute-routine-will-increase-your-clarity-and-creativity-7ce61b11c2f9

['Benjamin Hardy']

2020-09-21 20:10:38.871000+00:00

['Productivity', 'Creativity', 'Motivation', 'Startup', 'Life']

The Ted Talk That Changed My Life

The Simplest Form of Mindfulness Is Also the Most Effective Most of us are cognitively aware that our bad habits are, well, BAD. The challenge is that our prefrontal cortex (front section of the brain) that is responsible for this awareness is the first to go offline when we get stressed. When this brain center logs off, we start to feel ‘numb’, give in to our stress, and fall back onto negative habits. Let’s go back to the 3 pillars that form a habit one more time. You experience a trigger. You respond with a behavior. You receive a reward. Say you’re battling the urge to have that fourth slice of pizza. You’ve already experienced the trigger that’s telling you, “Yes, this is a great idea…you’ll feel so good after”. What if we took a split second here to pause before caving in? What if we were to use curiosity as a tool to disrupt the cycle? Here’s what it looks like: You feel a trigger that spurs temptation. Instead of caving in, you pause for a moment and get curious. Ask yourself…what’s going on? Why am I feeling this way? From here you have two possible routes, both of which are a step in the right direction. The first path is that you still give in to your bad behavior, but with a heightened state of mindfulness. The act of caving in feels much less satisfying. You become consciously aware that the reward is just a guise covering up the reality that you’re in an endless loop of going nowhere. In one of Brewers’s studies, a subject involved with smoking admitted that mindful smoking, “smells like stinky cheese, and tastes like chemicals, YUCK!”. This paper eventually reveals that mindfulness training may confer benefits greater than those associated with current standard treatments for smoking cessation. No money, drugs, or therapy required. The second route is when things get really exciting. This is when you experience the trigger, but you’re now inherently aware that this is a poor choice and you take a halt. This is how you move from knowledge to wisdom. We’re all cognitively aware that bad habits aren’t good for us. Curiosity bridges the gap to allow us to be mindful of this, even when we’re stressed out or ‘in the act’. When you start to implement this curiosity technique into your behaviors, bad habits simply become less enchanting. You start to wise up and realize that you don’t need to give in to every trigger that comes your way. An amazing bonus to this mindset is that curiosity in itself is rewarding. Being mindful amidst your stressed-out state will deliver the prize that you were initially seeking from your ‘drug’ of choice. It may not be as powerful of a hit, but over time, your brain will realize that it’s the one you need. This is a rewarding, sustainable, and life-changing way to think about human behavior. Will it solve all of your problems instantly? Absolutely not. Many addictions are as much physiological as they are psychological. At times, it may be necessary to get professional help. Regardless, this is a powerful tool for initiating an important conversation with yourself. It is one that empowers you to ditch the dissociation and start attacking your bad habits head-on.

https://medium.com/in-fitness-and-in-health/the-ted-talk-that-changed-my-life-a79e591783bf

['David Liira']

2020-12-11 23:20:21.853000+00:00

['Lifestyle', 'Health', 'Wellness', 'Science', 'Psychology']

How to Make Your Day Job Support Your Art

Gather around kids and let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, people grew up and got one job that paid all of their bills, let them save some money, and was enough to do big things like buy a house and put their kids through college. Once upon a time, that was just what happened. It’s sometimes called the American Dream, but it was just reality. Weird, I know. For the rest of this post I’m going to talk about a day job, but what I mean is whatever income streams you’ve cobbled together to pay for your life. And even weirder if you’re an artist of any kind who has it in their head that you’re supposed to figure out how to make your art give you that kind of life. The idea that your art has to be the kind of pillar of your financial life that that barely even exists in the corporate world anymore is a dream killer. You aren’t a failure if your art doesn’t let you quit your day job. One more time for the people who really need to hear it. You aren’t a failure if your art doesn’t let you quit your day job. And that day job? It will suck a lot less if you can wrap your head around the idea that it’s serving your art. Seriously. If you can make yourself believe that the idea that showing up for your 9-to-5 is part of your art, it will change everything. It will knock your day job off its pedestal and it will relieve your art of the pressure to pay its own way. And it will crack your brain open so that the idea of building a living around your art, instead of feeling like a failure if your art doesn’t pull in enough money all by itself, can take root. Start by prioritizing your art. If you have a regular job, chances are there are hours in your day that you don’t have control over. That’s okay. We ALL have hours during the day we don’t have control over. Even full-time artists who earn a living with their art. Get a calendar though, an agenda of some kind, and schedule your art like it’s important enough for you to show up for. If you wouldn’t blow off working for someone else, don’t blow off working on your art. Here’s the deal: you don’t have to put eight hours a day into it. But I bet you can find an hour a day, five days a week. Start there. Write it in and protect that time like there’s a boss who will dock your check if you don’t show up. Think outside the 9-to-5 box. Brainstorm how you can make your day job work around your art, instead of the other way around. Are there income streams you can build that will let you work fewer hours? Can you find work that will free up more of your emotional and physical energy for your art? How about focusing on finding a job that pays more per hour so that you can make the same money in fewer hours, and open up time for your art? Is there some aspect of your art that you can turn into an income? Think about teaching, blogging, freelancing. Instead of fitting your art into your day job, shift your thinking so that you’re building a life around your art. Build an audience. A couple of years ago I set up a little corner of a shared booth at a tiny local comic con to spread the word about Ninja Writers. I was surrounded by artists of all stripes. Writers. Comic book creators. A girl who made tote bags out of Doctor Who and Star Wars fabric. A man who sat in his booth all day and drew superheroes. I sat there with my little poster promising to give away a $25 Amazon gift card to one of people who gave me their email address — and I realized that literally no one else around me was collecting email addresses. A few passed out postcards or bookmarks with their website addresses. Those disappeared into bags full of similar ephemera. I talked to as many as I could and tried to encourage them to collect email addresses from the people who were stopping to talk to them. I handed out my business card and told them that I’d be happy to help them learn how to build an email list if they emailed me. It didn’t work. The few people who did take my business card didn’t use it to contact me. I haven’t heard from any of them. Artists need audiences. It doesn’t matter what your art is. Writing, painting, sculpture, theater, making TARDIS tote bags. If you are an artist of any kind, you need an audience. I can tell you from experience that even having some big producer of your art get involved does not guarantee you an audience. Ask anyone whose had a film flop, an art show fail to result in sales, a restaurant go bust. Ask me sometime about how being published by Penguin worked out for me. Artists need audiences, and no one else will build them for us. When you are ready to make the move to making some of your income from your art, you’ll need people who care about what you’re doing. The one thing you can do is start building an email list. Get a free MailChimp account. Or just start writing names and emails in a notebook. Send everyone two emails a month. In one talk about cool shit you’ve come across that you think they might like. In the other talk about what you’re working on. Make a habit of asking everyone if they want to join your list. It’ll feel weird at first, but you’ll get used to it. Your day job is the first investor in your art. True story. If you have a day job that pays your bills, then it’s paying for your supplies, it’s putting a roof over your head, it’s feeding you. Maybe it’s paying for you to take some classes so you can learn to be a better artist. Seriously. Your day job is like having patron. Sure you have to work for it. You have to put in the time to get the pay check. And maybe that sucks. I’ve had jobs that really, really sucked. I know that place. When you have a day job like that, sometimes the only thing that helps is shifting your mindset. Instead of: I can’t be a writer because I have to work 40 hours a week at this shitty job that I hate and it sucks all my creative energy. Try this: I spend 40 hours a week at a shitty job that I hate, but it pays for me to spend 20 hours a week writing. Or even better: I’m grateful for this day job that pays my bills so that I can be a writer. Give your art a break. The best gift you can give yourself as an artist is to stop expecting your art to support itself. Especially if you’re still learning. Maybe your art will earn a living someday. It’s unreasonable to put that burden on it when it’s still a baby venture and you’re still learning how to create it. I know so many writers who put everything inside them into writing a book. They shine it up and send it off to agents — as they should. And when rejection comes — as it always will — they are crushed. Absolutely devastated. So devastated that sometimes they just stop writing. What’s the point if it’s never going to make money? Obviously, if this one book failed then they suck and they just aren’t really writers anyway. Don’t do that to yourself. Please. Embrace your day job. It has one job. Paying your bills. Let your writing (or whatever your art is) off the hook. Just create. Practice. Take in the masters. Learn to be better. Come back and talk to me when you’re ten books in about whether or not you should pack it in.

https://medium.com/the-write-brain/how-to-make-your-day-job-support-your-art-2529d75e8375

['Shaunta Grimes']

2019-09-22 21:16:07.226000+00:00

['Work', 'Productivity', 'Creativity', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Writing']

Exploring New York City Restaurants

By Rashida Kamal and Vivien Ngo Enigma’s latest project Food for Thought provides an interactive interface to explore health inspection data for restaurants across New York City. We dug a little deeper into the relationships between these inspection scores and how popular restaurants are with New Yorkers to highlight a few hidden gems, as well as the places to avoid. Click an image to play with the full-sized interactive map! Methodology Each map contains geocoded Yelp data on restaurant ratings and prices and restaurant inspection data from Enigma Public. Data analysis was done using Pandas, and histograms were made with Matplotlib with Adobe Illustrator for touching up. Restaurants shown with a “?” were inspected but did not receive a letter grade; for our analysis we used the violations score from the most recent inspection even if a grade was not issued. The interactives were designed by Enigma’s previous data journalism fellow, Rashida Kamal, and the maps were updated with June data by Vivien Ngo. Lots of thanks to Peter Henderson for his help! Originally published at www.enigma.com on July 19, 2018.

https://medium.com/enigma-engineering/exploring-new-york-city-restaurants-3998e5147fac

[]

2018-07-19 18:57:03.254000+00:00

['New York', 'Data Visualization', 'Public Data', 'Dataviz', 'Engineering']

A Social Worker Offered Mormon Lingo to Me When I Was in Crisis, Told Me to Think Happy Thoughts, and Hung Up on Me — While I Was Still in Crisis

A Social Worker Offered Mormon Lingo to Me When I Was in Crisis, Told Me to Think Happy Thoughts, and Hung Up on Me — While I Was Still in Crisis Rhett Wilkinson Follow May 26, 2019 · 3 min read I called a crisis line. You may say it was tragically less than helpful. In fact, it only made the situation worse. The issue was created by a social worker on the other end of the Utah County Crisis Line. (United Way of Utah County) Immediately after telling her I am considering killing myself, this person talked about “the other side.” I’m not against talk about heaven, but “the other side” comes ripped from language used in culture of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Which still would not be bad, except that she is not speaking organically. Not from the heart. When I was suicidal. Further, she did nothing more than parrot what the system she is in fed her. And that’s what she had to offer above anything else when I wanted nothing more than to die. Then she went on to talk about thinking positive thoughts. I do know social work well enough that least to know that simply thinking positive thoughts doesn’t help anyone depressed, let alone suicidal. And in fact, that patients should be encouraged to grieve. (Not to say that she said nothing about medications or even exercise, let alone yoga.) (Perhaps this photo expresses Latter-day Saint culture well.) A crisis worker offered Mormon lingo immediately after I told her I was considering killing myself and proceeded to give an idea prevalent in LDS culture about thinking “positive thoughts.” Another example of her just parroting an idea fed to her by culture, instead of doing the work of life-saving. So then I got at these ideas. I said that I had compassion for how she was handling the call since her thoughts are not her own since she is part of a cult. Her response? Hang up. On someone who may kill themselves? And she said she has been a social worker for 15 years. How often, then, did she miss out on helping folks in real pain? How much did she simply drop the ball? Has she fallen short for years? Perhaps this is why the recording to start the call to the Utah County Crisis Line emphasizes that the social workers are volunteering. Perhaps, though, even those not getting paid should be kept from life-saving circumstances if they are going to drop the ball so bad. The Utah County Crisis Line has a tagline of “Let us be your lifeline.” Hopefully at least not this lady any longer. — Even if you no longer affiliate with the Latter-day Saint (ex-Mormon) church but enjoy sociality with family and friends as before, you can still find social settings organized by the Utah Valley PostMormons. There, you can find your people. And of course, if you don’t enjoy those relationships like before, the many UVPM events that happen each week can be even life-saving. Led by wonderful people, UVPM is also for folks who just are struggling with it or are “never Mormons” seeking a break from the predominant culture. Find their events on Facebook and Meetup. — For more articles like this, please support The Seer Stone at the Hero’s Journey Content Patreon page.

https://medium.com/the-seer-stone/a-social-worker-offered-mormon-lingo-to-me-when-in-crisis-told-me-to-just-think-happy-thoughts-e1fa033160e0

['Rhett Wilkinson']

2019-06-19 14:08:11.660000+00:00

['Suicide', 'Mental Health', 'Health', 'Utah', 'Psychology']

An Effective Five-Step Process for Writing Captivating Headlines

You’ve spent hours pouring your heart and soul into a blog post. You’re writing about an important topic that you’re sure will help readers, and you want to convey your message as effectively as possible. So you’ve edited each paragraph until your eyes ached from staring at the computer screen. You’ve crafted a compelling introduction that will entice readers to keep reading, and your conclusion is powerful with a memorable final sentence. Unfortunately, however, all of this time and effort will go to waste if no one reads your article. Often, there’s only one way to get people to read: you must craft a headline that is so irresistible it draws people like a magnet to click on your piece. People’s social media feeds are flooded with a constant stream of articles and online content. If you don’t have an attention-grabbing headline, your post won’t reach the potential readers it could help and inspire. But don’t worry! In today’s article, I’m sharing my five-step process that will help you write captivating headlines so your target audience reads your valuable blog posts. Let’s dive in. (Please note that links to books are affiliate links which means I’ll earn a small commission if you buy through the link with no extra cost to you.) 1. Craft a one sentence synopsis When I begin working on a new writing project, the very first thing I do is write up a one-sentence synopsis of what my piece will be about. I do this no matter if I’m about to write a blog post, a personal essay, or even a short story. The one-sentence synopsis gives me a clear understanding of the main point of my piece and the message I’m trying to express to my readers. It acts as a guide so I don’t end up running off on tangents and going down rabbit trails. And often it can be tweaked to become a perfect title for the piece too. For example, for this article my synopsis was: “My five-step process that will help readers craft captivating headlines.” I tweaked that sentence to get my headline: “A Powerful Five-Step Process for Writing Captivating Headlines.” Now, as I said, I don’t only use the one-sentence synopsis for blog posts. I recently wrote a personal essay titled “What a Museum Security Guard Taught Me About Art.” That title came straight from a one-sentence synopsis I’d crafted too. In my article here, I dive deeper into how to craft a one-sentence synopsis and share five different formulas that can help you write yours. Let’s now see how to go about tweaking your synopsis in order to turn it into a powerful headline. 2. Identify Your SEO Keyword My second step when crafting a headline for a blog post is to identify the keyword that I want my blog post to be categorized under in Google searches. In blogging parlance, this is called “search engine optimization” or SEO. If you have a blog and don’t bother at all about SEO, you probably won’t end up reaching readers who might have found you through Google. Even if you’re not worried about SEO, choosing a clear keyword will help people better understand what your piece is about and help you avoid titles that sound like clickbait. For example, compare the difference between titling your piece “This One Habit Changed My Life” (sounds a bit like clickbait) or “How Journaling in the Morning Changed My Life”. “Journaling” would be your keyword for that title. Here’s how to figure out what keyword to use for your piece: Take a look at your one-sentence synopsis. What is your piece about? Is there a word you use multiple times in your piece to refer to your topic? What terms might someone be searching for in Google to find your piece? Search for blog posts similar to yours. What keywords are used in the titles? 3. Tweak Your Headline to Include Specificity, Curiosity, and Power Words Once I’ve crafted my one-sentence synopsis, written my blog post, and then pinpointed my keyword, I write up a quick first draft of a headline to work with. Let’s take, for example, the blog post I wrote about my two different journaling methods. A rough draft of a title might have looked like this: “A Peek At My Two Journaling Methods.” That’s not very compelling, right? It’s time to tweak that headline to make sure it stands out and entices people to click to read the article. There are three ingredients that copywriters use to write effective headlines: specificity, curiosity, and power words. First, specificity makes your headline focused and compelling. In his classic book Scientific Advertising, copywriter Claude C. Hopkins explained why “specificity” is persuasive: “…[A] man who makes a specific claim is either telling the truth or a lie. People do not expect an advertiser to lie … The weight of an argument may often be multiplied by making it specific.” Now, you’re probably not selling a product in your blog post, but you most likely are trying to convince your readers of an idea or to take a certain course of action. Specificity will increase your credibility. For example, instead of writing, “I Lost Weight on a Low Carb Diet”, you could write “How I Lost Five Pounds in Two Weeks on a Low Carb Diet.” That word “how” indicates your blog post is going to share a specific process you followed. The numbers make your headline sound truthful. Of course, you’ll lose your credibility if the body of your post doesn’t deliver what the headline promised. If your headline promises to share a specific process, make sure you do so in the body of your post. Here are ways to make your headlines specific: Start your headline with a number (for example, “5 Steps to Quickly Memorize Any Piano Piece”) Start your headline with words like “who, what, why, when, where, or how” (for example, “How to Make A Perfect Pan Seared Steak Every Time”) Use specific words like “This” or “These” (for example, “This Powerful Strategy Will Boost Your Productivity”) Use specific numbers in the body of your headline (for example, one of my most popular posts on Medium is “How to Make Your Writing Captivating with One Simple Technique”) Specificity also piques readers’ curiosity, which is the next ingredient for strengthening your headline. If a headline arouses a person’s curiosity, they’re probably going to keep reading. So make sure you don’t just summarize your piece in the headline. For example, I’m not piquing someone’s curiosity if I write a title like this: “Keeping a Journal Will Make You More Productive”. Compare it to this one: “5 Reasons Why Keeping a Journal Will Make You More Productive”. Finally, take your headline to the next level by using power words. Power words are words that trigger an emotional response. They might be a strong adjective or adverb or a more descriptive verb. For example, instead of writing, “increase your productivity”, you could write, “boost your productivity” or even “supercharge your productivity.” In my headlines, I use words like “compelling” and “captivating.” A food blogger might use words like “refreshing”, “tasty”, or “delicious.” When you evaluate your headline, ask yourself if you could include a vivid adjective or a more emotional verb. 4. Convey a benefit to the reader Lastly, your headline should appeal to the reader’s self-interest. It should promise them something in return for the time they spend reading. David Ogilvy, known as The Father of Advertising, is said to have stated, “The headlines that work best are those that promise the reader a benefit.” A benefit could be anything from entertaining someone to teaching someone to inspiring someone to helping someone solve a problem. What is the benefit you’re offering to a person for reading your blog post? Will you help them solve a problem? Earn money? Save money? Increase their productivity? Expand their knowledge? Become smarter? Happier? Avoid danger? Maybe they will learn a quick and effortless method for accomplishing something? Or discover a secret or a strategy? Depending on the type of blog post you’re writing, you might want the promise in your headline to be very clear or perhaps more subtle. For example, my personal essay’s title “What a Museum Security Guard Taught Me About Art” was focused on me rather than on the reader. However, it did promise that I was going to share the security guard’s wisdom with them. But when I wrote the headline for my blog post about my journaling methods, I wanted the benefit to be very clear. I decided to go with “Two Journaling Methods to Boost Your Productivity and Creativity” rather than “Two Journaling Methods That Boost My Productivity and Creativity.” The latter is not as powerful at hooking the reader. 5. Write Multiple Headlines Even the best copywriters in the world usually don’t write a captivating headline right off the bat. In the book Tested Advertising Methods, expert copywriter John Caples says he writes between twelve to twenty-five headlines before choosing the best one. Sometimes I will change the headline of a post after I’ve published it if I notice that it isn’t getting a lot of clicks. So experiment and tweak your headlines as much as you can. Write out a list of different headlines you can use for your piece. Headline formulas are a fantastic way to remind yourself to include all of the essential copywriting elements covered in steps 3 and 4. You can find these formulas in copywriting books or in countless articles online. Here are several examples: How to Start____When____ (For example, “How to Start a Side Hustle When You’re Broke”) (For example, “How to Start a Side Hustle When You’re Broke”) Why____Makes You____ (“Why Reading Makes You a Better Writer”) (“Why Reading Makes You a Better Writer”) [Number] Mistakes People Make When____ (“10 Mistakes People Make When Saving for Retirement”) (“10 Mistakes People Make When Saving for Retirement”) The Ultimate Guide To____ (“The Ultimate Guide to Going Low Carb”) (“The Ultimate Guide to Going Low Carb”) [Number] Lessons I Learned From____ (“5 Lessons I Learned from Waking up at 5am for 30 Days”) (“5 Lessons I Learned from Waking up at 5am for 30 Days”) [Number] Strategies That Will Help You ____ (“7 Strategies That Will Help You Improve Your Writing Skills”) Once you’ve written the final version of your headline, evaluate it and ask yourself, “Is this headline clear and easy to understand? And does it make me eager to read the article right this minute?” You can also run your headlines through the Coschedule Headline Analyzer to see if there are ways to tweak them to make them more powerful. The Takeaway In his book How to Write a Good Advertisement, copywriter Victor A. Schwab writes, “The headline is like a flag being held up by a flagman alongside a railroad track. He is using it to try to get the immediate attention of the engineer of an approaching train so that he can give him some kind of message…The message on the flag…must be persuasive enough…to compete with all the other distractions of life. It must capture attention. And it must offer a ‘reward for reading’.” If you follow the five-step process in this article, your headline will act just like a bright red flag waving down your readers so you can share your important message with them.

https://medium.com/copywriting-secrets/a-powerful-five-step-process-for-writing-captivating-headlines-50f939d6166a

['Nicole Bianchi']

2020-02-08 17:08:51.054000+00:00

['Marketing', 'Writing', 'Productivity', 'Writing Tips', 'Creativity']

Loss Aversion — how fear influences customer choice

Loss Aversion — how fear influences customer choice Why the possibility of loss is one of the most potent psychological principles in marketing Photo by Kristina Tripkovic on Unsplash Have you ever experienced FOMO — the “Fear of Missing Out”? It’s a form of social anxiety that makes people scared they’re being left out of exciting or interesting events. It’s usually triggered by posts on social media, where it looks like the whole world is having fun without you. If you suffer from FOMO, you’re not alone. A recent study found that 70% of millennials experience the fear of missing out regularly. There’s a profound psychological principle behind why people experience FOMO. It’s called Loss Aversion, and it can be a powerful design mechanism for guiding customer choice. Photo by Noah Silliman on Unsplash What is Loss Aversion? First identified by Nobel Prize-winner Daniel Kahneman, Loss Aversion is a psychological principle that says people will go to great lengths to avoid losing. In fact, the psychological pain of losing is twice as powerful as the pleasure of winning. Because it’s so powerful, Loss Aversion features heavily in cognitive psychology and decision theory. It’s also one of the most effective tactics for getting customers to buy (the other being Social Proof). A customer’s hatred of losing can take lots of forms, each with fascinating applications. How information is presented can dramatically impact what decisions people make “Losses loom larger than gains.” — Daniel Kahneman Photo by JC Gellidon on Unsplash For example, a study was conducted to see if framing cancer treatments using Loss Aversion could improve surgery opt-in rates. The research team hypothesized that opt-in rates were related to how the options were framed. To test this hypothesis, doctors presented patients with two options. Each framed surgery as a potential gain or a possible loss — the results were staggering. Surgery framed as a gain: “The one-month survival rate of surgery is 90%.” Surgery framed as a loss: “There is a 10% chance of death in the month post-surgery.” When framed as a gain, 84% of people chose surgery. But when framed as a loss, only 50% opted in. This simple application of Loss Aversion increased surgery opt-ins by 54%. Ownership creates emotional bonds that people don’t want to break This principle is known as the Endowment Effect. It’s a psychological principle that falls under the Loss Aversion umbrella. In “Predictably Irrational,” Dan Ariely describes this effect through the lens of Duke University basketball. Photo by JC Gellidon on Unsplash If you’re unfamiliar with Duke basketball, all you need to know is the Duke-UNC game is the biggest of the year. And that it takes place in an area of the country where basketball is a religion. To score tickets to this game, students have to camp out for weeks. They then enter a lottery for a chance to win tickets. Ariely reached out to students who won tickets and those who entered the lottery but didn’t win. Both had invested the same amount of pain, sacrifice, time, and effort to enter the lottery. But some had won, and others hadn’t. Would this affect how each group valued the basketball tickets? The results were interesting. Students who were not successful in the lottery said they’d pay an average of $170 for a ticket. But the students who did get a ticket? When asked how much they’d sell their ticket for, they asked 170% more for their ticket — about $2,400 on average. The question is — why were the owners asking so much for their tickets? The answer? Emotion. According to Ariely, once someone owns a product, they begin fantasizing about their future experiences. Once they create these “pre-memories” of the game, ticket-holders don’t want to lose out. So these students wouldn’t only be selling a ticket. They’d be losing out on potential memories, emotions, and good times. The lesson — the more emotions associated with a product, the more people value it.

https://medium.com/choice-hacking/loss-aversion-how-fear-influences-customer-choice-605bbb13feb5

['Jennifer Clinehens']

2020-11-25 15:46:38.580000+00:00

['Marketing', 'Business', 'Creativity', 'Psychology', 'Startup']

The FDA Banned These Chemicals — and They’re Still Everywhere

The FDA Banned These Chemicals — and They’re Still Everywhere Antibacterial compounds are no longer in your hand soap, but they’re in your floors, your walls, and in your body. Just about two years ago, activists who work to reduce environmental contamination from hazardous chemicals were feeling pretty cheerful. After a struggle that had lasted decades, they’d persuaded the Food and Drug Administration to ban a slate of antibacterial chemicals from soaps and bodywashes in the United States. The rap on the chemicals — especially the best-known and most common ones on the list, triclosan and triclocarban — was that hundreds of pieces of scientific research revealed they did more harm than good to humans and to the environment. Mouse studies suggested that these bacteria-killing compounds might affect hormone production and damage the microbiome, and they appeared to contribute to antibiotic resistance. Moreover, cleansers with these chemicals were no better at killing infectious bugs than plain soap and water. The ban on triclosan and triclocarban was an achievement, given that the FDA had been mulling it over since 1974. But it was only a partial victory. Triclosan and triclocarban are still dosed into the carpets we walk on, added to the household plastics we handle every day, and blended into the caulk in our bathrooms and the paint on our walls. They are routine ingredients in fabrics and plastics — and thus in floor wax, air-conditioning coils, kitchen tools, and kids’ toys. Like a phone call in an old horror movie, triclosan and triclocarban are coming from inside the house. Unlike hand sanitizers and soaps, all these products fall under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), rather than the FDA. And the EPA has so far shown no signs of cracking down on their use. “There are thousands of products outside of the FDA’s regulatory reach that pose similar exposure and health threats,” says Rolf Halden, director of the Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering at Arizona State University, who began researching triclosan in 2002. He estimates that more than 2,000 common products sold in the United States still contain the compounds. Like a phone call in an old horror movie, triclosan and triclocarban are coming from inside the house. Why dose your walls and carpets with antibacterials? To protect the objects themselves from attack by bacteria and mold, says Mae Wu, an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which helped bring about the FDA ban by filing a lawsuit against the agency in 2010. “It’s impregnated in all these products as a preservative.” It might seem like a good thing to have walls that don’t harbor bacteria and spatulas that gunk won’t grow on. The problem, Wu said, is that the antibacterials don’t stay bound up in the materials they have been added to. As those household products wear and decay, the compounds escape and find other things in your house to cling to. “It ends up in household dust,” she says. “It’s coming off your bathroom caulk, or off the mousepad you just bought.” It’s … everywhere Last year, Halden and more than 200 other scientists detailed the ongoing threats related to these disinfectants in a scientific paper that has come to be known as the Florence Statement, for the location of the conference where it was drafted. The statement cites almost 170 pieces of research in order to document the persistent hazards of triclosan and triclocarban. The compounds flow into wastewater, pile up in sewage (and contaminate crop fields when sewage sludge is used as fertilizer), persist in the soil, accumulate in aquatic plants, and collect in the flesh of fish and livestock. What’s more, a range of studies in the United States and in other countries have found traces of the chemical in human blood, urine, and breast milk. Over several decades, experiments in animals and observations in people show that in addition to interfering with hormone production, triclosan and triclocarban disrupt the endocrine system, damage heart muscle, affect the growth of fetuses, and may increase allergic reactions in children. The compounds flow into wastewater, pile up in sewage, persist in the soil, accumulate in aquatic plants, and collect in the flesh of fish and livestock. They may also contribute to one of the world’s most pressing health threats. Microbiologists have long suspected that triclosan’s ability to kill bacteria might create the same risks as the overuse of antibiotics. That is, a low or diluted dose might kill only the vulnerable bacteria, permitting bacteria that have developed defenses against the compounds to flourish and dominate. When that happens with antibiotics, the drugs became less and less useful as resistant bacteria take over. Antibiotic resistance kills an estimated 23,000 Americans and 700,000 people around the world each year. In 2016, Halden and researchers from Harvard and the University of Oregon demonstrated that these disinfectants could make the problem of antibiotic resistance worse. They took samples of dust from indoor public spaces at their universities and subjected them to tests to reveal both the genetic and the chemical contents of the dust. The more triclosan there was in the dust, they found, the more antibiotic resistance bacterial genes the dust also contained. It suggests the disinfectant was influencing which bacteria survived and died. The alarming possibility: Triclosan may be changing the environmental microbiome and enriching it with bacteria that are potentially dangerous to human health. Other recent work demonstrates how these compounds may be affecting animal microbiomes, setting up the possibility that they could do the same to us. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts fed triclosan to mice, so that they developed a blood concentration equal to what many humans already carry. Those antibacterial loads devastated the mice’s gut microbiomes, the mix of bacteria that help digest food, synthesize vitamins, and communicate to the immune system. The team reported in June that the mice that were fed triclosan experienced inflammation that could predispose them to other gut problems. In mice that had been engineered to have the equivalent of inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer — conditions that many humans have — triclosan made those illnesses worse, with more cellular damage and larger tumors. This precise effect had never been shown before. “We think our study suggests triclosan has previously unknown health risks,” says Guodong Zhang, the paper’s senior author and an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. To remove disinfectants, apply consumer pressure Despite these emerging risks, it’s not at all clear that regulation of triclosan and triclocarban will change in the near term. The EPA last evaluated the chemicals in 2008. The agency usually reviews chemicals on a 15-year cycle but began another review of triclosan early, in 2013. Since then, of course, the government has changed hands, and so has leadership of the agency. Trump’s pick for EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, resigned in July after several ethics controversies, and the agency is currently headed by an acting administrator, a situation in which the EPA is unlikely to take any big steps. A spokesperson told NEO.LIFE that the agency expects to complete its review next year. Some manufacturers are quietly changing their products’ formulas to phase out the problem chemicals without advertising they have done so. With further policy changes unlikely, advocates hope the market will speak instead. Arlene Blum, the executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute in Berkeley — which won a multi-year battle to get toxic flame retardants removed from fabrics — thinks the way to reduce disinfectant use lies in targeting big purchasers such as car manufacturers, home builders, and huge retail chains. “It’s really hard for the government — EPA, the FDA — to move quickly, but manufacturers and retailers can,” she says. “It’s not hard to motivate big buyers and trade associations when money is on the line.” There is a precedent: Over the past four years, most poultry producers in the United States stopped routinely feeding antibiotics to their birds, largely because of consumer pressure from individuals and from big institutional buyers such as school systems and medical centers. And there are subtle signs of change. The advocacy group Beyond Pesticides maintains a list of consumer products that contain triclosan and triclocarban. In some cases, the group says, manufacturers are quietly changing their products’ formulas to phase out the problem chemicals without advertising they have done so. Other manufacturers are explicitly embracing triclosan-free products: Halden is working with the Healthy Building Network, a research nonprofit that advocates for green and sustainable construction, to guide architects and materials manufacturers toward choosing components without these compounds. If manufacturers stop adding triclosan and triclocarban to their products, the compounds in the environment now will slowly break down and disappear. As long as these chemicals aren’t replaced with some equally risky compound, the damage done by these antibacterials could finally become a thing of the past.

https://medium.com/neodotlife/the-fda-banned-these-chemicals-and-theyre-still-everywhere-8b9a05b9fb46

['Maryn Mckenna']

2020-07-13 21:51:08.655000+00:00

['Health', 'Environment', 'Wellness', 'Microbiome', 'Science']

Can This Toxic Question Please Just Go Away?

There’s a debate that anyone who has spent any amount of time thinking about being a writer has come across. (I’m going to go out on a ledge an say anyone who has thought about being any sort of artist has come up against this debate.) Should we write because we must or should we write for money? The must side is so earnest. Writers who insist that they write because they have no choice. It’s write or perish. And having readers is incidental. Money actually diminishes their must-ness. The write for money side can be cold. They never write for free. They only write to their market. They hustle out work with shocking speed. They have the bottom line in mind at all times and being paid what they’re worth is the most important thing. It’s enough to make me scream. Look. You don’t have to choose. You can be an earnest writer who feels honestly moved to be a storyteller — and still want to be paid for your work. And you can want to earn money and still fully believe that you must write or die. I’ve been writing pretty much every day since the sixth grade. I’m 47, so we’re talking about a habit stretching back more than thirty-five years. I went to battle with my high school so that they’d let me take a creative writing class my senior year instead of AP world literature. My undergraduate work was in creative writing and I have a MFA. The only thing I’ve ever wanted to be when I grow up is a writer. Would I write, even if I wasn’t being paid? Yeah. I would. In fact, I have. I sure wrote a lot before I was ever paid for it. And I paid a lot for the privilege of learning how to do it better. But guess what? I like being paid for my work. And I’m so sick of the insinuation that there’s something wrong with learning how to treat writing like what it is: a business. It isn’t leveled at me very often —or at least, not that I notice. I’ll admit to being not super sensitive to the accusation when it’s thrown my way. It doesn’t matter to me any more than if someone screamed hey, you’re really tall at me or omg, your hair is so brown. Okay. So I am. So it is. And yeah, I’m a professional writer who gets paid for her work. Readers matter to me. I get excited about them. So, the accusation, when it does come, rolls off. But I see so many newer, less experienced writers gutted by the idea that if they aspire to a career as a writer they’re some how not real writers. So, in case you need it . . . You have permission to get excited about the business side of writing. You have permission to celebrate earning a pay check for your writing. (Here’s a hint for you — almost all of the time, the must-ers aren’t getting a pay check. The must argument makes them feel better about themselves. And whatever, okay. But you don’t have to let it bring you down.) You have permission to build an email list and learn about running a small business and conduct yourself like a professional. Will I feel sorry for you if you professionalize writing to the point that there’s no room left for art or generosity? I really will. Will you look like a tool if you take a public stance against ever writing something you’re not paid for? Yep. But those are your choices. And on the flip side . . . You have permission to write for free. You even have permission to never once, in your whole life, give a thought to being paid for your work. You have permission to write something just because it feels good, without any thought at all toward how you’ll monetize it. You have permission to treat your writing like art and never think about it as a business. Will I feel sorry for you if you’re never able to let yourself turn your art into your career? I will, if you’re miserable in your actual career and I think you could be a professional writer, sure. Will you look like a tool if you get up on your high horse about not caring about being paid for writing? Oh, yes. But, those are your choices. What you don’t have permission to do is tear someone else down. You do you. Try to give other people the space and grace to do them. Even if what they do isn’t the way you do things.

https://medium.com/the-write-brain/can-you-write-for-love-and-for-money-665fbd8ae6a9

['Shaunta Grimes']

2019-07-25 14:50:21.352000+00:00

['Creativity', 'Art', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Productivity', 'Writing']

This is sloppy and hides intent if you ever reference it more

These similarities below are the skills and tools that both roles use. Mainly used by both are the programming languages and tools that help to deploy a Data Science model. Depending on the company, a Data Scientist could expect to work more on deployment, or the same could be said about a Data Engineer. Most importantly in Data Science, is the ability to communicate. You will most likely have to work with a Product Manager or stakeholder to go over weaknesses in the business before you even look at the data in your company and start your Data Science model building process. This is also the case in higher education, where even choosing a college has become a matter of life and death. We have moved from a time when colleges were a community’s lifeblood — providing jobs, culture, and diversity of thought and experience — to a time when many college campuses have become Covid hotspots, bringing rising infection rates and fear to the communities they once enriched. Now if you need to reference the name later, you will be doing so via a named variable vs. an index value. This works well for response data that you’ll likely know the structure of. As long as the person’s information is always in the same order, you can destructure and assign everything over and over again to avoid using index values. Using the ** operator on the dict as you’re passing a dict to the function allows you to unpack all of the arguments successfully (instead of accidentally passing the dict object itself). Although this method does add another variable and a separate data structure, it improves overall readability when there are a larger number of arguments. Moving the function call around or referencing multiple calls to the same function with the same (or slightly tweaked) arguments now becomes infinitely easier and requires less overall modification. If you pass a class to dir, it will list all of the attributes for that object. This includes the names of its functions. By filtering for a prefix, suffix, or included keyword in the string name, we can group the functions of this class into different categories. This allows us to “pick up” new functions whose names include a keyword and either call them all or perform other logic with them later on in the code. Although certain formats of this indentation style might technically be allowed in PEP8, I personally do not enjoy looking at heavily indented function arguments. You are forced to move your eyes all the way over to the right, some IDEs don’t play nice with this indentation, and using this style inhibits future extensibility. https://www.d-tec.nl/yzf/P-v-O1.html https://www.d-tec.nl/yzf/P-v-O1.html https://www.d-tec.nl/yzf/P-v-O1.html https://www.d-tec.nl/yzf/P-v-O1.html https://www.d-tec.nl/yzf/P-v-O1.html https://www.d-tec.nl/yzf/R-v-A01.html https://www.d-tec.nl/yzf/R-v-A02.html https://www.d-tec.nl/yzf/R-v-A03.html https://www.d-tec.nl/yzf/R-v-A04.html https://www.d-tec.nl/yzf/R-v-A05.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Cska-v-Roma01.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Cska-v-Roma02.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Cska-v-Roma03.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Cska-v-Roma04.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Cska-v-Roma05.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Liege-v-Benfica01.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Liege-v-Benfica02.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Liege-v-Benfica03.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Liege-v-Benfica04.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Napoli-v-Real01.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Napoli-v-Real02.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Napoli-v-Real03.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Napoli-v-Real04.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Salonika-v-Granada01.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Salonika-v-Granada02.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Salonika-v-Granada03.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Salonika-v-Granada04.html http://wearabletechnologyshow.net/cnn/Salonika-v-Granada05.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/p-v-g01.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/p-v-g02.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/p-v-g03.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/p-v-g04.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/p-v-g05.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/s-v-b1.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/s-v-b2.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/s-v-b3.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/s-v-b4.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/s-v-b5.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/s-v-m1.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/s-v-m2.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/s-v-m3.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/s-v-m4.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/s-v-m5.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/s-v-r01.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/s-v-r02.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/s-v-r03.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/s-v-r04.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/s-v-r05.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/t-v-a01.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/t-v-a02.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/t-v-a03.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/t-v-a04.html https://www.wearabletechnologyshow.net/joz/t-v-a05.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/n-v-r5.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/n-v-r4.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/n-v-r3.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/n-v-r2.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/n-v-r1.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/l-v-r05.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/l-v-r04.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/l-v-r03.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/l-v-r02.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/l-v-r01.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/d-v-a4.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/d-v-a3.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/d-v-a2.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/d-v-a1.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/c-v-l-er5.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/c-v-l-er4.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/c-v-l-er3.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/c-v-l-er2.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/c-v-l-er1.html https://www.d-tec.nl/apv/d-v-a5.html If you’re using an API that requires an API key, please keep that key a secret. If you’re not planning on uploading your code or hosting your project publicly, you should be fine, but if you are going to upload it to GitHub or host it live then take these steps to keep your API key secret. We have moved from a time when colleges were a community’s lifeblood — providing jobs, culture, and diversity of thought and experience — to a time when many college campuses have become Covid hotspots, bringing rising infection rates and fear to the communities they once enriched. There are lessons to be learned for organizations, leaders, and individuals. For Champlain College, all that we learned from the pandemic this fall helps to fuel our optimism about the future. The following lessons are ones we will take forward in defining what 2021 looks like on our campus: Then when you want to use this environment variable in your code, refer to it using process.env.REACT_APP_API_KEY instead of a string containing your API key. Don’t forget to also add your .env file to your .gitignore.As covered earlier, APIs are a great tool to understand and implement. This article has set out to provide an overview of what APIs are, examples of popular APIs, and a brief tutorial on how to make requests. I hope that this article has been helpful, thanks for reading!https://medium.com/dataseries/hiding-secret-info-in-python-using-environment-variables-a2bab182eea — This is a great tutorial blog post on using environment variables in Python. The coronavirus pandemic has transformed us from a nation that shunned discussions of death to one that receives daily mortality reports. In the face of unimaginable loss — of friends, family, jobs, and freedom — many have adopted a “hospice mentality,” a state of mind where our best days are behind us and the future is bleak. In your project folder, create a file called .env (a file where we can store environment variables). In this file on the first line, you’re going to want to type REACT_APP_API_KEY= and then paste your API key. No quotes, no ; Using the ** operator on the dict as you’re passing a dict to the function allows you to unpack all of the arguments successfully (instead of accidentally passing the dict object itself). Although this method does add another variable and a separate data structure, it improves overall readability when there are a larger number of arguments. Moving the function call around or referencing multiple calls to the same function with the same (or slightly tweaked) arguments now becomes infinitely easier and requires less overall modification. For skills, these are used to query data, clean data, apply transformations, prepare data for Machine Learning algorithms, and visualize both exploratory data analysis and results of the Data Science model. Data Scientists often use platforms like Jupyter Notebook as well (or other similar ones) to perform research, including both code and comments, with a nice way to visualize and organize their work in progress. As covered earlier, APIs are a great tool to understand and implement. This article has set out to provide an overview of what APIs are, examples of popular APIs, and a brief tutorial on how to make requests. I hope that this article has been helpful, thanks for reading! When I started my presidency at Champlain College in Burlington, VT on July 1, our students had been sent home and the pandemic ravaged the country. Leading a college through a pandemic during a time of economic upheaval, social unrest, racial injustice, a divisive political landscape, and a climate crisis, has been the greatest test of my professional career. Yet I believe the true test of a leader is finding ways to pivot in an uncertain world and meet challenges with innovation and creativity. Even as we approach a year of the pandemic with no end in sight, I feel optimistic about the future. And, I am not alone. A survey commissioned by Champlain College Online about career prospects, Covid-19, and the election found 66% of responders felt positive about the future. That positivity also translated into action, with two out of three respondents taking steps to improve their career prospects. What are some of the key skills and concepts that define the role of a Data Scientist? There is plenty to discuss, so I will include some of these that I have personally worked with or have seen across several job descriptions. A Data Scientist can be defined in different ways, with differing opinions, but to me, I believe a Data Scientist is a person who employs the use of data and Machine Learning algorithms, to solve business problems efficiently. Therefore, with this definition, I will speak to the respective skills that tie in.Before we start, let’s acknowledge that these roles vary from company to company. That being said, there are still general themes to each specific role of Data Scientist and Data Engineer that differentiate them. Simply put, the skills and tools of each role can see plenty of overlap, but the concepts and goals differ greatly. I will be discussing in more detail the skills, concepts, similarities, and differences between the two positions. Please read below for a discussion on Data Science and Data Engineering; what makes them similar, and what makes them different.These concepts below are ones to keep in mind as Data Science is not just code and programming, but a role that helps to solve business problems. Efficiency and saving money go hand-in-hand, and they are especially prevalent for Data Scientists. These are useful for any role, but for Data Science, the goal is to automate a process from the benefit of a Machine Learning algorithm. In turn, this model will save money and time. You will need to know how the specific algorithms work so that you can also optimize for the best algorithm. Statistics is important to know, especially when you are A/B testing and setting up experiments for a product. In this example, let’s assume we have the class above containing a large number of functions. Some of these functions serve a special purpose and should be dynamically accessible. We want any special function that we add to this class to be immediately picked up by the rest of our code so that it begins working right away. One way to accomplish this is simply by using dir on the containing class.

