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[iOS study] 撲克牌poker二十一點遊戲開發

要做撲克遊戲先要把52張牌做出來： 這裡想用array跟迴圈來做，並把圖片名稱統一改為花色加數字 自創型別 import Foundation struct PokerCards { var Level:Int var Number:Int var PokerName:String var Suit:String } 建立出52張牌 var numbers = ["1","2","3","4","5","6","7","8","9","10","11","12","13"] var suits = ["clubs","diamonds","hearts","spades"] var pokerImageName = "" var card:PokerCards? var cardArray = [PokerCards(Level: 1, Number: 1, PokerName: "clubs1", Suit: "clubs")] func pokerFunc()-> [PokerCards] { for i in 0 ..< suits.count { for j in 0 ..< numbers.count { pokerImageName = suits[i] + numbers[j] card = PokerCards(Level: i+1 , Number: j+1 , PokerName: pokerImageName, Suit: suits[i] ) if let card = card { cardArray += [card] } } } cardArray.removeFirst() return cardArray } 起始洗牌 override func viewDidLoad() { super.viewDidLoad() cardArray = pokerFunc() cardArray.shuffle() } 接著要發牌分配，先發玩家牌，再發莊家牌 ，並且加上分數計算 （以下都接近土法煉鋼，而且很混亂） var z = 0 var y = 5 var k = 0 var player = 0 var playerA = 0 var bank = 0 var bankA = 0 func dealOneFunc(){ var playerPoint = cardArray[k].Number if cardArray[k].Number > 10 { playerPoint = 10 }else if cardArray[k].Number == 1 { playerPoint = 11 playerA += 1 } player += playerPoint pokers[z].alpha = 1 pokers[z].image = UIImage(named:cardArray[k].PokerName) k += 1 if bank < 17 || bank < player, player <= 21 { var bankPoint = cardArray[k].Number if cardArray[k].Number > 10 { bankPoint = 10 }else if cardArray[k].Number == 1 { bankPoint = 11 bankA += 1 } pokers[y].alpha = 1 pokers[y].image = UIImage(named: cardArray[k].PokerName) bank += bankPoint k += 1 y += 1 } z += 1 } 結算結果輸贏（A記為11點，若會因A而爆牌則A可算為1點。) func resultFunc(){ if player > 21, playerA != 0 { player -= 10 playerA -= 1 } if bank > 21, bankA != 0 { bank -= 10 bankA -= 1 } if player > 21{ resultLabel.text = "Bust! you lost" resultLabel.textColor = UIColor.red dealButton.isHidden = true passButton.isHidden = true }else if player == 21 { if bank == player { resultLabel.text = "Push" resultLabel.textColor = UIColor.white }else { resultLabel.text = "you win!" resultLabel.textColor = UIColor.yellow dealButton.isHidden = true passButton.isHidden = true } }else if player < 21 { if player > bank { resultLabel.text = "you win!" resultLabel.textColor = UIColor.yellow dealButton.isHidden = true passButton.isHidden = true }else if player <= bank, bank <= 21 { resultLabel.text = "you lost" resultLabel.textColor = UIColor.white dealButton.isHidden = true passButton.isHidden = true }else if player <= bank, bank > 21 { resultLabel.text = "you win!" resultLabel.textColor = UIColor.yellow dealButton.isHidden = true passButton.isHidden = true } } } func bustFunc(){ if player > 21, playerA != 0 { player -= 10 playerA -= 1 } if bank > 21, bankA != 0 { bank -= 10 bankA -= 1 } if bank <= 21, player > 21{ resultLabel.text = "Bust! you lost" resultLabel.textColor = UIColor.red dealButton.isHidden = true passButton.isHidden = true }else if bank > 21, player <= 21 { resultLabel.text = "you win!" resultLabel.textColor = UIColor.yellow dealButton.isHidden = true passButton.isHidden = true }else if bank > 21, player > 21{ resultLabel.text = "Bust! you lost" resultLabel.textColor = UIColor.red dealButton.isHidden = true passButton.isHidden = true }else if player == 21, bank < 21 { resultLabel.text = "you win!" resultLabel.textColor = UIColor.yellow dealButton.isHidden = true passButton.isHidden = true } } 判斷發完52張牌後的語法 func emptyFunc(){ if k >= 51 { dealButton.isHidden = true passButton.isHidden = true k = 0 pokerBack.alpha = 0 resultLabel.text = "No cards!" cardArray.shuffle() } } 發牌的func emptyFunc() if z < 4 { dealOneFunc() bustFunc() }else if z == 4 { dealOneFunc() resultFunc() } else { sender.isHidden = true } 與發牌不同的passFunc emptyFunc() while bank < player { if player <= 21, z < 4, bank < 21, k < 51 { var bankPoint = cardArray[k].Number if cardArray[k].Number > 10 { bankPoint = 10 }else if cardArray[k].Number == 1 { bankPoint = 11 bankA += 1 } pokers[y].alpha = 1 pokers[y].image = UIImage(named: cardArray[k].PokerName) y += 1 k += 1 bank += bankPoint } } resultFunc() 重新開始 @IBAction func restarFunc(_ sender: UIButton) { for i in 0...9 { pokers[i].alpha = 0 } dealButton.isHidden = false passButton.isHidden = false resultLabel.textColor = UIColor.black resultLabel.text = "Black Jack" z = 0 y = 5 player = 0 bank = 0 playerA = 0 bankA = 0 print( "已發張數" + String(k) ) pokerBack.alpha = 1 } github: 這次重點放在撲克花色的呈現以及分數的比較, 就沒有研究放入動畫了,但模擬過程中發生了幾次畫面當掉（不是死掉）,突然按任何地方都沒反應,不確定是xcode或是語法有問題導致的狀況.

https://medium.com/%E5%BD%BC%E5%BE%97%E6%BD%98%E7%9A%84-swift-ios-app-%E9%96%8B%E7%99%BC%E6%95%99%E5%AE%A4/ios-study-%E6%92%B2%E5%85%8B%E7%89%8Cpoker%E4%BA%8C%E5%8D%81%E4%B8%80%E9%BB%9E%E9%81%8A%E6%88%B2%E9%96%8B%E7%99%BC-f2abde4955ac

['Yolanda H.']

2019-04-06 08:13:11.498000+00:00

['Arrays', 'Swift']

Goal Setting for Authors

Goal Setting for Authors We wrap up 2020 and the first season of the Author Bound podcast talking about setting goals and how to set yourself up for a successful new year. Check out our blog and share your goals for 2021. We’ll see you next year!

https://medium.com/the-winter-writer/goal-setting-for-authors-fac98e267af1

['Laura Winter']

2021-01-04 17:47:03.385000+00:00

['Writing', 'Goal Setting', 'Goals', 'Authorpreneur', 'Authors']

How Hard is It to Have Sexless Individual Toilets?

I begin to think I’m really stupid. To start solving some of the pressing gender issues, I thought of two immediate solutions and I don’t understand why no one has thought of these and implemented them: Abandon men/womenswear altogether so men can wear dresses too, like women can wear trousers since 120 years ago. Have individual cubicles as toilets This way, everyone is the same and equal. No one will judge a person’s outfit before they go into the loo, and everyone can touch up their make up in front of the mirror without fear. The gender/sex chat bores me, not because it’s not important, but because it’s missing the point, and not proceeding fast enough. I am thinking from the perspective of those ladies who work in night clubs’ toilets, selling candies, deodorants and everything else. Do the gent’s have a similar person selling candies? If not, you will be in for a treat in my toilets.

https://byrslf.co/how-hard-is-it-to-have-sexless-individual-toilets-3406450e8787

['Midori The Sea']

2020-12-14 16:16:24.854000+00:00

['Masculinity', 'Gender Equality', 'Beyourself', 'Transgender', 'Innovation']

Your Guide to Employee Wellbeing

The current climate has put a strain on employee wellbeing, no doubt. But it’s important to recognize and support the factors that influence wellbeing in the workplace, not only today but well into the future. When offices and workplaces shut their doors to control the spread of coronavirus, employees were asked to either adapt quickly to a remote set-up, accept furlough, or — as is the case for some sectors — continue to come to work despite infection risks. As a result, this pandemic has forced us to reconsider the definition of, and support for, employee wellbeing at our organizations. In one way, it’s thrown up some challenges — how do you nurture and care for an employee’s wellbeing during a time of social distancing, economic downturn and global stress? But on the other hand, this brief hiatus from “normal life” also presents opportunities, and a chance for companies to ‘reset’ on the activities, initiatives and cultural cues that just aren’t working for staff. Employee wellbeing has always been important. But looking forward, when we eventually regroup and physically come back together as teams, what we as managers and employees ourselves do in relation to employee wellbeing will be critical. Defining employee wellbeing in 2020 To help us navigate employee wellbeing right now and into the future, we need a definition with flex in scope and scale. Today, the pressures of professional, social, familial and civic responsibilities will be having a massive impact on how positive or negative an employee’s wellbeing will be. A simple example: if it takes 30 minutes to connect to your inbox, and another 15 minutes to open an Excel sheet, then you can bet an employee’s patience and positivity will start to fray! Conversely, if managers are receptive to, and understanding of, a team member’s need for flexible working hours — balancing being mom or dad, home teacher and an employee — then this will certainly take a weight off their shoulders and, in turn, help with their wellbeing. Even better if they can provide the tools required to remove any friction from the experience. That’s why we like the following definition of employee wellbeing. While it’s a few years old now (written by Bridget Juniper in an issue of Occupational Health in 2011) its simplicity and adaptability makes it perfect for today’s current climate: Employee wellbeing is “that part of an employee’s overall wellbeing that they perceive to be determined primarily by work and can be influenced by workplace interventions.” There are three key elements in this definition, each with an important subtextual meaning: An employee’s overall wellbeing: employee wellbeing isn’t a separate entity, it is part of an individual’s overall, or total, health, happiness and satisfaction. This is more true today than ever, as digital connectivity has meant the lines between working hours and downtime are more blurred. That they perceive to be determined primarily by work: the way that employees see their wellbeing, and the factors which contribute to it, might be different from what their managers and colleagues think or see. Can be influenced by workplace interventions: while the workplace can help or hinder, employee wellbeing comes down to more than workplace interventions — it also comes from within the employee themselves. This is a key insight, as it means that both organizations (and the managers who represent them) and individuals are responsible for employee wellbeing. So let’s look at that in practice. What are the key ingredients that amount to positive, or negative, wellbeing at work? 8 of the most important factors for employee wellbeing Research from the UK’s Banking Standards Board has presented a useful framework for understanding employee wellbeing in the workplace. The BSB breaks it down as follows: Work setting Workload Job control and autonomy Security and change Relationships at work Organizational justice Work-life balance Meaning at work With just a quick glance at this list, you can instantly see how many of these factors could be under threat in the current climate. And, it’s what we as managers and employees do in relation to these right now that will help with our current wellbeing and set the tone for the future. We need to reflect on: Work settings: in the home, in lockdown with other family members or alone, contributes significant stress. What do you know of your team’s work settings and what they’re coping with? in the home, in lockdown with other family members or alone, contributes significant stress. What do you know of your team’s work settings and what they’re coping with? Workload: may be less, it may be more (depending on your sector) — both changes can add stress and unsettle wellbeing. Now is the time to focus on output, not “busyness” or clocking up hours. may be less, it may be more (depending on your sector) — both changes can add stress and unsettle wellbeing. Now is the time to focus on output, not “busyness” or clocking up hours. Job control and autonomy: some may be seeing more autonomy in their work (which is a good thing for most), but others may feel their control slipping away (we’re in the midst of uncertainty for the “foreseeable future”, after all!) Are you encouraging autonomy or has your own uncertainty as a leader caused you to be more controlling? some may be seeing more autonomy in their work (which is a good thing for most), but others may feel their control slipping away (we’re in the midst of uncertainty for the “foreseeable future”, after all!) Are you encouraging autonomy or has your own uncertainty as a leader caused you to be more controlling? Security and change: for obvious reasons, job security is a concern for many right now. Okay, maybe you can’t give any reassurances but that doesn’t mean you should avoid the topic. for obvious reasons, job security is a concern for many right now. Okay, maybe you can’t give any reassurances but that doesn’t mean you should avoid the topic. Relationships at work: organizations are quickly adapting to video calls and instant messaging to maintain company culture. But how well is it working for relationships? organizations are quickly adapting to video calls and instant messaging to maintain company culture. But how well is it working for relationships? Organizational justice: some may feel that furlough was unjust, or they may feel their managers are being unreasonable with expectations during this stressful and confusing time. Reflect on what you’re asking people to do. some may feel that furlough was unjust, or they may feel their managers are being unreasonable with expectations during this stressful and confusing time. Reflect on what you’re asking people to do. Work-life balance: when your home is your office and your office is your home, it’s very hard to switch off. What ground rules have you agreed to make sure the team “ends” their day? when your home is your office and your office is your home, it’s very hard to switch off. What ground rules have you agreed to make sure the team “ends” their day? Meaning at work: what does purpose look like during a pandemic? Are you helping employees to identify, understand and lean into their current purpose? It’s worth exploring that last point further. Purpose is often forgotten as a factor in employee wellbeing, but it plays a central role. A sense of purpose or meaning in the work we do contributes greatly to intrinsic motivation. Some would say that purpose is what gets us out of bed in the morning. Yet it permeates deeper than that. Purpose touches every single aspect of our employee experience. It marks the difference between giving a job what you need to give it — to get paid, to get a promotion, to please other people, etc. — and what you want to give it. In this way, the greater our sense of purpose, the more fulfilling our experience, and the better our wellbeing. So what’s happening to purpose right now? While some employees have a crystal clear purpose — healthcare workers, for instance, and those upholding public services like postal delivery and essential retail — others do not. If you’ve been furloughed, you could have shifted your intrinsic meaning elsewhere. Perhaps now you’re focusing more on being a good parent or partner; maybe you’re simply finally putting time into that personal project you’ve been meaning to start for years. But regardless of role or sector, this pandemic is (hopefully!) only temporary. Will retail assistants still feel that deep sense of pride for supporting their community in a year’s time? And how can we support furloughed staff for the time being? Equally as important, for those of us whose workload and job role continues close to “normal”, how well are we nurturing their sense of purpose despite physical distances and the inevitable drop of business activity that we all see during a recession? These are all critical questions to ask ourselves and our organizations. Because — as we hinted to before — this time of change presents a valuable opportunity for reflection and growth. As individuals, the sudden disturbance of our day-to-day routine gives clarity on what we consider essential for our wellbeing. And leaders have the responsibility of learning from this experience and using this break for the norm to hit ‘reset’, investing more in the elements which lead to positive employee wellbeing, and moving away from the elements which could damage it. Employee wellbeing: a health check for the rest of the year, and beyond Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash Us humans are highly adaptable. If you think back to when lockdown first began, everything felt strange and unusual, yet now we’re sort of in a rhythm — even if it is still slightly staccato. Similarly, if we’re not careful, we’ll fall back into old routines and habits when we do reenter the office. And to do so would be a mistake. Chances are, work won’t go back to “normal” for a long time, if ever. Some experts are claiming that we’ll see a continued uptake of remote working long after physical distancing measures are loosened. The World Economic Forum says that the very design of our office spaces will change. But regardless of which predictions come into fruition, one thing is for sure: we’ll have a new appreciation for employee wellbeing. If WEF is right, then our physical health will be supported like never before. But, writing for Forbes, sociologist Tracy Brower says she hopes that companies will provide new and improved emotional support for employees, too. She also says that leadership will need to step up, and we couldn’t agree more. Because, while it is true that both the employee and the employer share responsibility for protecting employee wellbeing, managers and leaders are central to this exchange. It’s up to managers to facilitate the dialogue between employee and employer when it comes to positive wellbeing. This means having the big conversations — where do you see yourself in five years? — and the frequent check-ins — how’s your week been? Upon returning to work, managers would do well to speak to their teams and hear what they’ve learned about themselves during this time. Better still, they could start that conversation now and have planted the seeds of thought, ready for the day they can be face-to-face again. Even better still, this should become standard practice — an employee wellbeing health check, that happens not once a year or once every global crisis (!), but on an on-going, continuous basis. After all, if our definition of employee wellbeing has taught us anything, it’s that — just like any other form of wellbeing — workplace health, happiness and satisfaction needs nurturing everyday. But it’s also highly individualistic: managers can’t possibly know what’s contributing positively or negatively to an employee’s wellbeing without speaking to them. Research from McKinsey points out that: “SAS Institute, often found near the top of “best places to work” lists, is a company whose business strategy is premised on long-term relationships with its customers — and its employees. The company signals in ways large and small that it cares about its employees’ well-being.” And the daily face of attention and care? Leaders. The manager-employee relationship is a pivotal part in how much an individual feels supported by their employer — how much they feel their physical and mental wellbeing is a priority. So managers, here’s your challenge. Find time right now to consider how well your organization stacks up again the eight factors of employee wellbeing listed above. Do your own reflection, from where you’re standing. And then, when you can, ask team members to feed back, too. As individuals, we can all take a little time to consider what contributes to our own positive employee wellbeing. What do we want and need from our role? What do we want and need from our managers? What do we want and need from our organizations? Let these insights shape your actions for the coming year. Reflect on them frequently. Talk about them openly. And, before you know it, together you’ll have created a culture much like SAS Institute’s: one that shows in large and small ways that it cares. And we can always do with a little more of that, especially today. Duuoo’s continuous performance management software empowers meaningful conversation. With frequent touch points, and an emphasis on on-going conversation, get in touch today to see how Duuoo can help you understand and support employee wellbeing in your organization.