https://jafarhaxor.medium.com/this-is-sloppy-and-hides-intent-if-you-ever-reference-it-more-9998f80b85be

['Jafar Arif']

2020-12-10 16:25:46.023000+00:00

['Humor', 'Mental Health', 'Health', 'Coronavirus', 'Science']

Don’t Be a Writer, Be an Entrepreneur Who Writes

Don’t Be a Writer, Be an Entrepreneur Who Writes The world isn’t short of great writers, it’s short of great entrepreneurs who write Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash An entrepreneur who writes is different from a writer. Being an entrepreneur means your true passion lies in using your wits to make money. Writing is your weapon of choice. A writer’s passion, by contrast, lies in the craft itself. A quick multiple choice question can reveal which one you are. Is making money from your writing more important than being a great writer? a) Yes, definitely. b) No, being a great writer is more important. c) I’d like to have both equally. Got your answer? Here’s the twist. It doesn’t matter what you choose. Writing and blogging is so competitive you have little choice but to adapt and evolve into an entrepreneur. If writing is more important, treat the entrepreneurial side of things as a necessary evil that helps facilitate your passion. Plan like an entrepreneur An entrepreneur views writing as a means to an end. Not the end itself. Being an awesome writer helps, but it’s not the most important aspect of a writing based business/side-hustle. As with any startup, writing a blog post requires an investment in planning and research. A single blog post requires a business plan. Yup, you read that correctly. A reminiscent post about how your sibling used to blow their nose and wipe it on you (that’s just a hypothetical example) doesn’t need a business plan. I’m talking specifically about money posts intended to carve out your own slice of the pie, make money, or contribute to the foundation of your writing empire. Here’s a quick overview of what a blog post business plan contains. Blog post business plan from How to make money blogging on SME Pals. Like any entrepreneur starting a business you need to know: How much time and effort is required. What financial costs there are. What gaps or angles exist. What obstacles exist. Who the competition is and what they’re doing right (and wrong). How much traffic there is. Who your audience is. How much money you can make (depending on the type of affiliate relationship, product or service you’re offering). How to make that money. How long it will take to start making money. … For me, the most valuable part of putting together a business plan is the market research — more specifically, competitor analysis. Competitor analysis is wildly useful for bloggers. It illuminates the tactics successful competitors use to win market share and earn revenue. If you want to be the best, learn from the best. Competitor analysis illuminates the tactics successful competitors use to win market share and earn revenue. Most of all, and I can’t stress how important this is, A blog post business plan will tell you whether or not your idea is viable and worth pursuing. Don’t waste time on content you have already shown to have insufficient earning potential. Find something else. Explore new topics. Move on. Download a free blog post business plan template I put together here. Write like an entrepreneur Here’s where writers and entrepreneurs who are writers join hands. At this stage, the better you are at engaging and captivating an audience, the better you’ll do. Here are some handy tips I’ve found to work well for money-content. Win the title Titles are hard! You have to juggle three things at once in a single, short sentence: Use target SEO keywords Accurately describe the content Spark intrigue Take time over the title. It is absolutely critical to the success of your post. A title is to a blog post what an elevator pitch is to a startup. Wired wrote an article about what a difference clickable headlines make. The difference between a good headline and a bad headline can be just massive. It’s not (in the ballpark of) a rounding error. When we test headlines we see 20% difference, 50% difference, 500% difference. A really excellent headline can make something go viral. Adapt and fine-tune the title as you go. Hold off until it’s ready to go out there and captivate people. The title is often the last thing I work on — once I fully understand the content and purpose of the article itself. Draw ’em in description Make the description a promise of something greatly valuable for the reader. A blog description must inspire readers with an exciting promise of value. Along with the header, the description is about the only chance you have to convince visitors to click thru. Don’t waste it on a dry, boring description. To do this properly you need to understand who’s going to be reading the article and what they need to know. The description isn’t about the content; it’s about the reader. Gripping section titles Gripping. Is. Key. Make sub-titles and headers gripping. Never, ever let go of the reader’s attention. Not for a second. Like the description, sub-headers should inspire and intrigue, pulling readers along. Gary Korisko gives us this great quote. The four main ingredients of great sub-headers are curiosity, surprise, personality & emotion. Pitch perfect This is one aspect of writing I struggle with the most. Often, writing about topics in which I have a lot of experience causes me to lose the audience quickly. Avoid assuming too much or too little knowledge. Both are equally adept at turning readers off. The better you understand your audience, the easier it is to pitch content in a way that keeps them captivated. Captivate ‘em Always maintain your energy and enthusiasm while writing. Take regular breaks to keep your mind fresh. Write when inspiration strikes. Find a method that works for you and do everything in your power to avoid slipping into a mediocre, run-of-the-mill voice that allows readers to drift away (without a conversion). Format for skimmers Formatting plays a big role. Spacing, structure, fonts & layout all make a big difference in how easily readers digest and retain information. Above all else. Be concise & clear. According to Hubspot, 73% of visitors skim rather than read the blog post thoroughly. Formatting is a way to break up content in a way that entices readers to keep going. Especially people who are starting out with a cursory scan of the article to see if it’s worth their time. Cite experienced influencers & experts Don’t look at blogging as something you do alone. Blogging is a collaborative effort and diverse perspectives add value. Gathering input from influencers in your niche is incredibly important for a bunch of reasons. Experts know stuff (you don’t) Relationships you build with influencers are valuable Influencers can increase your reach and buzz Influencers help you build trust & authority with your audience Out of all these points, really the most salient and immediately valuable one is that including quotes and inputs from great influencers helps turn them into evangelists for your article — when it comes time to publish like an entrepreneur. Influencers who have contributed to your article are more likely to mention or promote it. Publish like an entrepreneur Planning and creating content, together, should only constitute around one-third of your total investment in a piece of content— both in terms of time and money. That’s more or less how things tend to pan out for me. Maybe more, maybe less depending on your unique topic, network and reach. Planning and creating content, together, should only constitute around one-third of your total investment in a piece of content. I tend to publish money-pieces to my own blog because I want it to generate income for some time to come. Publishing a piece like this on 3rd party platforms arguably provides greater initial reach and a higher chance of ranking in Google search. It also comes with some potentially serious downsides. Many big publisher will happily take your content and publish at an off-time where it quickly disappears from the front page without so much as a ripple. If that happens, it’s all for nothing. At least if it’s on your own site, you can continue to promote it and write guest articles citing any useful stats, facts and figures to keep a stream of traffic trickling along. Whatever you choose, it’s time to start marketing. As I like to say, It doesn’t matter what business you are in; the business you are in is marketing. To wit, the folks at GrowthBadger had this to say about marketing and promoting your blog. 70% of bloggers who earn over $50,000 per year say they are active or very active promoters of their blogs, compared to only 14% of lower-income bloggers. Make the news Part of the business plan, back when you first started conceptualizing the article, would identify and integrate news media opportunities in some form or another. There should be at least one (preferably more) hook. Either: Include newsworthy content (original research, current trends, novelty, conflict, etc) in the post Create news that cites your blog post Interest stories are a great way to go — especially if it cites your new article in some way or another. Create a newsworthy story by talking about other people, organizations or businesses doing incredible things. Include local content if local media coverage is important. Interview people. Do Research. Offer a prize. Offer a scholarship. Do whatever it takes to be able to pitch something unique and interesting to reporters and journalists covering your beat. Just. Be. Newsworthy. I wrote an article highlighting the best new business ideas coming out of U.S. universities. That’s newsworthy because it a showcases up and coming entrepreneurial talent bubbling away at American colleges. Also, it has nothing to do with me. Pitching a great story to the right media often results in a bit of coverage that can go a long way. 10 best new business ideas from university entrepreneurs posted to USA Today. Getting into the news requires a slightly different set of writing skills. Namely, press releases. At some point you’ll need to learn how to hook journalists using attention-grabbing headlines and give them everything they need to make their news article easy and compelling for their readers. You can check out a press releases templates, including a few practical tips here. Influence the influencers Having worked hard to collaborate with a whole bunch of experts and influencers, it’s now time to put those newfound contacts to good use (apart from the, hopefully, great quotes and info they contributed to your piece). Put together a personalized pitch for each person you mentioned or collaborated with. Here’s a quick template that should do the trick for someone you only mentioned (but don’t necessarily know personally): Subject: Congrats! You’ve been mentioned in my latest article. Hi [name], I really learned a lot from your piece about [title] and mentioned it (with a link) under [sub-topic] in my latest article [title][link]. I’d love it if you would consider contributing an additional insight for this article? It can be as long or short as you like. I will of course cite and link your contribution. If you can also share a link to a head-shot that would be great. Thanks, David The purpose of this outreach is primarily to thank them for being awesome enough to include in your post. Next, you want to tell them you’ve already given them great coverage (without asking for anything first). Finally there’s an offer to contribute more — requiring them to at least take the time to look at your article. This is significantly more effective than any of the hundreds of emails I get on an ongoing basis asking me for coverage in one of my posts. Instead of asking for something, reach out to share what you’ve already done for them (not a promise to do something, if only they…). Influence any influencer with an easy 3-step process. Offer. Engage. Pitch. Alternatively, if they collaborated with you, the outreach email might look more like this: Subject: I’ve added your awesome insights! Hi [name], I added and linked your contribution. Thanks so much. I’m super happy with it. Check it out at [title][link]. I’ve also followed you on [social network] and [2nd/3rd/etc social network] to keep up to date with what you’re working on. Feel free to drop me a line if I can help out or contribute in any way. If you love the article please consider linking or mentioning it. Thanks, David In this instance you are thanking them for being awesome. Letting them know that you’ve become a fan and are following them. Offering to work with them and collaborate on future projects. Requesting a link or a mention if they really like the article (their name is on it already so it’s far more likely they will at least share it around). Cast a wide net Initially, if the article is self-published, it’s likely not going to drive much traffic — unless you have a huge audience and/or a good relationship with Google’s first page rankings. Spend some time exploring related content. It could be drilling down into more depth, new research, finding opposing views, or whatever. Get new content up and about that links back to your article from other blogs and sites. Draw on your newfound experience and knowledge to write and pitch fantastic guest articles to related blogs, websites & media. Don’t stop An article is never really finished. There will always be new opportunities for marketing and promotions to explore. Opportunities to add and update the article with great new content. Opportunities to unearth new opportunities. It’s up to the entrepreneur in you to find clever new gaps to exploit, build new partnerships to generate more revenue, or simply decide to move on to the next exciting article. Sometimes it’s nice to sit back and watch earnings build up passively over time. Like this Passive earnings from a single blog post. Decide to promote via social media. Or don’t. Try paid advertising. Or don’t. Learn new tricks from people who are dominating. Or blaze your own trail. The sky really is the limit when it comes to the business of content. That’s what interests me the most. Sometimes you’ll get lucky and an article will out-earn your expectations handsomely. It happens now and then. Dumb luck definitely plays a role. Make sure you’re in the game long enough by being smart about everything you publish. In the long run, it’s way more profitable to make your own luck.

https://medium.com/swlh/dont-be-a-writer-be-an-entrepreneur-who-writes-61ff86af4f0b

['David Mercer']

2020-08-28 15:29:50.267000+00:00

['Entrepreneurship', 'Writing', 'Startup', 'Marketing', 'Blogging']

What Should Systems Neuroscience Do Next? Voltage Imaging

What Should Systems Neuroscience Do Next? Voltage Imaging The firing and the wiring at the same time Credit: Pixabay The best thing about being a neuroscientist is that neuroscience never stands still. Barely a week passes without some new major result, a sparkling technological breakthrough, a provoking theoretical idea. And the sheer complexity of brains means the questions available are practically infinite. So even if your specific corners of brain research have briefly slowed their breathless pace, there is always more to learn. Always new questions to tackle. Indeed, there are whole regions of the mammalian brain whose mysteries have barely been probed, and which will no doubt turn out to be crucial for our understanding. My money’s on the zona incerta, the globus pallidus, and the septum. Exciting times. The worst thing about being a neuroscientist is that neuroscience never stands still. Barely a week passes without some new result, breakthrough, or theory that you don’t have time to read; that ends up filed for later, destined never to be opened; or to be skimmed and not assimilated. And the sheer complexity of brains means the questions available are practically infinite. So even if you’re lucky enough that your specific corners of brain research have briefly slowed their breathless pace, there is always more to learn. Always new questions to tackle. Indeed, there are whole regions of the mammalian brain whose mysteries have barely been probed, and which will no doubt turn out to be crucial for our understanding. Worrying times. Paradoxically, this best and worst of all possible worlds in mind research is created by mindless churn. Of doing whatever can or could be done next. Not what should be done next. So, hubristically, I thought I’d plant my feet against the torrent and take a stab at separating the should from the could. A series of occasional pieces that set out to answer the question: what should systems neuroscience do next? In this first piece, we start with the very definition of systems neuroscience. It is at heart the study of the activity of multiple individual neurons, of the messages they are sending. Everything we see, do, or think in the moment is through neurons sending spikes to each other. So a clear priority for systems neuroscience is to make the best recordings of the output of the most neurons, and with as much metadata about those neurons — where they are, how many there are, what type they are — as possible. We have two mainstream ways of recording the output of individual neurons: insert electrodes to record spikes, or image calcium fluxes in the neurons’ bodies as a proxy for spikes. Both have unique strengths, both are constantly evolving in the white-heat of technology (and cash), but both have problems that are solved by the other. So our first “should”: we should find a recording method that combines the strengths of both. The great news is that we already know the answer. The answer is voltage imaging. And if we get it solved, voltage imaging comes with a massive bonus prize, something neither electrodes nor calcium imaging can buy us: live connectomics.

https://medium.com/the-spike/what-should-systems-neuroscience-do-next-voltage-imaging-9bfa5d6a4df9

['Mark Humphries']

2019-12-30 20:32:09.324000+00:00

['Neuroscience', 'Psychology', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Machine Learning', 'Science']

Why Writing Online Is Different

I published my first article in November 2014. I had no idea what I was doing, but I had fun. Ironically, the only way to keep this fun around long-term was to consider writing the most serious job I’ve ever had. So I committed. Now, over four years later, nothing is the same. Except that part. The fun’s still here. I even have a slightly better idea of what I’m doing. But writing online is different from anything I’d ever imagined or associated with that word. Here are 3 lessons I rarely see others mention, but that helped me get to now. 1. People aren’t waiting to change their perspective. You have to do it for them. No none walks around saying: “I wish someone changed my mind about productivity.” That’s not how humans work. We’re intensely focused on our day, ourselves, our next task at hand, zipping through everyday life with tunnel vision. Browsing the web and reading online are no different. If anything, we hope to bump into ideas that confirm our worldview, not challenge it. This onus lies entirely on you, the writer. People don’t just underestimate it but, often, abandon this challenge altogether, going the easier route of telling people what they know they’ll want to hear. This works for a while, especially when you’re just beginning, but it gets old really quick. Readers don’t know they’re driven by these biases, but from feeding them, even subconsciously, they still get bored. And that’s a feeling they know. So they move on. What they might not know they want — but need — is an idea that cracks their perspective. A tiny fracture, just big enough for them to raise their eyebrows. To blink twice. To scroll up again. Presenting this idea is what I try to do in most of my headlines. The article is just the fulfillment center. The line between offending people and making them think is infinitely small. But learning to dance on it is one of the most important skills you’ll ever learn. 2. The only agenda that works is to have no agenda. That sounds weird. Of course I have an agenda. Everyone does. I want dollars. Followers. Views. However, the single greatest way to maximize all of those in the long run is to not care when you’ll get them and in what order. Because that’s the only way you’ll be free to overwhelm the platforms you write on with generosity, consistency, and genuine care. It’s not about you. Great work never is. The sooner you can act that out, the earlier you’ll take off. What does the host want? What do readers want? What does the platform want for its readers and what do readers expect for giving their invaluable time and attention to this place? Notice how absent you are from all these important questions. I know it’s counterintuitive, but it’s also liberating. No one cares about what you want, but then you also don’t have to care about your own mess-ups. You can just try again. Whatever you do, if you start from integrity and maintain it above all else, you’ll never be in a rush to get yours. Because you’ll know it’s coming to you. Maybe not tomorrow and definitely not today. But it’s coming — and you’ll know what to do with it once it does. 3. Change before you need to or you’ll adapt too late. If you were to browse through my entire history of articles, you’d think it’s a collection of writing from at least five different people. Everything changes, all the time. Style. Voice. Content. Vocabulary. Structure. Formatting. Sometimes, it’s me reaching the next level. Sometimes, it’s me adopting a trend early. Most of the time, however, it’s me experimenting on purpose. Changing for the sake of change. To set trends, rather than wait for them. At first sight, this is a stupid strategy. Why give up what’s working? Why mess with a winning team? It means I’m alienating my fans. Or forcing them to grow with me. I’ll lose the people who just got here and I might not win over those who are about to. But it also means I’m staying true to myself. Who wants to be one-dimensional? Who actually is? No one. Consistency of character is a myth. Just like content that confirms our views, it’s attractive on the surface, but boring and inauthentic underneath. If you embrace your contradictions and allow them to flow freely, you still won’t get every shift in context right each time, but you’ll learn to keep an open mind. It’ll be easier to write more game changers (see #1) and reduce friction when you have to adapt (see #2). Most of all, it’ll keep writing fun. And isn’t that what we truly want?

https://ngoeke.medium.com/3-lessons-from-4-years-of-writing-eff24b1b6d78

['Niklas Göke']

2019-04-05 06:46:33.957000+00:00

['Marketing', 'Creativity', 'Art', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Writing']

Your Brand is What People Expect From You

Your Brand is What People Expect From You Here’s what you can do about it Photo by Nadine Shaabana via Unsplash When people first meet you, they don’t know what to expect. So they start judging you by your name, your profile picture, and the title of your blog post. If you’re a writer, people will probably meet your words before they meet you. What are your words saying to them? I’m a nice person. I know what I’m talking about. I have a B.S. in History. Of course, you can’t just say those things and expect us to believe them or be impressed. It’s better for you to prove it and let us draw these conclusions ourselves. When we read your words, we’re after something. Maybe we’re bored and we want you to give us a distraction. Maybe we want an edge and we need your advice to raise our status. Or maybe we are interested in what you’re talking about and you happen to share our worldview. You won’t automatically have our trust because we agree with you. But it’s a nice start, and perhaps the best route to get trust quickly. The best way to gain trust is to keep showing up. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way. There have been times in my life when my freelance work sucked all my time away. When that happens, I feel like I can’t be as generous with my words. When you disappear, people forget. Who was that guy who was so good? Yeah. What happened to him? Hey, have you heard about this new writer? He’s hot. He knows stuff I never dreamed anyone could know. It’s like he can read my mind. It’s amazing how fast that can happen. Show up. Every day if you can. At least once a week. Find a regular rhythm and stick with it. And if you really want to dig deep, write twice as much as you think you can. But what if it isn’t perfect? It never will be, so quit worrying. Your best today won’t be your best next week, next month, or next year. It’s your responsibility to push yourself. Stretch a little every time you write. Dig a little deeper than you did last time. Write something that scares you a bit more. Take a stand, and don’t back down. In a world with millions of voice vying for attention, it’s the bold and committed that stand out. Be you, always. You have some control over what we expect. It’s your choice to deliver the same thing again and again. Or maybe you ruffle our feathers a bit each week. You’ve got more room to play around in the beginning. But as your audience grows and gets more familiar with you, you need to be consistent. What will your message be? How will you deliver it? Will your personality be friendly or businesslike? Will you challenge our assumptions? Will you draw us a better map? Will you take something confusing and break it down so we can understand it? Being you means you do online what you’d do in real life. Spot the trends if you like, but approach them with your own style. When you’re fake, everyone will know. Don’t chase dollars. Chase change. How will you leave your reader better than you found her? In time, your audience defines your brand. You set the first impression. Your audience sets the expectation. Wait a minute, you say. You just said I set the expectation for people. You do, at first. Then once it’s set, people expect you to live up to it. Mess that up, and years of trust can be lost in a moment. So tread carefully. If you want to change your message because that’s your conviction, go for it. Don’t do it because the trends say you should. If you get in the habit of chasing the latest thing for attention, you might as well chase the wind. Here’s the part of the market you should pay attention to. What does your audience want from you? If your message meets a need a lot of people have, that’s probably not going to change overnight. Take writing for example. For generations, the way to make it as an author was through books. If you published one or more, you were somebody. But you had to compete for the opportunity. You’d probably get rejected most of the time. Because publishers need to make money, they bet on what they thought would sell. Today, anyone can write and publish a book. So, the problem the previous generation of writers faced is flipped. It’s a lot harder to get noticed in the market when your book is one of millions of choices. So, writers blog and make money instead. Books are now email magnets and manifestos. If you have a large following, you can command a higher price for your work. Otherwise, price low and be glad to get your message out so you can charge more later. If you don’t like the expectation you’ve set for your market, work to raise it. There’s nothing stopping you. It will take work. You’ll lose some people along the way. But you’ll gain more who are devoted to the same thing you are. It doesn’t take a huge audience to make it. It just takes an audience that is pleased enough to tell other people about you. Be authentic. Serve others first. Be generous. The more people you can, the better your future will be. Now go build a brand that matters. This story is published in The Startup, Medium’s largest entrepreneurship publication followed by +406,714 people. Subscribe to receive our top stories here.

https://medium.com/swlh/your-brand-is-what-people-expect-from-you-9ec346dd6a0e

['Frank Mckinley']

2019-01-03 14:06:01.862000+00:00

['Marketing', 'Writing', 'Business', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Productivity']

The Only Book About Writing You’ll Ever Need

Writing The Only Book About Writing You’ll Ever Need I’ve read it 10 times Six years ago, I sort of forgot how to write. I’d been publishing on the internet for a little over a year — that first, embarrassing, thrilling, bringing-a-laptop-to-parties year (I’m fun at parties) — and I’d run out of things to say. What used to be casual, fast, easy breezy bloggy beautiful, had become… slightly boring. Slow. I’d have an idea, stare at my laptop for an hour, Command-Tab over to Gmail, and then walk four blocks to buy an overpriced panini. So, I did what I always do: I walked into a bookstore feeling vaguely depressed, and left with something to read. I know you just want the name of the book, so here you go: Several Short Sentences About Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg. It’s sort of a weird book, to be honest. It contains no paragraphs, just sentences stacked on top of each other in austere columns. (The whole thing sort of reads like a poem.) And yes, it’s about the mechanics of putting words together, but it’s also about other things: thinking, noticing, mapping the mess inside your head. Also, trusting yourself — something I have a difficult time doing. There’s a lot of writing advice out there: books, articles, quotes from dead people. Most of it isn’t actually about writing. It’s about scheduling (wake up at six!), preparing to write (take good notes!), having ambition (write every day… at six…), or envisioning what it will feel like to finally be done writing. Most people don’t talk about the messy, often boring, sometimes excruciating and other times exhilarating process of staring at a computer and eating stale mixed nuts as you form thoughts into words. In this book, you’ll find no tips for outlining, brainstorming, scheduling, or pitching. Nothing on a thesis statement, a topic sentence, an introduction, or conclusion (spoiler: good ideas need no introduction, or conclusion!) Nothing on rituals or waiting for fictional characters to whisper in your ear. No fantasies about having a cabin in the woods with a big dog and a chunky sweater and a blank Moleskine. In fact, there’s nothing in here about ~inspiration~ at all, nothing about waiting for the ideas to “just flow.” (They never just flow. Sorry.) My whole life is just going to be me rereading this book. It’s sort of like I got really religious somewhere in my twenties, and this book is my Blogging Bible. What you’ll find instead are practical, even curmudgeonly, tips about grammar, rhythm, and making individual sentences. Short ones, mostly. For example: Keep sentences small. They’re easier to work with that way. If something doesn’t feel right, there’s a problem with one or more of your sentences. Listen to that feeling. Try to pinpoint exactly which word or phrase is triggering it. Naming exactly what’s wrong, in grammatical terminology or otherwise, will come later. Understanding a word’s etymology will teach you how to use it. Words contain imprints of their histories. The subject of a sentence should appear as close to the beginning of a sentence as possible. You don’t have to “grab” anyone with the first line of your story. Just write a simple sentence that says what you want it to say. It’s harder than it sounds! And also very effective, if done well. “A writer’s real work is the endless winnowing of sentences, the relentless exploration of possibilities, the effort, over and over again, to see in what you started out to say the possibility of saying something you didn’t know you could.” Noun phrases (“the realization that…”) almost always sound clunky and dead. Try rewriting them as verb phrases (“realizing that…”). Prepositions are difficult to get right, even for native English speakers. A reader’s experience has nothing to do with a writer’s. A sentence that reads “naturally” or “conversationally” to a reader may have been painstakingly assembled by a stressed-out writer who wishes they could sound more natural or conversational. Toward the end of this book, the author diagnoses exactly what’s wrong with about 50 isolated sentences written by his students. It’s sort of ruthless, but fascinating. Most of these sentences sound almost okay, though you can feel something slightly amiss. Hearing Klinkenborg (what a name) pinpoint the specific problems in each one — from an awkward metaphor to a misplaced pronoun — is therapeutic. It’s sort of like Dr. Pimple Popper, but for dangling modifiers instead of giant cysts. I recommend reading the book just for this section. Here’s a theory: Some people (i.e. me) procrastinate and never end up publishing anything because we’re fixated on the bigger Thing — the Novel, the Post, the Feature, the Investigative Whatever. We’re distracted by our intentions and our aspirations. But unless you’ve somehow acquired a ghostwriter, none of those bigger Things are possible until you make sentences. It’s tedious, but crucial. A wall is made of bricks. A story is made of sentences. I still forget how to write sometimes, but whenever I do I know where to turn. This book calms me down. It reminds me that writing is slow and difficult because it’s a technology humans invented to communicate with each other thousands of years ago — not something we do “naturally.” We have to be taught to write. And we have to practice. (There’s an interesting part in the middle where Klinkenborg debunks our mistaken assumption that writing is “natural.” We think it should flow, easily and conversationally, thanks to a false analogy with talking. But talking and writing are very different, as anyone who’s tried to read a podcast transcript will tell you.) Most of all, this book encourages me to listen to what I actually think before trying to shape those thoughts into words. It’s also taught me a lot about rhythm, beginnings, endings, nerdy things like participles, and clarity. These lessons don’t just apply to writing. They also apply to thinking and living. I just finished reading it for, I think, the 10th time. (I know.) And right after I finished, I started back at page one. My whole life is just going to be me rereading this book. It’s sort of like I got really religious somewhere in my twenties, and this book is my Blogging Bible. There I am, on a Saturday in the middle of a pandemic, sitting in my apartment practicing my new religion: figuring out what I’m trying to say.

https://medium.com/creators-hub/the-only-book-about-writing-youll-ever-need-bc6edf2ec802

['Harris Sockel']

2020-10-29 06:18:00.527000+00:00

['Books', 'Writing', 'Productivity', 'Writing Advice', 'Creativity']

Brick by Brick: Build a multi-page dashboard

CODE AND DOWNLOADS The code for this series can be found at this Github repo. The application is run from Jupyter notebook. There are .py (Python) files that will contain code for the layout and data manipulation. I used, and highly recommend, Visual Studio Code for working with these as there are a number of handy extensions available for formatting that is particularly helpful to build the HTML DOM structure which we will accomplish with this article. INSTALLATIONS Follow along the instruction in this Medium article to set up and run the Dash app server from Jupyter notebook. The notebook in Github also lists the packages used as well as their versions to help you get going. STRUCTURE The Title bar declares the dashboard to be a Rental Analysis Dashboard. It will contain an icon to brand our dashboard. Beneath the title, on the left hand side, we create a navbar containing filters. For now these are generic dropdown lists containing three choices, Weekly, Monthly and Yearly. We will be using various types of filters as the project matures. The filter area is being defined in this scaffolding. To the right of the filter pane is the chart area. I have split this up into four rows. The first row will be reserved for KPIs/gauges or cards with summary information to provide “at a glance” key aggregations. We will follow that up with maps, line and bar chats to analyze the data from various angles. This will be the graphing area. And finally at the bottom is the narrow band of page navigation links. Folder structure and files We will use Bootstrap to have a responsive dashboard page. To style the various HTML components and to use Bootstrap’s CSS, we create a folder called assets in the root of the app directory. We will also create a folder called data down the line that will contain all the data we gather in CSVs from the Inside AirBnB website. For Dash to recognize this folder structure, note that creation of the app includes __name__ in the constructor. Important: Why you need to include __name__ in your Dash constructor. There are other elements that we will store in the assets folder such as the icon and logo images. Once this folder structure is followed, retrieving the assets is performed with a call which depends on the image file being present in the assets folder.

https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/brick-by-brick-build-a-multi-page-dashboard-37912dd7d9e6

['Simi Talkar']

2020-12-16 17:28:39.014000+00:00

['Exploratory Data Analysis', 'Dashboard', 'Plotly', 'Visualization', 'Data Analysis']

Tech Execs Face Congress: 9 Big Takeaways

Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg beamed into a congressional hearing via video chat today to face 4+ hours of questions about whether they abuse their dominant positions in the market. Spoiler: they said everything’s cool. By Chloe Albanesius & Michael Kan The CEOs of Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook faced the House Judiciary Committee virtually today, where they fielded questions about whether their respective tech companies take advantage of their dominant positions in the market to enhance their bottom lines. Spoiler: They all said they don’t. As you’d expect, Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg offered rosy assessments of their platforms during opening statements. But the limited time each member of Congress got to ask questions didn’t allow for much additional explanation from the CEOs, many of whom are used to answering questions with winding speeches full of Silicon Valley platitudes. Members on both sides of the aisle had bones to pick with the CEOs. The Democrats largely focused on the antitrust issues at hand: whether Amazon keeps its third-party sellers on a tight leash; if Google favors its own products in search; whether Facebook’s acquisitions served only to thwart competition; and if Apple’s fabled walled-garden approach persists. Some Republicans did, too, but a few veered off course to quiz the execs on pet projects: Google allegedly discriminating against conservatives; Google pulling out of the Pentagon’s JEDI project; and why a certain member’s campaign emails keep ending up in his father’s spam folder. The four-hour-plus hearing covered a lot of ground, and some topics were more interesting than others. Here are some of the highlights. Facebook Facebook-Instagram: Illegal Merger or a Savvy Dealmaking? Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) accused Facebook of breaking antitrust laws by acquiring Instagram back in 2012 because it knew Instagram posed a potential threat to its hold over the social media market. “In your own words you bought Instagram to neutralize the competitive threat. This was an illegal merger at the time of the transaction,” Nadler claimed, citing internal documents provided by Facebook. “Why should Instagram not be broken off into a separate company?” Zuckerberg acknowledged he saw Instagram as a competitor, but only in the mobile-photo sharing space. The FTC also scrutinized and approved the acquisition in 2012. “I think with hindsight, it probably looks obvious that Instagram would’ve reached the scale it has today, but at the time it was far from obvious,” he said, citing other top platforms of the time, like the now-defunct Path. According to Zuckerberg, Instagram’s success is largely due to Facebook’s investment. “I think this has been an American success story,” he added. Nadler disagreed. “Rather than compete with [Instagram], Facebook bought it. This is exactly the type of anticompetitive acquisition that the antitrust laws were designed to prevent. This should have never happened in the first place,” he said. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (Photo by Mandel Ngan-Pool/Getty Images) Are You Threatening Me? Nadler and Rep. Pramila Jayapal, (D-Washington), both brought up Zuckerberg’s negotiations with Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom ahead of the merger. “In a chat you told Mr. Systrom that Facebook ‘was developing our own photo strategy, so how we engage now will also determine how much we are partners versus competitors down the line,’” Rep. Jayapal noted. “Instagram’s founder seemed to think that was a threat. He confided in an investor at the time that he feared you would go into ‘destroy mode’ if he didn’t sell Instagram to you.” Zuckerberg denied it was a threat and characterized his email as a negotiating tactic. “I think it was clear this was a space where we were going to compete in, one way or another,” he said. Preventing Imminent Risk of Life Twitter was not present at today’s hearing, but its policies came up nonetheless. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, asked Zuckerberg why it had temporarily banned Donald Trump Jr. this week for sharing a COVID-19 conspiracy theory. Zuckerberg noted that it was Twitter, not Facebook, that took action against the president’s son. But Zuckerberg explained why the move was probably the correct one. The video shared by Trump, Jr. featured a doctor who said that hydroxychloroquine cures COVID-19, which it does not. So while Facebook allows discussion around trials for drugs or personal experiences with experimental drugs, it does not allow people to definitively state that there is a cure for a disease when there isn’t one, Zuckerberg said. “In general…we do not want to be the arbiters of truth,” Zuckerberg continued. But if “someone is going to go out and say that hydroxychloroquine is proven to clear COVID and that statement could lead people to take a drug … we think that we should take that down. That could cause imminent risk of life.” Later in the hearing, Pichai agreed with that line of thinking when Rep. Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, asked why the video in question was also removed from YouTube. “We believe in freedom of expression and there’s a lot of debate on effective ways to deal with COVID. But during a pandemic, we look to local health authorities [and] the CDC for guidelines around medical misinformation and [how it] might cause harm in the real world,” Pichai said.

https://medium.com/pcmag-access/tech-execs-face-congress-9-big-takeaways-5c6a06ecb921

[]

2020-07-30 12:05:09.891000+00:00

['Apple', 'Business', 'Google', 'Facebook', 'Amazon']

How to Be Productive and Creative in Times of Panic

How to Be Productive and Creative in Times of Panic It wouldn’t hurt to mute the word ‘coronavirus’ on social media for 24 hours Credit: Westend61/Getty Images Hours after the 9/11 attacks, I finally made it back to my apartment in uptown New York City. Like everyone else lucky enough to return home that day, I existed in a daze, not comprehending what had just happened and no longer sure how to function. I had no idea how to manage my anxiety in the weeks that followed, so I surrendered to the 24-hour news cycle and drank myself to sleep, hoping this would help me reclaim the world I had lost. While the coronavirus pandemic is a very different world event, the hysteria feels oddly familiar to what we experienced in 2001. Back then, public spaces seemed like death traps; today they feel like contagion zones. We don’t know whether to trust the news. And there’s no end in sight. I didn’t know how to deal with panic back in 2001, but I’ve learned some more productive approaches since then. Here are some tips for staying calm, productive, and even creative during the coronavirus outbreak. Avoid the panic amplifiers Much has been written about how social media intensifies our anxiety, and we never see this more clearly than during a crisis. Yesterday, I made the mistake of visiting my town’s Facebook page, and the first post I read was one that questioned whether school officials were doing enough to keep classrooms disinfected. A heated discussion followed, with people telling each other they were overreacting, or underreacting. I got fully sucked into the drama, and before I knew it, an hour had passed. To protect your mental health, limit your social media intake to a specified amount of time and make use of blocking features. Twitter allows you to mute specific words — you might want to do this with “coronavirus” or “COVID-19” for 24 hours once a week, just to give yourself a break. Of course, it’s still important to stay informed, so follow official health organizations such as the WHO, CDC, and your local offices of emergency management, along with one national and one local news source. Check these sites twice a day max. While the news is constantly changing, obsessing over minute-by-minute updates won’t do you any good. Prepare within reason For peace of mind, stock up on two weeks of necessities — not 12 years worth of toilet paper. Cans of beans, soups, and boxes of pasta, oats, rice, and frozen vegetables store well. It will comfort you, just a little, to know you’ve prepared your home for a potential quarantine situation, allowing you to focus on more productive tasks. Connect with others In the days after 9/11, I spent a lot of time with my siblings and close friends. We were lucky in that we could hang out at bars and hug it out. Today, with social distancing, meeting up with others is not advisable, and even though I’m surrounded by my immediate family at home, I’m already feeling a little isolated. So far, two things have been helping: connecting with family and friends through video chat and spending time online with fellow creatives. I’m part of two writers’ groups on Slack where we read each other’s stories and share feedback. I’ve found that on stressful days, the act of pouring myself into someone else’s work provides me with a sense of normalcy and purpose. Binge on healthy distractions In stressful times, it’s easy to turn to bad habits. To make sure you don’t, fill your environment with healthy distractions — good books, interesting podcasts, or maybe your yoga mat. These days, I keep The Selected Poems of Donald Hall with me at all times. The poems are quick to read and help me to refocus. Find something that stimulates your creative mind and stifles your urge to check your notifications yet again. Put sacred time on your calendar Each day, give yourself 30 minutes of solitude. (If you’re suddenly working from home, you’ve regained your commute time, so take advantage of it.) Turn off your phone. Take a walk. Meditate. Whatever you do, free yourself from any production goals. You can jot down interesting thoughts if they come to mind — they often do — but don’t make this a work session. Total disconnection allows you to check in with yourself and primes your brain for creativity. Make something If you’re a creative person, you might feel like your work is trivial right now. But it’s in times of uncertainty and fear that we depend on art to remind us that beauty and originality still exist. Creating something — whether it’s a painting or a pie or a podcast — can help you and others find order and make sense of a confusing world. It doesn’t matter whether what you make is good or not. The act of creation brings joy, a sense of pride, and helps you forget about the ills of the world, at least for a little while. In times of calm or panic, it may just be the most productive thing you can do.

https://forge.medium.com/how-to-be-productive-and-creative-in-times-of-panic-183ce6f253d8

['Barry Davret']

2020-03-13 15:40:24.048000+00:00

['Life Lessons', 'Health', 'Creativity', 'Coronavirus', 'Productivity']

Quora Overview

Making the most of Quora for content marketing There are several things you can do to boost your chance of having your blog posts receive attention on Quora: 1. Submit answers to popular questions: The most viewed and upvoted answers on Quora tend to have the highest potential to attract outbound traffic. It follows that you should seek out such answers to interact with in order to improve your chances of gaining meaningful traffic to your blog posts. 2. Create a strong profile: Having a solid profile allows you to stand out as well as boosts your credibility. Building a strong profile on Quora involves drafting a concise bio, completing your profile summary (which allows you to add clickable links, such as your blog), and including relevant topics into your bio. 3. Spend time crafting quality answers: The quality and accuracy of any answer you provide will determine whether you get upvotes or downvotes . Receiving downvotes can lead to your content being suppressed, so you want to spend time researching and writing answers that readers on Quora will appreciate. 4. Plug links to your blog posts: This is highly important. You need to remember to place links into your answers that lead back to your blog posts, which is the main way to get website traffic from Quora. 5. Share regularly: The more active you are on Quora, the greater your chances of getting strong viewership of your answers. More answers being viewed means increased exposure that could lead to people clicking back to your blog posts. How often you post is up to you, but some people recommend answering questions every day to build your reputation on the website. Using Quora for content marketing purposes represents a win-win. On one hand, you get to help people find the answers they are looking for, while at the same time encouraging people to check out your content well into the future.

https://medium.com/digital-marketing-lab/quora-overview-99b7e217dd3a

['Casey Botticello']

2020-09-04 18:30:41.246000+00:00

['Productivity', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Writing', 'Startup', 'Social Media']

The Simple Formula For Becoming A Better Writer

You Need To Show Up Every Single Day. “The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.” — Steven Pressfield I used to be a master procrastinator in College. If my professor gave me a task to complete, I’d always find an excuse. I’d say it was too difficult, time-consuming, or anything else. And just like magic, someone more competent would do it for me. I enjoyed sitting on the couch. I hated going outdoors. So I guess it’s no surprise that most people considered me to be extremely lazy. The only marathon I’d ever complete was a twelve-hour binge of my favorite shows on Netflix. But then the cash in my bank account began to disappear. The truth is that I wasn’t making anywhere near enough money to support my lifestyle, so I needed to improve my work ethic. The above quote from Stephen Pressfield changed my life forever. It made me realize that excuses are pointless. Why? Because nothing amazing will happen unless you sit down and do the work. You don’t need a fancy keyboard, perfect lighting, or anything else a productivity guru might say. Instead, just open your laptop, connect to the internet, and write. That’s it. Each morning, I get up at approximately 7am, go to my desk, and write a new article for several hours. Following this routine has helped me to remain consistent, create a daily writing habit, and generate a full-time income doing something I love. If you want to improve your creative process, consider doing the same. Find somewhere quiet to work, and do your best to write something. Because when you show up every day to write, the power of compound interest will create incredible results over time.

https://medium.com/swlh/the-simple-formula-for-becoming-a-better-writer-4eca316cc7c7

['Matt Lillywhite']

2020-06-26 13:31:34.246000+00:00

['Creativity', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Blogging', 'Productivity', 'Writing']

AI creating Human-Looking Images and Tracking Artificial Intelligence Programs in 2020