https://medium.com/duuoo-io/your-guide-to-employee-wellbeing-b0da53111f2a

['Michael Sica-Lieber']

2020-05-13 11:59:13.602000+00:00

['Employee Well Being', 'Employee Engagement', 'Employee Development', 'Employee Experience']

What the 2020 Election Revealed About the Differences Between Republican and Democratic Campaigns

What the 2020 Election Revealed About the Differences Between Republican and Democratic Campaigns Colin O'Hagerty Follow Nov 28 · 5 min read President-elect Joe Biden speaking in Wilmington, Delaware on November 25, 2020(image courtesy Carolyn Kaster) On November 7th, Joe Biden was projected to be the winner of the 2020 presidential election and on November 23rd, President Trump’s General Services Administration gave the go ahead to begin the official transition process. While Trump is currently unleashing an onslaught of lawsuits against various swing states for what he claims are irregularities in the voting system, none of them are likely going to have an impact on the final results of the election. While many people on the left felt relief with the end of the Trump presidency, others were left astounded after the Democratic Party’s significant losses in the House of Representatives and throughout down-ballot races. These losses help to reveal that the “Trumpian” era of politics is far from over and that the Democratic Party is going to need to overhaul its campaign and political strategy in order to stay on top in future elections. Biden, a largely well-respected candidate, barely beat one of the most unpopular incumbents in history, Trump. Obviously, there is something wrong with how the Democratic Party approaches campaigns if the margins were this close. More accurately, there is a drastic difference in how the Democratic and Republican parties vie for local support. First off, and this is something that has become more and more prevalent in discussions between Democratic leadership following 2020 losses, the party as a whole campaigns very poorly. While some moderates may believe the issue is that candidates in swing districts are becoming too tied to controversial progressive issues like Defund the Police and Medicare for All, this has less to do with the policies themselves and more with how the candidates approach their districts. As a whole, down-ballot Democratic candidates are treated very similarly to top-ballot races like Governor, Senate, and President by the party. However, Republican candidates approach every type of campaign differently. This causes a problem as Democratic candidates do not appear to tackle issues specific to their districts within their campaigns; instead they appear out-of-touch and only focused on national politics. As a result, Republicans win a lot more swing districts as it’s much easier to attach moderate or swing district Democrats to progressive ideas when the Democrats are failing to target their vision to their districts. Democrats who are able to take this more populist approach and campaign directly towards their future constituents, rather than as a national candidate, see much more success. Two examples of these sorts of campaign strategies can be found in candidates with almost opposite political beliefs within the Democratic Party. First is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. AOC, as she is more commonly known, gained national acclaim after unseating a long-time Democratic incumbent in the primary of her 2018 congressional election. However, her campaign strategies were what got her to that success and gave her the upset win. Rather than campaigning as a Democrat, even if that was her party label on the ticket, she campaigned as a representative of her district. She published ads featuring her talking to constituents, made sure to point out her connection to everyday people through highlighting her past as a bartender, and volunteered throughout the district. These tactics that were more targeted towards her specific district are what gave her success. Similar success(albeit not a win but a drastic change in results) can be seen in Colonel Moe Davis’s campaign in North Carolina’s District 11. The Democratic candidate in 2018 lost the general election by 20 points. However, Davis cut that loss to 12 points and was regularly polling close behind the Republican candidate, Madison Cawthorn. Davis’s policies were vastly different from Cortez’s; he opposed many forms of gun control, opposed many progressive movements like Medicare-for-All, and was largely a centrist Democrat. However, like Cortez, Davis used a populist campaign strategy that focused on highlighting his connection to the region, appealing to everyday constituents, and consistently meeting with district communities to learn what they desired in a representative. His candidacy focused on being a representative for his district, rather than being a representative for the Democratic Party, and this is what helped him tighten the gap in this traditionally conservative area. Another 2020 race from North Carolina can reveal the drastic consequences if the Democratic candidate fails to target their vision to their office. Jenna Wadsworth was the 2020 Democratic nominee for Commissioner of Agriculture. She was a very progressive candidate who supported policies like Medicare-for-All, strong police reform, and marijuana legalization. Many of these policies were popular in North Carolina. However, because Wadsworth campaigned on these policies rather than ideas specific to her potential office, she was seen as “dark horse” for the Democratic Party. Because of her failure to target her campaign to her audience, Wadsworth lost the support of many independents and swing voters who may have otherwise decided to vote against a relatively unknown incumbent. By focusing on national issues rather than issues specific to North Carolina agriculture, Wadsworth lost the election by 7 points while all other Democratic losses in the North Carolina Council of State averaged around 3.5 points. Her loss is a stark warning for what happens if the Democratic Party continues with its past campaign strategies. Along with the failure of the Democratic Party to campaign well in down-ballot races, this election has shown that the political tactics of fear popularized by President Trump can bring candidates success; the “Trumpian” era of fear-mongering politics is here to stay. Most psychologists agree that fear is a much better motivator than policy when discussing political campaigns. The success of fear-mongering tactics can be seen throughout the contrasting advertisements of the Republican and Democratic parties, especially in the Trump era. Before Trump, most political ads were focused on policy and the idea of a better future for the candidate’s constituents. Mudslinging, while sometimes used, was rarely the primary motivation for getting people out to vote. However, Trump’s success has shown that attacking one’s opponent and sparking fear can be just as successful. In Republican ads throughout this election cycle, Democratic candidates have been painted as socialists, anarchists, terrorists and more. While these accusations are largely baseless, they do a great job in firing up the Republican base and getting them out to the polls. These fear-mongering tactics can be seen on the Democratic side as well. Viral ads from groups like Meidas Touch have made an impact by portraying a horrific future under Trump or Republican rule. Similarly, some down-ballot Democratic candidates have taken the approach of advertising through fear by connecting Republicans to the more controversial parts of their party. On both sides, policy driven debates and campaigns have been replaced by campaigns driven on fear and ad hominem attacks. However, the Republicans have done a much better job at stoking the fires of their base. The combination of this campaign environment that favors Republican fear-mongering tactics and Democratic failures at running populist, local campaigns proves a stark warning for likely Democratic failures in the 2022 midterms and beyond. Barring a drastic change in Democratic or Republican campaign strategies, this Trump-style environment and Republican success seems here to stay.

https://medium.com/an-injustice/what-the-2020-election-revealed-about-the-differences-between-republican-and-democrat-campaigns-5998c8bfe4cc

["Colin O'Hagerty"]

2020-11-30 16:01:44.474000+00:00

['Politics', 'Republicans', 'Democrats', '2020 Presidential Race', 'Campaign']

What Wikipedia can’t tell you about 1st date

We all know Wikipedia is the dictionary of the internet. It has all the information that we need, but yet we seem to can’t find suitable dating advice that we can implement right away to attract our Mrs right on our 1st date. Right about now, you may be excited. As your date approaches, your excitement may turn to nervousness. What should I wear? How should I act? Where should we go? But no worries, I’m the “New Wikipedia” for dating advice. Continue reading on for a few helpful tips. 1. Planning the Date When you asked the girl on a date, what did you say? If you asked her to the movies, that is where you should go. Do not change the date location without first speaking to her. This is one of the fastest ways to ruin a first date. If you want to sneak in dinner or a drink, that is okay, but always live up to your words. If you do make changes, discuss them in advance. If you asked the girl if she would like to go out with you, but didn’t provide her with a destination, start thinking about it now. Don’t decide at the last minute, as this may result in disaster. The best first dates are those where you can have fun and get to know the girl. Opt for movies and dinner, an outdoor concert, a picnic, bowling, and so forth. If you are still at a loss for ideas, ask her for suggestions. There are two ways to arrive at a date, together or separate. When possible, you want to drive your date. She may not accept your offer, but at least make it. Note: If you want to learn more on how to successfully nail your first date by capturing all his attention, love and devotion, click here to find out more… or go here https://linktr.ee/10Lovely 2. Preparing for Your Date For most men, preparation begins a few hours before date-time. Yes, this is true, but think about costs. If you are on a budget, you need to financially prepare for your date ahead of time. You can prevent this from becoming a problem by opting for an affordable destination. For example, don’t choose a restaurant where you can’t afford half the food on the menu. Most guys prepare for a date by showering. This is a small, but important step. Show up clean. If you don’t think you will have enough time, try to leave work early, skip your afternoon at the gym, and so forth. 3. The Date Do not assume that loading cologne on will hide your smell. It may, but your date may also have a bad reaction to it. You want to make a good first impression on your date. The easiest way to do this is to arrive early. Never be late for a date. If you will be late, call immediately. Do not assume that all women are alike and running late. Some women run on schedule. Even still, you want to be on time even if you have to wait a few minutes for her. The goal of a first date is to learn more about the one you are with. For that reason, keep on talking. Pauses in a conversation are common, but try to prevent them. Ask your date questions and she should do the same. If not, talk a little bit about yourself. The most important thing to remember about first dates is that they aren’t supposed to be perfect. Rarely will a first date go 100% as planned. There will always be awkward moments. There will always be pauses in the conversation and one of you is likely to say something slightly embarrassing. If your first date doesn’t go as planned, don’t panic. Hopefully, you will have a second chance to make a good impression. If you want to learn more on how to successfully nail your first date by capturing all his attention, love and devotion, click here to find out more… or go here https://linktr.ee/10Lovely “Yeah, but how do I make a good impression?” Continue reading on for a helpful list of first date dos and don’ts. DO pay for the date. You asked; therefore, you should pay. If the relationship grows and results in more dates, then consider alternating payment or splitting the bill, but for the first date, you should pay. As for why this tops the list, it may require a little bit of savings on your part. If you are a teenager with limited cash flow or if you opt for a fancy restaurant, you need to prepare ahead of time. DON’T pour on the cologne. Unfortunately, many guys think the more the cologne the better. This isn’t true! Only splash a dab of cologne on you. Even girls who don’t have allergies will have reactions to strong cologne or too much of it. So don’t ruin your date; don’t cover yourself in it. DO wear something nice. What you wear should depend on what type of date you plan. For example, a long hike and a picnic may call for sport pants, but leave them at home if you opt for the movies. Always wear clean clothes, but make sure you are comfortable. DON’T go overdressed. As stated above, you want to look nice for your upcoming date, but don’t overdo it. By overdressing, both you and your date will feel uncomfortable. If you opt for a movie, a pair of nice jeans, khaki pants, and a clean shirt will do. Unless you take your date to an elegant restaurant, leave the prom gear and eveningwear at home. DO think of topics to discuss ahead of time. First dates are awkward. If you don’t really know the girl, you may wonder which topics are okay to discuss on a first date. If you do know the girl, you may be at a loss for words because well you already know her. For that reason, think of topics to discuss in advance. Popular news stories, movies, and sports are good topics. DON’T apply too much pressure on yourself. As previously stated, first dates are awkward. Rarely are they 100% perfect. There will be some weird and slightly embarrassing moments, no matter how hard you try. For that reason, don’t apply too much pressure on yourself. In fact, just be yourself. DO be yourself. One of the reasons why first dates are awkward is because most of us try too hard to impress the one we are with. Of course, you want to go out of your way to be polite, but that is about it. If you aren’t known for holding doors open for women or saying please and thank you, do it. Being polite and showing respect is vital to a successful first date, but other than that just be yourself. DON’T be late. Whether you pick your date up or meet her at the destination, do not be late. In fact, be early. Making your date wait is the quickest way to ruin a first date, as well as a potential long-term relationship. DO have fun. Whether you are 16 years old or 46 years old, it is common to be nervous about a date. You should take the time to plan and prepare for your date, by thinking of topics to discuss and making sure you have enough money to foot the bill, but don’t let it consume you. On your date, remember to be yourself, let loose, and have fun. DON’T apply pressure for a second date. At the end of your date, you may have had a good time, but that does not mean your date did. If you want a second date, ask, but don’t apply too much pressure. Tell your date you had a lot of fun and that you would like to do it again. Make sure she has your phone number and put the ball in their court. Let her call if she is interested in a second date. What’s next? If you want to learn more on how to successfully nail your first date by capturing all his attention, love and devotion, click here to find out more… or go here https://linktr.ee/10Lovely

https://medium.com/@10lovelyofficial/what-wikipedia-cant-tell-you-about-1st-date-6844be94426a

[]

2020-12-22 03:37:52.534000+00:00

['Dating', 'Relationships', 'Relationships Love Dating', 'Love', 'First Date']

Video Streaming in Web Browsers with OpenCV & Flask

Step1- Install Flask & OpenCV : You can use the ‘pip install flask’ and ‘pip install opencv-python’ command. I use the PyCharm IDE to develop flask applications. To easily install libraries in PyCharm follow these steps. Step2- Import necessary libraries, initialize the flask app : We will now import the necessary libraries and initialize our flask app. #Import necessary libraries from flask import Flask, render_template, Response import cv2 #Initialize the Flask app app = Flask(__name__) Step3- Capture Video using OpenCV : Create a VideoCapture() object to trigger the camera and read the first image/frame of the video. We can either provide the path of the video file or use numbers to specify the use of local webcam. To trigger the webcam we pass ‘0’ as the argument. To capture the live feed from an IP Camera we provide the RTSP link as the argument. To know the RTSP address for your IP Camera go through this — Finding RTSP addresses. camera = cv2.VideoCapture(0) ''' for ip camera use - rtsp://username:password@ip_address:554/user=username_password='password'_channel=channel_number_stream=0.sdp' for local webcam use cv2.VideoCapture(0) ''' Step4- Adding window and generating frames from the camera: Image by Author-Frame generation function The gen_frames() function enters a loop where it continuously returns frames from the camera as response chunks. The function asks the camera to provide a frame then it yields with this frame formatted as a response chunk with a content type of image/jpeg , as shown above. The code is shown below : Frame generating function Step5- Define app route for default page of the web-app : Routes refer to URL patterns of an app (such as myapp.com/home or myapp.com/about). @app.route("/") is a Python decorator that Flask provides to assign URLs in our app to functions easily. @app.route('/') def index(): return render_template('index.html') The decorator is telling our @app that whenever a user visits our app domain (localhost:5000 for local servers) at the given .route() , execute the index() function. Flask uses the Jinja template library to render templates. In our application, we will use templates to render HTML which will display in the browser. Step6- Define app route for the Video feed: @app.route('/video_feed') def video_feed(): return Response(gen_frames(), mimetype='multipart/x-mixed-replace; boundary=frame') The ‘/video_feed’ route returns the streaming response. Because this stream returns the images that are to be displayed in the web page, the URL to this route is in the “src” attribute of the image tag (see ‘index.html’ below). The browser will automatically keep the image element updated by displaying the stream of JPEG images in it, since multipart responses are supported in most/all browsers Let’s have a look at our index.html file : <body> <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-lg-8 offset-lg-2"> <h3 class="mt-5">Live Streaming</h3> <img src="{{ url_for('video_feed') }}" width="100%"> </div> </div> </div> </body> Step7- Starting the Flask Server : if __name__ == "__main__": app.run(debug=True) app.run() is called and the web-application is hosted locally on [localhost:5000]. “debug=True” makes sure that we don’t require to run our app every time we makes changes, we can simply refresh our web page to see the changes while the server is still running.