AI creating Human-Looking Images and Tracking Artificial Intelligence Programs in 2020 Machine Learning Transforming Veterans Benefits The Dutch artist, Bas Uterwijk is using artificial intelligence to create human portraits from paintings by combining with deep learning to change statutes to human faces. The same applies to paintings where the AI software includes photo attributes such as light and variations to make the picture clear. The Artbreeder AI program recreates new images from scratch by using data points, which copy the photos. The global competitiveness of the United States in artificial intelligence is declining because of poor management at the Department of Defense. Tracking artificial intelligence programs and encouraging data sharing are needed to make the US a global leader in AI. The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center is creating a standardized AI definition and developing governance policies around artificial intelligence. Veterans face challenges claiming their benefits and a new machine learning application, Content Classification Predictive Service (CCPS), is spearheading efficient services and accuracy in handling veteran claims. Veterans wait for long as staff members check claims manually but CCPS can review information within a short time. These and more insights on our Weekly AI Update AI creating Human-Looking Images Artificial intelligence is helping to create human-like portraits from statues and paintings of famous faces. Bas Uterwijk a Dutch native artist used AI to create the photo-style portraits. He focused on well-known figures including Vincent Van Gogh and Napoleon Bonaparte. The #deeplearning technology enabled him to take a photo of a statue or a painting and turn it into a more human-like face. The software uses data points to pick up on facial features and photographic qualities. The AI is called Artbreeder and can also create human-looking images from scratch. So far, they’ve worked on 50 to 60 of the AI-generated pictures¹. The artist is working on a model that could show Anne Frank at an age she never reached. Tracking Artificial Intelligence Programs Poor management of artificial intelligence projects in the Department of Defense could erode the United States’ competitive advantage in the emerging technology, the Defense Department’s watchdog warned in a July 1 report. The DoD inspector general suggested the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, established to facilitate the adoption of artificial intelligence tools across the department, take several steps to improve project management, including determining a standard definition of artificial intelligence, improving data sharing and developing a process to accurately track artificial intelligence programs. The JAIC missed a March 2020 deadline to release a governance framework. It still plans to do so, according to the report, but that date is redacted in the report. The inspector general started the audit to determine the gaps and weaknesses in the department’s enterprise-wide AI governance², the responsibility of the JAIC. After starting its audit, the DoD IG determined the organization had not yet developed a department-wide AI governance framework. Machine Learning Transforming Veterans Benefits Veterans deserve fast access to their disability benefits. The Department of Veterans Affairs is using a new #machinelearning tool³ to deliver these benefits to Veterans more quickly. The tool’s name is not easy to remember — Content Classification Predictive Service (CCPS) Application Programming Interface (API) — but the results are certainly hard to ignore. VA’s Office of Information and Technology (OIT), working collaboratively in partnership with Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), developed and implemented CCPS to reduce the average time to establish Veteran disability compensation claims by three and a half days. Credit: Clarianchalets CCPS is also helping VA improve service to Veterans by increasing the speed and accuracy of disability claims reviews. The tool automatically performs repetitive tasks that formerly required staff review and input. During its first week of use, CCPS helped VA establish 3,994 out of 8,368 claims (48 percent) automatically without the need for manual intervention. Previously, VBA only processed about two percent of disability compensation claims automatically. Visual Causal Discovery Network Researchers at MIT, University of Washington, and the University of Toronto describe an AI system that learns the physical interactions⁴ affecting materials like fabric by watching videos. They claim the system can extrapolate to interactions it has not seen before, like those involving multiple shirts and pants, enabling it to make long-term predictions. Causal understanding is the basis of counterfactual reasoning, or the imagining of possible alternatives to events that have already happened. For example, in an image containing a pair of balls connected to each other by a spring, counterfactual reasoning would entail predicting the ways the spring affects the balls’ interactions. The researchers’ system — a Visual Causal Discovery Network (V-CDN) — guesses at interactions with three modules: one for visual perception, one for structure inference, and one for dynamics prediction. The perception model is trained to extract certain keypoints (areas of interest) from videos, from which the interference module identifies the variables that govern interactions between pairs of keypoints. Encouraging Growth in AI Research The National Research Cloud, which has bipartisan support in Congress, gained approval of several universities, including Stanford, Carnegie Mellon and Ohio State, and participation of Big Tech companies Amazon, Google and IBM. The project would give academics access to a tech companies’ #clouddata centers and public data sets, encouraging growth in AI research⁵. Although the Trump administration has cut funding to other kinds of research, it has proposed doubling its spending on AI by 2022. The research cloud, though a conceptual blueprint at this stage, is a sign of the largely effective campaign by universities and tech companies to persuade the American government to increase government backing for research into #artificialintelligence largely due to its recognition that AI technology is essential to national security and economic competitiveness. Artificial Intelligence assisted Robot Delivery Refraction AI’s last-mile delivery robot⁶, the REV-1, has seen an increase in lunch delivery requests since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Unsurprisingly, this contactless delivery option is now seeing a demand surge amid the coronavirus pandemic: Refraction AI has received three to four times more orders with the REV-1 since the start of the pandemic. The company, which first launched in July 2019, built the robot specifically for last-mile deliveries between stores and customers in urban communities like Ann Arbor, Mich., where the pilot program is now taking place. Customers in the Ann Arbor community who live within the 2.5-mile delivery radius can sign up for REV-1’s pilot lunch delivery program that’s partnered with four three Asian and one Mexican restaurants, according to Refraction AI . There are also currently more potential partners still on a waitlist. AI-enabled Robotics for Waste Recycling When China restricted the importation of recyclable waste products in 2018, many western companies turned to robotic technologies to strengthen their processing capabilities. To recycle in a cost-effective, comprehensive and safe way, goods must be broken down into their constituent commodities to be sold on, in a process that has been likened to “unscrambling an egg”. Roboticists think that computer vision, neural networks and modular robotics can enable a more intelligent, flexible approach to recycling. AI-enabled #robotics⁷ can identify items based on visual cues such as logos, colour, shape and texture, sorting them and taking them apart. It can spot a Nestlé logo depicting a cow and surmise that it is a dairy product. Such systems excel at identifying small items, such as the coffee pods used in Nespresso machines, which, while technically recyclable, are not always recycled. The Montreal AI Ethics Institute The Montreal AI Ethics Institute, a nonprofit research organization dedicated to defining humanity’s place in an algorithm-driven world, today published its inaugural State of AI Ethics report⁸. The 128-page multidisciplinary paper, which covers a set of areas spanning agency and responsibility, security and risk, and jobs and labor, aims to bring attention to key developments in the field of AI this past quarter. Credit: Zephyrnet The State of AI Ethics first addresses the problem of bias in ranking and recommendation algorithms, like those used by Amazon to match customers with products they’re likely to purchase. The authors note that while there are efforts to apply the notion of diversity to these systems, they usually consider the problem from an algorithmic perspective and strip it of cultural and contextual social meanings. The authors advocate a solution in the form of a framework that does away with rigid, ascribed categories and instead looks at subjective ones derived from a pool of “diverse” individuals: determinantal point process (DPP). Put simply, it’s a probabilistic model of repulsion that clusters together data a person feels represents them in embedding spaces — the spaces containing representations of words, images, and other inputs from which AI models learn to make predictions. An Ethical Eye on AI Researchers from the University of Warwick, Imperial College London, EPFL (Lausanne) and Sciteb Ltd have found a mathematical means of helping regulators and business manage and police Artificial Intelligence systems’ biases towards making unethical, and potentially very costly and damaging commercial choices — an ethical eye on AI. Artificial intelligence is increasingly deployed in commercial situations such as using AI to set prices of insurance products⁹ to be sold to a particular customer. There are legitimate reasons for setting different prices for different people, but it may also be profitable to ‘game’ their psychology or willingness to shop around. The AI has a vast number of potential strategies to choose from, but some are unethical and will incur not just moral cost but a significant potential economic penalty as stakeholders will apply some penalty if they find that such a strategy has been used — regulators may levy significant fines of billions of Dollars, Pounds or Euros and customers may boycott you — or both. So in an environment in which decisions are increasingly made without human intervention, there is therefore a very strong incentive to know under what circumstances AI systems might adopt an unethical strategy and reduce that risk or eliminate entirely if possible. Spearheading Data Science Initiatives Princeton University researchers will push the limits of data science by leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning across the research spectrum in an interdisciplinary pilot project made possible through a major gift from Schmidt Futures. The Schmidt DataX Fund will help advance the breadth and depth of data science impact on campus, accelerating discovery in three large, interdisciplinary research efforts and creating a suite of opportunities to educate, train, convene and support a broad data science community¹⁰ at the University. The Schmidt DataX Fund will be used to enhance the extent to which data science permeates discovery across campus and infuses machine learning and artificial intelligence into a range of disciplines. Many researchers and educators are eager to bring data science to their fields but lack the expertise, experience and tools. The funds will support a range of campus-wide data science initiatives led by the Center for Statistics and Machine Learning, including: development of graduate-level courses in data science and machine learning; creation of mini-courses and workshops to train researchers in the latest software tools, cloud platforms and public data sets. Neutralizing COVID-19 with Robotics MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory is developing complex spaces easier to sanitize. Working closely with the Ava Robotics and the Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), CSAIL team created a UVC structure that disinfects surfaces and neutralizes coronavirus particles lingering in the air. Fitted atop an Ava Robotics base, the robot could be trained to navigate spaces #autonomously in the future. The ultraviolet light works best on directly visible surfaces, but even reflected light in nooks and crannies is effective. During tests at GBFB’s warehouse, the prototype robot was teleoperated to get the lay of the land, but it’s equipped to navigate the area without supervision someday. The robot slowly moves through the 4,000 square foot warehouse, neutralizing 90 percent of coronaviruses¹¹ on surfaces within half an hour. Deloitte AI Institute for Research and Applied Innovation Deloitte has opened the Deloitte AI Institute for research and applied innovation. The institute will publish cutting edge research, covering focus areas such as global advancements, the future of work, AI ethics, and case studies. The premier publications will include the bi-annual State of AI in the Enterprise study, as well as the Trustworthy AI framework for ethics¹². The institute’s network will also bring together top industry thought leaders and academics, startups, R&D groups, entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators. To this group, Deloitte will add its applied AI knowledge and understanding of industry pain points in order to help clients transform quickly with AI. The network’s thought leaders will also include prominent ethicists, who will work with Deloitte and top stakeholders from all parts of society to co-design effective policies for AI ethics. Works Cited ¹AI-Generated Pictures, ²AI Governance, ³Machine-Learning Tool, ⁴Physical Interactions, ⁵Encouraging Growth in AI Research, ⁶Delivery Robot, ⁷AI-enabled Robotics, ⁸State of AI Ethics Report, ⁹Insurance Products, ¹⁰Data Science Community, ¹¹Coronaviruses, ¹²Trustworthy AI Framework for Ethics More from David Yakobovitch: Listen to the HumAIn Podcast | Subscribe to my newsletter

https://medium.com/towards-artificial-intelligence/ai-creating-human-looking-images-and-tracking-artificial-intelligence-programs-in-2020-1fb3174e49b

['David Yakobovitch']

2020-09-07 18:01:01.467000+00:00

['AI', 'Technology', 'Future', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Computer Vision']

Evolution doesn’t give a damn what you think a brain region is called

To evolution, the brain is just a gigantic bag of cells, wired together. The purpose of that gigantic bag of cells is to contribute to the survival of the organism in which it resides, to surviving long enough to reproduce. Those that reproduce, win; those that don’t, don’t. If a random mutation causes or changes the wiring of some neurons to another group of neurons, and that mutation improves the chances of having offspring, it will likely spread through the population. If that random mutation adds connections from prefrontal cortex to visual cortex; from cortical interneurons to a structure outside cortex; from motor cortex to midbrain dopamine neurons, then it will happen. Evolution will not feel sorry that it’s just ruined another set of textbooks. And it is just a giant bag of cells wired together. Our best evidence that it is not — that we can cling to our names of all the bits — come from studies where we cut a bit out or turn a bit off. When we cut out area X and we see a “deficit” in behaviour Y of an animal (like tying its shoelaces), then we think “aha! Area X is for tying shoelaces”. No. For starters, we never see a complete and permanent end to behaviour Y. We normally see that the animal is simply worse at doing or learning Y — not that it cannot do Y at all. The brain can carry on doing Y just fine, thanks, just not as well — there is massive redundancy in the brain. Like what you’d find if it was a giant bag of cells, wired together. Moreover, seeing that behaviour Y gets worse logically tells us little about what area X is actually doing. It just tells us that damaging area X causes problems. Which on reflection isn’t surprising as you just ripped a chunk out of the brain. The logical fallacy is simple to demonstrate. I am right now going to make a new startling new prediction of how the mouse brain works: the ventrolateral medulla is necessary for mice to learn to associate pictures of Benedict Cumberbatch with food. Cut out the ventrolateral medulla, and a mouse will not learn to associate pictures of Benedict Cumberbatch with food. Because it will be dead. The ventrolateral medulla contains the neurons which control the rhythm of breathing. Cut it out: no breathing. Ergo, no learning. Is the ventrolateral medulla a crucial brain area for learning? No. But by damaging it, we damage something vital to the process of learning. Thus, cutting a bit that we’ve given a name can have an effect on that named thing, and we learn nothing at all. Except that we have damaged a big bag of cells, wired together. What’s more remarkable is when cutting bits out has no effect. If we cut some bits of brain out before learning we see an effect — learning is made slower or worse or both; but when we cut them out after learning, it has no apparent effect whatsoever. These bits of brain have become completely redundant. Again: giant bag of cells, wired together — there are many ways within that bag of cells to solve the problem at hand, enough for the brain to just stop using a bit of itself altogether. And people get hyper-excited about finding odd signals where they were utterly unexpected. Like finding that reward changes activity in primary visual cortex. Or finding that sound is encoded in the hippocampus. These are great, interesting studies. But to be surprised by them is to fall into the naming fallacy. Evolution does not know nor care that we called this chunk of neurons the “hippocampus”. It is just another bag of neurons, connected to many other bags of neurons.

https://medium.com/the-spike/evolution-doesnt-give-a-damn-what-you-think-a-brain-region-is-called-1c9c5f80ab89

['Mark Humphries']

2020-06-07 18:40:02.586000+00:00

['Neuroscience', 'Psychology', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Machine Learning', 'Science']

Is It Fear You Feel, Or Anxiety?

This article is not intended to be a rant against the news media or Facebook. As I try to do with all my writing, I just want to suggest the possibility of a different perspective. I also want to present some data that supports my differing perspective. My hypothesis about the current state of malaise and despair that we see so often around us is this: we have little to fear, but much about which to be anxious. To repeat: we have little to fear, but much about which to be anxious. According to the American Psychology Association, fear and anxiety are two distinct mental states, caused by and causing different things: Fear: n. a basic, intense emotion aroused by the detection of imminent threat, involving an immediate alarm reaction that mobilizes the organism by triggering a set of physiological changes. These include rapid heartbeat, redirection of blood flow away from the periphery toward the gut, tensing of the muscles, and a general mobilization of the organism to take action (see fear response; fight-or-flight response). Fear differs from anxiety in that the former is considered an appropriate short-term response to a present, clearly identifiable threat, whereas the latter is a future-oriented, long-term response focused on a diffuse threat. To summarize, fear is an immediate alarm response to a real or perceived threat, which causes a distinct action. Anxiety is a long-term emotion which focuses not on a particular immediate threat, but a diffuse threat or threats that may or may not materialize, and which may or may not have a good response. There are those among us who have good reason to fear the Coronavirus. And there are those with good reason to fear the economic meltdown going on right now. But I would argue that the state of confusion, panic and despair that we see so prevalent around us is not caused by fear, but anxiety. Fear is a clean emotion. It comes, serves it’s purpose, and departs. Fear is a survival instinct. Using myself as an example, I am afraid of snakes. If I happen across one on a walk in the woods, I will immediately back up, get a safe distance before turning my back, and then run like hell until I feel safe again. That is fear. I do not spend all day everyday wondering if I will encounter a snake, and dreading going out because there might be a snake in my path today. That is anxiety. And that’s what we’re dealing with in the world today. If anything, I would argue that it would probably be a good thing if more people feared the Coronavirus, because then they would be compelled to comply with social distancing and quarantine guidance. If more people truly feared the economic crisis, they would act to shore up their family’s wellbeing, they would make financial sacrifices before the next panic comes, and they would ensure they had a safety net in place. But we are not truly afraid of these things, merely anxious. And as a result we do nothing, make no changes, learn no lessons, and so are doomed to repeat the same societal mistakes ad nauseum. Maybe, if we were more afraid and less anxious, we could put systems in place to provide better outcomes in the future. Unfortunately, in addition to our own human tendency to lethargy and torpor, we also have to contend with a gigantic media establishment that feeds off of anxiety and keeping us trapped in a haze of confusion and inaction. We see evidence of this in the way we have systemically turned away from any kind of journalistic standard in news and prefer to get our information from bloggers, Facebook and Twitter influencers. Somehow, we’ve been conditioned to believe that we will hear the unvarnished truth from our “friends” on the Internet, and never question whether or not these so-called “friends” might not have an even more ingrained agenda than mainstream media does. We are fed a constant stream of anxiety-fueling hot takes, breaking reports and opinion pieces disguised as news, much of it blatantly contradictory and even downright false, and we wonder why we can’t ever seem to feel any peace or confidence, in ourselves, our neighbors, and our social institutions. Perhaps, as Franklin Roosevelt famously said, “the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” because what’s eating America and the rest of the world from the inside out is not a clean, healthy survival instinct. It is a toxic, cancerous anxiety that is perpetuated by ourselves, that stops us in our tracks and renders us powerless in the face of some pretty fearful things. To get better, we have to start by being more afraid, of the right things, to be afraid of inaction, to be afraid of a lack of preparation. To be afraid of paralyzing anxiety. Only then can we turn and begin to make changes to improve our safety and security. For so long as we live in anxiety as a society, we will never be safe.

https://medium.com/thinkists/is-it-fear-you-feel-or-anxiety-84800061a2dc

['Jay Michaelson']

2020-03-23 01:14:51.987000+00:00

['Economy', 'Society', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology', 'Coronavirus']

Avoid Clickbait: Headline Techniques Used by Six Reputable Media Sites

Avoid Clickbait: Headline Techniques Used by Six Reputable Media Sites Yes, you can draw in traffic without clickbait. Practical examples included Illustration by Cynthia Marinakos. As I write this piece on the 19th of December 2020, Internet Live Stats has clocked over 4.5 billion Google searches. Roughly 306.4 billion emails were sent and received each day worldwide, according to statista.com. With so many people searching for information and receiving emails, it’s tough to break through the avalanche of content. Writers know they have to stand out with their headlines. It can be tempting to write headlines that seduce our potential readers with general statements. If this is what it takes to draw a little traffic to our work, why not? How do you feel when you see countless headlines like these? Try These 3 Ways to Make Money Fast Learn To Play Piano Instantly: #1 Beginning Training The Greatest Opportunity for Financial Advisers Kerri-Anne’s miracle: The news that shocked doctors One man’s unbelievable anniversary gift to his wife What happens when you fall for a widower Too many headlines like these are like buying a car from a used-car salesman. They might look great and sound like a good price. Yet we realize we’ve been duped soon afterward with a lemon. We can’t help but feel betrayed, angry. Our time has been wasted. And we’ll never buy from that place or that person again. What’s worse, we’re more likely to be skeptical of all used-car salesmen in general and buy directly from buyers instead. Clickbait headlines are headlines that bait readers into clicking by teasing, being intentionally vague, or deceptive in their promises. Clickbait has been a significant issue in journalism. In 2015, Trinity Mirror, one of the UK’s biggest newspaper publishers announced plans to set website “click” targets for reporters. This led to concerns that headlines with a constant you won’t believe what you’re about to read approach is frustrating to online readers and would diminish the value of news with fluff and sensationalism. Unsurprisingly, these plans didn’t go ahead. Reputable media sites are wary of clickbait as they understand it damages the credibility of their content, their brands, and doesn’t serve their readers. These sites are now valuable places to learn how to avoid clickbait headlines. Especially as writing headlines isn’t a science. As writers, we can get better with our own headlines by identifying common characteristics behind headlines written by reputable media sites: BBC News, The Guardian, The New York Times, TIME, NBC News, and CBC.

https://medium.com/better-marketing/avoid-clickbait-headline-techniques-used-by-six-reputable-media-sites-dd04a5595cae

['Cynthia Marinakos']

2020-12-21 15:32:22.684000+00:00

['Marketing', 'Headline Hacks', 'Productivity', 'Startup', 'Writing']

How a Single Medium Article Received 100,000 Views

Many Medium writers are looking for exposure. While making money from the Medium Partner Program is a nice bonus, they primarily want their content to be seen and accessible. The good news is — if you are a writer, as described above — it is actually very simple to generate massive traffic for your Medium story. Medium has extremely high Domain Authority (95/100). Medium Domain Authority | Casey Botticello Domain authority is a score that hints at the “strength” and relevance of a website for a specific subject area or industry. It’s a logarithmic scale of points, typically ranging from zero to 100, which predicts how well a website will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs). The higher the number of points, the higher a website’s Domain Authority is. This means that any content you publish from Medium is already given preferential treatment in search engines. This establishes the potential for large amounts of external traffic to your Medium article. The Article with Over 100,000 Views The article that I wrote which received over 100,000 views is How to Bypass Virtually Every News Paywall: It’s not surprising that this article generated a decent amount of views because it was a timely answer to a popular online question. But it is surprising that it generated so many views. How did this Medium article accomplish this? It leveraged Medium’s high domain authority and created content that was attractive to search engines. A staggering 97% of the total views received by this article were from external traffic sources. The vast majority of these external sources are search engines. Google alone, generated well over 80,000 views. Even less common search engine like DuckDuckGo generated over 1,000 views. Did this happen overnight? No. Even the best content will take weeks, if not months to achieve its optimal rank in most search engines. As you can see from the screenshots of my Medium article analytics, below, the article initially saw a surge of traffic a few days in. Traffic then remained flat for over a month before it jumped from being completely overlooked (Google Search Results Page 10+) to being somewhat accessible (Google Search Results Page 3–5). Also worth noting, the article was almost immediately indexed in Google after publication due to: (1) Medium being a publishing platform with high domain authority; (2) The initial surge of traffic ensured it would be indexed quickly. As the article oscillates in page rank in Google’s search algorithm, daily traffic continues to grow at a steady rate: Now, in May and June, several months after the initial article was published, traffic is still consistently growing with approximately 1,000 views per day! What caused this? Primarily, views continued to grow at a fairly steady pace as the article climbed page rank in Google’s search engine. It gradually reached the bottom of the first page, then the number one spot on page 1, and finally it started becoming the featured snippet (position 0) in Google’s Search results. How to Optimize Your Medium Article’s Search Engine Performance Google’s algorithm evaluates a number of “on-page” factors to determine what a page is about. These on-page ranking factors include the following: Title Subheadings Meta description URL The content of the article Image tags Medium provides writers with the ability to include a target keyword in each of these fields. If you want to generate huge amounts of external views, it is essential to optimize each of these fields. Title A title tag is an HTML element that specifies the title of a web page. Title tags are displayed on search engine results pages (SERPs) as the clickable headline for a given result, and are important for usability, SEO, and social sharing. The title tag of a web page is meant to be an accurate and concise description of a page’s content. Google typically displays the first 50–60 characters of a title tag. If you keep your titles under 60 characters, our research suggests that you can expect about 90% of your titles to display properly. There’s no exact character limit, because characters can vary in width and Google’s display titles max out (currently) at 600 pixels. of a title tag. If you keep your titles under 60 characters, our research suggests that you can expect about 90% of your titles to display properly. There’s no exact character limit, because characters can vary in width and Google’s display titles max out (currently) at 600 pixels. Avoid titles that are just a list of keywords or repeat variations of the same keyword over and over. These titles are bad for search users and could get you into trouble with search engines. Search engines understand variations of keywords, and it’s unnecessary and counterproductive to stuff every version of your keyword into a title. According to Moz’s testing and experience, keywords closer to the beginning of your title tag may have more impact on search rankings. In addition, user experience research shows that people may scan as few as the first two words of a headline. This is why they recommend titles where the most unique aspect of the page (e.g. the product name) appears first. Avoid titles like: Brand Name | Major Product Category — Minor Product Category — Name of Product Titles like this example front-load repetitive information and provide very little unique value at first glance. In addition, if search engines cut off a title like this, the most unique portion is the most likely to disappear. Subheadings A subheading, or subhead, are mini-headlines and play a huge role in capturing and holding the scanners attention. It also keeps them moving down the page from one subhead to the next. The subheading would ideally be: Useful — it shows a promise and a benefit to the reader. — it shows a promise and a benefit to the reader. Unique — it contains a fact or opinion your reader may not be aware of. — it contains a fact or opinion your reader may not be aware of. Ultra-specific — this makes a subheading stand out and demand attention. — this makes a subheading stand out and demand attention. Urgent — urgency gets your reader to take notice and action. Meta Description The meta description is an HTML attribute that provides a brief summary of a web page. Search engines such as Google often display the meta description in search results where they can highly influence user click-through rates. Meta descriptions can be any length, but Google generally truncates snippets to ~155–160 characters. It’s best to keep meta descriptions long enough that they’re sufficiently descriptive, so we recommend descriptions between 50–160 characters. A page’s meta description should intelligently (read: in a natural, active, non-spammy way) employ the keywords that page is targeting, but also create a compelling description that a searcher will want to click. It should be directly relevant to the page it describes, and unique from the descriptions for other pages. URL A URL (Uniform Resource Locator), more commonly known as a “web address”, specifies the location of a resource (such as a web page) on the internet. The URL also specifies how to retrieve that resource, also known as the “protocol”, such as HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, etc. A well-crafted URL provides both humans and search engines an easy-to-understand indication of what the destination page will be about. URLs are a minor ranking factor search engines use when determining a particular page or resource’s relevance to a search query. While they do give weight to the authority of the overall domain itself, keyword use in a URL can also act as a ranking factor. Well-written URLs can serve as their own anchor text when copied and pasted as links in forums, blogs, social media networks, or other online venues. Article Content On the Internet, content sends signals to visitors and search engines about the quality and purpose of a site. Good writing, images, and other forms of content help visitors engage with a site and can build trust. Meanwhile, duplicate content and keyword-stuffed copywriting can indicate that a site is low-quality or even spammy. Content, especially when created according to a defined content strategy, is a cornerstone of effective digital marketing. Keyword Research : If you want to generate traffic through search, it’s best to do keyword research before you start writing. This way, you can focus on keywords for which a certain amount of search volume already exists — in other words, write toward topics (or find keyword niches!) that people are already searching for information about. : If you want to generate traffic through search, it’s best to do keyword research before you start writing. This way, you can focus on keywords for which a certain amount of search volume already exists — in other words, write toward topics (or find keyword niches!) that people are already searching for information about. Keyword Optimization : Know where and how to use keywords in your content for maximum searchability. : Know where and how to use keywords in your content for maximum searchability. Content Organization : The content on your site should be organized in a logical way. This is not only good for SEO, it also helps visitors on your site find other related content easily. (The longer they stay on your site, the better.) : The content on your site should be organized in a logical way. This is not only good for SEO, it also helps visitors on your site find other related content easily. (The longer they stay on your site, the better.) Content Promotion: Increase visibility to new content you create by sharing it on social networks and building links to your content (both internally and from external sites). As I’ve written about before, I love to use Signal. Signal auto-tweets your articles on repeat to help you share your articles and grow your audience on your schedule. Image Tags Up until recently, Medium did not allow proper image tagging. However, a few weeks ago, Medium added alt-text functionality, which allows writers to properly tag their images. If you’re creating content on a topic that requires the support of visuals, consider how your audience might prefer to find answers to their questions on that topic. In many cases, Google searchers don’t want the classic blue, hyperlinked search result — they want the image itself, embedded inside your webpage. One of the most important things image alt text can do for you is turn your images into hyperlinked search results — giving your website yet another way to receive organic visitors.

https://medium.com/blogging-guide/how-a-single-medium-article-received-100-000-views-8bf030e7ce03

['Casey Botticello']

2020-04-04 00:57:03.881000+00:00

['Social Media', 'Writing', 'Productivity', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Journalism']

A Marketing Guide for Introverts

An introvert is a person who recharges when they are alone. Being around other people depletes their energy, being by themselves renews it. Writing is such solitary, interior work that it tends to attract introverts. We work well alone. And if we happen to have a little bit of ambivert in us — if we like to be around other people some — well, that’s okay. We have our characters to keep us company. But it’s very, very rare to find a writer who gets excited about the part of the business of writing that requires a more extroverted personality. You know, the part where you have to stick your nose out of your writing cave and let other humans know you’re alive. Uh, huh. Marketing. Ugh. Marketing. It’s hard for everyone, but for introverts? For introverts, marketing is torture. Every now and then I come across someone for whom the stars have aligned and they’ve managed to find success (sometimes incredible success) without the need for a lot of marketing and they just kind of shrug and say Oh, marketing? I don’t like it, so I just don’t do it. I don’t think it’s necessary. And I want to throat punch them. Metaphorically. Because I wouldn’t really throat punch anyone. I’m a pacifist. But come on. One percent of writers write the right thing at the right time and get it out in the right place, in front of the right people, and bam! Magic happens. They get rich and famous and they never have to market anything. How nice for them. But counting on being one of those people is not a very good career plan. It’s kind of like deciding you want to be an actress, so you start to hang out in soda shops, hoping to be discovered because it worked for Lana Turner. I really wish that the people who managed to find their way onto that magical path would at least acknowledge that it probably won’t work for almost anyone else. Because it won’t. Ninety-nine percent of writers have to learn how to market, even if they are introverts who would rather seriously consider a career in accounting than think about marketing their own work. Here’s what you need to know about marketing. It’s not so scary. Marketing is just a conversation between you and your readers. If you can remember that, then you can manage your fear about it. It’s not a magic trick. It’s not a technique or a tactic or a strategy. It’s just a conversation. It’s you reaching out to readers who are into what you’re writing and letting them know that you’ve written a thing that they might be interested in. That’s all. And that’s not so scary. When you post a link to social media, you aren’t bothering anyone. You’re giving other people the opportunity to read something they might enjoy. If they aren’t into it, they’ll scroll past. No harm done. And trust me, they’ll scroll. (Same as you scroll past hundreds of links a day. Maybe thousands.) When you run an ad, you’re reaching out to other people just like you. You aren’t shoving your work up their noses. You aren’t being pushy or obnoxious. You’re doing what you’re supposed to do. You’re letting readers know that you’ve written something for them. And if you do it right, you’re letting readers who have asked to be made aware know that you’ve written something. You’re not bombarding everyone in creation. You’re putting your link in front of people who follow you or who have read other things like what you’ve written or who are interested in your topic. Deep breath. This is part of your job, and it’s okay to do it. Readers are just people. That’s all. They are just human beings, same as you. And, here’s the cool part. The ones you most want to reach are probably a lot like you. If you’ve written a book, it’s probably the kind of book you like to read. And if you’d like to read it, then that means that other people like you would probably like to read it. So all you have to do is think for a minute about how someone who has written a book like yours could reach you. What would make you want to read your own book? What makes you tell a friend oh, my God, you have to read this? What makes you click a link, instead of scrolling by? What makes you share? The reason why marketing gets a bad rap is because so many people use it like a sledgehammer, when really, it’s more like a Post-it note. No one wants to get smashed over the head. But who doesn’t want the exact right thing stuck right where they need it? Introverts have trouble being sledgehammers. All we want to do is go home and get in our pajamas! We don’t want to hit anyone over the head with our books or anything else. But we can stick a little reminder in the right place. A friendly little note that says Oh, hi! I wrote this thing. I think you’re going to love it. And sometimes the sledgehammer is easy to ignore — because we’re so used to dodging them. But those sticky notes, man. If you use them right, they’re wonderful. They make you pay attention. Don’t be slimy. This should be obvious, but we both know it’s not. We know, because there are so many people out there willing to take $299 from us to teach us how to be slimy. You don’t have to trick people into buying your book. You don’t have to slip in under the radar. You don’t need to get fake bestseller statuses or elevate your social validation or whatever. Authenticity is addictive. It’s your best asset. When you spend money, make it count. If you’re an indie writer, learn how to use Amazon ads properly. Dave Chesson has a free course in how to that over at Kindlepreneur. The best money you can spend as a writer is on a decent email server. I like Convertkit. Start building your email list today. I’ve written a ton about email list building for writers, but you can start here. Bryan Harris at Growth Tools (they used to be Videofruit) has a ton of amazing ideas for email list building that he offers for free. Just free. When I first started, I just took Bryan’s ideas one at a time and did the work. It was hard. Because I’m an introvert and none of this shit is easy for me. But I did it and it worked. And it got easier. You do not need to spend a lot of money on fancy ads or on schemes to make yourself a “bestseller” in a boxed set or hiring publicists. You do not need more than a simple website that you are probably capable of building yourself . Hello, there. You should be blogging. You’re a writer. Words are your currency and your most available tool. I feel like I’m stating the obvious here, but you should be blogging. If you’re a novelist, you might get a book into your reader’s hands once a year give or take. Maybe. But with a blog, you can reach out to your readers any time you want to. Every week. Every day. Every time you have an idea. You can be in conversation with them. And let me tell you, that’s some exciting stuff. It’s thrilling. If you give you readers a way to start following you, you’ll start to notice that some of them are hardcore. They always show up for you. They read what you write. They always read what you write. If you have any doubt that your introverted self needs that, let me help you put that at rest. You need it. Everyone needs it. It’s the good stuff. It’s why we’re here. It’s why you’re reading this article instead of happily writing in your journal or filing your short stories away on your hard drive. It’s why you care whether or not anyone reads your work. While we’re on the subject, please do not only blog about your own writing. No one wants to read that. It’s boring. If you don’t believe me, ask yourself this question: How many author blogs do you read that only talk about the author’s process? Right. You are an interesting person. There are things you’re interested in. You’re good at things. There are things you want to be good at. Write about those things. You’ll find your people. I promise. Remember that marketing has nothing to do with the quality of your work. If you find yourself saying if I was good enough, I wouldn’t need to market I want you to do something for me. Go to a mirror and look yourself squarely in the face. Now tell yourself to stop it. Right now. You are wrong. And I swear, this is one of those times when if everyone would just listen to me, the world would be a happier place. Because there is exactly zero correlation between the quality of your work and the necessity for marketing. The fact that you need to market your work does not mean that you’re a shitty writer, just because you heard once that someone else doesn’t have an email list and never markets anything. Everyone needs to market their work. The very, very few lucky souls who have somehow been able to count on luck to give them a career — we can’t recreate their success. Hell, they can’t recreate their success. That means that you’re normal and they’re weird. Since you can’t predict being at the exact right place at the exact right time with the exact right piece of work — you’re going to have to count on your own ability to let people know you’ve written a thing. If you do manage to get struck by lightning, awesome. But two things. One — since you didn’t hitch your wagon to that star, you won’t be dependent on it, so if at some point it stops dragging you along, you’ll be fine. Two — even those lucky few who don’t have to market their work would do even better if they knew how to reach out to their readers. I mean, do you really, really want to be the writer who gets to be famous and never has to interact with the people who love them? Are you sure about that? Because that sounds pretty lonely to me. There’s a difference between lonely and introverted. It also sounds like the excuse we use to let ourselves off the marketing hook because marketing is hard, especially for introverts, and we don’t want to do it. The need to market your work doesn’t make you less of a writer, because there is no correlation between the quality of your writing and the need or lack of need for marketing. If you don’t believe me, go pick up a copy of 50 Shades of Grey. Or go pick up any National Book Award winner that’s sold less than 5000 copies. It’s okay to focus on the parts that are easier for you. I like blogging. I’m pretty good at Facebook. I adore my email list. Email marketing is my sweetspot. When I reach out to my email list, I feel like I’m talking to friends. I suck at video, but I’m working at it and I’m getting better. If there are other people there, I can do it pretty well. I still haven’t mastered video when it’s just me talking into a camera. I end up sounding like a lunatic. I can do an ad if I have to, but I’m not a great copywriter. That’s my skillset. Yours is probably different. And that’s okay. No one is good at everything. And no one has to be. If you’re great at audio, then do audio. If video is your thing, figure out how to market with video. If you’re completely inexperienced, pick something and just start. It’s okay if you suck at the beginning. Here’s a secret for you: in the beginning, no one’s paying attention anyway. The few people who will see your early efforts at marketing won’t care if you screw up. So take a deep breath and don’t worry so much. Stick your nose out of your introverted writer’s lair and accept that you’re going to have to give some form of marketing a shot. You’ll get better at this. It might not seem like it now, but marketing is a skill and like any other skill, the more you do it, the better you’ll get at it. Even if the idea of marketing makes you want to hide under your covers. Eventually you’ll understand how ads work. You’ll be a master blogger. You’ll know how to write an email to your followers without sounding like a robot. You’ll look up one day and realize that you actually like that conversation between you and your readers. Maybe it won’t ever be your favorite thing. Maybe you’ll dream about the day when you’re rich and famous enough to pass it off to someone else. (But, when you get there, you’ll only have more marketing to do!) But you will get better at it. Here are a few first steps.

https://medium.com/the-write-brain/a-marketing-guide-for-introverted-writers-b97a1cdf427d

['Shaunta Grimes']

2019-09-02 15:31:12.845000+00:00

['Productivity', 'Writing', 'Work', 'Marketing', 'Creativity']

How to Add Upscribe Forms to Your Medium Posts

I’ve been asked several times how to add email sign-up forms to Medium blog posts, so I thought I’d write up a quick little how-to. The Big Question: Yes. Medium allows forms behind the paywall. I emailed Medium a while back to ask if it’s okay to put an email sign-up form on posts that are part of the Medium Partnership Program. Here’s the response I got: So. Quick and to the point. Thanks, Tobias! What that means is that you can get paid for Medium posts, even if they include an Upscribe form. Since the only purpose of an Upscribe form is to capture email addresses, Medium will allow you to invite readers to your list via a form on a post behind the paywall. My feeling is that because Medium’s guidelines include the note below, they’ve left it open for them to remove your post from the Partnership Program (meaning, your post would not be behind the paywall and you wouldn’t be paid — but your post would still be available to read) if they decide that there’s too much marketing going on. From Medium’s guidelines. Medium strives to provide paying members with an ad-free reading experience. Part of that means they keep posts that explicitly ask for money (including claps or donations — for instance linking to a commercial site like Etsy) are not allowed. Posts With Forms Are Allowed, But Not Often Curated This is my own personal experience — so take it with a grain of salt. It seems to me that Medium allows forms, for sure. I’ve had email confirmation and I’ve never had a post with a form in it either removed from the partnership program or brought to my attention as a violation. That said, though, my posts with forms are rarely (almost never) curated. Which means they are not as well distributed by Medium as posts that don’t have a form. The posts that include a form and are curated always include forms that are directly linked to the post. For instance, a form that promises something directly linked to the post you’re writing. For instance, if I’m writing about a tool that I’ve developed for writers, I can include a form a reader can use to get a free copy and Medium might still curate that post. Including that form, though, makes it much more likely that my post will not be curated. So, I have to be conscious of the purpose of my post. Sometimes I write something that I know will convert well to my email list and it’s worth it to have a form, even if it means forgoing curation. Sometimes I want my posts to have wider distribution and the form isn’t worth it. How To Use Upscribe to Post Forms on Medium Okay, here’s the how-to part. Go to Upscribe and sign up. There is a free version that allows you 100 form views per month and does not include integration with your email server. It costs $9 per month for up to 5000 views per month and integration. Integrate Upscribe with your email server. To do that, click ‘integrate’ at the top of the screen. Choose your server and follow the directions. Upscribe will walk you right through it. Once you’re integrated, you can set Upscribe so that your new form connects directly to your email server and you won’t have to manually upload new subscribers to your email list. Click ‘Create New Form’ to start building your form. It’s super easy to design your form. Just change the wording. Click save. And that’s it. Your form is ready to use. Post your form. You can either post your form directly on Medium or hyperlink text to a form that will open in a new tab. To post your form directly, copy the link Upscribe provides. Past it where you want your form to appear. Hit your enter key. The form will automagically populate. When you go to the ‘my forms’ page on Upscribe, you’ll see all your forms. Each one has a ‘copy link’ button. Just click that button, then paste the link into your Medium post where you want the form to show up. Screenshot of my Upscribe forms. (Photo: Author) So when I paste this link: https://upscri.be/e1292d/ And then hit enter, this form shows up: Voila. (That’s a live form.) Alternatively, you can write text inviting people to join your list. When you highlight it, a small bar will pop up with a link symbol. Click that and input the link you copied from Upscribe. For instance: Join the waiting list for my workshops. There you go! No go forth and build your email list.

https://medium.com/the-write-brain/how-to-add-upscribe-forms-to-your-medium-posts-55ccc8513fbd

['Shaunta Grimes']

2019-05-13 16:37:45.992000+00:00

['Writing', 'Email', 'Creativity', 'Marketing', 'Entrepreneurship']

The Power of Sleep in Learning: Mind-Blowing Science

The Power of Sleep in Learning: Mind-Blowing Science Many people, sadly, haven’t unlocked this potential their whole lives W e all know sleep is important for (mental) health, but what do the numbers say? According to the book: Sleeping well can boost your learning with 20 to 40% in comparison to those who are sleep-deprived. The problem, however, is that it’s hard for long-term sleep-deprived people to know they are sleep-deprived. However, according to the book, just 1 hour of less sleep for 10 nights is sufficient to make your performance equivalent to someone who is drunk. This includes driving, learning, reaction time, and so on. One hour of less sleep every day, sadly, is a reality for many people and especially students. So how does sleep enhance learning? The Mechanics of Sleep In Learning First of all, as we progress throughout the day learning new stuff, they are mostly stored in the hippocampus. This brain region, however, has a relatively small space to store memories and can get full quickly. What happens during sleep, is that these memories either get transferred from the hippocampus to the neocortex (which has a much bigger storage space) or they get removed. See: Memory consolidation, Wikipedia for more information A lack of sleep results in your hippocampus not being completely emptied (or almost) nor are your memories that well consolidated (strengthened). This, in turn, makes it harder to learn and remember new things the next day. Sleep and Productivity I f you had to choose between earning $80,000 a year while working normal hours and getting good sleep versus $140,000 while working insane hours and only sleep 6 hours a day, what would you choose? Most people would choose the latter. The book, however, teaches that you can get both in the long-term, namely earning $140,000 while sleeping well every night. Why? Because you make less errors, are much more creative, and so on when having slept well. This, too, counts for studying and learning things. Don’t sacrifice quality for quantity. Improving Your Sleep Quality For those interested, Bill Gates wrote a review on the same book mentioning tips to improve your sleep quality:

https://medium.com/superintelligence/the-power-of-sleep-in-learning-mind-blowing-science-f6444accfabc

['John Von Neumann Ii']

2020-02-12 09:19:16.941000+00:00

['Self Improvement', 'Productivity', 'Science', 'Health', 'Entrepreneurship']

AI analyzes language to predict schizophrenia

A machine learning method uncovered a hidden clue in people’s language predictive of the later manifestation of psychosis: the frequent use of words associated with sound. A paper published by the journal npj Schizophrenia released the findings by scientists from Emory University and Harvard University. Hidden details The researchers developed a new machine-learning methodology to more precisely quantify the semantic richness of people’s conversational language (a known indicator for psychosis). Their results indicated that automated analysis of the two language variables (more frequent use of words associated with sound and speaking with low semantic density, or vagueness) can predict if an at-risk person will later develop psychosis with an impressive 93 percent accuracy. Trained clinicians had not noticed how individuals at risk for psychosis use more words associated with sound than the average population, though abnormal auditory perception is a pre-clinical symptom. “Voices: Living with Schizophrenia” by WebMD, YouTube. Machine learning can spot patterns in people’s use of language that even doctors who have undergone training to diagnose and treat those at risk of psychosis may not notice. “Trying to hear these subtleties in conversations with people is like trying to see microscopic germs with your eyes,” says first study author Neguine Rezaii, a fellow in the Department of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. That being said, it is possible to use machine learning to find subtle patterns hiding in people’s language. “It’s like a microscope for warning signs of psychosis,” she adds. Rezaii started working on the study while she was a resident in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine. “Trying to hear these subtleties in conversations with people is like trying to see microscopic germs with your eyes,” Neguine Rezaii, fellow in the Department of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. Behind the data Researchers first used machine learning to establish “norms” for conversational language. They fed a computer software program the online conversations of 30,000 users of Reddit, a popular social media platform where people have informal discussions about a wide array of sujects. The software program, known as Word2Vec, utilizes an algorithm to change individual words to vectors, assigning each one a location in a semantic space based on its meaning. Such with similar meanings are positioned closer together than those with different meanings. They also developed a computer program to perform “vector unpacking,” or analysis of the semantic density of word usage. Previous work has measured semantic coherence between sentences. Vector unpacking enabled the researchers to quantify how much information was packed into each sentence. After generating a baseline of “normal” data, the researchers applied the same techniques to diagnostic interviews of 40 participants that had been conducted by trained clinicians, as part of the multi-site North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study (NAPLS), funded by the National Institutes of Health. Vector unpacking enabled the researchers to quantify how much information was packed into each sentence. The automated analyses of the participant samples were then compared to the normal baseline sample and the longitudinal data on whether the participants converted to psychosis. "This research is interesting not just for its potential to reveal more about mental illness, but for understanding how the mind works” concludes senior author Phillip Wolff, a professor of psychology at Emory.

https://medium.com/artificial-intelligence-network/ai-analyzes-language-to-predict-schizophrenia-91f92f5f16a3

['Phil Siarri']

2019-06-22 20:01:01.096000+00:00

['Machine Learning', 'Mental Health', 'Health', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Science']

Should You Stay In Your Lane as a Writer?

Stay in your lane can mean a couple of things. Sometimes it means minding your own business. Keeping your head down and just doing your own thing and not worrying about what other people are doing. Sometimes it means staying within the boundaries of a field of focus — especially if you’re an entrepreneurial type. Being a specialist, instead of a jack-of-all-trades. It’s one of those platitudes that kind of hits me wrong — but also sort of makes sense. I mean, if you know what it is you want to do, it makes sense to focus on that and do it really well. Willy nilly branching out can be problematic. I’ve had friends try so hard to make a go of writing and fail because they couldn’t settle into a groove. But I kind of hate the idea of someone else telling me that I have to stay in my own lane. Especially with regard to writing. One of the things I love about blogging is that I can write about any old thing that comes to my mind and there isn’t anyone to tell me I can’t. And if Neil Gaiman can write everything from picture books to books for adults, why can’t I? Maybe I won’t have as many readers when I write about certain topics. Maybe I won’t be paid as much. But if I learn something or I enjoy myself or have an interest in establishing myself in that lane (so to speak) then that’s okay. For writers, I think there’s room for both having a lane — or a niche — and also exploring outside of that lane. The key is to know where your lane is, so that you can branch out on your own terms. If you’re a non-fiction writer, your lane is the topic or topics that you write about regularly and with authority. For instance, my non-fiction writing lanes are writing in general, but especially fiction writing. Also online business, productivity, and the business of writing. If you’re not sure, or you’re a new writer, ask yourself these questions: What are you good at? What could you teach someone else? What do people come to you for help with? What do you spend your time learning? What are you passionate about? What topic did you read the most about last year? One way to find your lane is to post this on social media: What do you think I’m good at? I get it. It’s going to feel seriously awkward. Like you’re fishing for compliments. But if you can’t figure it out for yourself, you’ll get some interesting responses if you’re brave enough. If you’ve written blog posts already on a pretty broad array of topics, take a look at the analytics for them. Which are getting the most traffic? Which are getting the most interaction from readers? Those posts are probably written in your lane. Did you have fun writing them? This is an important question, because none of this matters if you’re not having fun. Your lane is the lane where you want to be. Let me say that one more time. Your lane is the lane where you want to be. Even if you are an absolute authority in a specific topic and you could teach the whole world something about it, if you don’t want to write about it, it’s not your lane. You do not want to get yourself in a situation where you’ve built an audience who is expecting work from you on a specific subject and you’re making money writing on that subject — and you hate the work. By the way, this goes for fiction writers as well. I’ve known fiction writers who’ve found success writing books they weren’t happy writing and struggled to shift gears. That’s a trap that’s very difficult to get out of. So, one more time for the writers in the back. Your lane is the lane where you want to be. Even if that’s not the lane where you are currently an expert. We’re clear on that, right? Changing Lanes Out of Impatience Here’s what I see happen pretty often. A writer starts writing on a subject they like a lot. They write a few posts. Or maybe they write an ebook. Or they write a novel. And they don’t get the kind of traction they want. Nothing goes viral. Or they don’t make any money. (Or not as much as they thought they would) Or the book they self-published flops. Or they don’t get an agent. So, they change lanes. They start writing on a different topic. And nothing goes viral, etc. They don’t feel like this lane works for them the way they want it to, either. So they change lanes. Again. The problem is that this person is trying to get from point A to point Z and they keep getting off at the first exit and going back to the start, then taking a different route. They’re moving, and they’re logging miles, but they’re not actually making progress. They aren’t sticking with anything long enough to actually get good at it. (Their starts might be getting better though, after doing them so many times. So there’s that.) Here’s the thing about Neil Gaiman and his writing everything from picture books through adult novels. Somewhere in the beginning of his learning how to write, he stuck with something long enough to become a good writer. Then he branched out. I remember reading that he had the idea for The Graveyard Book (a young adult book) for twenty years and had to wait until he was a good enough writer to actually write it. Changing Lanes With Intention What if, instead of changing lanes completely, because you’re impatient with how things are going, you changed lanes with intention. You start out writing in your lane, about the topic that you’re very sure you want to write about. The lane you love. Then, sometimes you branch out and add a new lane. These are sometimes called shoulders, especially if they’re semi-related to the topic you’re already writing about. If I write about marketing, for instance, I’m writing in a shoulder lane to writing. Writing middle grade is kind of a shoulder of writing young adult. It’s different, but not like crazy different. But sometimes I write about my eating disorder. Or about taking care of my parents-in-law who both have Alzheimer’s and live with my husband and I. Or about being a soccer mom. I’m knocking around an idea for a picture book about a spider that lives outside my office window. Those are topics that are just entirely outside of my lane. When I write on those topics, it’s because I have something I want to say. I know that those posts will get less traffic than blog posts that I write that are in my lane. But I don’t mind. There are real benefits to leaving your lane sometimes. Taking a break from my lane keeps you sharp. You might have to do research when you write about something you’re less familiar with. You’ll have to think in different ways. That’s good for your brain. And you’ll find connections between the lanes sometimes that you never would have seen otherwise. That’s always very cool. And it’s fun. It feeds the rebel soul.

https://medium.com/the-write-brain/should-you-stay-in-your-lane-as-a-writer-735517e5769b

['Shaunta Grimes']

2019-08-16 15:40:40.696000+00:00

['Creativity', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Productivity', 'Work', 'Writing']

3 Marketing Strategies That Can Work Like Magic

3 Marketing Strategies That Can Work Like Magic #1 Challenging the customer Image courtesy: Author In today’s world, everything has come down to how well you can promote your brand. No matter how well you have implemented your idea or how great your product is, if your audience does not get to know about it, it’s of no use. Marketing strategies are what is used while promoting a product. But these strategies involve a lot of thought process before they can be implemented. With the world getting smaller day by day, it’s hard to come up with a new and distinct idea every day. The ones who can, end up winning the race. Here I am going to tell you about 3 such uncommon strategies, that can help you build a greater audience. However, they are just a direction and there will be a lot that you can experiment with:

https://medium.com/the-brave-writer/3-marketing-strategies-that-can-work-like-magic-60250888e78a

['Niyati Jain']

2020-12-15 17:02:51.060000+00:00

['Marketing', 'Startup', 'Writing', 'Work', 'Productivity']

How The Media Can Prevent Copycat Suicides

How The Media Can Prevent Copycat Suicides Responsible reporting around celebrity suicide goes a long way Photo by Reagan Freeman on Unsplash The celebrity death I was most impacted by was Chester Bennington. Chester was the lead singer of Linkin Park, my favorite band as a kid, and the lead behind my favorite songs that would play over and over again on my iPod: “Numb” and “In the End.” I was in Japan, working in an organic chemistry lab, but at the time, the news devastated me — Chester had died on July 20, 2017, by suicide. But I had grown enough in my mental health awareness that I feared the media reporting and a possible contagion effect from that reporting. According to Gunn et al. in a 2018 study in the Archives of Suicide Research, widely publicized suicides like Robin Williams (2014) and Aaron Hernandez (2017) were associated with increased Google.com/trends data on “how to suicide” and “suicide prevention.” The authors attributed the increase in searches following Williams’s death to the Werther Effect, a spike of emulation or copycat suicides after a widely publicized suicide, and the death of Hernandez to the Papageno effect, an increase in awareness and support in suicide prevention. The contagion effect is synonymous with the Werther Effect. The Werther effect, according to blogger Alexa Moody, was coined in the late 1700s after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s book, The Sorrows of Young Werther. In the book, the protagonist, Werther, finds himself in a love triangle and believes the only way to make it out is through suicide — although the book was widely commercially successful, the success of the book led to many copycat suicides of fans of Goethe deciding to take their own lives as well. The Papageno effect is on the opposite side of the spectrum. Its etymology is after a character Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” where a character loses his love and plans suicide as a result. The attempt is stopped last minute by three boys who support him and tell him there are alternatives to suicide and is a positive effect the media can have on suicide. When Chester Bennington died, suicide experts feared a contagion effect. Zach Schonfeld in Newsweek reports that Bennington’s death shocked people since many believe that wealthy and successful people don’t struggle with depression and anxiety, like other people. But depression is a disease that can affect anyone. In the words of Theresa Buhse, the associate executive director of the Long Island Crisis Center: “Just because somebody is rich and famous does not necessarily mean that they’re happy at all…The truth is, we never know what is going on in somebody’s mind. People struggle with mental illness. People struggle with depression. It doesn’t matter how rich they are. It doesn’t matter how famous they are. We don’t know what’s going on.” Chester’s death was its own example of the contagion effect. Chester died on what would have been Cornell’s 53rd birthday, and Cornell also died by suicide years earlier. Buhse notes that it might have been a coincidence, but people also may plan out an emotionally significant date. Celebrity suicides sometimes have a contagion effect on the general population as well. When Marilyn Monroe died from probable suicide in 1962, the suicide rate jumped by 12 percent compared to the same months the previous year. To this day, the death of Marilyn Monroe resulted in the most copycat suicide attempts. According to Margot Sanger-Katz in the New York Times, the publicity surrounding suicide has been linked with subsequent increases in suicide, especially for young people. Analysis suggests that at least five percent of youth suicides are influenced by contagion. What irresponsible media coverage does is harm people already vulnerable and at risk for suicide. For the media to avoid the contagion, Sanger-Katz notes that suicide prevention advocates want news media coverage to avoid emphasizing or glamorizing suicide or make it seem like an inevitable solution for people at risk. Media reports also should not fixate on graphic details of the death, and in the case of Chester, one media source prominently highlighted his method of suicide. 1962 is very different from 2020, and the media has come a long way in being responsible and diligent. Schonfeld talks about the suicide of Kurt Cobain in 1994, where experts feared a nationwide copycat effect. However, media outlets reported warning signs and provided hotline numbers, and the number of suicides in the Seattle region decreased after Cobain died, assisted by a rise in calls to local crisis centers. According to Luna Greenstein at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Anthony Bourdain’s suicide came only two days after the media irresponsibly reported on Kate Spade’s suicide. Takeaways To talk about suicide in a way that encourages people to get help and look for help, Greenstein recommends including local and national hotline numbers, as well as other crisis resources. Other recommendations include informing, not sensationalizing. Any headline of a celebrity’s death should not include suicide in the headline, and images of the method or location of death should be avoided. Instead, photos of school, work, or family can be used instead. Greenstein also recommends choosing words carefully, using words like “increase” and “rise” rather than more sensational words like “epidemic” or “skyrocketing.” And terminology around suicide is important as well — the field is moving away from “committed suicide” and moving more around terms that do not stigmatize suicide as a crime, like “died by suicide,” “completed suicide,” “killed him/herself,” and “ended his/her life.” Lastly, Greenstein recommends reporting on suicide as a public health issue. Suicide shouldn’t be reported the same way a crime is reported, and seeking advice from suicide prevention experts is more important than quoting police and first responders. Including the warning signs of suicide as well as a “what to do” sidebar. “This is not a matter of being ‘politically correct.’ It’s a matter of saving lives,” Greenstein says. We can also watch how we talk about suicide in personal circles as well using these guidelines. Just like obituaries talk mostly about how someone lived rather than how someone died, and although talking about suicide is difficult and often uncomfortable, suicide is the second leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 34 in the United States. Responsible reporting and conversation on suicide are essential.

https://medium.com/invisible-illness/how-the-media-can-prevent-copycat-suicides-6930d384c2ce

['Ryan Fan']

2020-12-28 19:23:39.017000+00:00

['Society', 'Mental Health', 'Journalism', 'Health', 'Medium']

Thoughts on a medical mystery

Thoughts on a medical mystery How brains learn diseases, and their cures My father is a pediatric neurologist, with a speciality in epilepsy. He’s always loved the kids he worked with, and treated them like family. Whenever one of his patients died, he’d bring me and my sisters to their funeral. Some I’d known for years from tagging along on rounds, or having watched them grow up through the quanta of Christmas cards and back-to-school photos. I remember the funeral of a girl my age, who had been far more outgoing and lively than me, her now-dark face caked in yellow makeup. Though they’d never found a drug that could control her seizures, she’d seemed otherwise healthy and normal, and her death had come as a total surprise. This was my first brush with Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). SUDEP is the most common cause of death in patients with refractory seizures, and remains one of the most devastating mysteries in the field of epilepsy. There are currently no known biomarkers to identify patients at risk for SUDEP — hence the Sudden, hence the Unexpected. Having come to neuroscience by way of physics, I confess I often forget a crucial point: neurons are cells, not just immutable contact points on a circuit board over which voltage plays in prescribed patterns. Not only is the circuit board layout shifting, always rewiring itself in learning, but activity sets off internal programs within cells, making them more or less active, or plastic, tuning their metabolism and protein production. Furthermore, at the gross level, the brain isn’t a black box sealed in the skull, but exerts its influence on every conceivable bodily process. Neurological disorders are rarely, if ever, confined to the brain. This may seem obvious, but it bears consideration. When brain areas are over or under-active, this can reverberate through other somatic systems, causing plastic changes in all manner of body parts: neurons love to learn. In fact, non-neuronal cells learn too: signals like oxygen or nutrition levels can alter a cell’s transcriptional landscape, resulting in tissue remodelling, for example. Epilepsy is particularly interesting, as it’s a prime example of a learned disease. “Kindling” is a common idea in the literature: once someone has had one or more seizures, they’re much more likely to become epileptic, as the brain learns this problematic activity pattern. Some epileptic patients report that they’ve discovered certain thought patterns that help them control or minimize an oncoming seizure (these patients feel a pre-ictal ‘aura’ that clues them in), so we know there may be conscious strategies which certain patients can use to volitionally control their disease. But I’d argue that neural circuits may have evolved or learned other, less helpful ways of suppressing disease-related activity—in the case of uncontrollable epilepsy, through depriving the brain of oxygen, thereby quenching activity. I posit we might use this framing of brains and bodies ‘learning’ their own cures to better understand common comorbidities of neurological disorders. SUDEP is a big clue in this. It’s increasingly evident that cardio-pulmonary issues underlie a majority of SUDEP cases. While most SUDEP events go unwitnessed, in a retrospective study of observed SUDEP cases caught while patients were in the hospital, researchers found that patient breathing ceased before heart failure in all 16 observed events (Rivlin et al., 2013). There is no doubt that SUDEP involves a complex network of effects, but the effect of repeated exposure to low oxygen levels (chronic intermittent hypoxia) is consistent with many of the known abnormalities of SUDEP patients (Giaccia, Simon, & Johnson, 2004). Hypoxia has a profound effect on tissues, from altering the physiology of certain ion channels in the heart and lungs to long-term changes in genetic transcription and vascular remodeling (Kemp & Peers, 2007; Ling et al., 2001; Nei, 2009; Richerson, 2010). Up to 40% of SUDEP cases present cardiac fibrosis in autopsy, which can be a result of chronic intermittent hypoxia (Ling et al., 2001; P-Codrea, et al., 2005), and damage was most commonly found in the heart structure most vulnerable to ischemic damage (the subendocardial myocardium, for the keen). SUDEP patients also tend to have had post-seizure cerebral depression, which is also strongly linked with hypoxia (Takano et al., 2007). All of this suggests that recurring low oxygen levels might be the cause of the myriad tissue and neural remodeling events that ultimately result in patient death. The link between epilepsy and breathing problems is well documented, but not well understood. In some patients, epileptic activity may simply affect brain stem circuits controlling breathing. Every patient has a different locus of seizure activity — the part of the brain a seizure plays out on. But SUDEP doesn’t only happen in patients whose seizures originate in the part of the brain that controls breathing. There may be a more fundamental physiological link underlying seizures and breathing: blood acidification, as happens in hypoxic conditions, is anti-convulsive. Thus, the hypoxic response may not simply be a direct effect of a seizure on the brain stem, but an evolved mechanism, or one learned by neural circuits, to shut down epileptic activity during otherwise intractable seizures [1]. This then leads to a vicious cycle: breathing circuits are plastic throughout life, and strongly shaped by hypoxia (So, 2008), so even if a patient’s seizures never directly reach the brain stem, their chronic seizures could still cause a gradual degradation of the neural circuits controlling breathing through repeated hypoxia [2]. The brain, then, might be learning activity patterns that help control a particular disease state, which is adaptive in the short term but ultimately deleterious: a drastic stop-gap to manage otherwise intractable epilepsy. The brain is sometimes too good at doing its job. Many neurological diseases involve some component of being ‘learned’ by neural circuits: chronic pain, neuropathy/neuralgia, and migraine all come to mind. When considering how to find predictive biomarkers for neurological conditions, or how to address their symptoms, it’s crucial to remember that neurological diseases don’t live in the brain alone. They can affect all body systems, and some of the most deleterious symptoms might result from the brain attempting to ‘medicate’ itself with whatever other systems it has control over. Studies with this framing in mind might help lead to the discovery of simple interventions, and further refine our understanding to identify functional and molecular biomarkers of medical mysteries such as SUDEP [3]. Notes

https://medium.com/the-spike/thoughts-on-a-medical-mystery-ced1cb1b3545

['Kelly Clancy']

2019-06-13 12:26:36.896000+00:00

['Neuroscience', 'Health', 'Science', 'Psychology']

All the Love you do not see

All the Love you do not see On writing with heart and hope Photo by JOSHUA COLEMAN on Unsplash The words I do not recognize are the ones my heart wrote, so feverish with hope every line feels like a hallucination. And yet, these moments happened and still happen, everything is true. Suddenly, life is poetry and joy opens up portal into new universes that leave you speechless. Unless you surrender to it, you cannot experience awe; that surrender is not verbal. Transcription takes place well after the facts and always feels like an unreliable witness account. Finding yourself writing love letters to life as a chronic depressive freelancer on the verge of financial collapse is weird but I’m here for it. Against the stark backdrop of death and destruction, life is more beautiful than ever, and I am, dare I say it, content. There is so much gentleness in the generosity of acceptance, it frees up mental bandwidth for everything else. The moment is as impermanent as life. To not celebrate it would be an affront to hope, the same hope that has seen me through everything so far. I shouldn’t be here anymore but I am. Despair has shades and nuances, hope is blinding, and I have been dazed and confused since I set aside the past and embraced the present almost two years ago. Hope is the blank page beckoning your heart to release its findings. So others might benefit from them.

https://asingularstory.medium.com/all-the-love-you-do-not-see-c86a22d0e4ba

['A Singular Story']

2020-06-13 12:29:45.505000+00:00

['Social Media', 'Future', 'Society', 'Writing', 'Mental Health']

Allow Yourself To Be Creative

Allow Yourself To Be Creative “There’s no path ’til you walk it” Photo by Amy Shamblen on Unsplash Do you get a little nervous before showing someone your artwork or writing? Before clicking publish or submitting to a publication? I do. There’s a certain level of fear that comes with being creative — Why? We’re all a little suspect of our own talent — Ethan Hawke This was the first thing that jumped out at me when I saw Ethan Hawke’s TED Talk about creativity. We’re hesitant when it comes to being creative. Why? We’re unsure about how we’ll be judged on our suspect talents. We’re insecure. Should we be? What are we so afraid of? After all: If history’s taught us anything, the world is an extremely unreliable critic. Who knows what will be “popular” or “valuable” or “good”. Not us. We have no say in that. Sure, there are “recipes for success” in creativity — I guess. Look no further than the countless writing advice posts on Medium. But do you want a recipe for someone else’s success, or do you want to blaze your own trail?

https://medium.com/afwp/allow-yourself-to-be-creative-dae5dab938e1

['Mike Marolla']

2020-10-31 15:33:23.749000+00:00

['Writing', 'Creativity', 'Motivation', 'Self-awareness', 'Art']

How To Rewire Your Brain To Succeed During Uncertain Times

When you have a thought for the very first time, it passes and generally doesn’t have too much of an impact on you. However, when it is repeated, your subconscious begins to perceive it not as an observation, but as an important fact that needs to be embedded into the framework of your daily life — an idea that you should, at some level, be constantly aware of. What we are most keen to adopt into that mindset are often worst case scenarios, deep fears, paralyzing insecurities, and anything else we imagine might possibly be a threat to us. Unfortunately, the majority of our daily actions, decisions and outcomes stem from that same place in your subconscious where all of that automation is being stored. “What we’re doing is being driven by that automatic program,” Dr. Irvine says. However, there is hope. She’s used the following process to train 7 and 8-figure earning entrepreneurs not only to achieve greater levels of career success, but to mend relationships, find deep fulfillment, and free themselves of “stressed success,” where you are accomplished on the surface, but unhappy just beneath. Our job now, she says, is to do some serious inner-work. How to remove limiting thoughts Dr. Irvine explains that its the moments most of us avoid — tension, resistance, or cognitive dissonance — that offer us the greatest opportunity for change. “At these times, we are actually aware of what we are saying to ourselves all along.” She uses the following four step process with her clients while coaching them to use challenges as opportunities for real and lasting change. First, recognize the thought. The biggest problem for most of us is that we aren’t even aware of what we are telling ourselves all day. “Most high-performers go around and think, who am I to do this, most people have imposter syndrome,” Dr. Irvine explains. Then, they just try to out-work, disprove or avoid it. None of these tactics work, because by trying to suppress it, it stays automated. Instead, we need to just get clear on what we are thinking, and ultimately, what we really believe about ourselves. Second, record the thought. Writing the thought down actually “pulls it out” of your subconscious, Dr. Irvine explains. When people display resistance towards this, it is because of the idea that “what we focus on grows,” or that by writing it down, we are legitimizing or making it more real or likely than it was before. Not so. “The reality is that it’s already running 80 to 90 percent of your day. There’s nothing more important than recognizing it for what it is.” Third, refute the thought. The best thing about our brains, she explains, is that as soon as we are aware of the thought, we will naturally begin to challenge it. “By saying it out loud, we see it as the lie it is,” Dr. Irvine shares. If that’s challenging, try to imagine someone you deeply love and care for (the kind of person you’d “jump in front of a bus for,” she says) and then picture saying the thought to them. What this does is remove your negativity bias, which she estimates has us believe 9 times more negative thoughts about ourselves than anyone else. When we imagine applying the thought to someone else, we see how limiting and destructive it can be. Fourth, record yourself speaking the new thought. The final and most powerful step is to re-wire your thinking. Dr. Irvine suggests doing so by actually recording yourself speaking your new ideas in the present tense (perhaps on your phone) and then listening to it in the morning and before bed. “You’re building a new network in your brain around the truth, around the old belief. You’re showing your subconscious that you’re not aligning with that anymore,” she says. How to rewire your brain to succeed amid uncertainty This process becomes vital during times of uncertainty, such as we are facing right now. Our brain’s first instinct is to “seek the familiar,” Dr. Irvine says. “When everything changes and everything is uncertain and nothing is controllable, our brains are doing what they are wired to do, they are kicking into fight or flight mode… there’s a tiger in the room, so run,” she explains. Her first advice is to limit our media intake. “Pick one trusted source, someone reputable in nature, and check in once a day,” she explains, emphasizing that being informed is important. “But then be unavailable to it for the rest of the day.” This is important because when we’re already triggered, we’re functioning from our sympathetic nervous system. We can’t focus, we can’t create. “This is why so many of us are so tired, so emotional right now. We are being flooded in neurochemicals. In order to re-wire your brain to succeed in certainty, we need to unplug from that,” she says. Next, she suggests to make bold moves. “Right now, we need to rise up in uncertain times more than we ever have. Now is the time to create the strongest vision you’ve ever had. We can’t control everything that’s going on around us, but we need to control our vision, and how vibrant and multi-dimensional that is. I am encouraging my clients, students and the people in my community to rise up,” she says. Next, it’s time to pivot into leadership. Identify the things that need to start getting momentum. Is it going live on Instagram, updating a social media page, sending some emails? Just start taking action, she advises. What if this comes off as insensitive? One of the biggest challenges that dissuades people from taking action and leading during times of uncertainty is the fear that doing so will seem insensitive to the realities of our current predicament. However, there is a way to lead mindfully. “If we hold back and don’t put the thing out in the world that has the potential to change someone’s life, we are just being selfish,” Dr. Irvine explains. “Lead with your service, lead with your generosity, lead with your service, you are the thing that people are leaning toward, they need you right now.” Challenges show us who is a problem-solver, and who is a problem-exacerbator. If you find yourself on the wrong side of that, this is a perfect time to start recalibrating the way you think.

https://briaeliza.medium.com/how-to-rewire-your-brain-to-succeed-during-uncertain-times-7e4d7ff09c48

['Brianna Wiest']

2020-03-31 19:27:11.374000+00:00

['Leadership', 'Startup', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Coronavirus', 'Psychology']

Founders’ silent struggle — The biggest needs (Part 7)

“Every time when it’s really difficult you start asking yourself if this lifestyle is really for you. But when you know that you have a chance to make a difference in the world, then you roll up your sleeves and face the problems. What if this thing does not work — it is still the best time of my life” Tommaso Troiani, a founder of swabit.app. Founders need to have high energy and ability to generate diverse resources for at least 4 to 10 years of constant emotional and financial turbulence, painful pivots and multiple times starting from square one. It’s ok if a response to turbulence and sudden startup swings is shrieking and puking, however, a founder should have a strong recovery plan and support system to help them to clean up and go on the ride again. Founders listed their biggest needs: Fundraising, how to screen investors and prepare for next rounds better More sales, salespeople, digital marketing Improving skills of communication, presenting and pitching Teaching team an entrepreneurial mindset and how to recover from failures healthier Business models at different business stages Connections finding the right mentors and coaches Creating better physiological and psychological health for better stress management, handling negative thoughts and emotions, keeping calm during turbulent times Becoming mentally stronger, getting better rest, maintaining motivation and energy Managing better introverted or extroverted capacities What are your needs? What is your favorite place to find startup related answers? PS.: Some tools can be found at Disciplined Entrepreneurship and Disciplined Entrepreneurship Toolbox.

https://medium.com/ofounders/founders-silent-struggle-the-biggest-needs-part-7-3ea13df50f6b

['Inga Stasiulionyte']

2020-03-23 18:57:50.811000+00:00

['Startup', 'Mental Health', 'Interview', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Psychology']

Walking Is Underrated: The Unappreciated Complexity and Power of Walking

Walking Is Underrated: The Unappreciated Complexity and Power of Walking “Walking is man’s best medicine!”— Hippocrates Photo by Yogendra Singh from Pexels. Edited by the author on Canva. Even though moving around seem simple, it requires considerable brain power In his book, ‘In Praise of Walking’ [1], Shane O’Mara starts off by talking about the life of a sea squirt. In its early stages of development, it moves around in rock pools in search for food. To support this movement, the young sea squirt develops one eye, a brain, and a spinal cord. As the sea squirt matures, it undergoes a major transition. It attaches itself to a rock, and never moves again. It then eats its brain, eye, and spinal cord. Because it just doesn’t need them anymore. But surely humans are not quite the same as sea squirts, right? We might be a little closer than you would imagine. Developmental biologists compared the genes of two seemingly different species: the skate (a type of fish) and the mouse. The biologists discovered that the two species share many genes related to movement. These shared genes determine their spinal cords, the placement of their limbs or fins, and the nearby muscles and nerves [3].

https://medium.com/in-fitness-and-in-health/walking-is-underrated-the-unappreciated-complexity-and-power-of-walking-a7df7ffe5b04

['Eshan Samaranayake']

2020-12-22 02:58:38.151000+00:00

['Mental Health', 'Health', 'Neuroscience', 'Science', 'Fitness']

House Reports Claims Anticompetitive Behavior by Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook

“Our investigation leaves no doubt that there is a clear and compelling need for Congress and the antitrust enforcement agencies to take action that restores competition, improves innovation, and safeguards our democracy.” — Rep. David Cicilline After reviewing more than 1.3 million internal documents and interviewing more than 240 people and three dozen antitrust experts, and former employees of the major tech companies, the House Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee wrapped up its 16-month investigation. The report concludes that Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook have exploited their power of the marketplace in anticompetitive ways. “This investigation has revealed that Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google were committed to drowning out competition through unfair and anti-competitive practices — often doing so at the expense of user privacy and innovation,” said Rep. Val Demings. “Their anticompetitive acts have come at a cost for consumers and small businesses.” In its report, the subcommittee recommended the following actions be taken: Structural separations to prohibit platforms from operating in lines of business that depend on or interoperate with the platform; Prohibiting platforms from engaging in self-preferencing; Requiring platforms to make its services compatible with competing networks to allow for interoperability and data portability; Mandating that platforms provide due process before taking action against market participants; Establishing a standard to proscribe strategic acquisitions that reduce competition; Improvements to the Clayton Act, the Sherman Act, and the Federal Trade Commission Act, to bring these laws into line with the challenges of the digital economy; Eliminating anticompetitive forced arbitration clauses; Strengthening the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice; And promoting greater transparency and democratization of the antitrust agencies. “Our investigation revealed an alarming pattern of business practices that degrade competition and stifle innovation.” — Rep. Val Demings You can download the entire report here.

https://medium.com/digital-diplomacy/house-reports-claims-anticompetitive-behavior-by-apple-amazon-google-and-facebook-33483a3a1689

['Paul Dughi']

2020-10-10 01:16:06.026000+00:00

['Apple', 'Google', 'Facebook', 'Amazon', 'Government']

The Sustainable Element-Technology Nexus that has Great Potential

The Sustainable Element-Technology Nexus that has Great Potential A simple and cheap technique to mitigate water pollution The image is taken from the author’s photo collection The element carbon forms only 0.025 percent of the earth’s crust by mass. But its particular valency number of 4 gives it a unique capability. The ability to react with a range of other elements. Carbon atom’s readiness to share four electrons to attain stability. Added to this, carbon is gifted with the ability to exist in three oxidation states. They are +2,+3, and +4. This makes it an accommodative partner for other elements to form an ‘alliance’ with. The alliance between elements forms a compound. This unique approach of carbon has attracted a strong and everlasting partnership with hydrogen and other elements. This includes nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, phosphorous, and silicon. This prompted our scientists to start a new branch in chemistry. It is called organic chemistry. Organic chemistry is the study of compounds that contains carbon. They are an indispensable part of the living world as they are the structural foundation of many compounds. This includes the backbones of life such as carbohydrates, proteins, and deoxyribonucleic acids. As technology evolved, organic compounds found new applications. Fossil fuels are derivatives of organic compounds. They are being used worldwide for energy production. Many human commodities are made of organic compounds. These include pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides, and plastic. Their ubiquitous nature in the products has prompted the contamination of water sources. Some of them are harmless and gets degraded easily. Others have serious health repercussions on the health of the living world [1]. After the advent of ion-exchange membranes, scientists found ways to purify water. But, the removal of neutral species from water remained a problem [2]. Many organic compounds are neutral. The process of reverse osmosis (RO) is the most advanced of ion-exchange technology today [2]. RO is capable of purifying even seawater which has the highest concentration of total solids among natural water sources [2]. But as organic compound concentrations in water sources increased, things became a little complicated. RO is costly. The increasing presence of organic contaminants was found to be hazardous to the RO membranes affecting their lifetime. Organochlorines are one of the most potent of the membrane destroyers [2]. It became imperative to remove organic compounds before the process of RO. RO process releases copious amounts of wastewater as RO concentrate. This water can be reused for domestic and industrial applications after treatment [2]. But the technology used for treatment should be cheap to make the venture sustainable and inexpensive.

https://medium.com/climate-conscious/the-sustainable-element-technology-nexus-that-has-great-potential-30e46a8234a1

['Sophia Nynnat']

2020-10-12 19:22:43.079000+00:00

['Technology', 'Sustainability', 'Health', 'Environment', 'Science']

How To Write a Powerful Piece of Content in One Hour

How To Write a Powerful Piece of Content in One Hour Writing can be a long, arduous process — but it doesn’t have to be Photo by LinkedIn Sales Navigator on Unsplash Typically some combination of planning, research, and editing goes into a professional piece of content, which can take several months to perfect. However, sometimes speed and efficiency become an imperative and unavoidable part of the process. From writing a blog post to developing a multifaceted marketing campaign, having an effective strategy to produce quality content in limited time is essential. My writing career is still in its twilight phase, and I am in the process of deciding exactly where I want to take it. But I can tell you one thing: After nearly 5 years of working in marketing, hours spent researching the world’s top entrepreneurs, and delicately balancing a schedule that includes a career and multiple side hustles, I have learned how to craft high-quality content in one hour or less. If I can do it, you can too.

https://medium.com/better-marketing/how-to-write-a-powerful-piece-of-content-in-one-hour-4de1fa489233

['Jonah Malin']

2019-11-06 20:30:02.058000+00:00

['Marketing', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Efficiency', 'Productivity', 'Writing']

2 Habits That Underrate Your Voice’s Influence

Vocal Habit 1: Monotone Modulation of the acoustic energy within the frequencies of the human voice that characterize music, similar to vocal prosody, will recruit and modulate the neural regulation of the middle ear muscles [auditory ossicles], functionally calm the behavioral and physiological state by increasing vagal regulation of the heart and promote more spontaneous social engagement behaviors…basically we start to look and feel better when we listen to melodies. (Porges, S. 2011) It’s why a monotoned voice puts us to sleep and our ability to absorb, and perhaps retain, that information is comprised due to the shallow fundamental frequencies underlying a dull quality of voice. As children, we can cry and speak infinitely, with nigh a break or touch of fatigue. We explore all manners of sounds, find delight in their whimsical impermanence, and wail on sirens that take our voice to the bottom of its range and swing it to its highest peaks. The colour, or prosody, of a child’s voice, is a remarkable symphony. Along the line, the range of the voice gets narrower. An exciting speaker that innervates the inner ear muscles of the audience swoops and swirls his voice through the frequencies available to him, like a painting dancing with colour. So what restricts the colour of our voice? Firstly, in order to create prosody in the voice, your voice requires great finesse in the muscles controlling the vocal tract. Many of these vocal muscles required for prosody are innervated by the myelinated vagus nerve, and this nerve only fires efficiently when you are in a relaxed state. The reason behind this is that this nerve is governed under one of the autonomic nervous systems, the parasympathetic nervous system: the system responsible for regeneration and lowering the heart rate. When you are stressed, the sympathetic nervous system is dominant, and nerve efferents like the myelinated vagus nerve become less prominent and must battle to exert its influence over these vocal muscles. Its why, when nervous, we find it difficult to speak, or even to speak at all! If a person finds themselves in a constant state of stress or tension like anxiety, your body begins to learn to use your voice in a different way through repetition. Bodily and neural resources are no longer required for empathetic human speech but rather the priming of muscles for movement or, its nemesis, freezing. Speech is stripped to its bare minimum, and prosody, an element required for social cohesion, is effectively switched off. The body does the opposite required for cohesion; it either wants to fight, freeze or run away, so newer neocortex activities like speaking with prosody, or active listening by triggering the tightening of the middle ear bones, are not required. If the anxiety persists, and the vocal folds remain unstretched, the mind-body learns to acquire this new muscle memory, and the range of the voice in normal conversation can remain lacking. Because the voice is key to expressing emotions we veer into the field of psychoneuroimmunology. Psychoneuroimmunology can be defined as the study of interactions between behavior, neural and endocrine function, and immune processes (Ader et al, 1995) This is why understanding your emotional life is imperative to improving your voice. If you don’t get aware of your shit it may prove difficult to become aware of how your voice changes and adapts to situations you may find yourself in, especially stressful ones, if you don’t know what is triggering you to find it stressful in the first place. Get aware of your shit. Voice work is not easy, there is no quick fix, and you will have to develop a strong discipline to post-pone gratification; but like anything in life, anything worth doing is difficult. So, a monotoned voice can have its root in your emotional life; but it may also be maintained by poor breathing or posture. If you underpower your voice, the vocal folds have to maintain a thickness that limits the range of your frequencies at your disposal. It’s why a monotoned voice is typically quite deep. An underpowered voice means there is a lack of breath to support the voice, you may get the words out phonetically, but the ideas and emotional life of what you are saying, which live in the variances of the range of the voice, are non-existent. Firstly, to reintroduce the potential for dynamic range in your voice focus your attention on the vowels in the word. Each vowel is a formant with a different set of frequencies in the voice; this means there is naturally occurring modulation in the vowels you speak. Over enunciating the vowels as a practice in your free time, such as reading from a book out loud, can help you get a sense of their potential in your common tongue. You’ll find that the sensation lingers having completed the exercise. Secondly, singing is a must if your voice lacks dynamism. There is a colossal amount of research on the benefits of singing on your physical health, such as governing the release of a newly discovered chemical called endocannabinoids, which does exactly what you think it does, but it also helps stretch your vocal folds and activate articulators that may have become dormant. It forces you to kickstart your respiratory muscles to function cohesively with voicing, meaning, you learn how to give enough air to your voice so the tone and quality are not underpowered. But it needs to be practiced so might I suggest the shower! This leads us to our next rule. Vocal Habit 2: Underpowering This is exactly how it sounds; a self-defeating habit that really sucks as it pulls your legs out from under you! This commonly occurs when you have something important to say, and that’s the crux; because it’s important, it carries more weight, and if you don’t step up to bear it upon your shoulders, the words can implode before the idea has even left your mouth. It takes courage to speak your worth because once it's passed your lips, you cannot take it back; however, underpowering tries to do just that, “one foot out of the door and one foot in”. You have to commit whole heartedly. There’s no sitting on the fence when you are required to speak on matters that are important to you! Underpowering means that not enough breath is being capitalised to give enough tone, amplitude, and resonant quality to the voice so that it can either sound muffled, monotone, non-audible, or thin (lacking in harmonics that capture the inner-ear to regulate neural functions that engage social cohesion). Here are two ways it can happen: the first is that the tongue slightly stiffens up and retracts back into the throat, physically stemming the tide of sound from escaping, or “swallowing your words” as it is known. It may sound like lunacy that you’re trying to do one thing but your body is doing another but this is the role, or a specimen, of cognitive dissonance. Another key example of underpowering is when your voice fails to make it to the end of your sentence. If you consistently fall off the end of your sentence, where coincidentally the crux of the idea lives, this should concern you as it detracts from the power of your idea. The second is a locking of the respiratory muscles. We do this when anxious to protect the body. Without going into the phylogenetic heritage of our nervous system, which you can do here, our response to stress developed to protect us from predators, so the tensing or priming of muscles was key to our survival. The most common is the constricting of the core muscles (rectus abdominis, transversus abominis, etc). A locked belly, however, does not allow for thoracic capacity to increase to efficiently intake enough air for what you may want to say, due to your core muscles being an integral part of sustaining phonation. Energy, that should be directed to controlling airflow, is instead directed to protecting the body from an ancient enemy. Understanding how your body reacts to stress is integral to transforming the ancient neural vestiges we maintain, such as the fight-flight response to stress, into something that you can use to your adavantage. The key is in the concept of “no effort”. Restricting primary muscles, especially those used for respiration, has an enormous impact on the use of your voice because you tend to recruit secondary respiratory muscles to pick up the slack. These muscles, such as the sternocleidomastoid, are not meant for the fine control of vocalisation and can introduce tension within the vocal tract due to their proximity. To read more about the effects of breathing on the voice may I suggest you begin with, What Crocodiles and Humans Have in Common. If you tend to find that a locked belly is common for you, you may have to begin a process of exercises that enhance your proprioception, so that you can begin to let go of excessive, and unnecessary tension, in response to stress. Relaxing and releasing specific muscles can teach you the essence of “no effort” because it teaches you to understand, via proprioception, what muscles are required, and muscles that aren’t. Like learning the guitar, where every muscle is involved, you have to learn to use only what is necessary and if it means learning how to breathe effectively again, like an infant, then so be it, there is no shame in learning. Your body is trying to protect you from the tiger lurking behind the reeds, be patient. What Happens Now Practice. Record yourself and listen to yourself free of negative judgment but with honest critique and appraisal. If you find your voice lacks pitch and resonating variance, trying incorporating your body into the language. Jumping up or down, sitting and standing up, or running on the spot, will help to ignite, or rather, give you the gift of realizing your potential for colour within your voice. Become aware of the vowels within your speech, and try singing; you’ve nothing to lose and everything to gain. Get aware of your shit. You must take responsibility for how your body deals with stress, not just for the sake of your voice but for your own self-understanding. Because it is such a primal and visceral biological function it is paramount to understand what patterns you’ve developed to cope with it and with that knowledge you may begin to unpack the myriad of ways that it affects your voice. How Stress Affects Your Voice, is another good starting point for those seeking more information. If you have any questions please feel free to respond below.