https://towardsdatascience.com/video-streaming-in-web-browsers-with-opencv-flask-93a38846fe00

['Nakul Lakhotia']

2021-01-11 16:21:58.943000+00:00

['Computer Visio', 'Streaming', 'Opencv', 'Surveillance', 'Flask']

Nigeria: ImaliPay Launches Financial Products For Gig Economy Workers

Nigerian startup ImaliPay has launched its platform, which leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to offer tailored financial products that promote the inclusion of gig economy platforms and workers across Africa. Co-founded early this year by Tatenda Furusa and Sanmi Akinmusire, ImaliPay offers both new and existing gig workers or freelancers the ability to seamlessly save their income and receive in-kind loans through a buy now, pay later model tied to their trade. As gig workers save money or repay loans on time, they are able to build a credit history that will in turn unlock more formal financial services in the future. “Gig workers or freelancers are daily or weekly earners. Due to this volatility, and fragmented earnings or income, they often lack a safety net and lack tailored access to financial services. This means they are underserved or neglected by existing financial institutions. For new gig workers entering the new economy, they struggle to have a “leg up” to get into gig work,” Furusa told Disrupt Africa. ImaliPay helps with this, and launched in partnership with e-hailing startup SafeBoda in Nigeria this year. Since then, Furusa said it has seen 30 per cent month-on-month customer growth, with 96 per cent of its registered riders saving, borrowing, or both. “This includes saving daily and weekly, and accessing product financing for phones, bike parts and fuel from our platform, which significantly improves productivity and earns more income over time,” he said. Expansion is an immediate goal. ImaliPay will soon launch in Kenya in partnership with services platform Lynk, and by the end of the year will also be active in South Africa, working with another large freelancer platform. It also plans to launch in Uganda and Ghana in the first quarter of 2021. ImaliPay, which makes money through service charges, low interest rates and withdrawal fees, was briefly concerned by the effect of COVID-19 on certain parts of the gig economy. “However, ride-hailing and on-demand mobility have proved to be essential services for delivery of crucial consumer goods and commodities to households across Africa. Furthermore, the future of work post-COVID will involve significant remote work including outsourced jobs to online white collar freelancers,” said Furusa. Source: Disrupt Africa

https://medium.com/@digitaltimes-2020/nigeria-imalipay-launches-financial-products-for-gig-economy-workers-4e48091cc9dc

['Digital Times Africa']

2020-10-07 16:33:45.236000+00:00

['Nigeria', 'Technology News', 'Technology', 'Fintech', 'Africa']

Breaking the Rules: How FanVestor is Changing the Game in Fan Investing and Commerce

In my last post, I discussed innovations and disruptions in business and introduced you to FanVestor, the first of its kind all-in data-driven ecosystem that is revolutionizing investment through fan investing and fan-commerce with regard to entertainment and sports. FanVestor’s mission is to democratize investing so everyone, regardless of their bank balance, can become an “owner/investor” in individual celebrities and teams about which they feel passionate. What follows is an in-depth look at how FanVestor compares with other types of investing such as traditional capital markets and how it is innovating the crowdfunding industry. Historically, investing has been a privilege reserved for high net worth and high-earning individuals and institutions. For the most part, this investing is also focused solely on investors’ financial goals, with no consideration of their other possible motives for investing. In recent years that has begun to change, as the uptick in investment in mission-driven companies has demonstrated that consumers have a desire to invest in enterprises that are aligned with their own values and interests. Unlike profit-driven companies that later add a philanthropic foundation as an afterthought, entrepreneurs are now building businesses that are conceived around a mission to do good in the world, and investors, particularly millennials, are investing with their conscience. But even with this socially responsible view of business, the investment paradigm continues to ignore millions of potential investors, who don’t fit the criteria for the concept of investing in the traditional capital markets. Even if these consumers have the means to do so, they may not be knowledgeable about investing in the stock market and perhaps even have a fear or distrust this arena. Some of these consumers have only been exposed to the 401K or IRA retirement investment plans and think of anything else as too risky. Whatever the case, for companies such as FanVestor there is a tremendous opportunities to democratize investing and innovate on both crowdfunding and entertainment and sports finance. The increased popularity of crowdfunding in recent years is due to both consumer and business interests. There are several benefits to these platforms: for one, startups can raise money more quickly without having to pay upfront fees. Crowdfunding is also beneficial for entrepreneurs, who have had trouble securing funding through venture capitalists or from lending institutions. There are other benefits to crowdfunding as well — the online “pitch” of a company or project is a very effective marketing tool. Ideas that are not attractive to mainstream investors might gain traction in the crowdfunding space, especially when it comes to FanVestor’s model of celebrity-driven campaigns with the fan-sourced financing concept. In fact, if an issuer comes up with the right idea at the right time it can go viral, leading to overnight success as we have seen already with several Reg CF and Reg A+ offerings. All these securities offerings such as FanVestor’s are done under the SEC/FINRA strict guidance and oversight as well as managed by FINRA-certified Broker Dealers or Reg CF Official Portals. Investors can observe the funding process, which can generate further excitement and inspire them to spread the word within their social networks and communities. And finally, because these investors were excited enough to invest, they may also become your best customers that in which they are investing. While both traditional investing and crowdfunding models have their benefits, neither addresses the unique fundraising and investment opportunities in the sports and entertainment realms. Under the traditional investment model, control of investment opportunities today rest in the hands of media companies and sports teams. Moreover, investing in celebrities and entertainment has always been reserved for wealthy individuals and institutions, with no room for the average fan or follower. As with other forms of traditional investing, emotional investments are not even a consideration; it is often all about the monetary return. The truth is, when emotions are at play, these campaigns can generate results with much lower cost of capital and higher valuations for the issuers than through the traditional capital markets. Why? Fans who invest in their idols do not typically think in terms of “What is my return on capital?”; “What are my minimum required multiples of revenue or EBITDA?” or “When do I need to re-balance my portfolio?” Their main motivator is to be a member of a community or a club associated with that celebrity. It is upon this principle that we based the foundation of our FanVestor “Invest with Heart” concept. There still other significances between FanVestor and traditional investing models. Cross-border fan participation is barely accessible in traditional capital markets, especially from emerging markets; fans rarely, if ever, have the opportunity to invest in the international entertainment and sports figures they love. At the same time, unregulated fan investing has led to fraud, lack of accountability, and unimpressive financial incentives; there is also little to no engagement with those celebrities they invest in. On the other side of things, musicians and athletes who are seeking to raise capital have little to no knowledge of their fans’ financial background or spending habits. Clearly, a new model was needed, and we have created that with FanVestor’s, fan investing and fan commerce platform for elite talent, musicians, and athletes as well as entertainment, sport and e-sport organizations — the only such platform in existence today with the highest level of compliance and online investing sophistication. It is the best of both worlds, combining the egalitarian, forward-thinking aspects of crowdfunding/fan-sourced fundraising with the security of traditional capital market investing. FanVestor allows celebrities to offer a percentage of any aspect of their career to the public. SEC-regulated financial products are FanVestor’s offerings, which means that owners/investors enjoy the same benefits (i.e. investment liquidity) as those who invest with investment banks such as Goldman Sachs or others. FanVestor investors now receive investment liquidity, future dividends and revenue shares when they invest. In addition, owner/investors are eligible for wide range of exclusive experiences and rewards — both digital and physical perks products/experiences not available through traditional investing or crowdfunding, such as priority access to music and sporting events and other experiences that are deeply meaningful to fans. Moreover, through FanVestor aims to provide ways for the needed liquidity for eco-system participants once the offerings are successfully completed. FanVestor’s platform is “Commercially Viable and Institutionally Credible™” because we work with major banking institutions as well as tax and legal advisors, including banks, accounting firms and law firms such a HSBC, Deloitte and Perkins Coie, respectively. FanVestor’s proprietary technology offers unprecedented security that is fully compliant with the SEC/FINRA investing regulations. One of the most exciting aspects of the FanVestor model is its utilization of social media. Our platform is “talent agnostic,” meaning that any established talent, musicians, athletes, and entertainment or sport organizations can interact with, and raise capital from, their direct and indirect followers (through their fan clubs, et cetera) on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, and so on. This ability to leverage social media is enhanced by FanVestor’s one-of-a-kind data management platform, which provides celebrities unprecedented access to their fan’s purchasing history and online interests and the ability to use targeted messaging and retarget products to further monetize projects. Fans that become owner/investors enjoy the benefits of FanVestor’s SEC-approved investment offerings, micro-securitization, and innovative unique rewards. FanVestor first and foremost caters to celebrities and their fanbase, using the trusted voice of those celebrities to promote their own projects, thereby increasing our project conversions. This is a vastly different approach from other companies (such as Republic, Start Engine, etc.) in the market, who rely on traditional, sometime very costly, marketing campaigns to promote offerings and products. The element that sets FanVestor apart in the world of investing is our proprietary concept of “Invest with Heart™.” We understand the powerful emotional connection fans feel for the sports and entertainment figures they love. While this has always been the case, social media has exponentially strengthened that connection by affording fans a glimpse into their idols’ lives both on and off the stage or playing field, including charities they are passionate about. Recall the trend toward investing in mission-driven companies? More and more, people are putting their wallets where their hears are, and if the sports figure or musician they respect most cares supports a particular cause they will be more likely to as well. Take the Super Bowl, which is the largest annual sporting event in the U.S. and possibly the world — Super Bowl LIV, for example — had some 100M TV viewers, generating some $435M+ in-game advertising revenue for Fox. On the other hand, consider Portuguese soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo as another example. Ronaldo is not only known as the wealthiest athlete in the world, but the one with the largest social media platform (over 370 million followers across Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter — and that’s not counting his fan clubs). Every time he posts about his favorite charities — Save the Children, UNICEF and World Vision — more than 200 million people see it — and those are just his direct followers! The resulting ripple effect, and the incredible potential for doing good in the world, is why Invest with Heart™ is an integral part of the FanVestor philosophy. Hmm, an immediate access to 3.5B global fans through these 77 celebrities. This provides FanVestor an enormous opportunity with the thousands of athletes and celebrities who have strong social media followings! FanVestor does what Facebook and Instagram are not doing — let fans invest and engage. FanVestor does what eBay or Omaze don’t do — let fans invest and engage. FanVestor does what Goldman Sachs & Merrill Lynch don’t often do — let the average and/or non-accredited investor invest. FanVestor — lets fans invest in the careers and businesses of talent, musicians and athletes. ## # In my next piece, I look forward to sharing some insights on the exciting multi-year partnership collaboration between FanVestor and iHeartMedia — America’s #1 audio and music network, with our first sweepstakes campaign launch, supported by participating elite artists and sport organizations, initially to raise funds to benefit COVID-19 foundations. In the meantime, download the FanVestor app or visit FanVestor to learn more about the exciting road ahead for fan-financed investing.

https://medium.com/@michaelgolomb/breaking-the-rules-how-fanvestor-is-changing-the-game-in-fan-investing-and-commerce-6b6599b08623

['Michael Golomb']

2020-07-21 04:25:52.501000+00:00

['Sports', 'Music', 'Crowdfunding', 'Esport', 'Finance']

Best Diets and Exercises For the Beginners

Best Diets and Exercises For the Beginners Knowing the best diet and exercise for eating a nutritious diet and starting a proper workout is new to most people. Proper discipline can be followed after a good fitness schedule. Editing diet and classification patterns will lead to weight loss with increasing weight problems around the world. A recent study confirms that diet changes, especially modifications to low-fat exercise, lead to more weight loss. It is important to remember that abstinence is a habit, which ensures that for the rest of your life, you must monitor what you eat and drink to gain or maintain controlled weight. You just have to be more discriminating with the help you render toward other people. About the best diet and exercises for beginners to choose a diet plan At the same time, let’s start with our goal of healthy eating and staying healthy in general. You can first check your body mass index or BMI, which is an indicator of one’s weight and height. Visit the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to help calculate the correct BMI. The second step is to keep a list of what you eat and drink on a regular basis. I concentrate on drinking, so people prefer not to indulge in what they drink. It is important to appreciate that sodas, juices and liquids contain calories in addition to water. This will save about 300 calories or more a day by removing soda from your diet. Approximately 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day is a maximum calorie intake for each individual (we’ll talk about that later), but using some sodas a day is a regular calorie intake. Will have a dramatic effect on the targets. Know that this is a lifestyle change and, let me remind you of it.

https://medium.com/@funnyclip800/best-diets-and-exercises-for-the-beginners-fa3ec266fd62

[]

2020-12-23 15:02:32.229000+00:00

['Diet', 'Food', 'Diet Plan', 'Exercise', 'Workout']

NEXTY PLATFORM EXPLORER MAINTENANCE

NEXTY PLATFORM EXPLORER MAINTENANCE Nexty official announcement regarding current queries on https://explorer.nexty.io and/or balance display Dear Nexty community, The Nexty team would like to announce that our explorer is currently under maintenance. Therefore, you cannot access to the site https://explorer.nexty.io or some transactions may be unavailable according to some recent reports. When explorer is under the maintenance, you may get problems with displaying NTY in your wallet. However, don’t be panic and please stay calm because your balance does not vanish. When the maintenance finishes and blockchain completes synchronization, and you still find the amount 0, please kindly contact the support team so we can double-check on explorer.nexty.io. We will have another announcement on all Nexty Platform SNs when block explorer is ready soon. (For instant support, please join Nexty Official group at https://t.me/nexty_io) Thank you for your patience and we are really sorry for this inconvenience. Best regards, The Nexty team

https://medium.com/nextyplatform/nexty-platform-explorer-maintenance-f967e288caae

['Nguyễn Bình Minh']

2019-07-16 10:07:01.583000+00:00

['Blockchain', 'Nextyplatform', 'Explorer', 'English']

Why Patriarchy changed our Ancient Mantra (Infographic)