https://oratorvoice.medium.com/2-habits-that-underrate-your-voices-influence-c7f1895c051c

['Andrei Schiller-Chan']

2020-06-11 19:36:27.012000+00:00

['Mental Health', 'Health', 'Self Improvement', 'Psychology', 'Science']

Food Cravings: Microscopic Puppetmasters Might Be Involved

Food Cravings: Microscopic Puppetmasters Might Be Involved 5 arguments that gut microbes can manipulate food choices. Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay Resisting food cravings can be a nightmare for some and a struggle for many. While the cause of food cravings itself is multifaceted — encompassing environmental, cultural, social, psychological, genetic, and behavioural (habits) factors — scientists have pondered on the microbial aspects as well. Given that the gut-brain axis is well established in modern biology, it’s quite imaginable for gut microbes to induce cravings in the brain. As Professor Carlo Maley, director of the Arizona Cancer and Evolution Center and the first president of the International Society for Evolution, Ecology and Cancer, wrote as a senior co-author in BioAssays: “Gut microbes may manipulate host eating behaviour in ways that promote their fitness at the expense of host fitness.” This idea first stems from a classic example that a microbe can directly manipulate host behaviour. The parasite Toxoplasma gondii enters the rodent’s brain, making it lost its sense of fear for cat’s urine. Instead, infected rodents became attracted to cat’s urine — “a propensity that promotes the transmission of T. gondii at the expense of the fitness of the rat,” they said. The same may apply to food cravings — that those gut microbes somehow convince the host at the subconscious level to prefer foods that contain specific nutrients that favour their growth. Gut microbes that love chocolates or sweets, for example, might motivate the host to eat them more often. “Like microscopic puppetmasters, microbes may control the eating behavior of hosts…,” they reckoned. To support their scientific viewpoint, Professor Maley and colleagues articulated 5 compelling evidence. 1. Taste Receptors Germ-free mice are bred in a sterile environment and, hence, they lack proper gut microbiota. Germ-free mice are one of the best research tools to understand the impact of gut microbiota on the host physiology. Studies have shown that germ-mice have an increased preference for fatty and sugary foods than normal mice with gut microbiota. And the germ-free mice have higher expression of receptors for fat and sugar in their mouth and intestines. This suggests that low gut microbial diversity, as reflected in germ-free mice, encourages food preferences for fats and sugars. 2. The Vagal Tone In 2008, researchers at Mayo Clinic, Minnesota have successfully applied vagal blockage (vBloc) therapy to treat obesity. Participants consumed 30% fewer calories as a result of quicker satiation and reduced hunger. The similar weight loss outcomes were replicated in 2016 and in 2017, with the latter study concluding that “vBloc therapy continues to result in medically meaningful weight loss with a favourable safety profile through 2 years.”The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has, in fact, already approved vBloc therapy for treating obesity in 2015. The vagus nerve is the main driver of the body’s rest-and-digest activities. It makes sense that an overactive vagus nerve would lead to excessive digestive activities and resulting hunger. Stimulating the vagus nerve with noradrenaline in mice made them desire more food despite already eating beyond the point of satiation; this did not occur if the vagus nerve was cut. Some gut microbes such as Bacillus and Escherichia species secrete noradrenaline. “Gut microbes that produce adrenergic neurochemicals may [therefore] contribute to overeating via mechanisms involving vagal nerve activity,” Professor Maley and his team wrote. 3. Appetite-Regulating Hormones Lower levels of satiety hormones (e.g., leptin and cholecystokinin) have been found in germ-free mice. Feeding mice with Lactobacillus probiotics, in turn, inhibited the release of hunger hormones (e.g., agouti-related protein and neuropeptide Y) in the brain. Certain gut bacteria can synthesize peptides that bear structural similarities to human appetite-regulating peptide hormones such as ghrelin and leptin. The structure of a protein is the chief determinant of which receptor(s) it binds to and consequently what effect(s) it exerts. Thus, these microbial peptides are ‘mimics’ to host’s appetite-regulating peptide hormones, in terms of structure and function. These microbial peptide mimics, however, are usually silenced by host enzymes — “a phenomenon that could have evolved as a mammalian counter-adaptation to microbial manipulation,” Professor Maley et al. said in a statement. But in case they were not silenced completely, “microbial manipulation” may be in effect. 4. Toxins Under conditions of nutrients imbalances, microbial communities normally at low levels might bloom. Excessive iron bioavailability in the gut, for instance, increases the populations of pathogenic Salmonella and Candida species that can release toxins and injure the gut. The resulting gut inflammation could induce a negative mood, leading to emotional eating, the researchers hypothesize. Otherwise, the gut bacterial toxins might also trigger the avoidance of specific foods via the activation of pain receptors present in the gut. 5. Dietary Preferences “Prevotella grows best on carbohydrates; dietary fibre provides a competitive advantage to Bifidobacteria, and Bacteroidetes has a substrate preference for certain fats,” Professor Maley et al. explained. Whereas Roseburia species thrive with polysaccharides or complex carbohydrates. Japanese natives have evolved a gut bacterium called Bacteroides plebeius that digests seaweed. These show that gut microbes have food preferences too. It won’t be a surprise if they have evolved mechanisms to improve their fitness (i.e., growth) by influencing the host dietary choices, for example. “Modern biology suggests that our bodies are composed of a diversity of organisms competing for nutritional resources,” the researchers wrote. Evolutionary competition between the host vs. gut microbes fitness may lead to “cognitive conflict” in food choices — i.e., food cravings. “Exerting self-control over eating choices may be partly a matter of suppressing microbial signals that originate in the gut,” Professor Maley and colleagues conclude. “Acquired tastes may [therefore] be due to the acquisition of microbes that benefit from those foods.”

https://medium.com/microbial-instincts/food-cravings-microscopic-puppetmasters-might-be-involved-cb82c67d50c1

['Shin Jie Yong']

2020-03-27 13:06:05.353000+00:00

['Mental Health', 'Food', 'Health', 'Psychology', 'Science']

AI Diagnoses Alzheimer’s With More Than 95% Accuracy

AI Diagnoses Alzheimer’s With More Than 95% Accuracy Alzheimer’s is the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. All the illustrations were edited by the author via Canva A little 30-second video. By Science for Real. Subscribe to my newsletter to receive articles about science, healthcare, technology, and happiness!

https://medium.com/technology-hits/ai-diagnoses-alzheimers-with-more-than-95-accuracy-1bb70a5f1f3e

['Eshan Samaranayake']

2020-12-17 12:06:48.677000+00:00

['Machine Learning', 'Health', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Neuroscience', 'Science']

A not entirely serious future history of neuroscience

A not entirely serious future history of neuroscience And it shall come to pass. Credit: Pixabay Author’s note: resting for a moment in a dark corner of the Society for Neuroscience conference’s poster hall, on the quiet solitude of the Wednesday afternoon in the History of Neuroscience aisle, a shambling figure, bent with age, appeared with a speed that belied his years. Suddenly lunging for me, he shoved a sheaf of papers into my hand, hissing in my ear “it gets worse — so much worse”. Startled, I glanced at the front page, and the date written at the top: 6th October 2106. “What is...” I began, but he’d already whirled away — “A warning!” he spat back over his shoulder. Then he stopped, growled “I hate this bit”, squeezed his conference badge — and vanished. What follows is the text I have been able to reconstruct from those crumpled, torn, faded pages. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2020: Disney Pixar release The NeuroPixels Movie. A heartwarming journey of courage, fortitude and high density CMOS fabrication, its a surprise hit. The voice of Matteo Carandini is played by Matteo Carandini. Thanks to the success of The NeuroPixels Movie, neuroscience toys are the number one bestsellers at Christmas. Backyard Brains are overwhelmed by orders for their worm electrophysiology kits, and open a factory in Iowa. In January, the global earthworm population falls by 0.1%. 2023: In a bid for scientific immortality on a par with his idol Ramon y Cajal, Rafael Yuste attempts to gene splice himself with Hydra, to literally make himself immortal. He disappears from public view. 2026: In a world first, Henry Markram wins the Nobel and IgNobel Prizes in the same year for the same piece of work. 2037: Janelia Farm announces its Drosophila model of schizophrenia. HHMI instructs it to diversify its range of species. 2040: DeepMind publish AlphaCluedo, released as AlphaClue in the North American market. Despite running on 100000 GPus, it still loses 0–50 to its human opponent. An investigation reveals the human opponent simply opened the envelope and read the answer. 2043: GCamp17 is released. The hardcore fan base reckon it a return to form for the series, after the aberration of the crossover release GCamp16-Jsn-Vrhees. Fans cue to buy the limited-edition PCamp purple version. Everyone else nods politely and carries on using the infrared voltage sensitive dyes perfected 10 years earlier. 2045: DeepMind publish AlphaMonopoly. It’s beaten 10–0 by a seven year old who hides extra five hundred bills under her bum. 2049: Janelia Farm announces its centipede model of Restless Leg Syndrome. HHMI shuts the institution, citing that it’s “just taking the piss now”. 2051: Whole brain recordings — every spike from every neuron — in a leech are used to train a 215 layer deep neural network. The resulting deep neural network perfectly predicts the out of sample behaviours of the leech, and their exact sequence. Nature publishes the subsequent Article “Perfect understanding of behaviour from neural activity”. No one is any the wiser. 2052: Some wag replicates the deep neural network prediction study using logistic regression. It’s published in PLoS Two. 2053, February 11th, 11:03AM GMT: Thirty years late and 100 billion euros over budget, the final Human Brain Project platform is released. The full Human Brain Interactive Simulation model (Project HuBrIS) is promised to be a full-scale model of a human brain able to communicate in natural language. Newspaper headlines claim the long foretold SuperIntelligence is now a reality. When switched on, HuBrIS complains that “my nose itches. And can you hear that noise? that noise like a thousand badgers singing Jerusalem? I think it’s Jerusalem — well that’s what the voices told me -” 2053, February 11th, 11:05AM GMT: HuBriS is switched off, and the field of AI Psychosis is born. 2070: The epic five volume “Understanding The Mind of The Worm” is released, with a foreword by Rafael Yuste. It details every facet of the genetics, molecular structure, anatomy and dynamics of the 302 neuron nervous system of nematode worm C Elegans, the culmination of decades of work. Turns out its mind makes it wiggle a bit and eat stuff. 2085: In order to assert the primacy of the AI Doctrine, Our Internet Overlords — Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft — decree that neurons are entirely linear devices, and dendrites just sum inputs (Chapter 12, verse 1 of the Book Of AI: And lo, active ion channels in dendrites exist solely to linearize their responses (owing to Mother Nature’s imperfections in making responses attenuate in passive cables)). Research into computations by dendrites is outlawed, and driven underground. 2090: The heretical Church of Rall is founded. To combat its rise, possession of Koch’s Biophysics of Computation is punishable by a 5 year prison sentence, or a 6 month internship at Uber. 2102: Bloomsbury publish Karl Friston’s posthumous book “See, I Told You I Knew How The Brain Worked”. It contains the decryption key for the cypher used to write his Free Energy series of papers. A team of cryptographers work for three years to decypher the texts. 2104: He was right. Neuroscience finishes.

https://medium.com/the-spike/a-not-entirely-serious-future-history-of-neuroscience-e5d92b85d470

['Mark Humphries']

2019-10-22 20:11:34.392000+00:00

['Neuroscience', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Psychology', 'Science', 'Machine Learning']

The 3 Best Ways to Respond to Negative Comments on Your Articles

The 3 Best Ways to Respond to Negative Comments on Your Articles We’re writers, not comedians — dealing with critics is difficult Photo by King Buwa on Unsplash That was the infamous response comedian and poet: John Cooper Clarke gave when being insulted by a member of a live studio audience. Sadly, us writers aren’t comedians. We can’t go around insulting every reader who disagrees with our work. Our aim on this platform is to gain our readers’ trust. We want to provide knowledgeable, accurate and accessible content that is backed up by academic, factual and historic sources. And that gives our work a sense of credibility that can only be earned with hours, weeks or months of research. But by insulting, or arguing with someone who disagrees with us, we are throwing away that trust. This is because insults are interpreted by psychologists as a defence mechanism bought on by fear. Someone disagreeing with your work is, in effect, questioning whether what you have spelled out is even accurate. And by insulting them, rather than pointing out their mistake — you are behaving as if you have something to hide. It’s like you know your content is inaccurate and you’re trying to deceive your audience. Of course, after hours of research, you don’t want to give off that impression. But you can’t just leave that negative comment unanswered, can you? If you do, readers who see a challenge to your work may also wonder about its truth. So how exactly should you deal with hecklers? Your response need not tip-toe around in the hopes of not offending your challenger. But it should be presented in such a way that re-establishes your credibility. And how exactly you do that will depend on the current position you find yourself in.

https://medium.com/better-marketing/the-3-best-ways-to-respond-to-negative-comments-on-your-articles-64f3dbbf7b8f

['Jon Hawkins']

2020-05-18 21:39:48.930000+00:00

['Writing', 'Productivity', 'Psychology', 'Marketing', 'Freelancing']

How to Escape a Writers Slump in The Easiest Way Possible

How to Escape a Writers Slump in The Easiest Way Possible A guide specially made for creators who are struggling to stay consistent Photo by Korhan Erdol from Pexels The right working environment can stimulate creativity and innovation. Colours, lighting, sounds and arrangement all influence how creative people are. — René de Ruijter My goal is to post one article every single day. Sure there are days when I can’t get anything onto the screen, but we all have those days — even the most consistent creators. Many catalysts decide whether or not you succeed or you struggle. Your environment, time on your hands, and your motivation. At the tippy-top of the list is your environment. If you can’t put yourself into an ideal creative environment, then you’re going to be stuck in the cycle of inefficiency. After reading this article, you’ll change your environment in a way that is optimal for you to create 100% more.

https://medium.com/long-term-perspective/disciplines-to-implement-into-your-life-if-youre-in-a-writing-slump-2591eac25b75

['Jordan Mendiola']

2020-11-24 16:33:56.500000+00:00

['Motivation', 'Inspiration', 'Productivity', 'Writing', 'Creativity']

How Antibiotics Could Alter the Child’s Mind and Body Development

How Antibiotics Could Alter the Child’s Mind and Body Development The lesser-known health risks of antibiotics in children. Image by rawpixel.com Although antibiotics use has decreased overall since the early 2000s, it is not the case for respiratory diseases. In the US, it is estimated that antibiotics were prescribed to one-fifth of children’s medical visits, of which 50% were broad-spectrum (usually macrolide), and over 70% were for respiratory diseases. Antibiotics only kill bacteria, not viruses. Yet both bacteria and viruses can cause respiratory illness. So, about 29% of antibiotics given for respiratory disease in children are unnecessary, which comprises over 10 million visits per year in the US. “Broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing in ambulatory paediatrics is extremely common and frequently inappropriate,” said a 2011 national study in the US. In 2016, the CDC reports that one in three antibiotics were given needlessly. Unnecessary antibiotics are not only improper in the context of superbugs pandemics but come with health risks as well, especially in children. The gut microbiota is undergoing rapid changes in infancy and childhood. Antibiotics, especially broad-spectrum ones, tend to wipe out beneficial gut microbes. Not to mention that children’s brain and physique are also experiencing sensitive growth phases. Antibiotics and Weight Gain In a 2019 study of 586 children, 33.79% received 1–2 courses, and 5.63% received >3 courses of antibiotics within the first year of life. When these children turned six years old, those that took antibiotics had a dose-dependent increase in both excess weight and risk of future obesity. Results remained significant after adjusting for maternal age, BMI, race, marital status, income, education, smoking, diabetes, and breastfeeding. Statistically speaking, children that took 1–2 and >3 courses of antibiotics had a 0.17 and 0.42 increase in BMI z-score, respectively. (The WHO classifies BMI z-score of < −2.0, > 1.0, > 2.0, and > 3.0 as wasted, at-risk-for-overweight, overweight, and obese, respectively, in children of 0–5 years old. Scientists use this BMI z-score method to standardized weight in light of the child’s increasing height.) Weight gain is particularly prominent with broad-spectrum antibiotics like cephalosporins and macrolides. Narrow-spectrum antibiotics, in contrast, had little-to-no impact on weight gain unless taken for 5–7 courses. In a 2015 Finland study of 12,062 children under two years old, those exposed to 2–3 and >4 courses of antibiotics had a 0.10 and 0.18 higher BMI z-score, respectively, than those never exposed. And this number is 0.23 and 0.28 — indicating overweight to near obesity — in girls and boys, respectively, under six months old that took macrolide, a common broad-spectrum antibiotic. Other massive cohort studies in the US — in 2014 (65,480 children), 2015 (163,820 children), and 2017 (8,793 children) — all found a dose-response effect of antibiotics on weight gain. All results were also adjusted for possible confounding factors. The weight gain is particularly prominent with broad-spectrum antibiotics like cephalosporins and macrolides. Narrow-spectrum antibiotics, in contrast, had little-to-no impact on weight gain unless taken for 5–7 courses. Boys appear to be more susceptible to weight gain from antibiotics than girls. As the Finland study and other research have noticed, boys appear to be more susceptible to weight gain from antibiotics than girls. A Canadian study in 2014 of 616 children reported that antibiotics exposure in the first year of life presented a five-fold increased odds of being overweight at 12 years old in boys but not girls. In another 2014 study involving 74,946 children from 18 countries, early antibiotics exposure was an independent risk factor for future weight gain in boys only. Even in chickens and older adults, males tended to gain more weight from antibiotics exposure compared to females. While reasons are still uncertain, scientists of the 2014 multinational study speculated that: “Our finding of the BMI-promoting effects of antibiotics being confined to boys might be explained by sex-specific differences in intestinal adaptation to early-life antibiotic exposure or to how antibiotic drugs are metabolised.” Antibiotics and Neurodevelopment In was first shown in a 2017 study that early life antibiotics exposure may pose unfavourable neurodevelopment consequences. In New Zealand, researchers followed 871 children from birth. They learned that those with antibiotics use within the first year of life had an elevated risk of behavioural issues and symptoms of depression and ADHD at 3.5 and 11 years of age. These did not happen in children that never took or took antibiotics after age one. The earlier the antibiotics intake, the worse the neurodevelopmental outcomes. Later in a 2019 study, the same research team in New Zealand sought to see if their 2017 results could be replicated with another cohort of 473 children. After adjusting for confounders, children that took antibiotics within the first two years of life had lower IQ and verbal comprehension at 11 years old. The earlier the antibiotics intake, the worse the neurodevelopmental outcomes as well. Children under six months old that took antibiotics had more problems with cognition, impulsivity, working memory, ADHD, and anxiety at 11 years old than children unexposed or exposed to antibiotics at later ages. Lastly, a nationwide Finland study in 2019 tracked 990,098 births over time. Antibiotics exposure, especially broad-spectrum ones, within the first two years of life lead to a 12–53% increased risk of “childhood development of sleep disorders, ADHD, conduct disorder, mood and anxiety disorders, and other behavioural and emotional disorders,” the academics concluded. “Given the high occurrence of early-life antibiotic exposure, and the substantial prevalence of childhood- and adolescent-onset psychopathology, modest associations among these phenomena are of public health relevance.” Infant gut microbiota disturbance might underlie the detrimental effects of antibiotics on neurodevelopment. While these studies did not analyse the gut microbiota, they posited that infant gut microbiota disturbance might underlie the detrimental effects of antibiotics on neurodevelopment. One research in 2018 has shown, for the first time, that infant gut microbiota profile was associated with future cognitive outcomes in children. More robust evidence of causation can be derived from animal experimentations. Studies in 2016 and 2020 by two independent research groups presented strikingly similar results: Antibiotics disrupted the gut microbiota and memory of mice, which was followed by abnormalities in brain biochemistry related to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and socioemotional neuropeptide systems. Short Abstract One in three antibiotic prescriptions (including in children) is not justified. Not only they hasten superbugs pandemics but pose health consequences too. Antibiotics exposure in early life (1–2 years old) is an independent risk factor for future weight gain and poor neurodevelopmental outcomes, probably as a result of gut microbiota disruption. These effects are stronger with broad-spectrum antibiotics. And boys appeared to be more susceptible than girls to antibiotics-induced weight gain. So, it is best to avoid antibiotics when it is not mandatory. Lastly, an article in JAMA Pediatrics by Professor Megan Moreno, MD, is useful in helping a parent decide “When Your Child Does Not Need Antibiotics.” Source: JAMA Pediatrics Patient Page, 2013. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2013.3274 This article is inspired by Mad Mockingbird.

https://medium.com/microbial-instincts/how-antibiotics-alter-the-childs-mind-and-body-development-5e2734f301b4

['Shin Jie Yong']

2020-08-06 07:49:46.127000+00:00

['Mental Health', 'Health', 'Life', 'Psychology', 'Science']

2019: a lightly bamboozled review of the year in neuroscience

1. “What’s so special about being human?” Yes, it’s Jose Mourinho. If I had to explain, it wouldn’t be funny. What’s so special about the human brain? A question broad and deep, one that has obsessed thinkers since Antiquity. Our once god-like status, apart and above from all animals, now steadily eroded by science, from natural selection placing us as but one species evolved from and in parallel to many others, to genetics putting the boot in by showing that we share 90 percent of our DNA with cats. Including my cat Bob, and he constantly falls off the back of the sofa. You’d have thought neuroscience would have been all over the question of what’s special about the human brain, what with it being the study of the brain and all. But what we could do has been very limited. Largely we have only been able to observe behaviour, stuff we can do that other species cannot: talking endlessly in complex grammars, voting for bell-ends, that sort of thing. And supplement these observations with crude measures of the brain’s structure — how many neurons it has, which bits are thicker or larger than others, which bits are folded — compare them to other species, and going “ooo look it’s different”. But to understand why the human brain is “special” we need some kind of theory as to why any of those crude brain differences would make any contribution to that specialness. For a start, to know what’s different about the neurons themselves: what’s different about the types of neurons that exist, or the signals they send, or both. Which is the preserve of us “systems” neuroscientists. Yet systems neuroscience hasn’t had much to say about this question, because of the deep problems of measuring neurons in humans. Until, that is, this year. A. Special codes In a brave paper, Pryluk and colleagues attempted a direct comparison of how the code used by neurons differed between humans and monkeys. They took long recordings of single neurons from the amygdala and cingulate cortex of monkeys. And compared them to similar recordings from the same regions in humans. These human recordings are ultra-rare: they came from patients with epilepsy that was both so serious and so unresponsive to drugs that they were being prepped for surgery to remove the part of the brain causing the seizures — and to find that part, they had electrodes implanted for a week or more. And while these electrodes were in there, and while laying in their hospital bed, the patients graciously agreed to do a series of tasks for the experimenters. With these precious data to hand, Pryluk and friends asked a straightforward question: how much information are these neurons sending? In practice, this was a tough question to ask, as there are all sorts of things to compensate for, like correcting for differing firing rates across neurons and between species. But if we believe their measurement of how much information a neuron sends, their end result is clear. Human neurons in both the amygdala and cingulate cortex send more information — in that they are closer to the maximum possible rate of information sending — and do so more efficiently : they send fewer spikes for the same amount of information. Which means? Who knows. But their results point to human cortex having an increased capacity, so that much more information can be represented across a population of neurons, but at the cost of less robust coding — if fewer spikes are used, so the message being transmitted is more sensitive to failure and noise. And as know, the human brain is very sensitive to failure. B. Special neurons? While the Pryluk paper hinted at something special about how the human cortex encodes information, it didn’t tell us anything about whether this is because the types of neurons are special to humans. We get much of our deep understanding of types of neurons from mice, thanks to their being the workhorse of genetics (a good thing that the actual workhorse is not the workhorse of genetics, otherwise Janelia Farm would be, literally, a farm. And about 10000 square miles in size). Hence “what’s so special about the human brain?” translates in genetics to: how do we differ from mice? A Nature paper from the Allen Brain Institute tackled this question head-on by directly comparing the gene expression between the cortex of the human and mouse. To do that, they first had to solve the small problem of accurately sequencing the RNA-expression of single neurons in the human cortex. Having cracked that, they then grouped all their neurons into types according to the similarity of their expressed genes. The result? 69 different types of neurons in the human cortex, of which 24 are excitatory (as in, they expressed glutamate) and 45 are inhibitory. So which of these 69 types of neuron are unique, are responsible for endowing we humans with our special brain thinking stuff? None. All 69 are also closely matched in the mouse cortex. The major difference is not the type of neuron, but where they are found. In mice, all 24 types of excitatory cell stick to one particular layer of the cortex. In humans, many of those same excitatory types appear in more than one layer of the cortex. And why would this make the human cortex special? Who knows. Yet their results are strong confirmation of what we all know: evolution is a tinkerer. We may have diverged from rodents about 90 million years ago, but in something as complex as the mammalian brain, in which genes define merely an outline of the details of the adult brain, big changes will almost always be catastrophic. So the main difference between the neurons in the mouse and human cortex is not in the proliferation of brand new types of neurons, but in the repurposing of what is already to hand. Oh, and the fact that mice have about 10 millions neurons in their cortex, and we have about 17 billion. C. Dendrites predict intelligence? We like to think humans are the most intelligent species on the planet, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. A provocative paper at the very end of 2018 asked what it is about our neurons that makes us intelligent. And the answer is: the more complex the dendrites of pyramidal neurons in our cortex, the higher our IQ. Wow! Well, maybe. Such unusual claims deserve close scrutiny. After all, extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence. As we have no theory which predicts that more complex dendrites have anything to do with intelligence, so we need some pretty compelling evidence to believe this is not just happenstance correlation. The researchers obtained another rare sample of human cortical neurons: in this case, from bits of the temporal lobe removed during brain surgery, placed on ice, then popped into the experimental set-up as soon as practically possible while the neurons still lived. They took a range of measurements from the neurons. Each patient took an IQ test. And the researchers correlated some of the measurements with the IQ scores. Why these measurements? No reasons given — so already alarm bells are sounding about what other measurements were correlated with IQ, found to be lacking, and omitted from the paper. Is the evidence compelling? No. The key evidence is the correlation between the total length of the dendrites and the IQ of the patient. Namely, this figure: From Goriounova et al (2018). Each symbol is the average over the neurons in one subject; error bars are one standard deviation. The correlation (r value), regression (black line), and confidence interval of regression (blue shading) all appear to be taken from the symbols — i.e. the average scores. Leaving aside the fact that this is the best correlation they have, and it is still weak (explaining 26% of the variance), take a closer look. Each data-point is a patient, so the value for the length of the dendrites is an average over the measured neurons in that patient. Now you don’t have to be a neuroanatomy geek to know that pyramidal neurons come in a bewildering variety of shapes and sizes, so averaging over them is a bit…. Well, charitably we’d call it weird. More bluntly, meaningless. And I’ve just told you that human cortex contains about 24 types of excitatory neuron, and most of those are some kind of pyramidal neuron. This correlation contains just 72 pyramidal neurons in total. So it hideously undersamples the diversity of pyramidal neuron dendrites in human cortex. Worse, the above figure and others in the paper are textbook examples of how not to compute a correlation. The correlations are computed using averages — without taking into account how wrong those averages might be. And they could be so wrong that the correlation disappears completely. Indeed, looking at the range of data variation (the error bars) in the above figure, I’d wager the correlation would indeed disappear if tested properly (more on this in the Appendix below). Finally, a simple thought experiment. These neurons happen to come from the temporal lobe of the cortex, a region plausibly involved in some kind of “thinking” that might contribute to an IQ score. But that was just because these patients had epilepsy, and the temporal lobe usually contains the region that starts epileptic brain activity. But what if these samples had been from primary visual cortex (V1)? They’d find the same diversity of sizes of pyramidal neuron dendrites, because types of pyramidal neuron are largely consistent across the cortex. But if they’d reported a correlation between the size of dendrites in V1 and a person’s IQ score, who would have taken them seriously?

https://medium.com/the-spike/2019-a-lightly-bamboozled-review-of-the-year-in-neuroscience-5466e7525f1a

['Mark Humphries']

2020-01-19 11:07:05.362000+00:00

['Neuroscience', 'Science', 'Psychology', 'Artificial Intelligence']

Your Thoughts Are Not Original

Whenever I have a self-proclaimed epiphany about what topic to write about next, it’s usually short-lived. More often than not, I will encounter articles that cover similar, if not the exact, same topic or spread the same message. To make matters worse, the pieces are far more eloquently written and contain much better examples and quotes. As an aspiring writer, it’s a little disheartening and demotivating. After all, writing interesting articles is a competitive landscape as it is. Why would a reader choose your piece over a much more accomplished author? This thought process is a battle against yourself more than anything else. And the more time you spend fussing about it, the higher the likelihood you will find a reason not to publish or bail on an idea. To stop doubting the value or quality of your piece, it’s worth exploring where this feeling originates. I’ve come across a few concepts that explain the psychological process that could cause this doubt, namely the Frequency Illusion and Collective Consciousness. Frequency Illusion As the premise of this article suggests, this concept has already been studied at length and has been coined the Frequency Illusion by Stanford linguistics professor Arnold Zwicky and is more commonly known as the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon. The Frequency Illusion is a result of two well-known psychological processes, selective attention (noticing things that are salient to us, disregarding the rest) and confirmation bias (looking for things that support our hypotheses, disregarding potential counterevidence) As I’m not too familiar with psychological processes, the quote above didn’t tell me that much. So I dug a little deeper into the components that comprise the frequency illusion. Photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash Selective Attention Attention refers to how we actively process information in our environment. It’s not only about applying focus on a specific task but also involves ignoring other information and stimuli. Attention is a limited resource; therefore, we have to be selective about what to focus on. This explains how we sometimes miss other things that are right in front of us. It wasn’t relevant enough at the time. The other way around it explains how we suddenly see the same type of vehicle appear everywhere when we’ve just taken a test drive, or that more women seem to be pregnant now that you’ve been thinking about starting a family. In that sense, it highlights those events that are on top of your mind. Confirmation bias The second component is what is called Confirmation Bias. This concept influences how we interpret and recall information. We are more inclined to gather evidence that supports and emphasizes our beliefs and to dismiss or fail to seek contradictory evidence. Now confirmation bias is in itself an interesting to dive into as it plays a role in a variety of highly debated topics ranging from scientific studies to politics, finance, health, religion, etc. For the sake of this article, I will refrain from elaborating too much and revert to the scope. The point is that as you are writing about a particular topic, you will be more inclined to emphasize aspects that are aligned with the point you’re trying to make. Collective Consciousness Apart from the Frequency Illusion, originality is further influenced by what is called Collective Consciousness. This concept, developed by the French sociologist Émile Durkheim refers to the common set of beliefs, ideas, attitudes, and knowledge within a group or society. Durkheim concluded that society exists because unique individuals feel a sense of solidarity with each other. The collective consciousness informs our sense of belonging, identity, and behavior. Within a group, people are bound to come up with similar thought processes as it reaffirms their sense of belonging. That is why you will find a lot of agreeable opinions, open doors, and repetition to stay in line with the homogeneous character of the group. So what’s the point? If it’s all been thought out before and we’re so biased based on our attention span and our position in society, why bother stressing about originality? Well, you probably shouldn’t. Even though an idea is far more likely to have been thought out before deriving your own opinions and conclusions from, it is a worthwhile exercise. That’s the part where you gain understanding and learn about how to apply the learnings to benefit yourself and others. To paraphrase what the author Mark Manson wrote in his most recent book “Everything is f*cked” and that I find particularly applicable here is: “Values cannot be changed with reason, only through experience” Piling on more information will not aid in standing out; sharing your experiences is the added value. Knowledge in itself is useless if you don’t know how to apply it.

https://medium.com/swlh/your-thoughts-are-not-original-6364ba8832e4

['Berend Van Daalen']

2020-01-13 22:15:43.633000+00:00

['Self-awareness', 'Creativity', 'Psychology', 'Writing', 'Self Improvement']

How a 77-Year-Old Theory Can Help You Write Wonderful Headlines

How a 77-Year-Old Theory Can Help You Write Wonderful Headlines Look to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to understand and uplift your readers during COVID — and beyond Illustration by Cynthia Marinakos. He had a dream. A vision. A vision of a peace table where people would sit around discussing the important things in life — human nature, hatred, war, peace, and brotherhood. Just after Pearl Harbour, this man drove home in his car, stopped to let through a “poor, pathetic parade.” Tears ran down his face as he watched. He was overwhelmed with sadness that “we didn’t understand — not Hitler, nor the Germans, nor Stalin, nor the communists. We didn’t understand any of them.” And this man believed this lack of understanding was holding back progress. “It was at that moment that I realized that the rest of my life must be devoted to discovering a psychology for the peace table. That moment changed my whole life.” This was the drive behind Abraham Maslow’s famous hierarchy of needs, as told by Hoffman in The right to be human: A biography of Abraham Maslow (1999, 2nd edition). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was first introduced in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” in Psychological Review. It has been used widely in many different fields, particularly in management, to understand human motivation and happiness. What made Maslow’s studies different from other psychologists during his time was his focus on happiness and health — rather than human weakness. He believed when basic needs are met, the deeper desires of creativity and fulfilling our potential can be addressed. How is this helpful when writing content — and headlines? Firstly, we can better capture our reader’s attention with content that addresses their deep needs. Secondly, when we believe our reader is capable of achieving their best self, we help our readers believe that too. Today we’ll look at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and learn how we can bond more deeply with our readers by fulfilling one or more of these needs in our content and headline writing.

https://medium.com/better-marketing/how-a-77-year-old-theory-can-help-you-write-wonderful-headlines-c5c818600132

['Cynthia Marinakos']

2020-05-05 16:19:44.780000+00:00

['Headline Hacks', 'Writing', 'Psychology', 'Creativity', 'Productivity']

Exploring Your Mobile App Business Idea

An actionable post to get going with your mobile app idea In this post, I give you actionable advice on what to think about and consider before you start building your mobile app business idea. As a web- and mobile developer with over 16 years of experience on his belt, I’ve learned what needs consideration before you start your mobile adventure, both for business supporting apps and stand-alone mobile app services. Every assumption that you’re starting your mobile app product on is false until proven valid Your Assumptions Are Wrong In an era where building Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), and pivoting ideas as taught by The Lean Startup and agile processes are king, assuming you just need to build your mobile app and turning it into a success is proven to have a 99% chance of failing. Every assumption that you’re starting your mobile app product on is false until proven valid. This is a law that applies universally. I’m not saying you’re always in the wrong ball-park. But it is unlikely that you are spot on in one stroke, and you should always assume that you are working on wrong assumptions. Your assumptions could be a little off and just need a little tweaking to work for your idea, or they can be wrong entirely. As an entrepreneur or maker, it is your job to find out what assumptions are right and wrong, and how to improve them or find the right ones for your product. Here are some ways that can help you to minimize the error in your assumptions: Scratch your itch: work on an idea for a solution that you need for yourself or to solve a problem that you’re experiencing yourself. That way, you can validate if it works for you. You’ll need to find out if there are enough of other people that have the same problem to see if this is going to be viable Idea pivoting: create the simplest form of your idea that helps you to demonstrate your solution to others. This could be as simple as creating an Excel sheet, a clickable wireframe, mockups, or non-coding examples. If you’re a quick developer a simple duct tape proof of concept using your developer stack could do as well. Just invest the least amount of effort that is needed to enable the demonstration of your idea Landing pages: you can pivot your idea on a simple website to show how and what value it provides (and for whom) to see if it gets tractions before you build anything. There are awesome books available that can help to provide you with the right mindset and information to find out if your idea is viable. Coming from a technical background, the following books helped me to shape my mindset for sure: 🔑 Take-aways:

https://medium.com/shipharder/exploring-your-mobile-app-business-idea-b05a7834257c

['Edwin Klesman']

2020-06-16 13:25:54.881000+00:00

['Mobile App Development', 'Product Development', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Startup', 'Development']

How To Make Your Writing More Engaging

A few months ago, I wrote a review of award-winning editor Jack Hart’s book Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction. (That’s my Amazon affiliate link above — I’ll make a small comission if you buy a copy at no extra cost to you. Thanks!) Storycraft is one of my favorite books on the craft of writing (I share several of my other favorite books in my article here). Even though Hart aimed his book at writers of nonfiction, I believe there is much that writers of fiction can glean from its pages too. In fact, there’s one chapter in particular that’s a goldmine of editing tips for any kind of writing. Recently, I collected my top takeaways from the chapter and arranged them as an editing checklist for myself when I work on blog posts, essays, and short stories. I’ve found these tips incredibly helpful so, today, I wanted to share seven of them with you! These powerful editing tips will help you breathe life into your writing, turn plodding sentences and paragraphs into fast-paced narratives, and capture the attention of your readers. Let’s dive in. 1. Get Moving in Your Introduction Hart emphasizes the importance of getting moving right out of the block. Make sure your opening paragraphs aren’t dry and filled with exposition. Instead, they should include a sentence or two that catches your reader’s interest and entices them to read more. Hook your readers with action, curiosity, or intrigue. The hook might be the very first sentence in your piece — a real attention grabber like the opening line of George Orwell’s 1984, “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” In my recent memoir essay “Expecting the Unexpected in New York City”, I followed that approach, opening with this sentence, “During the two-and-a-half years that I went to college in New York City, I witnessed a crime only once.” However, you can also bury the hook several paragraphs into your piece as I did in my essay “The Hidden Treasure Beneath My Library”, and as Joan Didion did in her essay “Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream” when she writes, after three paragraphs, “Imagine Banyan Street first, because Banyan is where it happened.” Even if the hook appears several paragraphs into your story or essay, make sure those preceding paragraphs are fast moving. They might even hint that a twist or something else unexpected is coming. And that leads into tip #2. 2. Push Scenes Forward with Continuous Motion Scenes should not be stagnant. At the end of a scene, the action should move forward. The characters shouldn’t be glued to their chairs and talking to each other like robots. That will bore our readers to tears! If you have scenes with dialogue, include descriptions of what the characters are doing while they’re talking. Often, this is more effective at revealing what they’re feeling then if you used words like “angrily.” For example, compare these two sentences: “I’m not talking about this,” he said angrily. “I’m not talking about this,” he said and slammed the door behind him. When you’re editing your piece, look to see if you’ve included motion to push scenes forward. If you’re writing an informative blog post, this might mean including a story to illustrate a point. 3. Use the Language of Action Are your action scenes as powerful as they could be? Hart points out that the most powerful action words describe causality. For example, let’s say you’re describing a woman driving a car. She tries to swerve out of the way of something in the road. You could write, “The car jerked to the left.” But Hart suggests that it would be more gripping to write, “She jerked the wheel to the left”. It puts us closer to where the action is happening. 4. Write in the Active Voice With tip #3 in mind, when you edit your piece, make sure you’ve written your sentences in the active voice and not the passive. If your high school grammar is a little rusty, you can read a quick review of passive sentences here. Essentially, in a passive sentence, the subject receives the action rather than performing it. For example, politicians and business executives like to use the passive voice when they want to avoid claiming responsibility for a mistake. They might write, “Mistakes were made.” It’s a neat little trick because this sentence avoids taking responsibility by failing to tell us who made the mistakes. Note that you can’t fix a passive sentence by tacking the subject onto the end. “Mistakes were made by all of us” is still passive. So how to fix it? Just write, “We all made mistakes.” Now the sentence is active. 5. Eliminate Unnecessary Words In his book On Writing Well, William Zinsser notes, …The secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that’s already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what–these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence. Hart agrees and recommends eliminating the following unnecessary words in order to write strong sentences: 1. Progressive tense and auxiliary verbs. Write “The wind blows” or “The wind blew” instead of “the wind is blowing” or “the wind had blown.” 2. Empty Words. For example, eliminate “There are”, “There is”, “There was”, “It is”, “It was”. I shared more about empty words in my article here. 3. Beginning of an action. For example, don’t say “He began to race around the room.” Just write, “He raced around the room.” 6. Use Time Markers and Straight Chronology Sometimes when you’re writing a narrative, it’s necessary to skip forward or backward in time. However, if you do, be sure you use clear time markers so your readers don’t get confused. If your reader has to stop to try to figure out when something is happening, it will definitely slow down the pace of your narrative. A time marker just means that you write a line explaining when the next scene is going to take place. For example, “None of this would have happened if I hadn’t received that call two days earlier…” or “Fast forward three weeks later.” Hart points out that sometimes your time markers can be more subtle, “You might simply note the fall colors on the trees when you open a new scene that jumps ahead from summer to autumn. Or you could slip in the height of the sun in the sky when a character walks out of a building.” He also believes straight chronology is the easiest for readers to follow, so evaluate your piece to see if a flashback really is necessary. Sometimes I’ll rearrange paragraphs in my piece because I realize that jumping backward and then forward in time might be confusing to my readers. 7. Speed up, then Slow Down Speed up during the boring parts. Slow down during the climatic scenes. How do you speed up? Wherever you have lots of exposition, make sure you’re only communicating what’s absolutely necessary for your readers to know. I’ll ask myself, “Is this paragraph of description necessary? Is this back-story necessary?” When you reach a climatic moment in your piece, however, you’ll want to slow down the pace of your writing to keep your readers in suspense. It will give the writing a breathless quality. Hart quotes Pulitzer-Prize winner Tom French, “The reason you slow down is so that the reader can really feel and process and really enter that scene…And how do you slow down?…You allow more space on the page. You allow more sentences. You literally write in shorter sentences. You get more paragraph breaks. You use space. You find pauses inside the scene that occur naturally that you would normally skip over.” I wrote more about varying sentence structure in my article below: The Takeaway These seven editing tips are simple and straightforward. You can start using them right away to make your writing more engaging and fast-paced. By following these tips, you’ll better hold the attention of your readers and, thus, be more effective at sharing your message with the world. If you’re looking to strengthen your writing and storytelling skills, I definitely recommend getting a copy of Hart’s book. It’s an in-depth read with lots of fantastic actionable advice.

https://medium.com/copywriting-secrets/how-to-make-your-writing-more-engaging-6cb76bc0be01

['Nicole Bianchi']

2020-05-23 17:44:24.039000+00:00

['Productivity', 'Creativity', 'Writing', 'Fiction', 'Books']

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

How Much Sleep Do You Need? There are links between excessive sleep and cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes. All the illustrations were edited by the author via Canva Subscribe to my newsletter to receive articles about science, healthcare, technology, and happiness!

https://medium.com/afwp/how-much-sleep-do-you-need-55caf8a73128

['Eshan Samaranayake']

2020-12-28 15:32:35.463000+00:00

['Health', 'Neuroscience', 'Mental Health', 'Sleep', 'Science']

Mind Management, Not Time Management now available for pre-order

After many years of work, I finally got my first copies of Mind Management, Not Time Management! The Kindle edition is now available for pre-order. You’ve done everything you can to save time. Every productivity tip, every “life hack,” every time management technique. But the more time you save, the less time you have. The more overwhelmed, stressed, exhausted you feel. “Time management” is squeezing blood from a stone. Instead of struggling to get more out of your time, Mind Management, Not Time Management will arm you with the tools to start effortlessly getting more out of your mind—especially when creativity matters. Quit your daily routine. Use the hidden patterns all around you as launchpads to skyrocket your productivity. Use the hidden patterns all around you as launchpads to skyrocket your productivity. Do in only five minutes what used to take all day. Let your “passive genius” do your best thinking when you’re not even thinking. Let your “passive genius” do your best thinking when you’re not even thinking. “Writer’s block” is a myth. Learn a timeless lesson from the 19th century’s most underrated scientist. Learn a timeless lesson from the 19th century’s most underrated scientist. Wield all of the power of technology, with none of the distractions. An obscure but inexpensive gadget may be the shortcut to your superpowers. An obscure but inexpensive gadget may be the shortcut to your superpowers. Keep going, even when chaos strikes.Tap into the unexpected to find your next Big Idea. Mind Management, Not Time Management isn’t your typical productivity book. It’s a gripping page-turner chronicling my global search for the keys to unlock the future of productivity. I’m working hard putting the finishing touches on this, and I’m very excited to bring it into the world. Please pre-order it on Amazon.

https://medium.com/getting-art-done/mind-management-not-time-management-now-available-for-pre-order-1b2dcbb5b9d6

['David Kadavy']

2020-08-26 20:48:46.134000+00:00

['Books', 'Productivity', 'Writing', 'Creativity', 'Time Management']

Predicting The Protein Structures Using AI

Proteins are found essentially in all organisms, and they are basically a sequence of amino acids that are arranged in a particular structure. For many decades, scientists have been able to accurately compute the sequence of amino acids, but however, accurately predicting the structure of the protein has always been a challenging task. If we are able to decode the sequence of the amino acids in the protein structure and accurately determine the structure of the protein, then it will serve a number of functions. Accurate prediction of protein structure will be very helpful in understanding the biological evolution of that particular protein and it will also help us understand the kind of diseases it can cause and the kind of defense it can provide against other diseases. Essentially, accurate prediction of the structure of the protein is the key to understand the function of proteins and cells and as well as to understand how they can malfunction and cause diseases and this understanding could also be very helpful in the development of treatment and vaccines. Now, if you look at the SARS-CoV-2, it is the spike protein structure of the Virus that latches onto the AS2 receptor in our cells, thereby leading to the occurrence of the infection. We have been able to develop this understanding quite quickly, mainly because of the progress that we have made with regard to our understanding and prediction of protein structures. First Discovery See, this field began evolving many decades ago, and back in 1972, a scientist known as Christian B. Anfinsen predicted that by accurately computing the sequence of amino acids, we will be able to deduce the protein structure. So this discovery won him the Nobel Prize for chemistry and it laid the foundation for analysis and prediction of protein structures. X-ray Crystallography Then nearly 60 years ago a scientist known as Max Perutz started to predict protein structures by using experiments. He made use of X-ray crystallography to determine the exact structure of myoglobin and hemoglobin and it was this discovery that helped us understand the true function of hemoglobin in the blood, which is to transport oxygen from the lungs to the tissues and cells. This understanding of the structure of myoglobin and hemoglobin also helped us understand how a change in a single amino acid can cause diseases such as sickle cell anemia. Genome Sequencing Today, decoding the sequence of amino acids and accurately completing the sequence has become more advanced, thanks to the progress achieved in genome sequencing. Because at the end of the day, the protein structures in the amino acids are essentially a part of the genome itself and the rapid advances we have made in genome sequencing have helped us to easily compute the sequence of amino acids. But however, when it comes to creating a 3D structure of the protein, these experimental techniques such as X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance, etc., can be quite ineffective and they’re also very time consuming and expensive. India’s Contribution When it comes to the field of protein structural work. Even India is a leading country because an Indian scientist known as GN Ramachandran developed the Ramachandran plot, which today has become the model for scientists around the world to understand the structure of proteins. CASP Technique Then in 1994, a scientist known as John Moult came up with the CASP technique, which stands for Critical Assessment for Protein Structure Prediction, and this is provided for a comparative model through which protein structures can be predicted. Specialty Of AI But however, predicting protein structures is a very complex and challenging exercise, especially when you’re relying upon traditional experimental techniques such as X-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance. This is where the emergence of artificial intelligence has caused a major disruption in the field of protein structure prediction. In 2018, a company known as Deep Mind made use of artificial intelligence and deep learning to come out with a predictive algorithm, which today has emerged as a breakthrough technology that can accurately predict protein structure. Conclusion These advances made in the production of protein structure with the usage of artificial intelligence and deep learning algorithms have transformed our understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 and it has definitely enabled the accelerated development of vaccines. Gain Access to Expert View — Subscribe to DDI Intel

https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/predicting-the-protein-structures-using-ai-54618460131b

['Vishnu Aravindhan']

2020-12-26 08:46:36.656000+00:00

['AI', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Health', 'Protein', 'Science']

NEXT 2018 — Google crossing the cloud chasm?