The Pharisees and the scholars have taken the keys of knowledge and have hidden them. They have not entered, nor have they allowed those who want to enter to do so. - The Gospel of Thomas Overview In today’s lecture, we will discuss the historical power of the Heroic Journey (HJ), its foundation to Cultural Heritage, and its “Disappearance” from Modern Society. There have been many excuses and names, but only one Opponent. That Opponent, aptly identified by the BLM (Black Lives Matter) Movement, is Patriarchy. Don’t see the connection? Let’s go back in time and start from the beginning. Background For millions of years, Humanity has evolved its civilizations by Members of Society taking the Heroic Journey. Millions of Heroines have taken the call to adventure, journeyed to Magical Realms, and returned to their Villages to share their Experiences. This is how Cultures and Movements have thrived throughout time, until the advent of Patriarchy. Around Six Thousand Years Ago, a group of Barbarians decided to start Global Conquests and Conquer the World. As a result of their arrogance, the Modern Era has paid a tremendous price: Loss of the Sacred Feminine Loss of Respect, Honor, and Divine Allegiance to Women Loss of the Heroic Journey Loss of Artistic and Spiritual Evolution Loss of Cultural and Magical Intelligence Historical Power of the Heroic Journey In ancient times, cultures and civilizations maintained their integrity, balance, and wisdom through Mythology, Storytelling, Arts, Crafts, and Heroines. Each Village was “gifted” with identifying these individuals from an early age and then allowing these “Savior Figures” to develop and grow into their “Purpose.” The Village never questioned whether the Savior was Female or whether the Savior was of proper age, they ensured the “Savior” was properly nourished until adulthood. Most of the village’s power came from a simple idiom. I have not. As a Regulatory Concept, the phrase “I have not” provides an individual with phenomenal power, often mistakenly called “MAGICK” in our Modern Era. There is NOTHING MAGICAL about Love, Romance, Passion, Inspiration, Motivation, Focus, Determination, Discipline, or Aspiration. The Heroic Journey as the Foundation for Culture As the Foundation for Culture, the Heroic Journey provides Individuals (Heroines) to self-identify, choose, develop, and evolve through Multiple Heroic Journeys. It seems Magical, but it’s not. It’s simple. The Individual is given a Mantra (I have not) and with this Mantra, the Individual exists in their Ordinary World and when she is inspired by a Person, Event, Place, or Concept (PEPC), her Heroic Journey begins. She leaves her Ordinary World, is initiated into a Magical Realm (Altered States), experiences Death, and returns to her Village with a Sacred Treasure. Its Disappearance from Modern Society The Barbarians instituted Patriarchy and changed the Global Mantra. Think about that concept again. A Global Mantra, that had worked for millions of years, was changed because of the Barbarians’ Arrogance. And the Modern Era has accepted this foolishness whole-heartedly and has NEVER questioned its psychological abuse on the Modern Person’s Mentality. The New Mantra goes like this: Thou Shall Not As you can see, this new Mantra allowed the Patriarchy to never experience guilt, problems, stress, or any issues. How can you have any problems when you can just blame “Someone Else?” Modern Examples that People Missed This is common sense, but so many miss this small issue. Have you noticed that Evil and Ignorant people don’t have Health Issues? This is because of the New Mantra of Patriarchy. They BLAME EVERYONE ELSE for any issues, problems, or situations. Look around you, listen, and turn on the tv. All the people responsible for hurting and killing people, when questioned about responsibility, have the same response. Why did the Police kill that innocent black man? He did it to himself. Why did the Police drive over those innocent bystanders? They did it to themselves. Please, Dear Friend, stop asking the questions because you’re never going to get a straight answer. They are using a different Mantra, so they are NEVER going to assume responsibility for ANYTHING. This is why they don’t get sick or have health issues. Evil people don’t have “Heart,” so they are not bogged down by HUMANE emotions (Love, Passion, Guilt, Hurt, Compassion, Empathy, Stress, etc.). We have those emotions and that’s why we have health issues and heart problems and high blood pressure. On a Final Note, Evil People have no COMPASSION, so they NEVER feel Stress. The #1 Killer of People today is STRESS and, guess what, EVIL people don’t feel stress. Why? Because they ONLY CARE about themselves. Remember that the next time you try arguing with a Racist or any Ignorant Person. Climax in Screenwriting This example is going to be quick. Why in the world would Women not PICKET out in the streets about the Patriarchal Foolishness in Screenwriting? Search the web for Screenwriting Terms . . . or pick up an ebook about finishing a screenplay and you will see a Concept. It is part of the Industry Jargon now and it’s perfectly acceptable to go into a Pitch Meeting and discuss the “CLIMAX” of your Story. Are you freaking serious? Of all names, why is this the name of the Ending? We know, from this name, this was written by MEN. Patriarchal and Highly Elitist Men! Trust me, I’m not lying and I’m not making this up. This is an Acceptable term to use in Hollywood and the Film Community. All I can do is shake my head. . . (Beat) Let’s move on (sigh). Conclusion As Content Creators, it is our job to inspire the audience through our Storytelling and rebuild Mythology back into our Local Culture. A good place to start is incorporating the Heroic Journey into your stories by taking them yourself. Good Luck! Terms to Review PNF — Patriarchal Nuclear Fallout The Sacred Feminine The Heroic Journey PEPC — Person, Event, Place, or Concept Altered States Additional Questions

https://medium.com/@miquielbanks/why-patriarchy-changed-our-ancient-mantra-infographic-a3b7b2d53766

['Miquiel Banks']

2020-12-01 15:35:35.726000+00:00

['Screenwriting', 'Patriarchy', 'Infographics', 'History', 'Miquiel Banks']

Every Day for Future: Porsche Impact

Porsche Impact: Going carbon neutral American Porsche customers are now able to calculate and offset their vehicles’ greenhouse emissions: Last week was the US launch of Porsche Impact, a carbon-offset program developed by Porsche Digital and Porsche AG. Porsche Impact is a web-based emissions calculator that allows Porsche owners to assess and compensate their car-related CO2 emissions. Customers who seek to offset their carbon footprint can make financial contributions to environmental projects to help combat the growing threat of global warming. Based on annual mileage, average fuel consumption and type of fuel used, they purchase emission offsets and support a specific climate project. But, of course, it is not only our customers‘ responsibility to tackle climate change — as a company, we are committed to protecting the environment. That’s why our colleagues from Porsche Cars North America (PCNA) announced carbon neutrality for their corporate vehicle fleet, too. All cars at the two Experience Centers in Atlanta and Los Angeles as well as the entire Porsche Passport and Porsche Drive fleet are now enrolled in Porsche Impact. Stronger together: Supporting sustainable projects with South Pole Customers can choose from a portfolio of four offsetting projects around the world: biodiversity at Lake Kariba (Zimbabwe), forest protection in Alaska (U.S.), hydropower in Quảng Nam (Vietnam) and solar energy in La Paz (Mexico). These internationally certified projects effect change. By supporting these progressive environmental programs, we are able to deliver tangible long-term benefits to global climate stability as well as local ecosystems and communities. The Porsche Impact program was launched alongside the new Porsche 992 in November 2018 and has since then been available to customers in Germany, the UK, and Poland. In Germany, our Porsche vehicle fleet including motorsports, are enrolled in Porsche Impact and therefore carbon neutral. The service is managed by South Pole, a Swiss provider of carbon offsetting and sustainability financing that has mobilised climate finance to over 700 projects worldwide. Ending 2018, Porsche has committed to neutralizing emissions from cars that are already on the road. To date, Porsche and its customers have offset more than 18,000 tonnes of carbon with Porsche Impact. Porsche Impact: Going carbon neutral Towards a Low-Carbon Future Porsche is cutting CO2 emissions on a major scale across its business, aiding the shift to a low-carbon future. In fact, sustainability is an essential part of Porsche’s corporate strategy and part of our vision for the future. Our goal is to have as little climate impact as possible. Therefore, we are continually looking for ways to reduce carbon emissions and improve efficiency. This strategy includes plans to hybridize and electrify our vehicle fleet. This year, the Taycan, our first fully electric sports car, will roll off the production line. We also introduced the S-Rating, sustainability criteria for our more than 7,600 suppliers. We are very aware that this is only part of the solution and there’s still a long way to go. But we’re committed to tackling this challenge. To having a positive impact — together with our customers, partners and suppliers.

https://medium.com/next-level-german-engineering/every-day-for-future-porsche-impact-a4b9cef9e23f

['Porsche Digital']

2019-06-18 06:57:07.153000+00:00

['Web App Development', 'Innovation', 'Sustainability', 'Climate Change', 'Co2 Emissions']

Own a Piece of To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science

SAN DIEGO — To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science Inc., a company with technology innovations that offer capability advancements for government and commercial applications, announced Monday that its Form 1-A filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission has been qualified and investors may now learn more about the company and how to subscribe to the offering at https://invest.tothestarsacademy.com. The company is offering up to 6,000,000 shares of Class A Common Stock at $5.00 per share. Digital Offering LLC (“Digital Offering”) will act as the lead managing selling agent for the offering, which will be sold on a best-efforts basis. The company will also be using Cambria Capital’s online division, BANQ® (www.banq.co), for processing investment transactions. Investors will be able to subscribe online directly at www.banq.co. Tom DeLonge (photo credit: Andrew Cagle) TTSA was founded by Blink-182 creator, multi-platinum entertainer and entrepreneur Tom DeLonge alongside Jim Semivan and Dr. Hal Puthoff, distinguished members of the scientific and intelligence community. The company’s technology innovations have been acquired, designed or produced by TTSA, leveraging advancements in material science and quantum physics that offer capability advancements for government and commercial applications. TTSA brings together leaders with experience from the Department of Defense, the White House, the Central Intelligence Agency and Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works. TTSA is actively consulting and providing services focused on enhancing or integrating a client’s technology with some of the company’s unique technology solutions. The company is currently collaborating with the U.S. Army, through a Cooperative Research & Development Agreement with the Combat Capabilities Development Command, the U.S. Army’s lead technology developer. TTSA has also created a virtual intelligence tool for collecting, analyzing and reporting unidentified aerial phenomena. In addition to technology, the company also houses through its wholly-owned subsidiary, To The Stars, Inc. It’s a catalog of copyrights, trademarks and award-winning content that focuses on the education, awareness and discussion of scientific phenomena and next-generation technology. It is part of TTSA’s mission to shed light, de-stigmatize and legitimize the noteworthy problem surrounding UAP through the collection and distribution of highly credible evidence that can be researched by academic and scientific communities. The company was able to achieve part of this goal through the now-famous three military videos that the company released alongside the New York Times in 2017, which have been to date viewed more than 24 million times on YouTube. These videos were later confirmed as UAP videos by the Pentagon and the U.S. Navy acknowledged a new organized effort to standardize UAP reporting guidelines so personnel can report anomalous aerial encounters. “Unidentified: Inside America’s UFO Investigation” (History.com) TTSA team’s research also reached an average of one million people per episode during its premiere season of HISTORY’s groundbreaking series, “Unidentified: Inside America’s UFO Investigation,” which officially returned for season two on Saturday, July 11, at 10 p.m. EST. In response to a call-to-action shared at the end of each episode last season, thousands of emails were sent in by viewers and military witnesses with personal accounts of UAP sightings. In season two, each episode will center around a specific case or aspect of the modern UAP problem. “We are extremely grateful for the support we have received from our shareholders and the success of our efforts so far,” DeLonge said. “Our investors have allowed us to steadily advance our goals in all divisions including the acquisition of assets for our ADAM Research Program, development of the first AI-powered VAULT database for advanced technology discovery, the SCOUT global collection application, and aiding the expansion of our entertainment division’s intellectual property portfolio and product offerings. With their continued support, we are excited to renew our Regulation A Offering and hope you join us as we work hard to accomplish our mission and create long-lasting shareholder value.” “The vision of TTSA to commercialize the science and entertainment assets of the UAP community and to allow those members to be a part of the company alongside Tom DeLonge and the entire TTSA team is exactly what Reg. A was designed for,” said Mark Elenowitz, Managing Director of Digital Offering, LLC. To learn more about the company and how to subscribe to the offering, visit https://invest.tothestarsacademy.com.

https://medium.com/keep-fighting/own-a-piece-of-to-the-stars-academy-of-arts-science-4247e3f4a62d

['Rhett Wilkinson']

2020-09-25 02:46:15.732000+00:00

['Investment', 'Business', 'Science', 'Art', 'Space']

Romantic relationships with robots — harmful or helpful?

Copyright [India Today Conclave on Youtube] Digisexuality, artificial intelligence & sexbots McArthur & Twist’s (2017) analysis of digisexuality explore two distinct waves of sexual technologies: the universally adopted ‘first wave’ and the emerging ‘second wave’. Digisexuality can be defined as “sexual experiences that are enabled or facilitated by digital technology” (McArthur & Twist, 2016, p.334). The first wave involves communication and networking technologies that facilitate sexual interactions between humans. The widespread use of pornography sites and dating applications have become seamlessly integrated in our relationships and romantic encounters. The novel second wave deals with the inclining absence of humans in providing sexual experiences through robotic replacement — a shift which Turkle deems as a threat to human relationships. In 2017, Matt McMullen constructed the first AI sex doll called ‘Harmony’ giving users the chance to build the perfect companion via personalisation tools such as looks and voices (@https://realbotix.com/Harmony). Turkle (2017) argues that the birth of such experiences undermine the authenticity of real life relationships raising significant issues surrounding the future of intimacy. Will robotic affection replace human affection? In 2020, more individuals are likely to consider having sex with a robot — figures are up by 6% since the same questions were asked in 2017 (Nguyen, 2020). Turkle claims that easy access to technology has created a generation too lazy to make an effort to tackle “rich and demanding” (Turkle, 2012, 7:12) human relationships. Thus, we resort to technology which offers the ‘illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship’ (Turkle, 2017, p.1), choosing to sacrifice reality with artificiality to temporarily satisfy our (sexual) need for a connection. “People disappoint, robots will not” (Turkle, 2017) In another world… David Levy’s (2007) utopian view of sexbots favours their therapeutic benefits; technology fills the void in the lives of those who are incapable of maintaining a relationship. He states that ‘customers who are unsatisfied by their real-world sexual encounters may…explore…their sexuality in a safe, nonjudgmental space’ (Levy 2007, p.208). Copyright [Warner Bros. Pictures on YouTube] Similar themes are embedded in popular culture; the film Her (2013) narrates the story of Theodore who falls in love with his operating system, Samantha, who helps him cope with his depression caused by a recent divorce. The ability for computers to possess human qualities is known as the ELIZA effect (Hofstadter, 1995). Samantha adopts the role of a therapist; her calming voice and conscious awareness of her interaction with humans results in Theodore seeing the therapeutic software as a ‘her’. This highlights the necessity of AI robots in (1) creating a fulfilled sex life and (2) escaping difficulties of everyday life. It’s not a utopia for everyone Creator of sex robot ‘Roxxxy’, Douglas Hines, defends their useful role in society via sex therapy. He claims the physical and sexual pleasure provided by sexbots can help minimise sex trafficking, physical and sexual abuse (Reid, 2018). However, Cox-George & Bewley (2018) indicate a lack of evidence supporting these claims suggesting they in fact have the opposite effect. Like Turkle, leader of Campaign Against Sex Robots Kathleen Richardson (2016) is critical of Levy & Hines, arguing female sexbots promote harmful sociosexual norms contributing to the objectification of women. “Paedophiles [and] rapists…need therapy, not dolls” (Richardson, 2015) Sex robots create the impression of sex as a commodity. The possibility of having sex outside a person, reduces emotional attachments to mere female body parts for male gratification reinforcing Mulvey’s (1975) Male Gaze theory of women, real or not, as sexual objects. Patriarchal much. So, while some argue that these inventions are the key to satisfaction, I agree with Turkle and Richardson that sexbots are in fact, a degradation to the human race and name of love.

https://medium.com/@anti-socialmedia/robots-realities-and-relationships-66871dfbdc73

['Anti Socialmedia']

2021-01-14 09:00:09.621000+00:00

['Relationships', 'Robots', 'Social Media', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Technology']

So you want to bootstrap with PySpark

So you want to bootstrap with PySpark Photo by Joshua Chai on Unsplash It’s more complicated than you think. If you’re here, there’s a small chance that you’ve found my article on one of my social media pages. More likely, you found out how hard it was to compute bootstrap, and since you have access to spark, you thought, “why not use it to increase this to warp speed” (or some other less nerdy concept of fast)? So, you’ve googled it. Well, there are a few obstacles, but it’s possible. Let’s discuss what are the steps of bootstrapping and how not to naively use spark while calculating it. The Naive Approach First, the basics. I assume that you have a good grasp of what bootstrapping even is if you’re reading this article but, if that’s not the case, I would recommend Lorna Yen’s article at Towards Data Science: Here, we just need to remember the basic steps: basic steps of boostrap method Take a sample from the population with sample size n. Draw a sample from the original sample data with replacement with size n, and replicate B times; each re-sampled sample is called a Bootstrap resample, and there will be B bootstrap resamples in total. Evaluate the statistic (mean, median, etc.) θ for each Bootstrap resample, and there will be B estimates of θ in total. Construct a sampling distribution with these B Bootstrap statistics and use it to make further statistical inference The important thing for us is the second step. The thing with Spark is that it works by partitioning the data and into disjoint subsets and distributing them across the nodes in your cluster. So, let’s say you’re trying to create bootstrap resamples with 1 million data points. In this case, we’re dealing with a very particular dataset, with 999.999 zeroes and only a single number 1. Also, you’re using 50 partitions for this calculation. In that case, what would it be the probability of a resample consisting of 1 million number ones? 1 million data points distributed across 50 partitions, only a single 1 and all the rests are 0 In real life, 1/10³⁶. In naive spark, zero. You see, only one of these partitions will have a number one; all the other will only see zeroes. It’ll be impossible to have more than 20.000 ones; that would be the specific case when the only partition in 50 that has the one returns only ones. Thus, a naive approach won’t return all the possible resamples because every resampling needs the complete dataset to count as real bootstrapping. Bootstrapping with Pyspark So, how can we do it the right way? A good reference is Paul Cho’s blog post, Bootstrapping with spark. In it, Paul explains the same issue I’ve explained above and how to circumvent it, but with code in Scala. Here, we’ll show how to do the same with Pyspark. We have to use Spark as a parallel execution engine so that we could generate the bootstrap resamples in parallel. That will allow us to broadcast the full dataset to every single node. To do that, we need to create a higher-order function to help us run a statistical function in parallel on this broadcasted data. First, we create a RDD (resilient distributed dataset) with the number of desired resamples. To each resample index, we map the statistical function we want to apply to the data. After that, we convert the RDD into a Spark Data Frame. Finally, we rename the columns to something more relevant than “_1” and “_2”, and voilá, we have a spark data frame with the calculated statistics for every resample, and we can proceed to the construction of the distribution. Below, we show an example of a function to get a mean of the bootstrapping resample: In this function, we’re taking a list of floating numbers; for each index of the list, we take a random sample of the list and add it to a sum. In the end, we return the mean of this resample of the list. The full code would loke something like this: Final Notes Some final notes. This will not be as fast as naive spark, but will be faster than regular python, especially for big sets of data. Also, Paul Cho proposed another set of functions to compress datasets with millions of data points, which takes a toll in performance, but allows Spark to broadcast those datasets without memory issues. For our purposes, the functions that I’ve decribed above suits just fine, but we can get back to translating Paul’s Scala code to pyspark in the future.

https://towardsdatascience.com/so-you-want-to-bootstrap-with-pyspark-fd04d056e4aa

['Celso M. Cantanhede Silva']

2020-12-21 16:08:32.409000+00:00

['Bootstrapping', 'Python', 'Spark', 'Pyspark', 'Data Science']

Burnout: Worse as a Writer or at a 9–5 Job?

Burnout: Worse as a Writer or at a 9–5 Job? Burnout — Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels Many people try to achieve more by working longer hours. And they try to get more done by cramming more obligations into their day. But, by stuffing their days with meetings and commitments, their productivity declines. They experience burnout. According to the Mayo Clinic, “Burnout is a state of physical and emotional exhaustion, that also involves a sense of reduced accomplishment” Anyone who has been working for a few years has likely experienced burnout. And I’m sure you’ve likely experienced it too. And when this happens, you seem unable to make progress on your work. You cannot concentrate on writing the article. You no longer have the motivation to finish the report. But burnout is not permanent. You can take action and improve your situation, as we will see in this article.

https://medium.com/@loukas-writes/is-burnout-worse-when-you-are-a-writer-or-a-worker-at-a-9-5-job-349358002317

[]

2020-11-27 17:33:44.357000+00:00

['Self Improvement', 'Life', 'Life Lessons', 'Burnout', 'Self']

Wanchain Update 11th December 2017

Dear Wanchain community, We would like to give you a short update about the open beta release and Jack Lu’s (Founder & CEO of Wanchain) trip to South Korea this week. Open Beta Release Release date: December 18th* 2017 Release includes: Beta instructions guide, privacy and normal transfers, block explorer and wallet. Bounties We will be issuing bounties to community developers who report bugs, suggestions and pull requests (extra weightage). *In our previous communication we stated the release would be on Friday the 15th of December but after careful consideration have decided to release on the 18th of December. The 18th is a Monday and will allow us to provide the community with support throughout the week. New Book Launch and the First Financial Technology Development Forum This was organized by Beijing Blockchain Application Association in Beijing on Dec 9th. Jack Lu attended the forum, Sun Guofeng, the deputy director of Internet Finance Research Center and Institute of Finance of People’s Bank of China also attended. Jack Lu at the First Financial Technology Development Forum (Beijing, China) Wanchain visits South Korea CEO and Founder, Jack Lu, will be presenting Wanchain at a local meet up in South Korea. Please find the details below: Jack Lu’s presentation at a meet up in Seoul, South Korea: Date: December 13th (Wed), 2017 Topic: Wanchain links the world’s digital assets Time: 7:00PM ~ 8:30PM Location: 강남구 테헤란로 10길 6 녹명빌딩 7층비포럼 접수 이메일 Attendees: 50 people Agenda: 7:00PM ~ 7:30PM Registration 7:30PM ~ 8:10PM — Wanchain’s Presentation (40 min) by CEO Jack Lu 8:10PM ~ 8:30PM — Q&A and Networking (20 min) About Wanchain Bitcoin was the first natively digital asset; many more are following. The trend towards ‘digitizing’ assets leads to a fundamental change in the financial services industry. However, there is a problem. Currently many of these digital assets are isolated on their respective blockchains and their true potential is not being realized. Wanchain was founded by the technical cofounder of Factom, Jack Lu, with the goal of uniting the world’s isolated digital assets and transforming the digital economy. These are our official social platforms: 1,278 subscribers Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/wanchain 1,749 members Discord: https://discord.gg/3DpeV6W ANN: 8,817 members, CHAT: 4,500 members Telegram Ann: https://t.me/WanchainANN Telegram Chat: https://t.me/WanchainCHAT Join our expanding Medium community! Medium: https://medium.com/wanchain-foundation 8,757 members Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wanchainfoundation/ 11,200 followers Twitter: https://twitter.com/wanchain_org 418 followers Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wanchain_org

https://medium.com/wanchain-foundation/wanchain-update-11th-december-2017-148a455b9b2a

['Oliver Birch']

2017-12-11 20:46:31.378000+00:00

['Ethereum', 'Crypto', 'Social Media', 'Bitcoin', 'Cryptocurrency']

When my beliefs became the reason behind my pain

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” — Albert Einstein What I realized about myself Often in life, we restrain ourselves with ideals and beliefs which we build early on in life and assume they will hold true in every situation, every step of our life. We rely on the fact that what we are taught and know is the only truth. We hold on to these values believing that they define us and our existence. We start judging the people who hold different values from ours. While doing so what we fail to take into consideration is— the unpredictability of life, the vastness of this world, and our own ignorance. Like I had the belief that without a job, my life was a waste, and everything else meant nothing. I substituted a career with happiness and made my life so difficult. What made it even worse is that they were not really my beliefs, they were second-handed. I inherited those from my parents. All this while I believed that I was a very ambitious person for whom the most important thing was her career. But that was not true. I did not realize that I am not the same person as my younger self. I had changed. My priorities had changed. Yes, I still wanted to have a career but I wanted a family more and that is why I chose to stay with my husband. But I did not realize it then. I was so busy fighting the situation I was in, that I didn’t even care to stop and take note of what I actually wanted; what really made me happy. Change in perception It took me almost two years to understand the fact that life is not about rigidity. It’s about evolving — evolving into a person who is not limited by their beliefs. Who can be brave enough to question and shred those beliefs when they become a hindrance to one’s peace and happiness. It’s about welcoming the change and growing with it.

https://medium.com/weeds-wildflowers/when-my-beliefs-became-the-reason-behind-my-pain-df7d78acb182

['Shilpi Agarwal']

2020-09-30 00:17:18.711000+00:00

['Life Lessons', 'Change', 'Self', 'Growth', 'Life']

We Hold the World in Our Hands

“He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” is a traditional African American spiritual, first published in 1927…… The song was first published in the paperbound hymnal Spirituals Triumphant, Old and New in 1927. In 1933, it was collected by Frank Warner from the singing of Sue Thomas in North Carolina. It was also recorded by other collectors such as Robert Sonkin of the Library of Congress, who recorded it in Gee’s Bend, Alabama in 1941. That version is still available at the Library’s American Folklife Center. Frank Warner performed the song during the 1940s and 1950s, and introduced it to the American folk scene. Warner recorded it on the Elektra album American Folk Songs and Ballads in 1952. It was quickly picked up by both American gospel singers and British skiffle and pop musicians… Wikipedia

https://medium.com/genius-in-a-bottle/we-hold-the-world-in-our-hands-b8d60260bf40

['Susannah Mackinnie']

2020-11-11 00:17:32.149000+00:00

['Climate Change', 'Environment', 'Poetry', 'Storytelling', 'Hope']

Nancy Pelosi undermines the Democrats credibility by not proceeding with impeachment inquiries.

Nancy Pelosi applauding Donald Trump during State of the Union. AP: Doug Mills Having delivered his final report to the Department of Justice, Special Counsel Robert Mueller provided his first and what are likely to be his final public comments on the entire investigation in a press conference a few weeks ago. In doing so, the Special Counsel effectively reignited debate on the question of whether or not Democrats in the House of Representatives should begin an impeachment inquiry into the President. It’s fair to say that the first calls for the President’s impeachment began within minutes of his inauguration, and these early calls most likely had more to do with the President’s general demeanour and temperament than any individual action he had actually taken. However, with the Mueller report complete it has become clear that Congress must make a decision on how to proceed, with the continued absence of a decision in many ways resembling a decision in and of itself. First though, it’s important to consider what Robert Mueller actually found. Of all the elements in this debate, one of the most troubling is how few people have actually read his report, despite forming a firm position on what should be done about its findings. First and foremost, the report revealed widespread criminality, with 34 indictments, 7 convictions (so far), and at least 12 referrals to other investigators that may result in yet further indictments and convictions. While the US President was not one of those charged, in his speech Mueller made abundantly clear that this couldn’t occur within his investigation due to the well-known Justice Department guidelines (not rules) preventing a sitting president from being charged by that Department. This polarising judgement has pleased some, while surprising and disappointing many others. It remains unclear if Robert Mueller was working within this constraint from the outset of his investigation or if he came to this conclusion later on. Legitimate questions have been raised about whether or not Mueller should have made clear this view early on to ensure that the public’s expectations were appropriately managed, and if he didn’t know it at the time then he could quite reasonably have sought clarification or confirmation from the Justice Department as to their current position / interpretation. It’s worth remembering however that while hindsight is always 20/20, the investigation itself was not specifically aimed at the President, but rather at Russian government efforts to interfere into the 2016 presidential election, those efforts’ links with the Trump campaign, and any related matters that may have been identified in the process. With a remit this broad, the US President himself was only one potential figure of interest for the investigation, and without doubt the investigation did reveal a staggering degree of criminality. For the US President though, Mueller made clear that while he was free to gather evidence, in his view the US Constitution makes Congress the only appropriate entity to determine whether or not the President could be indicted and convicted. And in sticking to the existing guidelines, he has at the very least ensured that no legitimate complaint can be made about his conduct being in any way abnormal. So having passed the ball over to Congress, where do they sit? With slight variations within them, it appears that five distinct positions have emerged. They are: Republican + no collusion + no obstruction = move on Republican + it’s bad = no impeachment (Mitt Romney) Republican + it’s bad = impeach (Justin Amash) Democrat + it’s bad + impeachment is politically bad for us = do nothing Democrat + it’s bad = impeach The first position is the most easily explainable. While the flagrant rule breaking outlined in the report would in previous generations offend the law and order party, in practise the President remains immensely popular within the party and time and again Republican members of Congress that go against him have seen repercussions for their future electability. It’s no surprise therefore that the loudest Republican voices of opposition to the President are the ones that are known to be retiring from public office. This would explain why positions 2 and 3 are populated by one member of congress each. The two Democratic positions appear to have split the party (or at least its elected representatives) somewhere down the middle, though with prerogative over which issues proceed to the House floor resting with Nancy Pelosi, her position is in effect the default one. The latter of these two is simple enough to explain. Members in this camp have determined that the President has committed impeachable offenses, and therefore must be impeached, or at the least face an impeachment hearing. Meanwhile the former camp believes that while the President’s behaviour is appalling, they have made the political calculation that impeaching him will not be beneficial to them with either their own electorates or the broader electorate, potentially leading to an improved standing for the President with the public. As the leading figure of this view, Nancy Pelosi is drawing on her not-too-distant memory of the Clinton impeachment which saw the President emerge with higher approval ratings from the whole process, with that impeachment having failed to reach a ‘conviction’ in the Senate. In this telling, a guarantee of success in the second step is a prerequisite for commencing the first, and Ms Pelosi has articulated this explanation on multiple occasions. Unfortunately for the Democratic party, while the cold political logic of Pelosi’s objection to commencing impeachment proceedings is understandable, it completely undermines the rest of the party’s concerns and protestations about the President’s actions. The Democrats have attempted to take what they view as the moral high ground for the last few decades in political discourse, in theory distancing themselves from the win-at-all costs approach taken by the Republican Party since the Gingrich Speaker years. The challenge with this approach however is that in the public’s view, claims to a moral high ground tend to be absolute. That is, just a single instance of ethically questionable behaviour is no different from a thousand of them, as evidenced by the false equivalence drawn in the public’s eyes between the actions of Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump (and the endless ‘what-aboutism’ on Fox News). If we go back to the 5 positions identified earlier, how different is the fourth one from the first really? They are both results of a cynical political calculus, one that looks no further than the individual’s electability (sometimes rationally). Yet the Speaker is capable and relied upon to take a longer and wider view, seeing the wood for the trees in these circumstances. In her comments she has compared the impeachment process to an indictment (and not a conviction as many incorrectly assume), yet surely the many former prosecutors in her ranks would recoil at the suggestion that alleged criminals shouldn’t be charged unless a conviction is guaranteed? In criminal law, an indictment provides the legal justification for search and seizure and is a key component of the due process afforded to those charged, and is the very reason that standards of proof increase incrementally in a criminal investigation. With probable cause (the standard for an indictment) unambiguously demonstrated in the case of the US President, and 64 percent of Americans now believing that he probably committed a crime prior to entering office (Quinnipiac, May 2019), the continued dithering by the Democratic Congress is no longer putting off a decision, it is a decision, because the expected response to this level of evidence of criminality by the President would be an impeachment inquiry. Robert Mueller is often described as an institutionalist. This means that he has a firm belief in the strength of institutions, and that if those institutions behave as intended the right outcome will inevitably eventuate. He has very carefully ensured that his output conforms to the norms of the institution he represents, working on the assumption that other institutions would then do the same. Yet by failing to do so, the US Congress is effectively enabling the President’s worst impulses, telling him and the public that breaking the law is fine as long as you have political support. They have to ask themselves, if they don’t follow through on the evidence already available, what exactly would it take for them to act, and why would the public listen?

https://medium.com/@sirilyazak/nancy-pelosi-and-the-democrats-are-undermining-their-own-credibility-by-not-proceeding-with-b598d1499b18

[]

2019-06-17 01:00:37.600000+00:00

['Nancy Pelosi', 'Democrats', 'Impeachment', 'Robert Mueller', 'Politics']

Tod

Tod Tod means death in German, and this is Tod’s story as well as Sam’s Photo by Kasturi Roy on Unsplash “Have you calmed down?” “Calmed down? What kind of question is that? No, no I’m not calm, and I don’t have a clue what to do about this.” “You seem calmer than earlier. Please, relax, sit down, and take a glass of water. It’ll be fine.” He made a few turns around his small studio apartment, sat down for a few seconds without actually relaxing the entire time, and then grabbed a glass of water which he tried to drink, but almost choked. He then paced some more. “OK, OK. I’m OK. You must be some sort of hallucination brought on from some swelling in my brain after the car crash. They just missed it in the hospital and I should just call 911, that’s right.” He proceeded to dial 911. “Please don’t waste your time on that.” “Shit,” he dropped his phone. “Is it now? What,” he started pacing around his apartment with far more speed and nervousness than earlier. He felt dizzy and disoriented. “Sam, please relax, take some deep breaths. And, I can’t tell you if it’s now or later, I already explained that.” “Tod, I am seriously freaking out here. I’m going to die right now, the fuck.” Sam cried and pleaded and prayed. “It’s just anxiety. Why are you wasting your life on trivial matters, Sam?” Sam felt tired. The crying exhausted him, and he managed, albeit briefly, to get a hold of himself and to give it a go with Tod’s advice. It didn’t work. “OK. I can’t tell you when, how, but I can tell you that you’ve been freaking out, or quote-unquote dying for half an hour now.” “Half an hour?” Sam doubted that assessment, but at the same time, he found it probable even though it felt like an hour to him. “Let’s try this way. What if I told you, this is just a hypothetical or maybe not, but either way, what if you had just another hour to live? Would you be freaking out in your lousy apartment or would you go and do something that you never got around to do, like ask that girl out?” Sam managed to calm down, finally. “You got a point there,” he said. “Wait, how do you know about her?” “I told you, I’ve been following you since your birth. The fact that you can see me since you got out of that brief coma is what I can’t understand and I have no idea what to do about that.” “You don’t sound too concerned about it,” Sam noted. “Because that’s not my business. It changes nothing.” “OK. OK.” Sam got lost in thought. He figured, he’s still alive and kicking, maybe he should go and ask her out. “Wait a minute,” a thought occurred to him, which he didn’t consider earlier, “if you are always following me does that mean even when I’m in the bathroom or having sex?” “Yes,” Tod replied. “And you don’t see anything wrong with that?” “No.” “You mean, if I would use the last hour of my life to have sex with Sarah, you wouldn’t give us any privacy?” “Exactly. And the same goes for Sarah’s Tod, and basically for everyone else.” “That’s, that’s messed up.” “I don’t take any pleasure in it if that helps.” Sam thought about it. “Maybe a little.”

https://medium.com/illumination/tod-67dc5ad38f2e

['Vuk Ivanovic']

2020-09-14 00:29:12.888000+00:00

['Life', 'Fiction', 'Family', 'Death', 'Short Story']

Use Dj’s Aviation exclusive NordVPN deal and increase your security online!