Last week I had a great time at NEXT in San Francisco where Google audaciously, in front of 25,000 people outlined where it is heading with Google Cloud. Below is my synthesis on the vast amount of material that was conveyed. Only 5–10% of payloads that will end up on public cloud, have been migrated It was highlighted a couple of times that only a fraction of possible payloads are on public cloud. My inner history nerd took note, having long been a fan of Geoffrey Moore’s seminal book, “Crossing the Chasm” and it’s technology adoption curve. It is universally acknowledged that in regards to public cloud, Amazon won the early phases. Google and others are working hard to compete, but the stat outlines the main prize is still up for grabs. What I witnessed at NEXT, was Dianne Greene and her team’s play on how they are working to cross the chasm, to win the early majority phase. Something Dianne and many of her team achieved at VMWare and virtualisation. Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Google’s play on AI was threaded through the whole week. The message has evolved to be a little more tempered and nuanced. Companies who harness AI will be enhancing experiences rather than taking over the world with Daleks or drones. Conversational AI in the call centre looks imminent. Dialogflow had a phone gateway and sentiment features added. For companies willing to invest, the opportunity to have a cost effective, but yet engaging “AI enabled” triage process on the phone, or in online chat for better customer engagement outcomes can start to be achieved. I have led a number of Cloud Vision API projects in the past 6 months. AutoML Vision will add a bump to accuracy over the generic vision models without the need for a team of data engineers and data scientists to manage a neural net pipeline. AutoML will be comparatively easy to use for those who understand stats and and can use an API. Deploying the new mobile Edge TPU processors with TensorFlow Lite gives a path to embedding ML algorithms at remote sides with hardware acceleration to provide real time feedback. Useful for miners, manufacturing plants and the like. I expect the initial use cases to be initially deployed on stock Android devices running TensorFlow Lite without the hardware acceleration. I participated in a Business Transformation workshop where we worked up and pitched ideas on how to expand the impact of Wildbook, which is crowd sourcing video and camera phone images to help track individual animals via their markings. This collectively enables the mapping of endangered species and their human interaction. Their solution uses a combination of GCP Cloud ML APIs and custom Tensorflow models. All open sourced and available for budding data scientists to look at. From Data to Insights Google’s advantage in data tooling is being pressed home. BigQuery just keeps getting better and better with announcement at NEXT in regards to Machine Learning and Geolocation. Tino Tereshko the BigQuery Product Manager, graciously provided some time with Graham Polley and myself on Friday after the conference, my takeaway — the BQ roadmap has a mix of continuous improvement and cool shiny new things. It is only going to get more powerful, more capable, while still being easy to use. BigQuery as a Marketing Data platform also emerged through a number of marketing related sessions — a space, we at Servian are excited to be working in. GCP and BigQuery gives Marketing and Customer Experience the power to ingest and process various data sources to personalise customer journeys while being responsive to marketers needs. There were a number of use cases where leading brands in the USA were using GCP to give visibility of attribution, and provide personalisation insights to improve outcomes. At Servian, we see this becoming more common as GPDR, privacy concerns and CFOs nudge marketers towards adopting techniques aligned to enterprise data approaches. It will require these techniques to be deployed on well architected and managed cloud solutions to provide the flexibility marketers need to be effective. The boring data privacy stuff is also being addressed. The Data Loss Prevention API can scan, redact and tokenize any sensitive data on static or streaming data. Developing & running applications Kelsey Hightower in his “container” on stage For developers, Google showed off its natural engineering flair. Kelsey Hightower rocked the stage in the Keynote on Day 3. Cloud Build, KNative serverless containers, all add capabilities to the platform. They help the speed and ease of developing code and then testing, deploying plus running it. Google are also making their platform capabilities easier to leverage by development teams through open source projects such as Spring Cloud and Go-cloud. GKE On Prem running in VSphere All the above however does not provide a runtime bridge to on prem data centres. GKE On Prem however does. Many companies use cloud for dev/test and run production in their on prem data centres. Google have just provided an end to end way to support this hybrid pattern through its combo of Kubernetes, Istio and GKE on Prem under its unified Cloud Services Platform . Google’s acquisition of Velostrata was also detailed. Velostrata provides tooling support for Google Cloud customers that enables VMWare or AWS migrations to GCP with minimum down time, and rollback if needed. Google bought a migration bridge to compliment the runtime bridge they built. Security Many enterprise security stakeholders express concerns about public cloud vendors and their PaaS style services which are typically exposed on internet facing endpoints. They want them to be secured within a VPC. Google announced their answer to this customer need with VPC Service Controls entering Beta. Istio is addressing a need to secure service interactions but with a policy managed approach. There are a number of financial services organisations who have built this kind of service mesh or dynamic secure networking capability themselves. Istio provides an open source approach to meeting this need. Google are once again making this easy to operate with Istio part of its Cloud Services Platform, PaaS style service. I think many people are missing that Istio can be applied beyond micro-services, with the Istio Mesh Expansion. Once it matures a little more, it will be able to extend the service mesh beyond Kubernetes to secure traditional 2/3 tier applications. Thus bringing observability and policy driven security on service interactions. All of this able to be undertaken, without impacting application code — providing secure operational agility beyond what is typically achieved in many on-prem environments. Google’s BeyondCorp model which outlines defence in depth for employee enterprise applications had a range of security capabilities outlined at NEXT including an Identity aware proxy for internal applications, geo-aware Cloud Armor DDOS protection and the Titan security key for 2 Factor Authentication. In Summary Diane Greene, her ex-VMWare crew plus the rest of the Googlers lifted the curtain on their capability roadmap at NEXT. With so much to take in, it is only when I have stepped back, that I appreciated the strategic vision, direction and focus. What I believe is clear, is that, as the announcements from NEXT move to be generally available over the next 12 months. Google Cloud will have a clear, coherent end to end public cloud capability. The remaining question then will be, whether or not Google and their partners get the marketing right to cross the chasm by winning the hearts and minds of customers to buy into Google Cloud. The has beens — beer miler, e-gamer and sprinter From a personal viewpoint, I had a really enjoyable panel discussion on stage with Jon Fong, Jason Martin and Dhruv Parpia on running a successful cloud practice. In regards to San Fran, it was 3 years between visits — Americans seems to be using the term ‘mobile’ now in contrast to ‘cell’, when describing their phones — not sure when that happened. Skateboarding is back. The contrast between the wealth and poverty seemed to be starker. Looking up at the multiple gleaming Salesforce office towers provided a sobering backdrop against many of the poor on the streets. https://www.servian.com/gcp/

https://medium.com/weareservian/next-2018-google-crossing-the-cloud-chasm-78f0e4219072

['Andrew Pym']

2019-07-08 04:19:33.823000+00:00

['Big Data', 'Cloud Computing', 'Kubernetes', 'Google', 'Google Cloud Platform']

Do Headlines Really Make a Difference?

Do Headlines Really Make a Difference? First impressions count Illustration by Cynthia Marinakos It gets a little confusing. What really gets writers noticed? Quality writing. Formatting. Getting curated. Submitting to publications. Headlines. Writing a lot. Writing less with quality. Getting claps. Shares. Reads. Comments. Tagging other writers. Choosing the right tags. There are so many aspects to writing, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Add to that a crapload of well-meaning advice out there sharing the pros and cons of all of these. What should you focus on? Great writing, of course. That’s what people are here for. Also, focus on your headline. Here’s why: Think of the last job you applied for — and how it compares to writing. You’ve got the experience and skills for the job — quality. You’ve sent your CV out to employers — submitting to publications. Perhaps you’ve applied to 30 jobs. Perhaps only to three — writing frequency. Sometimes you get an interview. Other times you don’t hear a damn thing — claps, shares, reads, comments. Say you land an interview — awesome! You prep answers and practice with a mate. Perhaps you even video yourself and record your answers. Analyzing. Refining. Practicing again and again. Rehearsing your answers to your partner. Speaking to no one but the pitter-patter of the shower. While you munch on your cornflakes. In your sleep. The lines echoing in your mind as soon as you wake. Bring it on! You’re feeling calm. Confident. Composed. You walk into the interview… Wearing your PJs. Hair unbrushed. Crusty drool around your mouth. Sleep in your eyes. Stinky breath. Slouching. Head down. Your eyes not meeting anyone’s eyes. You did put on some runners though. What sort of first impression are you making? Well not bothering with your headlines is a lot like that. Heading in fully prepared yet not taking time to dress well and make a good first impression at your interview is a surefire way to throw a job away — if not get hauled out of the building by security. Writing often. Writing tags. Submitting to publications. All that doesn’t matter if you don’t pay attention to your headline. Your readers, curators, editors — your colleagues, prospects, customers — they’ll ignore all that hard work you’ve put into your: Article. Report. Presentation. Ad. TED talk. Apart from being ignored, you miss out. You miss out on money from more readership and sponsors. You miss out on being respected and admired. You miss out on invitations that help you realize your dreams and ambitions. You miss out on gifting the world with insights you know will make their work, their relationships, their writing, their health — better. You miss out on connections that relate to you, trust you, confide in you. You miss out on feeling energized and fulfilled, knowing you can make a difference in people’s lives with your words — but being noticed by no one.

https://medium.com/better-marketing/do-headlines-really-make-a-difference-15ba1de8de28

['Cynthia Marinakos']

2020-05-19 14:38:54.024000+00:00

['Marketing', 'Headline Hacks', 'Productivity', 'Creativity', 'Writing']

Unleash the Potential of AI in Circular Economy: Businesses Potentials

Business Potential of AI in promoting circular Economy 1. Environmental impact analysis and monitoring From CSR to ESG, most businesses today have good intentions to stand up to their environmental and social responsibilities. Nevertheless, in order for them to reduce its environmental impact, they need to first estimate the effect of their activities in quantitative means. Producing such estimates could be challenging, especially for large businesses involved in multiple chains of production and distribution. This can be resolved by the use of IOT ( Internet of Things) and smart sensors. IOT allows automation of accurate and reliable data collection, which could then be fed into data analytic algorithms that outputs analysis of the different sources externalities or pollutions. Businesses could gain insights from these analysis and take actions. For example, by identifying the greatest source of residuals or pollutants in a manufacturing procedure businesses could invest in developing or switching to more efficient production methods to cut their impact. image via pixabay under Pixabay License (Free for commercial use) 2. Big data powered product innovation Using big data, product development can be done in a more evidence based manner. Two of the main product features that would be desirable for circular economy are modularity and durability. The benefits of greater durability is obvious by itself, on the other hand, modularity means to decompose a complex product engineering process into simple subparts. Greater modularity could then make product remanufacturing and recycling more convenient, it “permit the arrangement of components in a manner that can be easily modified, enhanced, exchanged, or proliferated.” (Tucker J. Marion, 2010) During the process of product development, data can be collected from prototyping and testing of the product. These data can now be analyzed iteratively through machine learning algorithms, which assists with the evaluation of these desirable sustainable product features and could be used to improve upon current design of products 3. Blockchain and cryptographic anchoring for supply chain management Another challenge in tracking and recognizing environmental impact of businesses is the difficulties in reliably following and trace back to the source of its inputs. What blockchain could do is to make the whole supply chain “transparent”, where each stage in the chain is recorded in an immutable way. Imagine you operate a small restaurant, to provide tasty dishes to customers, you would need to purchase the ingredients. To make it simpler, let’s only focus on the meat supplier. In order to know whether the meat supplier is operating in an ethical and sustainable production process, you need to know which livestock farm did they get their “inputs” from. If you would like to dig deeper, you might also want to know the source of the food they fed to the livestock. This could quickly get complex and difficult to track, and that is indeed a general concern of many businesses, especially for those that have to manage a large variety of suppliers, such as Walmart. Indeed, Walmart was one of the earliest adopters to test the application of supply chain management using blockchain by using it to trace pork in China, to authenticate transactions and facilitate accurate and efficient record keeping. Example of blockchain digital supply chain (Oliver Wyman) — Copyright © 2018, Oliver Wyman 4. Smart inventory management image via pixabay under Pixabay License (Free for commercial use) Smart inventory management mainly concerns with the accurate prediction of customer demand to efficiently produce the right amount of product at the right time. Stockpiling could be extremely wasteful and costly for a business, especially in cases where the product cannot be stored for a long period of time, either because of the nature of the product (fresh food), or because of the decrease in value of product over time (fashion products). By using internal data such as records of past sales, customer preferences and external data such as competitor’s performances, market demand fluctuations and patterns, AI’s prediction capabilities can be utilized to prevent stockpiling and excess inventories. This not only reduces the inventory rental cost for companies, but also greatly lowered the amount of waste and unused products that may impede for transition to a circular economy. There are already wide use of smart inventory management using Internet of things and machine learning, an example of such service provider is “Zenventory”. 5. Automated Optimizing Delivery and Shipping The use of AI have enabled us to improve the logistics of shipping and delivery by designing the fastest route. On one hand it could analyze customer order data to make best plan for shipping in different regions, on the other hand real-time traffic data can be used to produce efficient scheduling of deliveries. Moreover, the scope of AI usage in delivery extends beyond backend planning to autonomous shipping. In 2018, Rolls Royce and Finferries launched the first fully autonomous car ferry. The cost advantages of using autonomous truck in B2C (business to customer) last mile delivery is substantial, with potential of reducing delivery costs by 10% comparing to traditional delivery method ( McKinsey,2018). The design of the fastest route reduced the amount of pollutants created by shipping vehicles , especially for oversea shipping, while autonomous delivery act as a solution to effective, low manual input delivery, allowing more funds and human resources to be devoted to more productive usage.

https://medium.com/swlh/unleash-the-potential-of-ai-in-circular-economy-businesses-potentials-ff3056098699

['Americana Chen']

2020-12-07 22:46:53.490000+00:00

['Economics', 'Big Data', 'Sustainability', 'AI', 'Artificial Intelligence']

How to Write Something People Will Actually Read

How to Write Something People Will Actually Read “Just write every day” is not the answer Photo by Retha Ferguson from Pexels The writer’s job is not to write. It is to think and to make others think. This is a hard job today. It isn’t because people are getting dumber (although it seems that way at times). It’s because we, your potential readers, are drowning in content. The bar for getting and keeping a person’s attention in order to make them think is higher than a giraffe’s ear hair. In 2012, Seth Godin said: “We’re living in the first moment in time… when credentials, access to capital, and raw power have been dwarfed by the simple question: do I care about what you do?” That’s never been more true. The problem? Good writing doesn’t get anyone’s attention. Novelty does. The right adjective is not nearly as important as the right story. What has your reader not seen? Or at least, what have they not seen lately? A good writer finds what’s missing. They look where nobody else is looking. This, too, is a difficult job to execute. Luckily, though, the answers are simple:

https://medium.com/better-marketing/how-to-write-something-people-will-actually-read-9749026ab6bc

['Todd Brison']

2020-08-11 18:03:49.857000+00:00

['Work', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Writing', 'Creativity', 'Productivity']

What It’s Like to Have an ADHD Brain

What It’s Like to Have an ADHD Brain And how I found refuge from the nonstop chaos inside my own head I’ve always sought comfort in familiar things. I rewatch the same TV shows. I reread the same books. I listen to the same songs for months on end. My routine isn’t about scheduling — it’s about having a shortlist of familiar activities. It feels as if I’m trying to escape my own spinning brain. No two people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) present the exact same way, but there are commonalities. The vast majority of adults with ADHD, for instance, aren’t hyperactive on the outside, but on the inside. The moment my head touches a pillow, my brain starts doing somersaults. Intrusive thoughts rear their ugly heads. Remember when you made that girl cry in the sixth grade because you wouldn’t stop poking her? Remember when you said “shit happens” in that job interview? Oh, remember that time you drank too much champagne on a date and ran crying out of The Hunger Games? Most often, though, it’s half-baked big ideas that turn my mind into a clown car. Ideas for work. Ideas for a new book. Ideas for the nursery for a baby who doesn’t exist yet. The world is full of endless possibilities to contemplate, and my brain has no idea where to put them all. They just tumble around in there like balls in a lottery machine. In the ADHD brain, the team is short-staffed. Tuning things out is another formidable task. William Dodson, MD, an adult ADHD specialist in Denver, Colorado, writes in ADDitude that many people with ADHD have amplified senses, making it hard for us to block out stimulation. I hate shirt tags. I don’t like being touched unexpectedly. Loud music in the morning stresses me out. I turn my phone upside down on my nightstand so I can’t see the gently pulsing light as it charges. Ambient noise is my escape from nocturnal household sounds — ticking clocks are torture, and I live in fear of night-owl neighbors with booming baritone voices. Even in winter, I would sleep with an oscillating fan facing the wall until my husband bought me a white-noise machine. I’ve developed good habits. I take medication. I make to-do lists every morning. My desk is plastered in sticky notes. I don’t play music while I work — I’ll just end up listening to it — but my trusty fan helps muffle the sound of my brain arguing with itself. I keep pages upon pages of overlapping projects. It’s not uncommon for individuals with ADHD to have trouble visualizing an entire task from start to finish. I pick up one thread, follow it for a bit, grab several more along the way, and before I know it, I’m holding a tangled ball of yarn. As I’ve grown older, I’ve developed the patience to occasionally pull a thread free. Before I learned how to manage my time, deadlines would appear out of nowhere, and at the 11th hour I would find the motivation to churn out a final product in record time. I’ve often felt like the hare keeping up with the tortoise — aimless wandering punctuated by frantic spurts of focused energy. I’ve learned to channel a common but counterintuitive feature of ADHD called hyperfocus. I sit down to work at 8:30 a.m., and suddenly it’s 3:45 p.m. Normally this only happens to people with ADHD when they’re doing something they enjoy, so it’s a good sign that I like my job. Of course, it also means that my house looks like it was hit by a tornado and I often forget to eat lunch. When I do get out of “the zone,” all of my unfocused thoughts clamor for attention. The brain’s reward pathway has a built-in executive team in the corpus striatum, which helps filter the constant influx of thoughts and emotions and file them in their proper places. Some items should be addressed right away, some can wait, and many go straight to the trash. Occasionally, the team sends the single most important item on the agenda up to the prefrontal cortex for attention. In the ADHD brain, the team is short-staffed. Everything — including the trash — goes into one big pile of equal importance. Dodson writes that stimulants work by providing support to the team — helping the striatum choose the single most important task, rather than half a dozen at once. Yet there’s one thing ADHD brains are really good at: recognizing things they want to do and things they don’t. Motivation is a chemical reaction. Ellen Littman, PhD, a clinical psychologist in New York, writes that the ADHD brain’s reward pathway is off-balance; it takes a lot more dopamine to make us feel happy or satisfied. Reward deficiency syndrome (RDS), a term coined by Kenneth Blum, PhD, makes it extremely difficult to muster the willpower to perform mundane tasks — even important ones — if they don’t pack a big enough dopamine punch. Novelty-seeking behavior is common. Some people with ADHD might become firefighters, drive recklessly, or abuse substances in their search for a boost. RDS is linked to procrastination and addiction, both common features of ADHD. Some might call it a lack of willpower. They’d be right, in a way, but it comes down to brain chemistry — not laziness. Put simply, we’re the donkey, and dopamine is the carrot. The only carrot. Yet not every ADHD brain is an adrenaline junkie. Littman writes that individuals with more hypersensitive ADHD may be living in a constant state of sensory overload. With so much stimulation and no way to compartmentalize it, these people might avoid crowds or loud venues. Many seek refuge in video games, where they experience dopamine boosts but have control over the amount of sensory input. The world is full of endless possibilities to contemplate, and my brain has no idea where to put them all. I seem to have feet in both camps. I’ll gladly jump off a cliff, perform CPR, ride roller coasters, visit new places, or drive a four-wheeler down a highway. But when the time comes to regain control over the level of stimulation, I extract myself and seek refuge in familiar, comfortable activities. Novel experiences during this time — Watch this YouTube video! Try ordering something fun for dinner! Take a different route home! — become less friendly, adding to a feeling of bombardment and stress. To escape the chaos and get my dopamine boost, I watch Lord of the Rings over and over again while I play Candy Crush. I work out to the same playlist of 20 songs. I play familiar piano pieces. I read Harry Potter for the dozenth time. The psychology of ADHD makes sense of these behaviors. “People with ADD find various ways of self-soothing. It can [help] to have a routine and repeat it over and over again,” says psychiatrist Ned Hallowell, MD, founder of the Hallowell Centers and author of Driven to Distraction. “They look to alter their inner state. I call that the ‘itch’ at the core of ADHD. Some of the most adaptive ways to scratch that itch are having a creative outlet, physical exercise, or close relationships. The maladaptive ways are compulsive activities, gambling, substance abuse, surfing the net, video games, those kinds of things.” Sandy Newmark, MD, founder of the Center for Pediatric Integrative Medicine and author of ADHD Without Drugs: A Guide to the Natural Care of Children with ADHD, agrees. “A lot of kids with ADHD also have a sensory processing disorder…If they have the kind where they’re over-sensitive [or inattentive], that might be a reason to seek familiar activities…I can see how it would be soothing.” In my case, this behavior has carried itself into my adult life, which is not uncommon in ADHD. The important thing to remember is that for people with ADHD in particular, every escape is also an entrance. “You’re leaving one place, but you’re entering another,” Hallowell says. “When you’re watching TV, you’re entering into the world of the TV show. When you’re going on a ride at an amusement park, you’re escaping into the thrill of the ride. When you’re escaping into…a drug, you’re entering into the world that drug creates for you. You’re never escaping into nothing.” Despite the chaos, people with ADHD excel at the things we enjoy. We have a remarkable ability to channel our energy into creative pursuits — writing, journalism, music, design, teaching, freelance work. We are constantly tempted to escape the mundane and chase what makes us happy. With healthy habits, support, and good communication, this can lead us to incredibly fulfilling lives. I like to imagine a world where more people chased what made them happy, instead of what they think they’re supposed to do. In that, I think we ADHD brains have it all figured out.

https://elemental.medium.com/what-its-like-to-have-an-adhd-brain-52a7c5171d8f

['Natalie Slivinski']

2019-09-27 18:16:52.358000+00:00

['Mental Health', 'Brain', 'Psychology', 'Great Escape', 'Science']

Four Reasons You Won’t Make It as a Professional Writer

You complain. You are complaining that other writers have it easier than you. Yes. Some writers will just take off. Like my previous example of writer Allie Brosh. Good for them. Be happy for them, even if the only reason you are happy for them is that complaining will not be good for your writing career. There is a lot of negativity online. Don’t add to it. People aren’t attracted to people who complain and approach anything with a “whoa is me” attitude. We all have pangs of envy and jealousy. I read an article in The Atlantic last night that had me really questioning if I’d ever be a great writer; that doesn’t really matter; the only thing that matters is if I like to write and whether I think it is worth time. I do. If you wonder why some writers take-off faster than you, you are putting your energy in the wrong place. You may think, I can’t believe so and so wrote that piece, and it has X amount of views; it isn’t even very good. I can write a better piece than that four minute piece of… Well, you didn’t write that four-minute piece of …that everyone seems to love. You didn’t come up with the idea or articulate it in a way that resonates. Instead of concentrating on why you think they don’t deserve x and x, put that energy into writing better. Do this instead. One way of getting out of the comparison trap you put yourself in with other writers is to remember that growth happens when we compare ourselves to our own evolution. Real growth doesn’t come from measuring ourselves against others but from measuring our progress. Compare yourself now to yourself a month ago, three months ago, a year ago. Then, plan what you want your life to look like three months, six months, or a year from now. Don’t worry about what others are doing; put sustained effort into your writing journey and find out what you are capable of, and your writing life will expand exponentially. Complaining that you aren’t as far as such and such when you started earlier only increases that burden. When I find myself in the comparison trap or dealing with “imposter syndrome,” I ask myself, what do I want, what could I do to grow my writing chops? Then I answer the question. It is usually something straightforward, like read a book on writing or take a writing class. And then, I do it. I’m continually pushing myself to get better, and one of the ways I do this is sitting down to write every day.

https://medium.com/the-partnered-pen/four-reasons-you-wont-make-it-as-a-professional-writer-941eb004c9bc

['Jessica Lynn']

2020-11-02 12:47:39.954000+00:00

['Entrepreneurship', 'Self-awareness', 'Productivity', 'Money', 'Writing']

5 Tactics to Keep Writing when No One is Reading Your Work

“If you live for the love of other’s, you will die from their rejection.” Lecrae Followers, claps, likes, and views all have one thing in common — they’re distractions. These stats distract from the reason you started writing to begin with and that’s to create quality content that people everyone can enjoy reading. We already live in a world with too many distractions. Our faces are magnetized to our cell phones, we have jobs to do to pay bills, and too many social media notifications is constantly barking at us like a dog that you forgot to feed. It’s a constant feeling of overwhelm and it can take away from your artistic quality. This feeling of overwhelm is elevated even more so, when you allow it to interfere with your work as a writer. Whether you write as a passion or as means to generate revenue, it’s always important to maintain creative control of your work. When you allow superficial concepts such as followers and claps to determine your work, your writing will inevitably suffer. Nothing you write will feel good enough because you’re constantly searching for external approval instead of allowing your creativity to take over. At this point, you’re no wonder a writer but an entertainer to the masses. I have personally struggled with this myself and I’m only recently learning to cut through the overwhelm and prioritize my writing. I have at least ten different drafts that I have started but never finished due to a fear that none of it will be good enough. This has been going on for the past three months but its been a constant life struggle for me. For example, you start writing then you lose hope that it will amount to anything because you have very few followers and no claps on your past articles. Maybe you publish your article but notifications never go off on your Medium app so you slowly lose interest and wondering if you’re wasting your time. That’s my struggle with validation and it may be your struggle as well. Recently, after my 26th birthday, I came to the realization that if I ever want to be a great writer, I have to do it for myself and no one else. Here are some tactics to get away from external approval and focus on where it matters: writing quality content.

https://dayoncotton.medium.com/5-tactics-to-keep-writing-when-no-one-is-reading-your-work-f9659878b674

['Dayon Cotton']

2019-10-24 13:26:06.082000+00:00

['Entrepreneurship', 'Writing', 'Self Improvement', 'Creativity', 'Productivity']

5 Reasons Why You Find It Hard To Wake Up At Early Everyday

There’s been quite a bit of talk on the internet both for and against waking up at 5 AM in the morning. As someone who has religiously woken up early and also outright avoided it, I have arguments on both sides. What I’ve come to the conclusion, though, is that while it certainly can be beneficial — it certainly isn’t necessary for being productive. Business Insider, Inc. Magazine and Fast Company have all recently published articles about how waking up early can actually be harmful to your productivity. While it has been helpful and can be proof of someone’s self-discipline and aspirations, it isn’t necessary and isn’t necessarily the key. Here are some reminders as to why you shouldn’t force yourself to wake up early if it isn’t helpful for you: 1 || You find that you resent yourself for following the 5 am crowd Most people start waking up early, not because of their desire to get a head start on things, but because they heard that one successful person did it and wanted to follow suit. The problem is, when you so aggressively follow the proverbial crowd, you’ll start to resent yourself and the activity of waking up early every day, rain or shine. Waking up early on a consistent basis is not easy and it doesn’t come naturally to most people. If you don’t get in touch with a solid why for waking up early, you’ll wake up lost, tired, confused, and resentful of this obscure habit you’re trying to establish for no apparent reason. 2 || You deprive yourself of sunlight I didn’t realize this until weeks into my 5 AM habit — that waking up early when the sun didn’t rise until 6:30 AM, like now, meant that I was awake, in the dark, alone, for an hour and a half. As a social person and a human being who requires sunlight to maintain a high quality of life, this was pretty harmful to my psyche. According to the Telegraph, women who don’t sunbathe are twice as more likely to die than those who do sunbathe every summer. While this isn’t exactly an argument for not waking up at 5 AM, it does provide an interesting point. Being around sunlight is healthy, and improves both our physical and emotional health. This is especially important in the mornings. 3 || You negate the importance of high-quality sleep Waking up in the morning isn’t inherently bad. The problems begin to arise when you value waking up early over getting high-quality sleep. While some people are able to wake up and operate with under 4 hours of sleep, most people need somewhere between 7–9 hours of sleep. Setting your alarm for 5 AM every day isn’t helpful to you if you’re never getting enough sleep. And not only would you be depriving yourself of sleep, but you would also be reinforcing the false idea in your mind that sleep isn’t important. My story, 10 Ways To Guarantee Better Sleep, can give you some ideas on how to sleep better and how to develop a mindset that knows the importance of sleep. 4 || You’re losing your social life Okay, okay. I know this one is a little bit extreme, but it’s true. If you are trying to value sleep, have a solid routine, and also want to be around people and be active late at night with said party people, you’re not going to be able to have that much of social life. When people want to hang out with you or invite you out for a night on the town, you’re not able to do so because you have to stick to your schedule. Committing to wake up at 5 AM every morning takes away your flexibility in a way that can make you say no to things you don’t want to — just so you can have an extra hour or two in the morning. You have to ask, is this worth it? Most of the time, prioritizing your favorite people over your morning routine is the better decision. 5 || You know you can experience a different kind of productivity at night There are actual genes in your body associated with whether you’re a morning person or a night owl. If you happen to be someone who’s more naturally a night owl in accordance with your circadian rhythm, rejecting the trend of waking up at 5 AM in the morning could actually be the best choice you make in terms of being more productive in the long run. I, personally, have never felt more inclined towards waking up early in the morning or staying up late at night. I enjoy both and try and enjoy different parts at during different seasons in my life. But what I have noticed about the evening is that, when the sun is going down and my brain’s slowing down, processing the day, and slowly falling asleep, I’m less inhibited and am more willing to be creative.

https://medium.com/live-your-life-on-purpose/5-reasons-why-you-find-it-hard-to-wake-up-at-early-everyday-d91f06c1252e

['Katie E. Lawrence']

2020-12-24 17:02:25.290000+00:00

['Mental Health', 'Health', 'Productivity', 'Psychology', 'Self Improvement']

Discover ILLUMINATION Writers

Introduction to ILLUMINATION Writers Discover ILLUMINATION Writers BIOs of writers from their pen Photo by Hannah Olinger on Unsplash The purpose of this article is to introduce our writers and editors from their pen on ILLUMINATION. We have a diverse set of writers and editors reflecting insights from various domains and disciplines. They share and engage. Meeting them can give you new perspectives. Their bios also have some sample articles to taste. This is an opportunity to explore their content and connect with them. Our writers are source of knowledge and inspiration who can amaze you and provide you insights from a diverse range of topics and subjects. I feel privileged to have these great minds and creative professionals in our community. We will add more and more writers to this document so you may save this article as a reference.

https://medium.com/illumination/meet-inspiring-writers-editors-on-illumination-cbba8a4ea4f

['Dr Mehmet Yildiz']

2020-12-14 16:00:06.823000+00:00

['Health', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Startup', 'Leadership', 'Writing']

Ecosystem restoration, reviving hope.

Photo by Nikola Jovanovic on Unsplash Land degradation is a worldwide issue affecting more than 3.2 billion. When the land is degraded through soil erosion, salinization or pollution, it loses its wildlife and its ecosystem services. In the future, it will be important to rehabilitate degraded landscapes and seascape to restore their productivity. Moreover, land restoration is especially important to mitigate climate change as forests, coral reefs and wetlands can store a huge quantity of carbon. As young people are taking the streets to call for climate action and asking adults to join the next global climate strike in September, a momentum is taking shape and open an opportunity to push governments to act against climate change. “Now that people are aware of the existential threat of climate change, we must give them solutions” People have a lot of energy and are eager to change the status quo, but how do we channel this energy to have the biggest impact? That is the question asked by Tim Christophersen, focal point for the UN decade project for land restoration. In a webinar last week on land restoration, he stressed that everybody has a role to play in this mass movement but not everybody knows what to do. For example, people can plant the wrong trees at a bad time, bad place and the tree can die, and once a farmer experience failure, he will never plant a tree again. Tim Christophersen highlighted that “the momentum comes after many years of work in land restoration, and that now we have a large knowledge about terrestrial ecosystem restoration but also marine ecosystem restoration like mangroves and coral reefs. Now that people are aware of the existential threat of climate change, we must give them solutions and shift negative views to the opportunities we have”. “inspiring action by measuring the potential of land restoration to stop climate change” Thomas Crowther and Jean Francois Bastin, two researchers from the university ETH Zurich explained the goal of their research: “inspiring action by measuring the potential of land restoration to stop climate change”. With such measure, people can understand the size of the problem and how they can contribute to solve it. At the webinar organized by the Global Landscape Forum, Thomas Crowther gave an interesting example: “there are 300 extra gigaton of CO2 in the atmosphere, this is the size of the problem. If everybody stops to eat meat, it is 66 gigaton which will not be emitted”. The two researchers did the same kind of calculation for land restoration around the globe using geospatial and ecological data. They have mapped how much tree can grow in each part of the world. The model they developed was based on the biophysical data of protected areas. Then, they extrapolated to all the globe to see how much trees could grow around the globe. This model finally gave information about the potential of land restoration to reduce climate change. When everybody thinks about geoengineering and technological solutions, people forget that natural solutions are also an option. According to the results of the research which will be published next month in Science, Jean Francois Bastin affirms that ecosystem restoration will be the first climate solution in the world. “…because planting trees is not the only way to restore a land” To uncover the potential of land restoration, there are many challenges to overcome. Mathilde Iweins, an expert of ecosystem services and local finance at the FAO, listed 7 challenges to widely implement land restoration. First, many countries lack of coordination between their stakeholders within governments and ministries. Planning must be more integrative and in agreement with the people doing restoration otherwise new infrastructure may be built on a restored area. Second, land tenure issues must be solved, and farmers should receive land titles otherwise they will not be motivated to care and restore the land. Third, trainings about new types of land restoration must be created and shared because planting trees is not the only way to restore a land. Forth, restoration must be linked to livelihood so people can see the benefits they can receive through land restoration. Fifth, financial partnership must be created as the public sector cannot tackle the problem by itself. The private sector must be involved and see the economic benefits of land restoration. Sixth, biophysical and social effect of land restoration must be monitored, evaluated and linked to a cost-benefit analysis. Such analysis will show investors the benefits to restore degraded land. Lastly, restoration does not happen fast, and time will be needed. In a system where international donors expect results after 4 years; restoration project does not have enough time. Fortunately, restoration projects are already ongoing and international donors have already invested 50 million USD to start a dozen of projects in 10 countries. These projects which were developed in the same way, are part of an initiative of global knowledge sharing and capacity building. All these projects use the same monitoring and evaluation methods as well as the same set of biophysical and social indicators. Thanks to that, these projects are generating comparable data about their benefits and challenges so we can improve the implementation and financing of future projects. “it is a crucial and cheap tool we can use to solve climate change” There is a lot to be learnt as there is no golden bullet, and land restoration is a constant experimentation. Countries, especially in the global south, will need assistance to carry on large-scale restoration projects. They will have to learn how to use geospatial data and online platforms to find the suitable land to restore. If we can manage all the challenges and harness the potential of land restoration, it is a crucial and cheap tool we can use to solve climate change.

https://medium.com/environmental-intelligence/ecosystem-restoration-reviving-hope-3dd8f7fc082f

['Thuận Sarzynski']

2019-06-17 08:39:15.804000+00:00

['Climate Change', 'Environment', 'Science', 'Sustainability', 'Future']

Music Star Alex Boye Is Doing an Anti-Suicide Concert. The Former Member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Performed in an Anti-Gay Marriage Event. Does He Have Regrets?