Dj’s Aviation is a popular YouTube channel that has more than 280k subscribers. Dan is the sole member of the Dj’s Aviation, whose passion for Aviation started over 14 years ago when he was only 19 years old. When he was younger he would have regular trips to the airports and this was what hooked him. Since he had such a huge passion for such a quite rare topic, he decided to create a YouTube channel and share it with others and fuel their passion for Aviation too. In his videos, Dan talks about various aviation news, analysis, shares his opinion, etc. Although Dan doesn’t have to do anything with cybersecurity, he still takes care of the viewers and shares how important it is to consider such factors. For that reason, Dj’s Aviation YouTube channel recommends using NordVPN and starting surfing online securely. The best possible deal is waiting for you! Take Dj’s Aviation recommendation and take care of your security online. Use the exclusive deal and get NordVPN with a 70% discount, secure yourself online for only $3.49/month with a 3-year plan. Follow this link to apply the discount code automatically If you want to secure all your devices, you can click here and download the software for iOS, or if you want to download it from Google store, you can do it by clicking here. Why should you get NordVPN? This premium quality VPN is the right choice when you’re looking for increasing your online security and other perks. First let’s talk about VPN’s primary purpose — security. NordVPN is based in Panama, meaning it doesn’t have to stick to mandatory data retention laws; therefore, it offers strict no-logs policy and stores neither usage nor connection logs. Regarding other benefits, it has features like P2P servers and a kill-switch that will allow you to torrent securely. Also, it’s capable of overcoming Netflix proxy blocks and works with other popular streaming service providers like Hulu, BBC, Amazon Prime, and many others. Moreover, it has over 5k servers in more than 60 countries and offers 6 simultaneous connections. What is a Virtual Private Network? VPN is a well-known online security tool that helps users to protect their internet traffic by encrypting it. That way, users can not only surf online securely but anonymously too. The virtual private network can be compared to a secret (or to be more specific — encrypted) tunnel that protects users’ info, which comes from the device to the internet. It also helps to avoid such intruders as hackers, the internet service provider, and even the government. Moreover, VPN is used for cases like gaming, torrenting, streaming, and securely using a wireless network in public places.

https://medium.com/@frankpontony/use-djs-aviation-exclusive-nordvpn-deal-d74a67e37175

['Frank Ponton']

2020-06-02 12:02:40.648000+00:00

['VPN', 'Offers', 'Discount', 'Coupon']

When and How did Humankind Figure Out that Sex Makes Babies?

When and How did Humankind Figure Out that Sex Makes Babies? Photo Credits: Spiegel Well, I think the answer is, since the beginning. While historians, scholars, anthropologists, and biologists can’t tell us the exact time, all the evidence shows us that human beings have been able to understand that there definitely is some relationship between sex and childbirth, since the homo sapiens walked on this planet probably between the unfolding of our breed and the evolution of human culture about 50,000 years ago. There isn’t much material evidence on this matter. However, a plaque from the archaeological site of Çatalhöyük illustrates a Neolithic understanding, with a mother and child on one side and two figures embracing on the other. What we need to understand here is that all cultural groups had their own explanations for conception, but everyone acknowledged some sort of link between copulation and babies. Photo Credits: Wikipedia Now coming to how ancient human beings attained reproductive consciousness, this part is a bit gloomy. I think that it’s most likely that they closely observed animals around them, and how those animals reproduced. They must’ve also observed that the women who don’t sleep with men, do not get pregnant. But this in no way means that those people had any idea about the complete process of the sperm meets eggs. That knowledge is fairly recent. In the early 20th century, anthropologists who worked in places like New Guinea and Australia noted that their subjects were unable to establish a relationship between sex and babies. Later, further research told us that those reports were biased were at best only half-true. Let’s take the example of what Bronislaw Malinowski claimed in 1927. He said that in the Trobriand Islands, the father had nothing to do with producing a child. However, subsequent research on the same group established that semen for necessary for the congelation of menstrual blood, the suspension of which was believed to ultimately from the fetus. The explanations of conception by the people of the Trobriand Islands might seem weird or strange but there is no doubt that on some level they did recognize the relationship between sex and childbirth. And surely, before us Westerners who like to feel superior, get all proud, it should be noted that our views on conception haven’t always been consistent or rational either. The number of unplanned pregnancies in the U.S. says it all. Cynthia Eller, a woman’s studies scholar say that wile, “other events may also be necessary — such as the entrance of a spirit child through the top of the head (in the case of the Triobriand Islanders), or the entrance of a soul into a fertilized egg (in the case of Roman Catholics) … it is simply not believed that women bear children without any male participation whatsoever.” The question arises that if human beings have always been able to understand that sex leads us to the delivery room, then did that information have any impact or consequences on our evolution as a society? What we call reproductive consciousness, we know that of the entire animal world, this consciousness is unique to humankind. And that special information might explain both our capacity to bend procreative abilities of nature to our favor in almost everything from animal breeding to family planning and the evolution of our taboos revolving around sex.

https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/when-and-how-did-humankind-figure-out-that-sex-makes-babies-d0ace7531816

[]

2020-11-30 19:04:53.730000+00:00

['Sexuality', 'Science', 'History', 'Sex', 'Pregnancy']

Most Honest & Helpful Reviews for Bose 700 Active Noise-Cancelling Headphones — Curated by Rosi

Although the headphones l ook good and feel fantastic on, I was very disappointed with the functionality . I loaded the Bose Music app on my iPhone and then followed the instructions to pair the headphones. The Bose Music app worked well until the firmware on headphones automatically updated and installed. After that, game over! The Bose Music app could not pair with the headphones … Went on the Bose website and tried to do a factory reset, but that was useless . Bose customer service was also useless . Great audio, connectivity and comfort issues These work great for this “new normal” of teleworking with multiple people in the house. Being able to turn the level of noise cancellation to three different levels … is great. Audio quality seems very good. I have some occasional connectivity issues. … What happens is when the phone is dialing out I hear the dialing etc… through the headphones, but as soon as someone picks up it flips over to regular phone audio unless I change it back to bluetooth manually. This happens maybe 10% of the time. I have a very large head … I have to have the headphones maximally extended to fit (which is OK) but after a couple of hours of continual use the cartilage around my ears hurt and I can get a bit of a headache … they are not at all comfortable to drop them down to wear them around your neck when not in use … the earpieces apply pressure to the side/front of my neck. Not comfortable and feels like they could fall off. Rating: 4 / 5 By The Dude, sourced from BestBuy

https://medium.com/@rosi.reviews/most-honest-helpful-reviews-for-bose-700-active-noise-cancelling-headphones-curated-by-rosi-6ad8a3706553

['Rosi Reviews']

2021-09-09 23:53:30.712000+00:00

['Startup', 'Mobile App Development', 'Headphones', 'Online Shopping', 'Technology']

A Quick Guide to Understanding Python’s Import Statement

Heracles battling the Nemean Lion. (Source) In today’s article, I will be going over Python’s import statements. I realized that import is a really important skill to master, especially when it comes to structuring one’s Python project. While making Automated Stoic, I wanted to use a few of the source code from Memento Mori. However, since I did not know how to properly use the import statement, I had to manually rewrite the code from one file into the other. And so, today I will be going in deep about import statement, what it does, and how one could utilize it to its maximum. What is an Import Statement? Before we get into the specific details of how one could utilize the import statement, let us take a deep dive to understand the fundamental definition behind this method. According to Python’s official documentation, an import statement can be defined as the following: The Python code in one module gains access to the code in another module by the process of importing it. The import statement is the most common way of invoking the import machinery, but it is not the only way. Functions such as importlib.import_module() and built-in __import__() can also be used to invoke the import machinery. In short, the definition of an import statement is that it will transfer all of the code from one file to another Python file. For example, let’s suppose that you have two Python files: first.py and second.py . Now, assume that the code in first.py is already written alongside its variables and functions. If you want to use these variables and functions in second.py , you can just import the first.py file and immediately gain access to the variables and functions. Before we continue, what exactly is a module? In general programming, a module is a piece of software that has a specific functionality. For example, when building a tic-tac-toe game, a module will be responsible for the logic behind the game while another logic will be responsible for drawing the board. Each module is a different file, which can be edited separately. In this case, a module in terms of Python programming is simply a Python file with a .py extension where a set of functions, variables, or classes are defined and implemented. The name of the module will then be the name of the file. In the case of the example above, the Python files first.py and second.py are modules with the name first and second respectively. Furthermore, it is also important to note that whenever a developer is accessing modules using the import statement, that module is essentially executed. This allows the developer to make use of the scope of definitions within the imported module. To import the module, Python needs a fully qualified name of the module being imported. This may come from various arguments such as the import statement or from parameters to the importlib.import_module() or __import__() functions. If any of the imports fail, then a ModuleNotFoundError is raised. Ways to Import a Module Since we have already gained a good grasp of what an import statement is, let us see three different ways in which we can import a module! import The first way to import a module is by using the basic import statement. Usually, importing is done in the header section of the code, before writing any specific functions. When we import a module, we are making it available to us in our current program as a separate namespace. This means that we will have to refer to the functions of the imported module in dot notation, such as [module].[function]. Here is an example: import random print(random.randint(1,25)) In the code above, we imported the random module, which is a built-in Python module. From that module, we would like to utilize their random integer function, randint() . Since the random module is available to us as a separate namespace, we would have to use dot-notation to refer to randint() , hence random.randint() . from [x] import [y] Now, if we want to import a specific function, we can use from ... import ... . This method of importing will also allow us to call the function without using the dot-notation. Here is an example: from random import randint print(randint(1,25)) Since we are using the from ... import ... notation, our aim is to use a specific function within the module. In this case, we are accessing the randint function within the random module. Doing so will allow us to call randint() without having to use the dot-notation. In some programs, you might see people using from module import * . This statement will take every scope of definition within the local namespace. However, this is discouraged as it could potentially replace your locally defined variables or functions. Before we continue to the last method, I would like to give a brief explanation of the differences between import x and from x import * . When a programmer uses import x , the programmer is essentially creating a reference to that module in the current namespace of x . This is why you need to define a module path to access a particular attribute or method from that module (such as x.name or x.function() ) On the other hand, if the programmer uses from x import * , then the programmer is creating a reference to all public objects in x within the local namespace of the current module. This way, the programmer won’t have to define a module path such as x.name , but can simply refer to it as name . However, the downside of using from x import * is that if you already have name defined in your local module, then it will be replaced by the name that came from the x module. import [x] as [z] This method is called aliasing methods. In the similar case above, you can create an alias of a method if the same name is present within your local project. For example, if you already have a variable named x inside your local project, you can import your module x by giving it an alias. import x as x_module print(x_module.name) Within the program, we can now access x.name as x_module.name . Styling Import Statements According to the official style guide for Python (PEP 8), there are a few key points when it comes to styling import statements: Imports should always be written at the top of the file after any comments and docstrings. Imports should be divided according to what is imported. There are generally three groups: standard library imports (built-in modules), related third party imports (modules that are installed but do not belong to the current application), and local application imports (modules that belong to the current application) Each group of imports should be divided by a blank space Write your imports alphabetically Here is an example: """Illustration of a good import statement styling. Note that imports should come after docstring""" #Standard Library imports import datetime import os #Third pary imports from flask import Flask from flask_restful import Api from flask_sqlalchemy import SQLAlchemy #Local application imports from local_module import local_class from local_package import local_function As you can see above, the code starts of with the docstring. A docstring is used to document a specific segment of the code. Multi-line docstrings consist of a summary line, followed by a blank line, followed by a more elaborate description of the module. Absolute vs Relative Imports After understanding the different methods to import a module, let us look deeper into how to import modules from a tree of a directory. In short, there are two ways: absolute imports and relative imports. Absolute Imports An absolute import specifies the module being import using its full path from the project root’s folder. Let’s say we have the following directory structure: └── project ├── package1 │ ├── module1.py │ └── module2.py └── package2 ├── __init__.py ├── module3.py ├── module4.py └── subpackage1 └── module5.py We have the root directory called project , which contains two sub-directories, package1 and package2. Here, it is good to remember that a package is basically a directory that holds one or more modules. Here, package1 has modules module1 and module2 , while package2 has an __init__.py file, two modules, and another subpackage which contains module5 . For the sake of this example, let us assume the following: package1/module2.py contains a function called function1 package2/__init__.py contains a class called class1 package2/subpackage1/module5.py contains a function called function2 . With these assumptions, we can then write the following absolute imports: from package1.module2 import function1 from package1 import module1 from package2 import class1 from package2.subpackage1.module5 import function2 As you can see from above, using absolute import is similar to calling the path of the file, except that we are using a dot instead of a slash. Absolute imports are preferred and highly recommended by PEP 8, as it clearly shows the path of the function/module. However, absolute imports might get a little too long, such as the following: from package1.package2.package3.package4.package5 import function6 In this case, we can use relative import as an alternative. Relative Imports Unlike absolute imports that imports from the root of the project directory, relative imports is a method that imports relative to the current file the import statement is called. There are two types of relative imports: implicit and explicit. However, since implicit relative imports have been deprecated in Python3, we will not be covering it. One way to call a relative import is by using dot notation to specify the location. A single dot means that the module or package referenced is in the same hierarchy as the current project, while two dots mean that the referred package is one directory above. Three dots means two directories, and so on. This is similar to how you would use cd .. to go one directory up. Let’s assume the same directory as the structure above. In this case, if you want to import function1 which is located in module2 inside module1 (both are in the same package), then you would have to write the following code: #package1/module1.py from .module2 import function1` From the example above, you start the import statement with a dot-notation, signifying the use of relative imports. Since it is only one dot, the computer will recognize that module2 is located in the same directory as module1 . After finding module2 , it will then import function1 to module1 . Take a look at another example: #package2/module3.py from . import class1 from .subpackage1.module5 import function2 Recall that the location of class1 is in __init__.py , while function2 is located in package2/subpackage1/module5.py . Since module3 is located in the same directory as __init__.py and subpackage1.module5 , we can easily import class1 and function2 by using relative import statements with one dot notation — signifying that they are located in the same directory. Aside from shortening long absolute imports, relative imports are not encouraged as they could cause confusion on a shared project. Summary To finish this article, let us summarize and review what we have learned today! Import statements will let a module gain access to another module’s defined scopes (variables, functions, classes) Modules are files with a .py extension; each module should serve a specific function extension; each module should serve a specific function There are three ways to import a statement: import x will refer to the module in its respective namespace. This means we will have to use dot-notation to call any of its variables/functions. from x import y will only import y from module x . This way, you won’t have to use dot-notation. (Bonus: from x import * will refer to the module in the current namespace while also replacing any names that are the same) import x as y will import module x which can be called by referring to it as y The four rules of making import statements according to PEP 8: Import statements should be written after the docstrings and comments Import statements should be separated according to what is imported: built-in modules, installed modules that are not part of the application, modules that are part of the application. There should be a space in between each of the import categories Your imports should be in alphabetical order There are two distinct ways of calling an import: Absolute import: uses dot-notation to call an import file relative to the root of the directory Relative import: Import modules relative to the current file. It also uses dot-notation but starts the import with number of dots signifying the relative position. Conclusion The reason why I wanted to study import statements is that I wanted to use Memento Mori’s code for Automated Stoic without having to copy and paste the whole codebase. To put this into practice, I will be going through the changes I made to utilize import in my past project. Remember: stay consistent. Sources:

https://medium.com/cold-brew-code/a-quick-guide-to-understanding-pythons-import-statement-505eea2d601f

['Richard Russell']

2020-06-05 07:41:57.127000+00:00

['Programming', 'Computer Science', 'Python', 'Software Development']

Thousands Have Vanished in the Arizona Borderlands

Kindness is criminalized in Arizona. No More Deaths, a humanitarian non-profit that advocates for migrants out of Ajo, Arizona, regularly has their humanitarian camps raided. Officials charged eight of their volunteers with a variety of offenses a week after No More Deaths published a report accusing Border Patrol agents of dumping water jugs left by volunteers on migrant paths. One of the activists’ charges was “abandoning property,” apparently referring to the water, food, and blankets they left on migrant trails. Another volunteer, Scott Warren, was “[detained] in the town of Ajo on suspicion of supplying food, water and clean clothes to two undocumented migrants.” The charges against Scott were dropped two years later. “Today the government took the position that people of conscience should not be prosecuted for acts of humanitarian aid. In other words, humanitarian aid, by definition, is not a crime,” said Greg Kuykendall on the courthouse steps when announcing the dropped charges against Scott Warren, as reported by No More Deaths. Often, individual migrants die of exposure not realizing their journey will require weeks of walking instead of days. Coyotes, professional border crossing guides, often underplay the risks. If a person sprains an ankle and is unable to walk, the group must leave them behind. If someone is separated from the group, common when running from Border Patrol, they have no way of finding their guide and face almost certain death. Not only do migrants die from exposure or dehydration in the incredibly rough terrain, but No More Deaths alleges that Border Patrol regularly chases crossing migrants into remote terrain, where they often perish after becoming lost. According to local humanitarian groups, if a migrant has been missing for more than a month without contact, their families should start looking through the forensics system. The Colibrí Center for Human Rights in Tucson, Arizona works to help families whose loved ones have disappeared while crossing the border. Often this involves identifying their remains by searching available forensic systems. The group also tracks migrants who vanished while crossing the border. They have over 3,500 missing persons cases. As stated by Doctors Without Borders, Central American migrants predominantly make the journey to the United States and Mexico to flee violence in their home countries — which Doctors Without Borders says is comparable to a warzone in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. But the long journey north is also rife with violence and exploitation. 57 percent of the people interviewed by the organization experienced violence while traveling through Mexico, whether assault, extortion, sexual assault, or torture. Mexican gangs and human trafficking organizations often target Central Americans through kidnapping and extortion. “It’s clear from years of medical data and testimonies that many of our patients are desperately fleeing violence back home… These people deserve protection and care, and, at the very least, a fair chance to seek asylum. Instead they face more violence along the migration route, barred from countries where they wouldn’t be at risk. Now they are trapped in dangerous places with no way to seek safety,” said Sergio Martin, the head of mission in Mexico for Doctors Without Borders, quoted in a recent report released by the organization. According to the recent Doctors Without Borders report, 61 percent of migrants interviewed were exposed to violence in the two years leading up to their migration north. Half of those cited their exposure to violence as a key reason they chose to leave their home country. Migrating families with children were much more likely to be fleeing violence, with 75 percent of those fleeing with children cited violence as a key reason, which includes forced gang recruitment. If they’re caught and detained by US Border Patrol, however, the dangers don’t end there. Doctors Without Borders reports that many of their patients reported terrible conditions in American custody, often in freezing cells with bright lights kept on 24/7, and denied adequate access to health care, blankets, food, clothing, and human dignity. The conditions at the migrant detention centers are a humanitarian travesty, even more so during a global pandemic. The humanitarian non-profit that advocates for the migrants, No More Deaths, addressed this in a press release this summer. “Meanwhile, precautions against the spread of the pandemic in cramped detention centers are abysmal. There is no soap in sinks, no access to gloves, and detained women and men just receive two face masks each — only after signing waivers of liability for the masks. Under these conditions, it is no surprise that more people are becoming infected with COVID-19. As of this writing, ICE acknowledges 69 known “positive” cases of COVID-19 at the La Palma facility alone. Recently, at an La Palma detention center in Eloy, detainees blocked the doors to their “pod” with tables and chairs, demanding masks, gloves, hand soap and testing. In response, the officers from CoreCivic — the for-profit company that operates many detention centers — broke through and shot them with rubber bullets and sprayed them with tear gas.” The terrors migrant children face while separated from their parents are well documented. In many cases, the children’s basic needs are unmet and entire families are left broken and traumatized. The institutionalization of children, especially without the protective buffer of a parent, has horrible and lasting consequences on a child’s mental health and development. And the scale of this crisis is unfathomable. Since July 2017, more than 1,500 migrant children were separated from their parents after being detained separately. The American Civil Liberties Union claims that the true number of separated migrant children could be as high as 5,400 since the policy began. Recently, the ACLU announced that the parents cannot be located for 545 detained migrant children.

https://medium.com/an-injustice/thousands-have-vanished-in-the-arizona-borderlands-687683b795a5

['Raisa Nastukova']

2020-12-01 20:18:12.560000+00:00

['Immigration', 'Culture', 'World', 'Migration', 'News']

John Piper’s Moral Reasoning Capabilities Hit the Fan

If I ever tell you I can’t vote against a baby-killer because the only way to do that would be to “vote for arrogance,” you have permission to hit me over the head with your copy of Desiring God. When it comes to political matters, most pastors and theologians are not serious people. I would prefer to listen to someone who knows something about the topic, and that person is clearly not John Piper. This is not the first time John Piper’s moral reasoning capabilities have hit the fan (see our past coverage here and here) but today’s article has surprised even the cynical in a year that just keeps giving. John Piper’s latest shipwreck is called: Policies, Persons, and Paths to Ruin: Pondering the Implications of the 2020 Election. The article argues (I think) against voting either for Biden or Trump. While there may be fair arguments for such a position, you will not find them in Piper’s article. The position itself is not repulsive. But the reasoning is. Piper’s claim seems to be that the toxicity of Donald Trump’s personality is equally damaging to health of the nation as the policies of the Democratic Party, and when faced with the choice between voting for murderers or men who are as arrogant and “toxic” as Donald Trump, it is better to abstain from either option. Who has John Piper been listening to? His article lacks interaction with the writers to whom we could have hoped Piper might pay attention, ranging from Wayne Grudem to Doug Wilson. But the article lacks something else: Interaction with principled thinking as such. To think in principle, John Piper would have needed to do something like the following: State that he will not vote for someone with mostly godly policies but poor character, if that poor character crosses a specific line. State where he thinks that line is and why he thinks that’s where the line should be. Sadly, many non-Christians tend to be better at moral reasoning than leading evangelicals. For instance, here is an outstanding video from Ben Shapiro explaining his moral reasoning about voting for Trump. Many people did not vote for Trump in 2016, but plan to vote for him in 2020. Shapiro’s reasons could be summarized: In 2016, Trump’s policy was unclear and it seemed like it might be horrible, but it is more clear now, and it has been pretty good so far. In some ways, Trump’s election in 2016 changed the conservative movement for the worse. That has already happened. The damage has already been done. The Democrats are much more dangerous in 2020 than they were in 2016, and the difference in the consequences of a Trump/Pence victory vs. a Biden/Harris victory to the moral, economic, and geopolitical wellbeing of the nation is completely clear. Murderers are on the loose, and we can’t vote for the other guy because he’s mean on Twitter? That was how AD Robles summarized John Piper’s argument: AD Robles provides more analysis here: Other voices on Twitter shared similar disappointment in John Piper’s article: Piper’s Arguments Piper writes: “I will explain to my unbelieving neighbor why my allegiance to Jesus set me at odds with death — death by abortion and death by arrogance.” In the article, Piper seems (through grossly vague and artificial language) to be claiming that he will not vote for either Biden or Trump. I will not interact much with John Piper’s “arguments” in this article, because there is not much there, besides what I quoted above. Piper believes the harm done to the nation via having an arrogant president is comparable to the harm done by having a president whose every policy opposes God. I would not morally condemn someone for choosing not to vote for Trump on the basis of a conviction that only Christians should be supported for the office of President, or similar reasoning. I would strongly disagree. But I would not criticize them in that case. But that was not Piper’s argument. Instead, Piper suggested that there is a moral equivalence between arrogance vs. baby-killing. No other conclusion is possible: God has made John Piper stupid. “Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked,” says Proverbs 25:26. If there were a group of evil men wanting to destroy your family, take away everything you own, murder infants, and mutilate children, would you stand against them? What would stop you from voting for a man that wants to stand against them? His attitude of arrogance? A Better Moral Calculus Jacob Brunton has just released a full-length discussion on the question of voting. In this video, he argues that the Democratic and Republican Parties should be judged by their explicit policy statements. By the standard of God’s Word the Democratic Platform is in every way immoral and godless, while the Republican Platform manages at every point to be righteous — or at least far superior to the alternative. Moreover, now that we have seen Trump in office for four years, we know that he actually believes in his party’s platform. When I abstained from voting for Trump in 2016, it was in view of my incorrect assessment of Trump’s policies and aims. I thought he was deceiving his supporters and would rule as a leftist. But, having seen a Trump presidency, I know that one option on the ballot (Biden/Harris) is wicked, while the other (Trump/Pence), while flawed, is oriented toward righteous values such as liberty, security, and individual rights, which are the only purpose of the government. Who is to say what has happened to John Piper? But at least he has given us his best. And by that, his best, Christians may determine whether he is a serious man.

https://medium.com/christian-intellectual/john-pipers-moral-reasoning-capabilities-hit-the-fan-f6e83edfd90a

['Cody Libolt']

2020-10-23 02:35:16.747000+00:00

['Election 2020', 'Christianity', 'Politics', 'John Piper', 'Trump']

Jupyter Standalone Might Just Be Better Than Anaconda

Advantages of Conda At the roots of Anaconda is environment virtualization. Of course, this can be seen as a huge advantage to using Anaconda over standalone Jupyter. Additionally, Anaconda comes with the “ Conda” package manager, which isn’t quite as expansive as the regular Python Package Index. As a result of these features, to an inexperienced soul, the startup learning curve of Anaconda Navigator isn’t as fierce as setting up docker images and virtual environments to run Jupyter out of. However, a significant disadvantage of Conda is the lack of the regular package index. Therefore, it is possible through only a pretty challenging loophole to install traditional Python packages that haven’t been published to Conda. For someone that uses a lot of APIs and assorted packages, this, of course, is a problem. With that in mind, Anaconda certainly is a great tool for Data Scientists, with extension applications like VSCode, Spark managers, and much more all easily implemented into the navigator to work inside of your Conda terminal, it’s easy to see why this is a common choice among Windows developers. Interestingly, a lot of my Windows friends use their Conda REPL like a terminal, so the value is certainly there for them.

https://towardsdatascience.com/jupyter-standalone-might-just-be-better-than-anaconda-53104da05eee

['Emmett Boudreau']

2019-11-01 02:50:59.008000+00:00

['Data Science', 'Programming', 'Jupyter Notebook', 'Python', 'Anaconda']

How to Access Remotely Deployed Android Devices

In my work, there are times when I deploy devices running on Android at a distant location. Sometimes having a shell is useful for debugging or doing some updates to the device. Here, I propose one possible solution using a few different applications. The List When thinking of the solution, I try to keep the setup as minimal as possible. Termux (An Android Terminal Emulator, we can execute scripts, run nodejs, etc…) Reverse Shell Binary — Checks with 4. and connect to remote server if it’s for the device Remote Server (For the Android Device to connect to, as well as where we will send the commands) A HTTP server — For the Android Device to check whether to run the command Termux Download the APK here: https://f-droid.org/repo/com.termux_99.apk. After that, install termux on the Android Device. To automate script running on startup, install Termux:Boot https://f-droid.org/repo/com.termux.boot_7.apk. Then create a file ~/.termux/boot/start-service with the following contents. #!/data/data/com.termux/files/usr/bin/sh while true; do sleep 5; /data/data/com.termux/files/reverse HTTPSERVER ACCESSTOKEN; done; What the file does is to run a while loop which will start the reverse binary if it crashes/stop. Reverse Shell Binary The binary is written in Golang. I chose Golang as it allows cross compilation and outputs a single executable binary. This makes it easy to deploy on different devices other than Android. You could be running a Raspberry Pi and the code can still work. The binary works as follows. Get MAC address of device Check HTTP Server for remote server ip and port Connect to remote server using tcp Execute commands received over tcp Exit if crash With the source codes, we can build it by running go build reverse.go . This output a binary for our current computer. Copy the binary to the device you want to control remotely and execute it. The HTTPSERVER and ACCESSTOKEN is described in the next section chmod +x reverse ./reverse HTTPSERVER ACCESSTOKEN As the binary may crash, we use a while loop to start it if it does so. while true; do sleep 5; ./reverse HTTPSERVER ACCESSTOKEN; done; Remote Server The remote server job is to listen for connection from the device and sends commands over tcp to the remote device. We have to ensure that the port we want our remote device to connect is opened. For this, I spin up a droplet on DigitalOcean and run the command. nc -lnvp 4444 That’s it for the remote server. HTTP Server The HTTP Server should be a fixed endpoint. For this, I am using repl.it for a quick http server. Repl.it gives us a fixed url for example https://ReverseShell.username.repl.co. We will then embed that in our remote device. Hence whenever we want to start a reverse shell, we can just change the parameters deviceMAC and remoteServer . With all that, we should have a reverse shell on our remote server now.

https://medium.com/swlh/how-to-access-remotely-deployed-android-devices-edbdb954bff3

[]

2020-09-29 19:32:13.047000+00:00

['Golang', 'Tools', 'Tips', 'Android', 'Programming']

Nervous About Class Participation as a New 1L Law Student?