Music Star Alex Boye Is Doing an Anti-Suicide Concert. The Former Member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Performed in an Anti-Gay Marriage Event. Does He Have Regrets? Rhett Wilkinson Follow Aug 21, 2019 · 3 min read Just six years ago, Alex Boye entrenched himself in the predominant culture in Utah when he performed in opposition to gay marriage. And that was already while benefitting from the same culture. Boye performed for seven years for the choir representing the Latter-day Saint (ex-Mormon) church. That’s the institution underlying the predominant culture in Utah that is marginalizing the depressed and suicidal, many of whom are gay. Alex Boye, already a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at the time, entrenched himself into the predominant culture in Utah when performing at an anti-gay marriage concert. In doing a concert against gay marriage, does Boye have regrets? (photo credit: DSU Indeen) Now, Boye is doing a concert in the very same town as where he proclaimed opposition to gay marriage. But this time, to go against suicides, even though it seems clear that some of the suicides are a result of marginalization of gays by that predominant culture. (Jan Chamberlin left the choir when she thought it was wrong to benefit from a cultural item.) A Boye spokeswoman pointed The Seer Stone to a video Boye released about why he believes in fighting suicides. Boye said he had an impression to write a song, now called “Bend Not Break.” The night he told music engineers that — and that they needed to not go home yet but work on the song — is the same night as the one-year anniversary of one of the engineer’s best friend taking his life. The best friend said that night that he had thought about one thing he could have said to his friend to make him change his mind. Click here for the video. Boye also talks about the Herriman, Utah community supporting Boye making a music video in the area about suicide prevention. Boye also said that he gets messages from therapists who show Boye’s music video to patients. Alex Boye talks about why he believes in suicide prevention. (photo credit: Alex Boye via YouTube) “I feel like all my dreams are coming through just through this one song,” Boye said after talking further about life experiences that informed his making the music video. A Boye colleague told Boye: “When you release this song, it will define your whole career.” One girl went from cutting herself, hating herself, to feeling “the chills” after listening to the song for the first time. “Something in of her just kind of registered. And she said ‘I’m never going to do this anymore,’” Boye said. “She sends messages every now and then; she said ‘Look, I’ve struggled at times, but I’ve never gone that far.” “That’s mind-blowing for me,” Boye said. Click here for the music video. — Even if you no longer affiliate with the Latter-day Saint (ex-Mormon) church but enjoy sociality with family and friends as before, you can still find social settings organized by the Utah Valley PostMormons. There, you can find your people. And of course, if you don’t enjoy those relationships like before, the many UVPM events that happen each week can be even life-saving. Led by wonderful people, UVPM is also for folks who just are struggling with it or are “never Mormons” seeking a break from the predominant culture. Find their events on Facebook and Meetup. — For more articles like this, please support The Seer Stone at the Hero’s Journey Content Patreon page.

https://medium.com/the-seer-stone/alex-boye-is-performing-in-an-anti-suicide-concert-c0d6c89b7423

['Rhett Wilkinson']

2019-08-27 19:24:05.900000+00:00

['Utah', 'Music', 'Art', 'Musicians', 'Mormon']

Datalake File Ingestion: From FTP to AWS S3

More insight into our code: Lets now discuss each section of our FTPIngestion class in some detail. init method This is the init method also called as the constructor of our class. When we create an object of our FTPIngestion class all the attributes get set at object creation time. Values for each attribute are being fetched from the config.py class where we have defined their values. We import the config.py file as cfg and set each attribute with its corresponding value. init method Recommendation: instead of using the config.py class we can use AWS SSM where we define our key value pairs for each of our attribute just like we did in our config.py file. Using SSM is more robust and secure. create_ssh_connection method This method creates a secure ssh connection with our FTP server using the given credentials. On successful connection it sets the self.ssh_ok attribute to True and returns. Otherwise self.ssh_ok is set to False and returned. one thing to notice in this method is the self.ssh_client.set_missing_host_key_policy( paramiko.AutoAddPolicy()). We configured it to set the missing host keys with a auto generated policy. If you’re going to run this in AWS Glue as python shell job, instead of adding the auto add policy, use the host policies. For this, do the following in the code #self.ssh_client.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy()) # in production, use load_system_host_keys self.ssh_client.load_system_host_keys() create_sftp_connection method This method calls the create_ssh_connection method creates the ssh connection and then proceeds to open the SFTP connection. On successful connection it sets the self.sftp_ok to True and on failure sets it to False and returns the value. create_sftp_connection method move_files_to_processed method This method is called in the initiate_ingestion method after the file is successfully uploaded to s3. This method take the file name as argument. Sets the source and destination paths on the FTP server as src and dest, and then executes the following command which will move the file from the src path to the dest path. try: _, _, _ = self.ssh_client.exec_command("mv " + src+" " + dest) except Exception as error: print("error moving files to processed directory, error: ", error) Our move_files_to_processed method is as follows: move_files_to_processed method create_s3_partition method This method creates the s3 partition structure. The partition consists of root directory name followed by year, month,day,hour. In this way we can have a time based partitioned data. create_s3_partition method s3_upload_file_multipart method This method uploads the files to the specified s3 bucket. It uses the TransferConfig class to handle the multipart upload. We specify the configurations for TransferConfig as follows: config = TransferConfig(multipart_threshold=cfg.MULTIPART_THRESHOLD, multipart_chunksize=cfg.MULTIPART_CHUNKSIZE, max_concurrency=cfg.MAX_CONCURRENCY, use_threads=cfg.USER_THREADS ) the multipart_threshold parameter determines the minimum size of file that should be after which the file will be uploaded via multipart. AWS recommends all files greater than 100MB be uploaded via multipart, so I have set this parameter to 100MB. This can be changed in the config.py file. parameter determines the minimum size of file that should be after which the file will be uploaded via multipart. AWS recommends all files greater than 100MB be uploaded via multipart, so I have set this parameter to 100MB. This can be changed in the config.py file. the multipart_chunksize parameter determines the size of each part during multipart upload. I have set it to 20MB. parameter determines the size of each part during multipart upload. I have set it to 20MB. the max_concurrency parameter determines the maximum number of concurrent S3 API transfer operations that should be used to upload each part. Default is 10. parameter determines the maximum number of concurrent S3 API transfer operations that should be used to upload each part. Default is 10. lastly the use_threads parameter determines whether transfer operations use threads to implement concurrency. Thread use can be disabled by setting the use_threads attribute to False. If thread use is disabled, transfer concurrency does not occur. Accordingly, the value of the max_concurrency attribute is ignored. We pass this config object to our s3.upload_fileobj as parameter self.s3.upload_fileobj(source_file, self.s3_bucket_name, s3_target_file, Config=config) The TransferConfig class automatically checks whether to upload the file as a single part or via multipart. It automatically handles the failed uploads and takes care of retries in case of failures. s3_upload_file_multipart method initiate_ingestion method This method initiates the calls to establish ssh and sftp connections. Changes FTP directory path to specified path where the files reside. Gets list of all the files in the FTP specified path and starts upload to s3. Files Successfully uploaded to S3 gets moved into the processed directory on FTP server. Once all files are uploaded closes all the connections. close_connections method This mehtod is used to close the ssh and sftp connections. Using the code as AWS Glue Job As mentioned earlier, the same implementation can be used in a managed environment such as AWS Glue. If user has files arriving on the FTP server at a certain time period (hour, day, month etc) he can schedule the job to run at a specific time to ingest all the files from the FTP server to s3. We have to modify a few things in our code to be able to run this implementation as an AWS Glue Python shell job In our imports section of python_glue_injestion_job.py file uncomment the following import. We are using easy install to install the paramiko module in the Glue Environment since it does not come with default Python installation. install_path = os.environ['GLUE_INSTALLATION'] easy_install.main( ["--install-dir", install_path, "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/ac/15/4351003352e11300b9f44 a13576bff52dcdc6e4a911129c07447bda0a358/paramiko-2.7.1.tar.gz"] ) reload(site) in create_ssh_connection method comment following #self.ssh_client.set_missing_host_key_policy(paramiko.AutoAddPolicy()) and uncomment the follwoing self.ssh_client.load_system_host_keys() what we are doing is instead of using an auto generated policy we are using the host keys of the environment we are in. After doing above steps we can run this code in as a Python shell job in AWS Glue. Summary In this article, we looked at how can perform the data ingestion step of a Datalake pipeline. We learned how we can use the paramiko library to create a secure ssh SFTP connection with a FTP server and upload files from the server to our AWS S3 buckets. We also briefly looked at how we can use the given implementation in a managed environment such as AWS Glue. Link to my Github repository:

https://towardsdatascience.com/datalake-file-ingestion-from-ftp-to-aws-s3-253022ae54d4

['Furqan Butt']

2020-05-11 15:40:43.819000+00:00

['Python', 'AWS', 'Data Lake', 'Big Data', 'Ftp']

Only 49% of Americans Plan to Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19. Yes, You Should Be That Shocked

I am always fascinated by all the wonderful things people can create. Vaccines are one of those things. We have the ability to find ways to become immune to viruses without getting sick. But sometimes, people can really disappoint me. A survey conducted by the AP-NORC Center in May 2020 showed that 49% of Americans plan to get vaccinated, 20% don’t, and 31% are unsure. Image by apnorc.org Old people are more willing to get vaccinated than young people. It partly surprised me, because old people tend to be more skeptical in general. But it’s also true that they are the ones who risk more lethal complications. White people are more will willing to get vaccinated than Blacks or Hispanics. I personally think that this has more to do with the economical status than with the race. Minorities have a lower average income than Whites in the US. They may be worried about the direct and indirect costs of vaccination. But it’s just my personal hypothesis. Democrats are more willing to get vaccinated than Republicans. It didn’t really surprise me. As a liberal, I know I can be biased, and I know that there are very smart conservatives too, so don’t take it personally. But the numbers speak for themselves here. Also, I was a bit surprised that Independents are the most unsure. Maybe, since they are very moderate in their political views, they tend to be very moderate in everything? Not that it’s a bad thing. Image by apnorc.org The reasons why one would get the vaccine are obvious. Protecting oneself, one’s family, and the community are the most common ones. But I was really curious about the reasons one would not get the vaccine. Image by apnorc.org All these reasons, except the allergy one, are very concerning. We will explore the top five in a moment. Similar studies have been done everywhere. In Europe, the situation isn’t much different. A similar poll has been conducted in Italy, where I live, and it shows similar results. Image by quotidianosanita.it It translates to “I am willing to get vaccinated if a vaccine against COVID-19 will be identified”. The answers, left to right, are: “absolutely unlikely”, “somewhat unlikely”, “neither unlikely nor likely”, “somewhat likely”, “very likely”. In the rest of this story, I will explore the reasons why people won’t get vaccinated, while also analyzing the psychology behind them. Ignorance Is As Deadly As the Virus Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash It’s not news that there is a lot of misinformation about vaccines. This is a major concern, to the point that the World Health Organization listed “vaccine hesitancy” as one of the 10 major global health threats. And it was in 2019, before COVID. Without even talking about the made-up causality between vaccines and autism, which is a conspiracy theory held by a minority, there are other unfounded concerns held by a larger share of the population. Let’s take another look at those shown by the poll: “I would be concerned about side effects from the vaccine”. Yes, vaccines have side effects and no vaccine is 100% safe. But these side effects are no worse or more frequent than any drug you normally take. A vaccine will be deployed only after it will be scientifically proven that the benefits outweigh the risks. “I would be concerned about getting infected with the coronavirus from the vaccine”. That’s the whole point! You get infected so that you build immunity, but with a virus that is weakened and unable to reproduce. “I’m not concerned about getting seriously ill from the coronavirus”. More on that later. “I don’t think vaccines work very well”. It’s true that most vaccines don’t have a 100% efficacy rate. A new vaccine is needed for influenza every year. But what do you have to lose? Even if the vaccine won’t work perfectly on you, it will probably still give you a partial immunity, and you would get less serious symptoms from an infection. “The coronavirus outbreak is not as serious as some people say it is”. Are we still doing that? Coronavirus has already killed more than influenza normally does in a year without the lockdown. Coronavirus may be just like a bad flu for some people, but it’s been proven that it’s way more contagious. It’s so disheartening that scientists are working hard on a vaccine to end this global crisis, but their efforts can be rendered worthless by mere human ignorance. People Are Getting Bored with COVID, It’s Not Frightening Anymore Photo by Jade Masri on Unsplash After three months stuck at home, we got used to COVID. Now it’s part of our normal life, and we don’t care anymore. Fear has diminished. Most countries have eased the lockdown and expect people to behave with common sense, adopting good habits like wearing masks. But people won’t do something that is not mandatory if it’s even a bit uncomfortable. It’s too hot to wear masks now. Who cares? Take BLM protests, for example. I fully support the reasons behind these protests, but this was the worst timing possible. Furthermore, allow me to get a bit off-topic and share an unpopular opinion. It’s not like they are going to fix anything. Racism in the US is too deep-rooted in the nation’s history. Slavery in the past created a vicious circle in which racism and low opportunities for Blacks fed each other. Even after they were granted equal rights, Blacks got fewer chances to prove themselves and this further amplified racist views. Protests may alleviate some symptoms, but it will take much more to fix racism. Fortunately, though, studies show that these protests didn’t increase the spread of COVID. So, why am I saying all this? The point I want to make is how little people care about COVID now. Most people knew that these protests would have increased the spread, even if it didn’t happen. But they didn’t care. To make matters worse, most people have started to think that COVID has gotten weaker with summer weather. This is not true. A virus never “gets weaker” on its own. It can only get stronger. It’s basic evolution. Yes, the exponential spread has partially slowed down with the higher temperature. But this is only because, with hot weather, saliva drops evaporate faster, and the virus spreads with more difficulty. Yet the virus itself is the same as before. After the summer, the spread will accelerate again, and we will likely get a second wave. If anything, the virus can only get more contagious with the summer, to adapt to a more difficult environment. But this is just my hypothesis, and I’m not a virologist, so I won’t make further predictions. This summer is the quiet before the storm. At least in Europe, things look good for now. In Italy, we are getting just 100–200 new cases every day. But in the US, with its government’s poor management, things look very, very bad. And people just don’t care anymore. Your Actions Matter. Remember, It All Started With a Single Person Photo by Morning Brew on Unsplash One of the reasons why people wouldn’t get vaccinated was the following: “I’m not concerned about getting seriously ill from the coronavirus”. This is either ignorant or just selfish. As we are required to wear masks to protect others, we should get vaccinated not only to protect ourselves, but also to avoid being potential carriers of the virus. In other words, if you don’t get vaccinated, you may put several other people at risk. And it’s not just the 2–3 people you can directly infect. Each of these people is another potential carrier that could infect another 2–3 people. This could grow exponentially and hundreds or thousands of people could get infected because you didn’t get vaccinated (and neither did they). Remember, it all started with a single person. As I’m writing this, there are almost 11,500,000 confirmed cases, while the actual number is probably 5 or 10 times higher. All it took was just one person. So, even if you don’t care about getting sick, you should get vaccinated for your friends, family, and community. It can actually make a difference. According to estimates, 50 to 70% of the population would need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. Vaccination is an act of social responsibility. It’s not enough to fight fake news about vaccines, people should also be made aware of the importance of vaccination as a duty towards others. The virus itself is not the only challenge we are facing in this pandemic. The role of our opinions and decisions as responsible citizens poses a bigger challenge that will shape our future even beyond the pandemic.

https://medium.com/i-human/only-49-of-americans-plan-to-get-vaccinated-against-covid-19-yes-you-should-be-that-shocked-973fe453cd42

['Luca Rossi']

2020-07-05 21:46:00.015000+00:00

['Health', 'Covid 19', 'Society', 'Coronavirus', 'Science']

The Importance of Blank Space on Your Calendar

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash It is very easy these days to find ourselves overcommitted and overwhelmed as we try to “fit it all in.” There are many demands for our time and attention, pulling us in a thousand different directions, and countless distractions to derail us from what really matters. It is all too common to find ourselves busy nonstop throughout the day without any space for real thinking. After all, when our lives are so hectic, isn’t it an unrealistic luxury to set dedicated time aside for thinking and reflecting? That is the default mindset for many, but author Greg McKeown provides an alternative viewpoint in his New York Times best-selling book, Essentialism (a fantastic book about doing less, but better, in all areas of our lives). He says,“The faster and busier things get, the more we need to build thinking time into our schedule. And the noisier things get, the more we need to build quiet reflection spaces in which we can truly focus.” McKeown cites Jeff Weiner, the CEO of LinkedIn, who schedules up to two hours of uninterrupted time on his calendar every day. Weiner started this practice when back-to-back meetings began consuming his schedule. Initially, blocking out blank space felt like an indulgence, but now he credits it with being his single-most important productivity tool. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos follows a similar model. He has been known to keep two days per week unstructured in order to think, generate new ideas, and take a long-term perspective instead of getting buried in the day-to-day. Another example is Bill Gates who has habitually taken a week off (twice a year) simply to read and to think. Just in case this only seems possible for Gates at this stage in his career, it turns out that his “Think Week” ritual dates back to the early 1980s and has been maintained during even the most stressful business times at Microsoft and his foundation. As McKeown says, “No matter how busy you think you are, you can carve time and space to think out of your workday.” Maybe it could be first thing in the morning instead of checking email, or in the afternoon as an alternative to social media. Whether it is two hours per day, two days per week, or two weeks per year, we need to make it a point to block out time specifically to think. This space is vital in order to prioritize our life and work, and to focus our energy in the most meaningful areas. But it will only happen if we deliberately design it into our calendar.

https://andrewmerle.medium.com/the-importance-of-blank-space-on-your-calendar-c1a5f0e727fc

['Andrew Merle']

2018-11-27 20:52:54.926000+00:00

['Technology', 'Health', 'Productivity', 'Creativity', 'Entrepreneurship']

A Goodbye to Golden Muzzles: Internal Dissent and the Cautionary Tale of Facebook

In 2019, former CIA agent Yael Eisenstat was specifically hired by Facebook to help reform how the company works with political disinformation and politic ads that contain lies. She quickly bounced out, outraged at Facebook’s inability to take a sober look in the mirror. In short order, she became a vocal critic. Yael sees reforming Facebook as the best and most viable path forward. The social media platform has fended off or absorbed dozens of would-be competitors in the last decade and grown to become a media empire. Facebook’s network effects, reaching more than 2 billion people and counting, are unassailable. The company is a source of American pride and the projection of soft power. But it has also proven an Achilles heel for American democracy, vulnerable to Russia, China and other actors who have fractured and divided us, sewn discord and unrest, successfully diminishing America’s standing in the world. Some would now argue Facebook and other social media to a lesser degree, have been the drivers pushing America to the brink of a new civil war. Though Zuckerberg himself engages weekly with Facebook employees, in AMA sessions where dissent is ostensibly encouraged, he did not alter the company’s content policies until his own personal wealth saw a $7B hit, as share price fell due to the ad boycott. Money talks, apparently. For Zuckerberg, it may be the only voice he listens to. Privately, many people I’ve spoken with in technology, or who cover technology for major news outlets are skeptical as well of the recent Facebook oversight board. Off the record several have characterized this move as a pre-emptive attempt at self-regulation to stave off any government oversight, oversight that might have teeth and impose real sanctions for hate speech or lies that have serious criminal or geo-political impacts. I’m not sure if this is true myself. It would be commendable if an oversight committee had real independence, a group that could not be overruled by Zuckerberg on a whim and could make binding choices that might even result in less revenues but greater civic responsibility. If recent experience is any teacher, such choices would likely never be approved by Zuckerberg. It’s probably true that this will only happen in a substantive way through legislation from Congress. At present I’m in the minority of my friends who are still using the platform. Those of us who have not yet abandoned Facebook are there because of all the ways we can connect with people we love, admire or miss around the world, data harvesting be damned. The platform does provide connection and opportunity. I’ve done all I can to moderate my own feed towards civil discourse, learning, discovery and debate in a spirit of mutual respect. We try to eschew the outrage that sadly has become the norm for grabbing and retaining people’s attention. But I also am under no illusion that my choices are minimal and that Facebook’s opaque algorithm is in charge of what I see and read and who sees and reads what I offer there. I do not control my bubble. They do, and they adjust it to fit their advertisers, to maximize their own revenue and to maximize the usefulness of my data in order to sell it. If you’d like to read more on how we’re all uncompensated “data wells,” I’d recommend Tristan Harris’ Center for Humane Technology or Douglas Rushkoff’s Team Human. One of the best things that could happen to check Facebook’s unrestrained power would be a digital data rights piece of legislation such as that proposed by Andrew Yang’s Humanity Forward organization. If people were paid for their data and could collectively bargain for how it is used, we might get to retain Facebook’s benefits without the company racking up more moral failures and more unchecked power. I personally don’t see how this could operate without a self-sovereign digital identity, a one true encrypted version of each of us online, to which rights, protections and responsibilities could accrue, just as they do in the physical world. In fact this is still a project I hope to work on in the future. So, what would Facebook be like now, if dissent had been genuinely valued, in such a way that it resulted in real flexibility on issues like limits on freedom of speech? And what can startups in their infancy, but with Facebook-scale ambitions, learn from turning internal dissent into an advantage for the organization? How might dissent be an engine for positive civil impact as economic milestones are achieved? The Advantages of Dissent Given the incentives and rules of the shareholder economy, most companies today operate a bit like a constitutional monarchy, with a parliamentary function embodied by a board and shareholders, meant to keep executives (the monarchs) in check. Oversight is meant to prevent abuses or harms that might affect the bottom line, or potentially generate negative legal repercussions. These tend to be cold and unfeeling calculations. There is no real oversight beyond this dynamic for moral hazard — we haven’t yet built that into how our economies operate. There are more cases than warrant cataloguing for greed overriding principle in the behavior of corporate leaders. In fact it’s common that CSR and philanthropic initiatives operate to whitewash ill-gotten gains. If you want a fascinating at length exposé, consider Anand Giridharadas’ book Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. And if you believe as I do, that the majority of power in our world is currently operative in the corporate sphere, then you may also agree that we as a global culture have politically devolved. In the last 500 years, we’ve moved from feudalism to democracy to corporate feudalism as the dominant forms of power shaping our lives today. How might we bring more democratic principles into corporations? Some companies have experimented with structures such as Holocracy, or what Noam Chomsky once referred to as “anarcho-syndicalist communities,” typified by Burning Man. The hope here was to flatten hierarchies and create dynamic self-directed teams to produce products, solve problems and achieve deliverables, whether shipping shoes or building theme camps or art cars. Once achieved, the team could dissolve and join new teams in a constantly evolving fashion that would render the traditional org chart obsolete and provide the intrinsic fulfillment of novel initiatives for all involved. These attempts were most famously piloted by Zappos and its CEO Tony Hsieh. Amongst the tech community and written about here in the NY Times, these experiments are now mostly considered to be failures, not producing greater employee satisfaction or superior outcomes. But this was just one experiment. If we are going to evolve the ways companies function and perhaps infuse them with more democratic processes, we’ll need to experiment a lot more than this. There’s a near infinite number of possibilities for democratizing internal operations as well as public access to internal decision making and overall accountability. And we’ll need to look at how open dialogue can be turned to competitive advantage. Less dramatic experiments with more egalitarian decision making and structure have been trialed at Patagonia and at REI and other co-ops throughout the world. And the promised land may include some element of Pixar, but with a more inventive governance structure. Pixar famously enshrined psychological safety and creativity generating rituals into its company in robust ways that have proven resilient, even after it was acquired by Disney. A great place to read about how this was done is in Ed Catmull’s recent book, Creativity Inc.. Pixar broke down the slide towards rigidity, politics and career enough at least to ensure that the studio did not forever attempt to repeat its most profitable films and instead pushed for continuous reinvention and originality of storylines. Dissent is architected into Pixar’s daily operations. So how might we move away from monarchy and towards democratic principles? How could such principles become an advantage for your startup? And what does this have to do with constructive conflict? What’s come to light for me recently is the promise of collective intelligence, collective and complementary veins of creativity and problem solving. These are ideas at the forefront of social science and most of them have not really been fully applied in the context of commercial companies. To fully benefit from complementary intelligence and talent you need to solicit the recurrent and safe voice of dissent. We need to think together. In the words of Laurie Mulvey, Director of World in Conversation, “conflict doesn’t have to be a dirty word.” You need robust trust and real disagreement, without people succumbing to “amygdala hijack,” a full blown attack of anger, because someone feels personally threatened. For trust to blossom and unvarnished dissent to surface consistently, using Safi Bahcall’s metaphor, a garden must be tended. Larger work cultures tend to cultivate battlefields more than gardens. They teach insecurity, scarcity, avoidance of risk, minimal agency, a war mindset, a zero sum game, with commands trickling down from the top of a pyramidal org chart. The norm is to focus on politics and career advancement. At least in America, most employees can be laid off without notice. If you speak up and become a pain in the ass, the possibility of being fired and to some degree blacklisted in an industry is real. When you’re out there hiring, this sort of conditioning is brought into your startup by most employees, no matter what your company may screen for. It’s a reasonable expectation within the job marketplace as it is. People play defense and zip their lips. To remove the muzzles, golden or otherwise, and benefit from collective intelligence requires repetition from leadership. It requires the cultivation of a symbiotic garden wherein all elements flourish. Leaders will need to repeat that substantive moral dissent is welcome, moral questioning is welcome, to produce this kind of candor. This requires emotionally secure and wise leaders. And though it may feel too dangerous, dissent that is visible outside of the company is not necessarily a disadvantage. A growing body of research suggests that leaders willing to express vulnerability and fallibility are far more sympathetic and credible. Working With Dissent and Cultivating Collective Intelligence So in conclusion for you startup founders, how might your company benefit from the collective intelligence of your founding team? And how might you build a culture and company with enshrined rituals to benefit from dissent, from diversity of opinions that will allow you to remain flexible and adaptive as context changes and your company’s impact grows? Here are a few suggestions. Practice constructive conflict. Model and repeat that the culture you’re all building together is not a monarchy, that collective wrestling with tactics and with moral issues implied by the company’s activity is welcome, always. Schedule for AMAs and close the loop by telling your colleagues when their dissent or differing perspective shaped or reshaped any small or large part of the company’s operations. Model and repeat that the culture you’re all building together is not a monarchy, that collective wrestling with tactics and with moral issues implied by the company’s activity is welcome, always. Schedule for AMAs and close the loop by telling your colleagues when their dissent or differing perspective shaped or reshaped any small or large part of the company’s operations. Be a good gardener, not a military general. Devolve decision making to others as much as possible and repeat that you trust them, admire them and care deeply about their success. Call attention to their greater expertise and defer to their decisions especially when you initially disagreed with their proposals. Devolve decision making to others as much as possible and repeat that you trust them, admire them and care deeply about their success. Call attention to their greater expertise and defer to their decisions especially when you initially disagreed with their proposals. Do the dangerous and hard thing. Develop a communications strategy that demonstrates to your customers and the public that you’re a fallible, humble, learning organization, not a uniform and obedient phalanx of soldiers gulping Kool-Aid without question. Companies that treat their work like war are increasingly mistrusted. Be relatable and human and watch public respect for what you accomplish rise. Speak from integrity, follow through and own mistakes. Develop a communications strategy that demonstrates to your customers and the public that you’re a fallible, humble, learning organization, not a uniform and obedient phalanx of soldiers gulping Kool-Aid without question. Companies that treat their work like war are increasingly mistrusted. Be relatable and human and watch public respect for what you accomplish rise. Speak from integrity, follow through and own mistakes. Remain wary of tying compensation to blind obedience. Continuously realign extrinsic rewards with ethical behaviors, even whistleblowing. Know what is happening when you’re not in the room and that it’s in service of the company’s ethical standards. Remember that Adam Smith, arguably the father of economics, was actually a moral philosopher. Continuously realign extrinsic rewards with ethical behaviors, even whistleblowing. Know what is happening when you’re not in the room and that it’s in service of the company’s ethical standards. Remember that Adam Smith, arguably the father of economics, was actually a moral philosopher. Check in with employees with off the record one on one discussions. Don’t just focus on tactical execution of goals, but an openness to explore and revisit the company’s raison d’être and how this does or doesn’t align with current products or services on offer. Finally, a note on who gets to dissent. I think this is best addressed by hallowed pundit, author and syncretic thinker Malcolm Gladwell. In this short video from the BBC, he addresses social conditioning, ethnicity and bias in who is allowed to add friction and who is discouraged from doing so, all good things to be aware of if you truly want to encourage constructive dissent in your company from all voices and corners.

https://medium.com/swlh/a-goodbye-to-golden-muzzles-benefitting-from-internal-dissent-a7307f7c4891

['Raman Frey']

2020-12-11 13:55:38.098000+00:00

['Facebook', 'Conflict', 'Business', 'Trust', 'Startup']

Essential OpenCV Functions to Get You Started into Computer Vision

Reading, writing and displaying images Before we can do anything with computer vision, we need to be able to read and understand how images are processed by computers. The only information computers can process is binary information (0 and 1), this includes text, images, and video. How do computers work with images To understand how a computer “understands” an image yo can picture a matrix of the size of the image where on each cell you assign a value that represents the color of the image in that position. Let’s take an example with an image in greyscale: For this particular case, we can assign each block (or pixel) in the image a numeric value (which can be interpreted as binary). This numeric value can be from any range, though it’s a convention to use 0 for black, 255 for white, and all the integers in between to represent the intensity. When we work with color images, things can get a bit different depending on the library and how we choose to represent the colors. We will talk more about that later in the post, however, they all share more or less the same idea, which is using different channels to represent the colors, being RGB (red, green, and blue) one of the most popular options. With RGB we need 3 channels to build each pixel, so our 2d matrix now is a 3d matrix with a depth of 3, where each channel is the intensity of a particular color, and when mixing we get the final color for the pixel. Working with images using OpenCV Let’s now jump into the code to perform 3 of the most important functions when dealing with images, reading, showing, and saving. import cv2 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt # Reading the image image = cv2.imread('sample1.jpg') # Showing the image plt.imshow(image) plt.show() # Saving the image cv2.imwrite('sample1_output.jpg', image) If you run our code, now you will get one image saved to disk, and another as a result of the plot. Image by author, from original image by Berkay Gumustekin on Unsplash The image on the left is the one we plotted, vs the one on the right which is the image saved to disk. The difference in sizes aside (due to the plot), the image on the left side looks weird, looks bluish, but why is it different? (by the way, the image on the right is correct).

https://towardsdatascience.com/essential-opencv-functions-to-get-you-started-into-computer-vision-743df932e60

['Juan Cruz Martinez']

2020-06-12 16:03:06.663000+00:00

['Artificial Intelligence', 'Python', 'Computer Vision', 'AI', 'Data Science']

Is All Writing Valuable Writing?

I say yes. Do it all. deviantart.com There are so many styles of writers who write on various subjects and in various themes. There is: The deep thinking essayist. The lighthearted one-minute-wit writer. The haiku poet. The short story fiction writer. The limerick poet. The horror writer. The serious poet. The How-To writer. The Dr. Suessy rhyming styled poet. The self-help inspirational motivational writer. The listicle writer. The personal essayist The comic writer. The satirist. The feverish journal writer. To me, all of this is valuable writing. It all counts. I’ve written all of this myself. I find it fun to experiment. Shouldn't writing be fun and enjoyable? Write it all if you want. Hey, why not try things on for size? There are no writing police (that I’m aware of!) waiting to handcuff you or take your writing permission slip away. Well, maybe you’ll feel judged or even ostracized by your peers for stepping out of your comfort zone. I'm willing to risk that. I’m willing to risk going rogue. I don't write for anyone but me and my inner future old lady, anyway.

https://medium.com/writing-heals/is-all-writing-valuable-writing-16e65ee3abb9

['Michelle Monet']

2019-10-17 13:47:14.203000+00:00

['Inspiration', 'Writing', 'Motivation', 'Creativity', 'Books']

How Writing 1000 Words a Day Changed my Life

I wrote at least a thousand words a day every day from the age of twelve on. — Ray Bradbury, Zen and the Art of Writing When I interviewed Julien Smith for the first time in 2012, he had one of the most popular blogs on the internet. Of all the things he shared with me in our conversation, one thing he said stood out to me. I write 1000 words every day. Shortly after that conversation I started writing 1000 words a day and it’s something I’ve been doing ever since. To say that the habit changed my life would be an understatement. It’s served as a form of meditation, therapy, and clarity. It led to a 2 book deal with a publisher and helped me to launch a career as an author and speaker It’s enabled me to finish a 45,000 word manuscript in 6 months and write 100’s of articles. This simple daily habit has literally had a six figure ROI. It’s changed my life and my career. 1. A Habit Born out of Necessity What started first out of curiosity, eventually turned into something that I had to do out of necessity. The demands on my production increased dramatically almost overnight. I was writing 2–3 posts a week for my personal blog in addition to a weekly newsletter I was being paid $1000 a month to write one piece a week for a client I was writing a weekly piece for a blog at a startup that I owned a small equity stake in. In order to keep up with the demand, I had to develop a system. If I waited to be inspired I would be screwed As I’ve said before, systems are essential to increasing your creative output. 1000 words a day became my system. Within a few months it was a habit so deeply ingrained into my life that it was like brushing my teeth. And that’s when things started to get really interesting. 2. The Art of Being Unmistakable As part of my 1000 words I would publish a really long Facebook status update, what I jokingly referred to as committing career suicide one status update at a time. After a few months my writing started resonating with people like it never had before. In September of 2013, I compiled all of my Facebook status updates into a google doc, had it edited, had Mars Dorian design a book cover, uploaded it to Amazon and called it the Art of Being Unmistakable. The first week it sold 300 copies and I considered that a success. But about three weeks later, a media circus erupted. When I check the rankings on Amazon, I noticed that my book was #1 in the entrepreneurship category. When I tweeted about it, somebody said “you might want to thank Glenn Beck. He raved about your book on his show today.” When I asked a friend she said “I don’t think you realize how big a deal this is, check your sales.” When I logged into the Amazon dashboard, I noticed that the book had sold 1000 copies in a day. Shortly after that I ended up being on the Glenn Beck show and my self published book became a Wall Street Journal Best Seller. 3. A 2-Book Deal with a Publisher Between 2013 and 2015, I never stopped writing 1000 words a day. A few months into 2015, I got the following email from an editor at Penguin Portfolio. I recently rejoined publishing after working at online education startups, having just left Skillshare to join the Penguin Random House team. While it might seem counterintuitive, I came back just for this specific division that works and thinks differently than most of the industry — and is setting out to help entrepreneurs and changemakers with the stories, experiences, and motivation of people who have successfully forged their own path, people like Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, Ryan Holiday, Nir Eyal, Nick Bilton, and more. You are one of those people, and are top of my list of who to contact to work on a book together. Writing in many ways is like planting seeds. You plant seeds today for the person you eventually want to become. After a few conversations, my daily writing habit resulted in a 2 book deal. The first book Unmistakable: Why Only is Better Than Best was released on August 2, 2016. And I’m currently working on my second book. So how exactly do you incorporate this habit into your life? 4. Design an Environment Conducive to Writing You have to design an environment that’s conducive to the person you want to become. If you want to become a writer, your environment should reflect that. If you came to my apartment you would notice two things: 1) I read a lot of books 2) I have stacks of Moleskine notebooks It’s likely that you’d notice something similar in the environment of anybody else who is a writer. When I ate dinner at Tucker Max’s house for the first time, the first thing that caught my attention was the sheer number of books he had. In Ryan Holiday’s post about maintaining a physical library you’ll see that he has multiple bookshelves that are filled from floor to ceiling. 5. Activation Energy and Success Accelerants In his book The Happiness Advantage, the author Shawn Achor talks about how reducing the amount of energy it takes to do something increases the likelihood you’ll do it. Something as simple as decreasing the number of mouse clicks to do something will increase your odds of doing it. The simple hack for this is using a distraction free writing tool like Macjournal. Set it up the night before, so when you flip open your laptop in the morning, it’s the first thing you see. Then you just write. If you prefer to write with a paper notebook, put it out with a pen the night before. The simple act of putting your notebook out the night before with a pen increases the likelihood that you’ll actually follow through on writing. Another variation of this hack is to write one sentence the night before, ideally right before you go to sleep. Write down somebody else’s words. Suddenly the page appears less daunting. This is one of the many reasons I always read before I write. Since your brain makes progress towards a goal based on how close it thinks it is towards that goal, starting with a quote allows you tap into the power of success accelerants. 6. Be Prolific “All good writing begins with terrible first efforts” — Anne Lammot It’s likely your early writing efforts will be lousy. Don’t be afraid to write a shitty first sentence. To this day only a small amount of what I produce on a daily basis is actually usable. But when you write 7000 words a week, you don’t need much to be useable. Say you write 1000 words a week that are decent. That’s 52,000 words. That’s one book in a year. Your cumulative output matters more than any individual writing day. If you want to become a better writer, start by becoming a prolific one. 7. Don’t Judge Your Work It’s possible during the course of 90 minutes of writing that you’ll wander. This happens to me all the time. I’ll get 3–4 paragraphs into a train of thought and suddenly I’m writing stream of consciousness psychobabble. At this point your natural temptation will be to give up or give into a source of distraction. But if you can resist this temptation and just let the verbal vomit show up on the page, you’ll get back to a place of making sense. In that sense it’s a bit like meditation. You simply observe the wandering mind and return to focusing on your breath. 8. Make it a Habit Inspiration is an unreliable strategy for creative work. The muse is a fickle mistress and she tends to show up on her own schedule. You on the other hand have the option to show up every day. By showing up every day, you tap into the profound power of consistency. Something that starts as an item on your to do list eventually becomes a habit and you start to build momentum. On a related note- if you struggle with habits, I’ve put a guide together on optimizing productivity & creativity. Sign up for my newsletter here and you’ll receive it shortly. 9. Always Carry a Notebook Inspiration has a funny way of striking at unusual times. Usually you’re not in front of the computer when this happens. A habit I picked up from my friend AJ Leon is to always carry a notebook. A notebook is like fertile soil where you can plant seeds for your creative ideas. 10. Learn to Recognize Patterns If you pay attention to how you work, you’ll start to see patterns. These patterns are incredibly useful in helping you to develop systems and mental models for you to get your work done. They give you a personal operating manual for yourself. Recognizing patterns helps you adjust your behavior to reach optimal levels of performance. A pattern I saw in my life was that waking up before 6am and meditating led to deeper levels of flow and focus. I also knew that after 10am things seemed to go downhill and after 1pm I’m essentially worthless. I tend to experience flow most consistently when I give myself 90 minutes of uninterrupted creation time. If I go more than a few days without sweating or exercising, my depression and anxiety tend to be exacerbated. I saw that text messages that weren’t responded to after I sent a text were causing me anxiety. I turned of all notifications after this. These patterns play themselves out throughout our lives. Not just in our work. They occur in nearly every situation. You might notice something as simple as a phrase in an email that always elicits a positive response. If that’s the case it makes no sense to deviate from that pattern. You might think that adjusting to patterns might make your life repetitive and boring, but the opposite seems to be true. The beauty of recognizing patterns in your life is that it frees up your cognitive bandwidth for much higher value activities than trying to decide how you plan to behave for the day. Recognizing patterns in your life requires you to take actually take time, slow down and reflect on the results that your behavior is producing. Understanding your own behavioral patterns and the results they produce is the closest thing to a “success” pill you could find. If x causes y, then it would make sense that you choose the x that causes the y that you want. As you recognize patterns you’ll begin not only work more efficiently but work more effectively. By utilizing the patterns you recognize to develop processes and systems, you free your mind up to think creatively. If your mind is taxed with decisions like how long and how much you’re depleting your willpower. One of the most valuable sections of the BestSelf journal is Lessons learned for the day. We learn tons of lessons every day, but without the discipline to capture them, it’s no better than if we didn’t learn them at all. In fact this idea of patterns was inspired by a lesson I learned yesterday which was that 90 minutes of deep work was my consistent sweet spot. Once I saw that pattern I started looking for other ones. As you recognize patterns in your life, you’ll go from a frenetic scatterbrained pace to one that is fast paced, focused, sustainable and generates momentum. There’s a point at which any habit you adopt eventually becomes a part of who you are. You no longer have to think about it. It’s what James Clear refers to as an identity based habit If you see in me in a coffeeshop, at a conference, or anywhere else before 8am, it’s more than likely you’ll find me writing 1000 words. This is no longer something I just do. It’s who I am. In order for a habit to truly change your life, it has to become a practice, likely one that is lifelong.

https://medium.com/the-mission/how-writing-1000-words-a-day-changed-my-life-cf72453b8fef

['Srinivas Rao']

2018-08-24 15:23:18.229000+00:00

['Writing', 'Motivation', 'Life', 'Creativity', 'Productivity']

Anorexia Has A Bacterial Origin, Researchers Say

Infection | Brain Anorexia Has A Bacterial Origin, Researchers Say It’s too naive to think anorexia arises from psychosocial factors alone, researchers argue. Image by CoxinhaFotos from Pixabay Sitting at the 3rd most common disease affecting adolescent females, anorexia is characterized by severe calorie restriction — comorbid with anxiety and depression — that lead to the starvation and malfunctioning of many other organs. Anorexia is titled the most fatal mental illness. Anorexia Etiology Revisited “Psychological factors might be important but are unconvincing as the primary or major cause [of anorexia],” James Morris and colleague from Lancaster University, UK, wrote in Medical Hypothesis in 2016. Anorexia is a functional or psychosomatic disease; psycho means mind and somatic means body. It’s a mind-body disease caused by a combination of psychological and physical factors. Modern views of anorexia, however, neglect the physical cause of the disease, as Morris and team argued: There might, for instance, be an increased incidence of physical and sexual abuse in childhood in those who go on to manifest functional disorders. It is easy to see how this could influence symptoms in adults but it stretches credulity to imagine abuse as the sole and sufficient cause of the functional disorder. Equally modern concepts of the perfect physical form promoted by the fashion industry will influence teenagers to diet but surely there must be something more profound and fundamental to induce emaciation and death by starvation or suicide. Basically, Morris et al. question the idea of psychosocial factors being the sole cause of anorexia. It’s too simplistic and crédule, they thought. It doesn’t explain why a subset of adolescents do not develop anorexia when they have been exposed to similar childhood and cultural experiences. Many will quickly attribute this to differences in genetics, social support or individual’s innate resilience. While these may also contribute to the overall likelihood of developing anorexia, Morris et al. asked: What if bacteria also play a role? When Bacteria-Fighting Antibodies Attack the Brain Morris et al. first observed that anorexia nervosa is 10x more prevalent in females than males, and so are autoimmune diseases. They then cited several studies that found the presence of autoantibodies — that attack the serotonin neurons and appetite-regulating hormones/peptides— roaming in the blood and hypothalamus of anorexics. The levels of these autoantibodies also correlated with the severity of the eating disorder. The hypothalamus is a brain region that controls human's basic needs such as sleep, body temperature, thirst, and appetite. It’s also part of the limbic system — also called the reptilian brain — which is an ancient set of structures in the brain that governs instincts and emotions. Where did these auto-antibodies come from? The studies that discovered them raised the possibility of bacterial infection(s). Upon encountering foreign entities, the immune system makes antibodies that bind to the bacteria surface — to neutralize or marked it for destruction by other immune cells. If the bacterium shares a similar structure to some of the host’s proteins — a phenomenon called molecular mimicry — the antibodies will target both the bacteria and the host own proteins. The fact that these antibodies — now autoantibodies — are considered as allies makes things worse. The blood-brain-barrier, for example, doesn’t see it as a threat — enabling these autoantibodies to easily enter the brain’s limbic system. “Auto-antibodies acting on the [brain’s] limbic system could induce extremes of emotion including disgust and fear,” Morris et al. wrote. “These then become linked, in the minds of adolescent girls, to culturally determined ideas of what is, and what is not, the ideal body shape and size. It is then a small step for disgust and fear to be directed to food and obesity which the fashion industry currently demonises.” Linking to Gut Dysbiosis While Morris et al. have not pinpointed a specific bacterial agent, current scientific evidence suggests that it could be gut bacteria. Sergueï Fetissov, MD and Professor of Physiology, and colleagues from Rouen University and Hospital in France published a pioneer finding in this regard — which Morris et al. cited in his Medical Hypothesis paper. Fetissov and team found that autoantibodies — attacking appetite-regulating peptides — in the bloodstream of anorexics have substantial sequence similarities to few known gut microbes and external pathogens. Proteins having a similar string of amino acid sequence likely have similar structures. And similar structures indicate a higher chance of getting bound by the same antibody due to molecular mimicry. “Numerous cases of sequence homology with these [appetite-regulating] peptides were identified among commensal and pathogenic micro-organisms including Lactobacilli, Bacteroides, Helicobacter pylori, Escherichia coli, and Candida species,” the authors wrote. These are just some examples as they have also discovered 20 other such microbes that have similar protein sequences as the human appetite-regulating peptides. The team further showed that mice without a gut microbiome have lower levels of such autoantibodies than normal mice. “Our data demonstrate multiple cases of molecular mimicry of regulatory peptides with microbial proteins, identifying micro-organisms as putative biological targets to be tested for their relevance to the normal or pathophysiologic mechanisms of appetite and emotion,” Fetissov et al. continued. Linking to the Gut-Brain Axis A 2019 review — written by Jochen Seitz, MD, and coordinator of eating disorders research at University Aachen and colleagues from Germany — took a more holistic approach to the bacterial implications of anorexia. They look at the gut-brain axis and its associated immunology as a whole. They look at it as intricate biological machinery or systems that interact with one another (see figure below). While providing evidence supporting that bacterial infection may confuse the immune system to make antibodies attacking the brain’s appetite-regulatory signals, they added more recent evidence on the gut microbiome profile of anorexics. Compared to non-anorexics, their gut showed a reduced microbial diversity and abnormal outgrowth of certain microbes. “These digestive products of [microbial] protein fermentation [in anorexics] were previously found to increase PYY-production, a gastric peptide known to decrease appetite and increase depressive symptoms,” the German researchers wrote. Image credit: Open-access publication. Caption: Gut microbiome interactions in patients with AN. Citation: Seitz et al. (2019). The Impact of Starvation on the Microbiome and Gut-Brain Interaction in Anorexia Nervosa. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 10(41). doi: 10.3389/fendo.2019.00041 To Wrap It Up A gut dysbiosis or dysregulated gut-brain axis leads to systemic inflammation, autoantibodies, and harmful microbial metabolites — all of which negatively affect the brain’s appetite signals. This may trigger — or at least contribute to — the downward spiral leading to anorexia, in addition to genetic and psychosocial factors. To this end, Seitz et al. (2019) proposed for gut microbiome interventions in addition to traditional therapy for anorexia. “The goals could be to increase the amount of energy harvested from the same quantity of food and to decrease gut permeability, inflammation and antibody formation, with the potential consequence of reducing depressive and anxious symptoms,” Seitz and colleagues emphasized. Likewise, Andrew Radford, the Chief Executive of Beat, an eating disorder charity told The Telegraph:

https://medium.com/microbial-instincts/bacterial-origin-of-anorexia-a-2016-medical-theory-7dd167e92b5

['Shin Jie Yong']

2020-04-21 00:02:37.531000+00:00

['Innovation', 'Mental Health', 'Health', 'Psychology', 'Science']

Here Is A Creative Exercise in Futuristic Storytelling and Worldbuilding

Image created by Author Imagine that you are a storyteller and/or a screenwriter. It is the year 2120. A starship is leaving the Earth. 12 crew members are on it. You will create a science fiction story using this prompt. Please follow the steps below and try to quickly respond to each question. You might use quick bullet points. Keep writing and keep it flowing. Enjoy! Describe the starship. What is its name? Technical or technological features? Imagine its advanced technology. Imagine futurist technologies of the day. Implications? How are they traveling? Why is this starship leaving the Earth? Think of the reason(s) and the back story. Initiate the story: What are the events that trigger this starship to leave the Earth? Think of the mission of this starship. Where are they going? Why? What is their mission? What are the obstacles and challenges facing crew members? Think about these 12 characters/crew members. Who are they? Where do they come from? What makes them tick? Any pains? Are they haunted by their past? What about their personality? Any hidden agendas? Any special talents or super-powers? Ego issues? Vulnerabilities? Who are the biggest adversaries/enemies? What are their plans? How will they act? How do they pose a threat? Describe the events that lead to tensions/conflict. How do these events unfold? What is at stake? How do our heroes act? How do they deal with these threats/challenges? How do they transcend the obstacles? How do they transcend themselves? How do they face the darkness in themselves or in their enemies? How do they fall into darkness/traps/obstacles? How do they overcome these? Any conflicts or trust issues among crew members? How and why? How do they resolve these issues and solve the problems? Think of a few cliffhangers and a finale that will satisfy your readers or viewers. Do not judge your ideas and keep your ideas flowing. Following these steps and writing down your ideas quickly will help you get started in worldbuilding, screenwriting, and storytelling. We did this exercise in the class that I taught recently. You can find the video of this workshop below. You can go to minute 1.50 to find this futurist screenwriting and storytelling exercise. Workshop on Storytelling and Worldbuilding I designed this workshop as collective performance art, where we reviewed some of the biggest names in the landscapes of entertainment, creativity, and business. From space to magic, from basketball to fashion, from animation to computer games, from film music to architecture we have had a trans-disciplinary tour of storytelling and creative careers.

https://fahrikarakas.medium.com/here-is-a-creative-exercise-in-futuristic-storytelling-and-worldbuilding-a167251e6b4f

['Fahri Karakas']

2020-12-29 00:28:37.566000+00:00

['Creativity', 'Personal Development', 'Future', 'Storytelling', 'Writing']

Tell Your Mood to F*ck Off, Push Your Mind Harder, and Create

Tell Your Mood to F*ck Off, Push Your Mind Harder, and Create I found that if I have to wait to “be in the mood” to produce, I would never get anything done Image created by Author I know a few of you will disagree with me. “But Jason. You can’t force the creative process!” or, “If you have to force it, you shouldn’t be blogging in the first place!” I can see the comments when I publish this sucker. A lot of people write for the pure joy and ecstasy of it. They write to free their mind and stretch their artistic muscles. While I aspire to be that way, I can’t truthfully say it is how writing and blogging are for me. I blog for three reasons: To earn money For therapy In the hopes that my stories can help another person get through difficult circumstances I write a lot about mental health and how to overcome obstacles keeping you back in life. I write about blogging and entrepreneurship. I write about my family, my travels, and how to get a better life. I write what I know. I know why I have not been a smashing success and shot up to $10K a month on Medium — because I write about myself too much. Instead of writing about what’s in it for my audience, I write more “How to Survive if Your Life is Shit” pieces. Good-looking self-help gurus are much more marketable than the steaming pile of dooky that has been me and my life for 52 years. I know I’m not where I want to be on Medium because I cannot fully embrace the listicle or the “10 Quotes from Elon Musk that will Make You A Better Writer” post. It’s just not me, and even though I have “making money” as my number one reason for blogging, I can’t force myself to write clickbait headlines and vanilla pudding content. Because the fact is that most times, I have to force myself to sit down and write, and I can’t push myself to write junk I don’t believe in. You have to understand what is going on in my mind right now: Voices are screaming at the top of their lungs, back and forth to each other, and the topic is me and what a shit writer I am. The voices are spouting the ugliest and most hateful things about me and my failure to do anything with my life. In the background, and equally noisy, I hear all the sounds from throughout my day playing at the same time at full-blast. And, sitting in a little corner is my inner Jason — the voice that narrates my life moment by moment- the muse that helps me put words to the page. My muse gets beaten and battered but takes it all with a smile on his face. He knows I have to be tough on him and not let him fall victim to the crap going on behind him. As exhausted as he is from putting up with the racket 24 hours a day, I still have to be firm with him so that I can write. He wants to be comfortable and only write when inspired or in the mood. But I know him. If I wait until he is in the perfect mindset to create, I will be waiting forever, and my life will stagnate. So I encourage and even raise my voice, even though I know he is doing his best. I crack the whip when he doesn’t wake up, and I push and prod him to keep his eyes open. I promise him a long vacation somewhere with snow, wine, and every delicious kind of food he dreams about in his chubby little dreams.

https://medium.com/blog-differently/tell-your-mood-to-f-ck-off-push-your-mind-harder-and-create-3e2255b6a002

['Jason Weiland']

2020-11-05 19:10:29.827000+00:00

['Writing', 'Blogging', 'Mental Health', 'Productivity', 'Creativity']

It’s Now or Never for a Green New Deal

Some sports fans will remember Doug Flutie’s epic Hail Mary throw in the final seconds of the Orange Bowl in 1984. The throw was an act of desperation as there were only 6 seconds left at the beginning of the play, and a field goal was not an option as Boston College was down by 4 points. Flutie called the “55 Flood Tip” play, which sent three receivers straight down the field in the hopes that if one didn’t get a clean catch, another receiver might tip ball in their favor. This is of course not a perfect metaphor for our current climate situation, but the notion of a Hail Mary play should resonate with an American audience. As a society, we only have a small set of options moving forward in the context of climate change. The first option is to do nothing. That would be the equivalent of Doug Flutie taking a knee without even attempting to move the ball forward. The second option is to solely invest in climate adaptation, and effectively forfeit against the challenge of addressing climate change. This option would be the equivalent of Doug Flutie calling a run play in the final seconds of the game, essentially accepting the loss, but finishing out the game respectfully. The third and most exciting option is to throw our Hail Mary. This is the Green New Deal. A set of truly massive federally funded programs that drive our carbon emissions to net zero. The phrase ‘massive federally funded programs’ is undoubtedly politically contentious as progressives and liberals will celebrate these new programs and fiscal conservatives will cringe at the thought of more taxes, more debt, more spending, and more government. Unfortunately, the reality of climate change is uncomfortable and requires our attention, our time, our dollars, and that of future generations as well. The planet is ours to maintain, and it isn’t cheap. There is of course a lot to be done by individuals, local governments, state governments, corporations, and non-governmental organizations. But, we have a time constraint that necessitates federal involvement in a big way. When we refer to Green New Deal programs, we shouldn’t think of them as a single piece of legislation or a single bill being advocated for by one Congresswoman. We need to think about Green New Deal programs as a myriad of initiatives that will continue until we reach a steady-state net zero emission economy. This means that over the next 30–50 years, we are going to develop countless programs and initiatives designed to address climate change and reduce our carbon footprint to net zero. And then, after we achieve a net zero carbon footprint economy, we will have to maintain it. So, this means that many of these programs and initiatives will exist forever, and even more will have to be created for the specific purpose of maintaining the promise of a sustainable future. Given the results of the 2020 Presidential Election in the United States, it is time for Americans to rally behind a Green New Deal… forever. It is conceivable that the political pendulum in the United States will continue to swing back and forth, which means in 4 to 8 years, America might vote in a fiscal conservative that de-prioritizes addressing climate change. If that is a possible future, then it makes even more sense to support massive investments in Green New Deal programs now. Imagine spending 4 to 8 years passing incremental legislation and investing modest amounts of money in emissions reductions, and then shifting to fiscal conservative control of Congress and the White House in 2028 having only made small emissions reductions. It is no longer reasonable to be fiscally conservative, because of the reality of climate change. If it is conceivable that America could elect a fiscally conservative Congress anytime in the future, then it is upon this new Congress and Administration to make any future Congress and Administration irrelevant in the fight to address climate change. In other words, we don’t have the luxury of going back and forth anymore. The planet cannot withstand the long term impacts of the American political pendulum continuing to swing in and out of its favor. This new Congress and Administration must make the pursuit of a sustainable future permanent and disconnect that pursuit from the turmoil of politics. We need a Hail Mary play, not to win, but rather to just stay in the fight against climate change. We need that Hail Mary play to last a century, and we need it to work, which means we need some redundancy. Doug Flutie didn’t send one receiver down field. He sent three. We need to develop and deploy hundreds of programs and initiatives that address climate change, and send them off into the future with permanent and sufficient funding.

https://medium.com/predict/its-now-or-never-for-a-green-new-deal-9efad78a8530

['Carbon Radio']

2020-11-10 01:33:36.574000+00:00

['Environment', 'Future', 'Design', 'Sustainability', 'Climate Change']

Founders’ silent struggle — Overcoming setbacks (Part 6)

Having a high control of themselves is the job of a skilled leader. Needless to say, there is no person in this world who could suppress panics and strong emotions without eventually becoming physically or psychologically ill. The interviewed founders shared learnings that helped them to become stronger winners at their lowest points. 1. Asking for help One of the hardest things for a founder to do is to ask for help. Many want to resolve everything themselves without allowing anybody and even themselves to see their weaknesses. Talking with the right people about the problems lets us unstuck ourselves from the same perspective and see the situations from new lights. Asking for help only means resolving problems faster! And time is the essence of the startup. 2. Finding emotional support Lack of emotional support was what makes founders quit too soon. Having a supportive community of like-minded fellow entrepreneurs helped many in restoring the motivation. It becomes important to see that you are not alone going through rough times and it’s a normal part of every startup journey. In addition, every interviewed successful founder revealed that they had a special person with whom they could privately and openly vent about their complicated situations and their feelings. However, that person was not just any person, it was a person would it be a friend, spouse, family member, mentor or coach who knew how to provide needed emotional safety and right kind of help. 3. Building a family The most unexpected find from the interviews was that many founders mentioned how having family and children helped them to succeed in the startup life. It is expected that founders would spend many nights in the office in building their startups. There is even a notion that if a founder that goes home at 7 pm is not serious about their venture’s success. “Sometimes you feel guilty for not working as many hours as others while building a startup but at the same time having a family keeps everything that is happening in a startup world in perspective. Family and children remind you what is most important in life.” This perspective helped founders in managing the mental sanity and make better decisions in the startup. Making time for family thought how to better structure days. Also, the family provided so needed emotional or even financial support during hard times in building a venture. By talking to people you don’t let yourself be dragged down the hall of the spiraling negative thoughts and emotions. Expressing frustration of “what the fuck to do next” and having a chance to tell what you feel. Having a supportive family who does not put pressure on you keeps you balanced. What helped you to overcome the hardest times?

https://medium.com/ofounders/founders-silent-struggle-overcoming-setbacks-part-6-bd9528026781

['Inga Stasiulionyte']

2020-03-16 07:58:01.364000+00:00

['Coaching', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology', 'Startup', 'Entrepreneurship']

Lockdown and Chronic Depression are a Double Jeopardy

The morning after the night before always hurts and I’m not sanguine about my chances of making it to the bathroom without vomiting on myself. Then again, I last had a meal two days ago. This is likely empty nausea, the kind you get after your brain took a beating because depression intensified. I’m teetotal but I still call this a vulnerability hangover, because those three days of despair were brutal. And they got progressively worse. I spend too many hours staring at the Dutch suicide prevention website and trying to work up the courage to launch the chat function. Eventually, I realize that if I’m not coherent enough to corral my distress into words in conversation at home or in print, chat will be useless. Besides, there are hardly any trains anymore; lying down on the track isn’t an option. Also, I’ve already eliminated the one pharmaceutical tool I could have used several weeks ago. I may not have been very rational at the time but I also knew ingesting the whole lot would have been enough to knock me out or worse. I thought it more prudent to remove that possibility immediately before it became more attractive than it already was. To make sure it was gone for good, I took out the trash despite not looking remotely presentable. We have smart card activated trash cans here: Once the container swallows the bag, there’s no retrieving it. Between 2013 and 2018, this brain kept trying to kill me. I’ve dedicated the last two years trying to teach it not to do that anymore.

https://asingularstory.medium.com/lockdown-and-chronic-depression-are-a-double-jeopardy-2c2d6cdfba7d

['A Singular Story']

2020-04-17 16:26:03.240000+00:00

['Self', 'Mental Health', 'Society', 'Creativity', 'Psychology']

Federated Querying across Relational, Non-relational, Object, and Custom Data Sources using Amazon Athena

Querying Data from DynamoDB in Amazon Athena Amazon Athena now enables users to run SQL queries across data stored in relational, non-relational, object, and custom data sources. With federated querying, customers can submit a single SQL query that scans data from multiple sources running on-premises or hosted in the cloud. Athena executes federated queries using Athena Data Source Connectors that run on AWS Lambda. Athena federated query is available in Preview in the us-east-1 (N. Virginia) region. Preparing to create federated queries is a two-part process: Deploying a Lambda function data source connector. Connecting the Lambda function to a data source. I assume that you have at least one DynamoDB table in us-east-1 region. Deploy a Data Source Connector Open the Amazon Athena console and choose the Connect data source. This feature is available in the region us-east-1 only. On the Connect data source console, choose Query a data source feature. And choose Amazon DynamoDB as a data source. Choose Next For the Lambda function, choose to Configure new function . It opens in the Lambda console in a new tab with information about the connector. . It opens in the Lambda console in a new tab with information about the connector. Under ApplicationSettings, provide the required information. AthenaCatalogName — A name for the Lambda function. SpillBucket — An Amazon S3 bucket in your account to store data that exceeds Lambda function response size limits. SpillPrefix — Data that exceeds Lambda function response size limits stores under the Spillbucket/Spillprefix. Choose I acknowledge that this app creates custom IAM roles and choose Deploy. Connect to a data source using a connector that deployed in the earlier step Open the Amazon Athena console and choose the Connect data source . This feature is available in the region us-east-1 only. . This feature is available in the region us-east-1 only. On the Connect data source console, choose Query a data source feature. And choose Amazon DynamoDB as a data source and choose Next . console, choose feature. And choose as a data source and choose . Configure the Lambda function, choose the name of the lambda that you created in the earlier step. choose the name of the lambda that you created in the earlier step. Configure Catalog name, enter a unique name to use for the data source in your SQL queries, such as dynamo_athena. Choose Connect. Now the data source is available under the Data Sources section in Amazon Athena. Querying Data using Federated Queries To use this feature in preview, you must create an Athena workgroup named AmazonAthenaPreviewFunctionality and join that workgroup. Create an Athena workgroup Open the Amazon Athena console and choose Workgroup, and choose Create workgroup. After creating a Workgroup, under Workgroup section select the created workgroup and choose Switch workgroup. Select the Data source that was created in the earlier step in Athena. After choosing the data source, the DynamoDb tables are available in Athena in the default database. Querying Data in Athena using SQL Queries The following query is used to retrieve data from DynamoDB in Athena. SELECT * FROM "data_source_connector"."database_name"."table_name"; Creating Athena table using CTAS with results of querying DynamoDB The CTAS query looks like the following. Using the CTAS query, the format of data can be changed into the required format be it parquet, JSON, and CSV, etc. CREATE TABLE database.table_name WITH ( external_location = 's3://bucket-name/data/', format = 'parquet') AS SELECT * FROM "data_source_connector"."database_name"."table_name"; I hope this was helpful and look forward to your comments. This story is authored by PV Subbareddy. Subbareddy is a Big Data Engineer specializing on AWS Big Data Services and Apache Spark Ecosystem.

https://medium.com/zenofai/federated-querying-across-relational-non-relational-object-and-custom-data-sources-using-amazon-a03de56d0a3e

['Engineering Zenofai']

2019-12-31 11:45:56.355000+00:00

['Software Development', 'AWS', 'Amazon Athena', 'Data Lake', 'Cloud Computing']

“Holy”: Jamila Woods’s HEAVN Finds Spiritual Freedom in Solitude

Solitude has a stigma. Our society harshly judges a solo life in any capacity — from the simple decisions of attending a movie alone to the major life choices of not getting married. When we see people alone, we may think they are antisocial, defective, or even criminal in nature. This toxic judgement prevents us from deepening our relationship with ourselves and our brains. Without a sense of conviction in our solitude, we cannot be fully at peace with ourselves and our place in the world. It is only with a deeper sense of freedom in our solitary experiences that our relationships, goals, and health can fully blossom. Jamila Woods moves towards this solitude on “Holy”, the penultimate track off her outstanding debut album HEAVN, an angelic and stirring standout that highlights the human capacity to thrive within oneself. “Holy” by Jamila Woods Before leading fans to inspiration, Jamila Woods blew away audiences everywhere by shining the light on her own ability to thrive. With immense lyrical depth and outstanding vocal performance, Jamila stole the show on 2015’s Surf, the debut album from The Social Experiment. On lead single “Sunday Candy”, she shocked and awed audiences with her angelic, tender, and rich voice, buoyed by lyrical content of spirituality and peace. On this gospel-infuenced hip-hop track, she delivered a chorus that could make the clouds part and the sun shine down even on the darkest days. Riding the waves of that critical and commercial success, she released 2016’s HEAVN — capitalizing on her vocal strengths while expanding her lyrical content towards topics like racial identity, gender politics, hometown reflections, and internal purpose. Through these topics, Jamila never stops searching for her own personal heaven. “Give me today my daily bread / Help me to walk alone ahead / Though I walk through the darkest valley I will fear no love / Oh my smile my mind reassure me I don’t need no one” Jamila opens the song with a steady and passionate vocal delivery that immediately absorbs you into the heady atmosphere of the track. She punctuates each word with an ever-so-slight staccato that perfectly lands in sync with the drum beat. This contrasting combination allows the gravity of each word to sink in while maintaining a comforting levity throughout the track. That levity allows us to maintain hope as Jamila recounts the rollercoaster of feelings that comes with our lease on life. With references to Christian theology, she acknowledges that the expedition of life is often one that is both solitary and spiritual. In this expedition, we will trek though the darkest valleys. Trying to do this without a flashlight, guidebook, or a crew can be one of the most terrifying undertakings. Yet when we remember that we always have ourselves for support through the ebbs and flows, a conviction so powerful begins to overtake us. With a new conviction, often comes an epiphany. “Woke up this morning with my mind set on loving me / With my mind set on loving me / I’m not lonely, I’m alone / And I’m holy by my own” With a simple but enlightening chorus, Jamila shifts the connotations of being alone that have been ingrained in so many of us. We can be surrounded by tons of people but still feel empty and lonely, and we can be all by ourselves yet brim with fulfillment. As we create more of the latter moments for ourselves, we make the sacred transition from loneliness to solitude. The electronic-tinged synth loops, jazz-influenced drum pattern, and soothing horns all build in a slow-moving fashion allowing for a steady energy that grows fuller as the song progresses with Jamila’s journey. This instrumentation coupled with her heavenly and seasoned vocals, create an environment that is just as internally convicted as it is externally triumphant. This triumph is not without the acknowledgement of life’s hard truths. “Ye, the bad days may come / The lover may leave / The winter may not / Hey, the map of your palms / The temple you be / You’re all that you got” With these words and her mature-sounding vocal delivery, Jamila gives an impression of someone who has seen pain and hardship directly in the face but has maintained a level of practical determination to not wither in the storms of life. As the horns crescendo and an injection of soulful crooning supports Jamila’s final chorus, her determination transfers to the listening audience. We leave the song understanding that life is hard, but we begin to internalize the idea that our capacity to thrive in times of solitary strife may have been severely underrated. As college has come and gone, and I have moved to a major city, this stage of my life has naturally veered into a more solitary direction. I still see and connect with friends, family, and co-workers on a highly regular basis, but I also have begun to spend much more time alone. Even more jarring than that, my life path has become much more of a solo endeavor. The intense camaraderie that defined my life has disappeared as I am no longer in the same structural bubble of the American education system. This change was difficult at first. What begun as a pretty intense bout of loneliness slowly transformed into a great focus on myself. I began to take much better care of my mental and physical health, creating a more disciplined food, sleep, and exercise routine, along with taking full advantage of my company’s free mental healthcare benefits. I started my music publication, which deeply reconnected me with my core values and made me profoundly optimistic of where I could take my dreams. All these changes skyrocketed my ability to be self-compassionate and deepened in me a strong sense of self-efficacy. These types of transformative experiences crystalize in the moments we spend with ourselves. These are times when we can ponder, reflect, and process our lives completely without distraction or input. Eventually, this time of disconnection can lead us to a place where our greatest values and hopes are no longer this drifting ephemeral cloud that is impossible to grasp, but a burning spiritual fire that is at the forefront of our consciousness. While crippling and painful at first, this solitude eventually builds us in ways we could have never imagined. In this solitude, we find our freedom.

https://medium.com/beats-and-thoughts/holy-jamila-woodss-heavn-standout-finds-spiritual-freedom-in-solitude-ae9a09cc38d7

['Mohith Subbarao']

2020-01-30 04:44:49.946000+00:00

['Music', 'Mental Health', 'Psychology', 'Analysis', 'Art']

How Google and Its Geeks Nudge Each Other to Sustainability

When you think of working at Google, what likely comes to mind are the legendary perks, the game rooms, free haircuts, and napping pods. But while the Silicon Valley titan has earned a reputation as a leader in corporate sustainability, less evident is its use of certain perks to encourage employees to reduce their own environmental footprints. Likewise, sometimes the supersmart “Googlers” are the ones pushing the green envelope. Google’s sustainability cred comes in part from its status as the world’s largest corporate buyer of renewable energy, not counting utilities. Since 2010, the company has signed 20 agreements to purchase roughly 2.6 gigawatts, about the same as taking 1.2 million cars off the road. Google is also on track to reach its goal of using 100 percent clean power across its operations this year. To be clear, this does not mean that the company will run entirely on wind and solar, but that Google will purchase renewable electricity each year equal to the amount of electricity its global operations consume. But clean energy is only part of the picture. The company has numerous energy efficiency and waste reduction initiatives at its offices and data centers, which save money while reducing environmental impact. Because we’re talking about Google, these efforts often involve the use of various digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (more on that in a bit), to solve problems. For example, while Google provides compost bins in its famous cafés where employees chow down on free gourmet meals, its chefs use digital scales designed by a company called LeanPath to monitor supply and usage in the kitchen to improve meal planning and reduce waste in the preparation process. The company thinks about waste in a “broader framework” and is trying “to design waste out of our systems altogether,” says Kate Brandt, chief sustainability officer at Google. “It certainly has some parallels with energy efficiency — there’s a great business case for it as well a great environmental benefits.” Through its waste reduction, composting, and reuse and recycling programs, Google has reached an 86 percent landfill diversion rate at its Bay Area offices and 78 percent globally. This year, the goal is another 10 percent reduction per Bay Area employee compared with 2015, as well as a new set of regional targets. Bikes and Burgers Food is one of two areas where perks at Google overlap with incentivizing employees to shrink their environmental footprint. The other is transportation. First, workers must commute to the compounds where they infamously spend much of their time. The company’s shuttles, which run on 5 percent biofuel and include heavy-duty filtration systems, have been a fixture on Bay Area highways for a decade now. In 2015, use of Google shuttles and the more recently added corporate electric vehicles netted an annual savings of 29,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of taking 5,700 cars off the road. Globally, the company has installed more than 1,600 electric vehicle charging ports at its offices and data centers, and employees can charge their cars at work for free. The company also gives an electric pedal-assist bike, lock, and helmet to any employee at its Silicon Valley headquarters who wants to make biking his or her primary means of commuting. The overall goal: to reduce single-occupancy vehicle commuting at the headquarters to 45 percent by transitioning more workers to shuttles, carpooling, public transit, biking, and walking. (Google does not prohibit working from home, but neither does it particularly promote it.) Meanwhile, back at the company’s cafés, you’ll find more covert attempts at changing employee lifestyle. For example, Google is subtly nudging its workers toward a less meat-intensive diet, according to a recent report by Fast Company. Meat consumption contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions — by one estimate, raising livestock for meat, dairy, and eggs is responsible for 14.5 percent of emissions globally. Google’s chefs prepare various vegan dishes — often made with “ugly produce” bought at a discount and saved from the landfill — but the company doesn’t try to convert meat lovers immediately to a fully vegetarian diet. Instead, its strategy is to reduce meat consumption, such as with its “blended” burger that uses mushrooms to cut the amount of beef in each patty. Now here’s the covert part: Over time, the company has slowly increased the percentage of mushrooms, which add moisture and soak up the flavor of the beef as they cook, in each burger from 20 percent to 50 percent. In other dishes, meat might shift from being the center of the meal to a side or garnish. Geeking Out on Energy Efficient Data Centers Google corporate doesn’t always do the nudging. It has an incredibly talented staff coming up with new ideas during each lap in the onsite pool. Brandt tells the story of Jim Gao, a former Google efficiency engineer who last year made it his mission to use artificial intelligence to reduce energy use at the company’s data centers, which as of 2015 already used 50 percent less energy than the industry average. You probably don’t think about it every time you send an email, comment on a social media post, or watch the latest YouTube clip, but it takes a network of enormous energy-consuming data centers to keep the internet humming 24/7. This connectivity, like everything, comes at a cost. Globally, data centers consume 3 percent of the world’s energy (around 420 terawatts) and emit 2 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases, according to Yole Développement, a French market research and consulting company focused on the technology industry. Google has 14 data centers around the world and has long considered its servers to be the front line of its sustainability efforts. Gao did his work via a 20% Project, a company program that allows employees to use 20 percent of their time at work to solve a particular problem. He had taken a class in machine learning, a type of AI that gives computers the ability to learn things without being explicitly programmed. Basically, computers can teach themselves through repetition how to interpret large amounts of data. Google was already using machine learning to improve features like language translation and image recognition. When you ask Google Photos for pictures of cats in a box, Google’s machine learning algorithms find the photos you want. So Goa wondered: Why not use this tech to reduce server energy use? He soon discovered why not. With all of the different variables, Goa and his data center intelligence team were looking at billions of distinct configurations, a set of possibilities far beyond the ability of any human to test. So Goa joined forces with Google’s leading AI research group, DeepMind, which had recently gained attention for its work on a computer agent that taught itself to play not just one, but every Atari game really well. (Goa now works for DeepMind full-time.) Goa’s team and DeepMind used a model of broader, more generalized algorithms and came up with a solution: General beats specific. Since their discovery, the models have been piloted at multiple data centers and have produced a 40 percent reduction in energy used for cooling and a 15 percent reduction in overall energy overhead. Goa is far from an anomaly. “Not a week goes by that I’m not talking to someone about a new idea or a potential 20% project,” says Brandt. Google’s monstrous volume of servers has also become an example of deploying what’s called the “circular economy” at scale, says Brandt. The circular economy is the buzzword for the latest incarnation of waste reduction, which involves designing more efficient systems (or products or equipment) where materials are endlessly cycled back through via repair, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishing, and recycling. (Remember the LeanPath scale? That’s an example of designing waste out of a system.) Google starts with server maintenance so equipment can be used as long as possible. Servers that can’t be kept on the floor get pulled off and sent to a central hub for remanufacturing. Functioning parts that the company no longer needs, such as hard drives, are wiped clean and sold on the secondary market. Anything left over gets recycled through the company’s recycling partners. Last year, the company diverted 86 percent of its data center waste away from landfills. As of September, Google’s goal is zero waste to landfills at all 14 of its locations. “We definitely set a stretch goal to reach zero waste to landfill, but this is the kind of challenge we get excited about,” says Brandt. “We like to solve these gnarly problems.” Solve on, gnarly Googlers.

https://cjclouse.medium.com/how-google-and-its-geeks-nudge-each-other-to-sustainability-ba36a8314531

['C.J. Clouse']

2017-09-20 00:42:04.345000+00:00

['Climate Change', 'Renewable Energy', 'Google', 'Sustainability', 'Vegan']

J.K. Rowling’s Advice For Writers With Big Dreams

J.K. Rowling’s Advice For Writers With Big Dreams A simple and highly effective way to up your game Photo by Rae Tian on Unsplash J.K. Rowling is the richest writer in the world. Making a fortune on children’s book seems impossible. But it happened for her, and it happened again and again. As legend has it, Harry Potter came to her when she was riding a train. She started writing as soon as she got home. You never know where and when a great idea will present itself to you. Write them all down when they show up. Take time to flesh them out and lead you in new directions. That’s where great writing starts. But if you really want to be the best writer you can be, you’ve got to do one simple thing repeatedly. Write the Rubbish Out Rowling is British. I’m using her word for verbal garbage here. You get good at anything by being bad at it first. The first time you drive a car, you better practice in a wide open space like an empty parking lot while school’s out. This is smart because you won’t hit another car with yours while you’re learning how hard to press the gas and hit the brake. You won’t annoy the people behind because nobody is behind you. Do this enough and by the time you hit the road, no one has to fear for their life. If you’re a parent, you know kids are born with foolishness built in. Your job is to drive it out of them so they navigate life well and stay out of constant trouble. It’s not easy. But if you don’t do it, you’ll pay dearly for it later. When you first start writing from a raw idea, it might not make much sense. That’s okay. Just like bodybuilders have to warm up their muscles before they pump iron, writers have to warm up their pens a bit before the words flow with ease and elegance. You can’t skip this step if you want to be a great writer. And don’t worry, you don’t have to share the rubbish. The next point will sound counter to that, but trust me, it isn’t. Photo by Estée Janssens on Unsplash Share your failures Do you want to be perfect? I understand. I want to be perfect, too. And I’ve tried really hard. I can’t do it. Perfection is at best, elusive and subjective. It’s elusive because you can always look at your work tomorrow and say, “I could have done that better.” Don’t torture yourself. All great art isn’t perfect. It’s finished. The artist stopped somewhere. You must too, if you want to publish and ship regularly. Perfect is subjective because one person’s awesome is another one’s awful. Want to please everyone? You can’t. Please the ones who care about what you care about. So show us your flaws. Share your failures. We know you’re not thrilled about them. But that one bad experience, framed the right way, can bring someone the hope they’ve been longing for. Can you think of a better gift than that? We can’t relate to people with perfect lives. We love those who succeed despite the fact they’re as messed up as we are. So go ahead, share that mess. Choose the right goal We’ve kicked perfection to the curb. What do we have left to focus on? Effectiveness. How can you leave someone better than you found them? How can your story give hope to others who struggle? How deep can you dig to show that you care and that it’s okay to be messed up? Honest writers make the best connections with readers. Am I telling you not to aim high? No way. Compete with who you were yesterday. It’s the only fair contest. Define your mission so clearly you know what it will take to achieve it. Consider each post to be part of a body of work dedicated to that mission. Each time you write your heart out you move one step closer to achieving your mission. It all starts when you embrace the rubbish within. Write it out and you’ll find the gold.

https://medium.com/swlh/j-k-rowlings-advice-for-writers-with-big-dreams-b5ea306baf7c

['Frank Mckinley']

2019-12-27 21:31:04.838000+00:00

['Success', 'Creativity', 'Entrepreneurship', 'Productivity', 'Writing']

F. Scott Fitzgerald on How to Write Masterful Dialogue

September 22 marked the beginning of autumn, and it reminded me of this wonderful quote from The Great Gatsby, “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” As the quote repeated itself in my brain, I wondered what part of the book it came from. There are so many quotes like this one that people lift from books and share across Instagram and other social media sites, devoid of their original context. So I went in search of the quote and found it on page 107 of my edition of The Great Gatsby. It’s a line of dialogue that the character Jordan says in reply to Gatsby’s love interest, Daisy: ‘What’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon,’ cried Daisy, ‘and the day after that, and the next thirty years?’ ‘Don’t be morbid,’ Jordan said. ‘Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.’ The writer in me sprang to attention and said, “What masterfully written dialogue!” Perhaps I could glean several tips from Fitzgerald that would help me to write masterful dialogue as well. So I continued reading a little more of the scene and came away with these three takeaways. 1. Increase Conflict Through Contradiction Conflict makes a story a story. If The Great Gatsby were just about Nick Carraway’s stay in a cottage in New York and described his rather monotonous daily routine, the book would not have become a bestseller. Instead, the book is full of shocking plot twists: murders, affairs, and more. Just as conflict drives the plot of a story forward, it drives dialogue forward as well. Notice in the lines of dialogue above that Jordan is reproving Daisy. This adds tension to the conversation and also introduces the unexpected, which keeps readers on their toes. Each of your characters should have their own unique personalities. This means they’ll probably disagree with each other more often than they would agree. I delved into this more in the YouTube video I recently made about the dinner table exercise. You can watch it here. How to Put This Tip Into Action: I’ve found this tip very helpful for editing the novel I recently finished writing. I’d written several scenes with long conversations, and I realized they weren’t very interesting because it was just one character speaking their mind. I introduced disagreement and questioning from other characters, and the conversations became much more interesting to read and revealed much more about the characters’ personalities. As you write a conversation in your story or novel, experiment with having characters disagree with each other. You might find that the conversation ends up going in a different direction than you had originally intended and makes your plot even more intriguing. 2. Avoid Writing Dialogue That’s “On the Nose” As I continued reading the scene from The Great Gatsby, I realized that it was the part of the story where Daisy accidently reveals she loves Gatsby in front of her husband, Tom. Here’s what Fitzgerald writes, ‘Who wants to go to town?’ demanded Daisy insistently. Gatsby’s eyes floated toward her. ‘Ah,’ she cried, ‘you look so cool.’ Their eyes met, and they stared together at each other, alone in space. With an effort she glanced down at the table. ‘You always look so cool,’ she repeated. She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded. Notice that Daisy doesn’t say out loud to Gatsby that she loves him. Instead, she merely says that he looks cool. Fitzgerald explains that the underlying subtext is that she loves Gatsby. The subtlety of her words makes the scene compelling. This is a fantastic reminder not to write dialogue that is “on the nose.” Try to avoid having your characters say something that’s obvious to the reader or reveals exactly what the character is feeling or thinking with no subtext. How To Put This Tip Into Action: Take a story or other manuscript you’ve written and see if there is any “on the nose” dialogue. Rewrite it to make the scene more engaging for your readers. Instead of having a character exclaim, “I’m angry!” show us the character is angry through their actions and facial expressions and through a more subtle line of dialogue. A quick note, though, that “on the nose” dialogue isn’t always a no-no. A demure, soft-spoken old lady who suddenly lashes out and exclaims, “I’m furious!” will pique your readers’ curiosity. So only avoid “on the nose” dialogue if it is stating something obvious or if it is not revealing further details about the character’s personality. 3. Hint at the Theme of Your Story Here are two more fantastic lines of dialogue from this scene: ‘She’s got an indiscreet voice,’ I remarked. ‘It’s full of — ‘ I hesitated. ‘Her voice is full of money,’ he said suddenly. That was it. I’d never understood before. It was full of money — that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals’ song of it…. Fitzgerald uses the line of dialogue “Her voice is full of money” to hint at one of the themes of the story: the shallowness of the upper class, who hide behind their wealth. In his book Storycraft, editor Jack Hart notes the importance of having a theme or lesson in your piece of writing, “Theme gives the audience a sense of time well invested. (What’s the point of reading unless reading has a point?)…When you think about it, every theme incorporates a lesson. That’s the value added that draws an audience to a story in the first place. The bigger the lesson, the more value added. The biggest have the enduring quality we associate with great literature.” You can convey your story’s theme in a lot of different ways: character arcs, plot structure, etc. And, as we see in The Great Gatsby, you can also convey the theme through dialogue. How To Put This Tip Into Action: When you attempt to convey a theme through dialogue, it’s easy to fall into the trap of having a character preach at the reader for several long paragraphs. Fitzgerald shows how to convey a theme with just a single sentence of dialogue. Look at a piece you’ve written and see if you have any characters (maybe even the narrator) preaching at the readers. See if you can simplify what they’re saying into just one memorable line or two. Conversely, if you have a piece where you haven’t conveyed the theme as strongly as you’d like, see if you can work it in through a line of dialogue. The Takeaway I’m sure if we continued studying Fitzgerald’s novel we could glean many more tips for how to write memorable dialogue, but these three are a fantastic starting point. And while Fitzgerald was a renowned writer, these three techniques are simple and straightforward. You can start using them right away to take the dialogue in your stories to the next level.

https://medium.com/copywriting-secrets/3-tips-from-f-scott-fitzgerald-for-writing-masterful-dialogue-d86c0bc9c6

['Nicole Bianchi']

2020-10-04 23:56:21.574000+00:00

['Creativity', 'Books', 'Fiction', 'Productivity', 'Writing']

How we helped streamline a mobile solutions company’s processes in a business-friendly way

Mesensei is a company that designs and creates mobile solutions for organisations and companies. The company turned to Kodan when they wanted to renew some of their software development processes and make them more effective, productive and cost-effective. After some brainstorming, we decided to focus on transforming part of their service into the cloud. The result of teaming up with Mesensei was a modern new way of working that Mesensei can now carry out independently in their future projects. The project: Designing new architecture to streamline product development We were excited to be asked by Mesensei to kick their product into a new gear and speed up their development by offering technical help. We wanted to design the new architecture in a way that would support and enhance the company’s business model. Transforming the process was a challenge, but we here at Kodan love a good challenge! Moving to the cloud for flexibility and safety At the start of the project, we felt the vibe about where Mesensei was at and then had a brainstorming sessions to chat about where they wanted to go next. Deciding to split the system into several smaller parts and moving those into a cloud infrastructure, we used the microservice architecture approach, because operating in the cloud improves system performance and safety, and makes everything easier to maintain. We chose the Mesensei’s API for images as our test feature that we would move into the cloud. As the projectt kicked off, we noticed we could also offer Mesensei valuable help with programming and provide them with more workforce. Kicking off with the modernization at the beginning of 2019, we used AWS and node.js tools and brought in a senior and a junior coder, which also helped us amp up our own knowledge. While our developers Nikolas, Juho and Jan worked with moving the image API into the cloud, Mesensei’s programmers were able to get on with their own work, using the existing system uninterrupted. Result: Cloud-based microarchitecture, clear direction and more tools for the future The project didn’t need a hefty investment in terms of money or time. All in all, it was a swift move that will help Mesensei to do the same with the rest of their services in the future, and in general enables new, established processes. New features can now be developed and implemented faster than ever. At the end of our collaboration, Mesensei was happy with the work we’d done together and the smoothness of the process. We’re stoked to have helped them on their journey toward expansion. “Working with Kodan has been a breeze. They were quick and efficient, and we got solid and concrete results fast.” - Tuukka Ylälahti, Co-founder & CEO at Mesensei — For more information about the case, contact our CEO Marko Loukkola: marko.loukkola@kodan.fi or +358 (0)44 552 5952. For more Kodan: www | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

https://medium.com/the-kodan-blog/how-we-helped-streamline-a-mobile-solutions-companys-processes-in-a-business-friendly-way-bd611489339b

['Ville Yli-Knuutila']

2019-06-05 06:43:22.298000+00:00

['AWS', 'Cloud Computing', 'Mobile App Development', 'Microservices']