Photo by Heidi K. Brown Here Are Ten Tips for Amplifying Our Voices Authentically in the Law Classroom Are you a new law student about to dive into your 1L year? Are you feeling a bit nervous about speaking in class? Or getting cold-called by a professor? I was nervous too. When I walked into my first law school classroom at The University of Virginia, my heart was banging so ferociously against my rib cage, I was certain everyone around me could hear it. Even though I had completed all the assigned reading, and had made checklists and flowcharts of the unfamiliar legal concepts, I worried I wouldn’t understand the professors’ questions…or my mind would go blank……or I’d turn beet red (I have a robust blushing response when I’m anxious)…or I’d end up looking totally incompetent in front of my peers. My classmates all seemed to know what was going on already; they dropped Latin phrases like res ipsa loquitur into casual hallway convos. A couple weeks into my 1L year, it happened. My Civil Procedure professor cold-called me. I had studied the concept of diversity jurisdiction the previous night and knew the rule like the back of my hand: the parties in the lawsuit needed to be citizens of different states and the amount in controversy needed to exceed a particular dollar threshold for the federal court to assume jurisdiction over the case. But the moment my teacher called my name, my blush fired up. My class notes swirled before my eyes like brushstrokes in a Van Gogh painting. My brain left the building. Somehow I mumbled an answer to the professor’s question, mistakenly suggesting Seattle and Portland were located in the same state and thus, the hypothetical court lacked diversity jurisdiction. Classmates chuckled. My professor briskly moved on to someone else. I slunk into my seat, enveloped in a cloud of mortification. I wish I could go back to that moment (and many others) and have a complete do-over, knowing what I know now about how to wrangle my physical, mental, and emotional stress responses. Having grappled with public speaking anxiety throughout law school, a 15+-year career as a litigator in the construction industry, and in the early years of my law teaching job, I’ve devoted the past decade to understanding the mechanics of my performance fears so I can help law students avoid some (hopefully all!) of the angst I experienced. I’ve compiled some tips that might help you settle into your new academic adventure, practice amplifying your voice authentically, and ultimately thrive and flourish throughout your law school experience. Our profession needs your voice. Tip #1: Ditch the Fake Bravado Messages Before we even get started, I give you permission to reject all catchy performance-oriented slogans like “fake it till you make it!” or “just do it!” or “feel the fear and do it anyway!” Just, no. I tried for years to fake confidence — in the law classroom and the courtroom. Faking bravado never helped me get to the root of what was going on in my body, brain, and mind when I was nervous. Plus, it was impossible to hide my blush, which at the time felt like a neon sign broadcasting my fright. Instead, I finally decided to dig into the science behind my physical manifestations of fear and learn how to overwrite my accompanying negative mental soundtrack — a process which ultimately helped me tap into my authentic voice. As you step into your first semester of law school, please give yourself permission to reject any cliché messages that push inauthenticity. (Sometimes when well-meaning people foist the “fake it till you make it” advice on me, I smile and politely respond, “Thanks, but that’s not part of my process.”) Tip #2: Cultivate Your Space in the Classroom In the first week of the semester, try to get to each classroom early and choose a seat location that makes you feel most comfortable. Think about how close to or far away you want to be from the teacher and physical objects like the doorway and windows; whether you prefer having most of your classmates in front of you or behind you; and whether you’d prefer sitting on the end of a row so at least one side next to you feels pretty open. My personal preference as an introvert in a packed room is to be close to the front of a room (so I can’t see the eyes of a bunch of people behind me). I also like to sit close to one edge of the room so ideally there is no one on one side of me. (Similarly, in exercise classes, I grab mats or stationary bikes in the front side corner!) If your professor uses a seating chart and requires students to select a seat and stick with it for the semester, try to choose a seat that maximizes your calmness (although it’s certainly not the end of the world if you don’t get your preferred choice). You might experiment with a variety of seating choices in different classes in your first semester and make adjustments in second semester based on what location makes you feel most at ease. Tip #3: Rewrite Your Mental Soundtrack If you’re like me, when you anticipate how things might go if you’re called on in class, you might hear a less-than-helpful internal soundtrack. Let’s halt these negative mental messages starting on Day One of law school. When I finally decided to dissect my public speaking anxiety to figure it out once-and-for-all, I first needed to listen to, and actually transcribe, my negative mental soundtrack. Every time I anticipated or stepped into a public speaking scenario, my brain replayed unhelpful messages like, “You’re going to look stupid…You’re going to turn red…Everyone is going to wonder what you are doing here…What are you even doing here?!” I finally did a mental reboot: I decided that those negative messages were completely tired and outdated. I replaced them with accurate messages about my current preparedness and worthiness: “You’ve done the hard work. You deserve to be here. Our profession needs your voice. If you reach one person with your message, you’ve done your job today. And that one person can be you. Amplify your authentic voice. You don’t need to sound like everyone else.” The old negative messages may still sneak into our psyche. They’re persistent! But we can start noticing when they do; then we simply press pause and activate our new accurate soundtrack. Tip #4: Acknowledge that the Law is a New Language It’s important to realize that the law is a new language and you don’t speak it yet. That’s okay. No one would expect us to speak fluent French, Italian, or Spanish on our first day of a language class. The same thing goes for complex legal concepts and terminology. Look up every word you don’t recognize; keep a glossary in your class notes. (When I was a 21-year-old 1L law student, my classmates kept tossing words around like “notwithstanding,” “ostensibly,” and “normatively” and, most of the time, I literally had no idea what they were talking about.) As you experiment with unfamiliar phrasing, remind yourself that any new language takes time to learn. Break complex concepts into plain English; your legal vocabulary will grow over time. Tip #5: If You’re A Fellow Introvert, Let’s Own Our Quiet Power When I started studying the science behind my need for quiet processing of complex subjects, I finally understood that I’m an introvert (which is different from being shy or socially anxious). Introverts naturally like to vet and test ideas internally before sharing them aloud, while extroverts tend to work their ideas out through engaged dialogue. Thus, extroverted law students likely will leap into classroom conversation more quickly and energetically than introverts. That’s fine; we introverts bring tremendous assets to the legal profession. (If you want to learn more about being an introverted law student or lawyer, please check out my deep-dive into the gifts we bring to the profession in The Introverted Lawyer: A Seven Step Journey Toward Authentically Empowered Advocacy.) As an introvert, I use the gift of writing to prepare me for situations in which I need to accelerate my normal pace of conversing about complex topics. In the first few days (and weeks) of class, try to discern patterns of questioning by each of your professors. Write down the questions they ask other students in class. Do your professors repeat particular words or phrasing? If you don’t know those words or phrases, that’s totally fine; look them up and put them in your growing glossary. As you prepare for each class, try organizing your notes around each professor’s unique questioning pattern. Do they ask about the facts of a precedent case? Do they want students to identify the legal issues posed in a case? Do they inquire about the elements or components of legal rules? Do they press further to explore different public policies (societal concerns) behind each rule? I routinely rely on preparatory notes to accelerate my thought processing time in scenarios where I’m expected to respond faster than I would normally like. You can do the same in the law school classroom. You can even say out loud, “I need to check my notes for a sec. Ok yes, the elements of the rule for negligence are…” or “There seem to be two competing public policies at play here…” Consider color-coding or tabbing your class-prep and in-class notes with different colors or tabs for facts, legal issues, rules, policies, themes, etc. You’ll get faster at retrieving answers to questions by using designations that make sense to you. Tip #6: Conduct a Physical Inventory and…Channel Your Inner Athlete/Performer For me, the physical manifestations of performance anxiety have always been tougher to deal with than the mental or emotional aspects. As you anticipate participating in class, take some time to notice what is happening in your body. It took me a long while to realize that when public speaking anxiety swoops in and begins to envelop me, my body immediately reacts by trying to get small. My shoulders cave inward; I cross my arms and legs. It’s as if my body is trying to curl up in a ball and roll right out of the room unnoticed. My body is just doing what it is biologically programmed to do: protect me from what it perceives as a threat. But my natural physical reaction is not-at-all helpful in performance moments. By collapsing my physical frame inward, I am cutting off optimal air, blood, and energy flow. I had to train myself to notice when this happens. Now, when I realize my body is reacting to stress by trying to get small, I make a concerted effort to open my frame back up. I shift my shoulders back and stand or sit in a balanced stance — like an athlete. Both feet on the ground, shoulders back, arms and hands open, spine tall. This is a super-quick recalibration we can do — in the moment — when we are called on in class. We can make this swift physical adjustment, mentally reboot, activate our new soundtrack, refer to our preparatory notes, and start speaking! (Oh, and if you’re an epic blusher like me…I read the best description ever about blushing in author Erika Hilliard’s book, Living Fully With Shyness and Social Anxiety: “To see a blush is to celebrate life’s living…Think of your blush as footprints left by the blood surging into the blood vessels under your skin. They symbolize the fact that life is coursing through you.” Now when I feel a blush coming on (which is often!), I pause and remind myself, “I’m alive! Yay me!” And the blush goes away faster than ever before. Be the blush.) Tip #7: Make a Human Connection with Your Professors I literally am a law professor, and yet I’m often intimidated by law professors. To amplify our voice authentically in the law school classroom, it helps to realize our professors (and peers) are simply fellow human beings. (And they’re human beings who, like all of us, have been starved of normal human contact over the past 18 months!) Your professors likely have been champing at the bit to get back into the live classroom; they’ve been working on their syllabi, class plans, and assignments all summer; they are excited to meet you. Go to your professors’ office hours. In my opinion, it’s okay for you to say to them — out loud — that you’re a bit nervous to speak in class, but you are fervently doing the reading, and you really want to learn and contribute. I try to encourage law professors to not move on too quickly to someone else if the student they called on is struggling, but instead to help the student stay in the dialogue, focusing on what the student knows and understands from doing the reading. Try talking to your professors about how you can stay in a Socratic dialogue even if you appear nervous in class. And if they follow up and indeed help you through a challenging classroom moment, email or talk to them later, say thank you, and explain how their guidance helped! We are all learning how to be better educators and learners. (Caveat: Some professors who have never experienced public speaking anxiety of this sort, or who heavily default to traditional teaching methods, might well-meaningly give you the “fake it till you make it” advice, or say that classroom dynamics are meant to “mirror the courtroom” so you need to get used to it (or some other less-than-helpful explanation). No worries. If that professor calls on you, do your mental reboot and physical recalibration, and show that you have done the reading, even if that means saying — out loud — “I’m a little nervous but I think you are asking about the history of the rule. According to the Andreas case …”) Tip #8: Experiment with Amplifying Your Voice…Authentically Our favorite athletes and performers develop step-by-step routines and rituals for practicing sequential tasks in training so when they enter the performance arena, they can activate the same sequence, and let their training take over. We can do the same. Let’s develop a sequence of actions we can practice in environments like non-intimidating classes taught by compassionate educators. You’re going to spend a ton of time doing your assigned reading, so you’re absolutely going to know the answers to some (probably many) of the questions posed in class. Establish a training routine/ritual that you can practice in classroom environments led by approachable professors: (1) do your substantive class prep; (2) activate your mental reboot; (3) recalibrate your physical frame; and (4) raise your hand! Afterwards, reflect on what worked great and what you could adjust a bit for next time. Then celebrate your authentic fortitude. (And please consider thanking those teachers for fostering a classroom culture in which all students can work on amplifying their voices). Tip #9: Activate Other Class Participation Channels One silver lining to teaching on Zoom during the 2020–2021 academic year was learning about different channels of classroom participation that afforded quiet students more time to think before being put on the spot (i.e., the “chat” feature”). Even if you are attending in-person classes this year, note all the different participation channels your professors are making available, and use them. Online discussion boards? After-class podium chats? In-class or outside-of-class polls? I obviously don’t want you to over-exhaust yourself, but consider amplifying your voice using different modes of communication. By conversing about legal concepts in writing, you will inevitably gain confidence in eventually speaking about those subjects. Tip #10: Help One Another Even though people in law school might act like they have it all together, many students are feeling the exact same way you are. Help one another. If you see a student struggling to get through a Socratic dialogue in class, consider (bravely) raising your hand and saying, “[name] made a great point about X. It got me thinking about …” If someone had a hard time in a class dialogue, reach out to them and perhaps talk about working through some of these tips together. If someone awesomely navigated a cold-call, reach out and cheer them on. Help create a community of care. In doing so, you are amplifying your authentic advocacy voice and modeling how to make our profession better.

https://medium.com/@heidikristinbrown/nervous-about-class-participation-as-a-new-1l-law-student-df7a6316e785

['Heidi K. Brown']

2021-08-20 12:02:37.680000+00:00

['Law Student', 'Public Speaking', 'Law School', 'Wellbeing']

#Physicians #Burnout: Signs and #Symptoms

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF PHYSICIANS BURNOUT: As the demands on time and energy increase, physicians are becoming more exhausted and overwhelmed. The frenetic pace at which medical professionals are expected to practice can drive even the most dedicated and experienced physicians into burnout mode. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality have been studying physician burnout and have identified five primary causes: Time pressures Chaotic environment Low control of pace Electronic Health Record (EHR) Family responsibility The increased demands on medical professionals results in decreased time spent with patients. This reduces quality of interactions and ultimately, decline in patient care. There are only so many responsibilities and tasks one person can attend to during a given day. One of the most important professions, responsible for the care and health needs of the general public is being stretched too thin. Is it any wonder our doctors are getting burned out? The average physician treats around 20 patients per day. Considering the vast range of symptoms patients present with, the demands of the electronic health record, the business of hospital/practice expectations, and an increasing level of responsibilities within the workday (not to mention personal life), it makes sense that our physicians are making diagnostic mistakes as a result of cognitive exhaustion. What Does Physician Burnout Look Like? Common symptoms of physician burnout include emotional exhaustion and detachment, high stress, feeling useless, a sense that work is taking over one’s life and an increase in errors. In a prolonged state these symptoms can lead to depression, anxiety and even suicidal ideation Statistics indicate that around 54% of physicians report symptoms of burnout and 29% are clinically depressed. Approximately 300–400 physicians commit suicide yearly. The rate of completed suicides increases exponentially as physicians age, compared to that of the general public. This disturbing set of statistics indicate the need for drastic change in the way physicians are expected to practice. If we expect our medical professionals to provide consistent, quality care to patients, their wellbeing and life-balance must be prioritized. The culture surrounding physician productivity and the extreme demands on health professionals must be challenged by a more ethical system. One in which people come first rather than profits. A healthy physician can provide better care to patients. Better care reduces misdiagnoses, poor patient prognosis and malpractice suits. The medical profession and their administrators needs to take care of their own; the important work of our doctors depends on it, as does the health of each and every patient they serve. How to Meet the Needs of Burned Out Physicians Medical professionals have been open about their needs to reduce burnout. Requests such as flex schedules, more time to attend to tasks, electronic health record entry and work/home balance are all areas that physicians have identified for systems-level solutions to reduce burnout. It is important for physicians to pay attention to their own physical and emotional health. However, the solutions for burnout need to be addressed at the macro-level as well as through individual self-care. As the demands of the medical field increase, it is imperative for those in practice to monitor their own wellness. They should advocate for healthier #WorkLifeBalance. Caregivers often underestimate their own needs for self-care, and in the case of physicians, this can have detrimental consequences.

https://medium.com/@drteyhousmyth/physicians-burnout-signs-and-symptoms-c5e8ae0d3a24

['Living With Finesse Dr. Teyhou Smyth']

2021-02-18 10:08:05.117000+00:00

['Hospital', 'Fatigue', 'Nurse', 'Anxiety', 'Doctors']

HOW TO OVERCOME STRESS EATING

HOW TO OVERCOME STRESS EATING Emotional eating has been very common nowadays. People stress eat not only when they are stressed but also when they are bored. It often helps people to go through tough times. Binge eating helps people feel better. Stress causes the body to enter fight or flight mode, which triggers the body to act rapidly. Basically, the adrenaline hormones are released as a response to stress which makes people lose appetite but if the stress lasts longer, here is when the process gets opposite, now the body finds comfort in over eating. KNOW WHAT TRIGGERS YOU Emotional eating is not only due to stress emotions but it is different for everyone. You must be self-aware about how and when you binge eat. Many people stress eat due to their habits like having a bucket of ice crem after breakup. It is more likely a person over eats after a tired long day. And most importantly there are a lot of people who eat due to peer pressure. How can one not eat unhealthily when they are surrounded with friends who eat crap all the time? SUGARY FOODS FIGHT STRESS According to a research it was found that women are mostly drawn towards stress eating however the men are more prone to drinking and smoking. It is also found in a research people with high cortisol levels gain more weight when stressed. Stress not only causes to over eat but it has a large impact on food choices too. Emotional and physical stress causes intake of foods that are high in fats and sugars. After ingestion, sugary food causes feedback effect in the brain that is responsible for producing stress. So the reason people crave unhealthy foods is because they fight stress and makes people feel better at least for the moment. PREVENTING STRESS EATING It is very important to take notice of your eating habits before it gets out of hand because wrong food choices cause many diseases along with mental, psychological problems. The first things to know are your alternatives. So when you are emotionally triggered you may have good things surrounded you Try keeping healthy snacks around you Completely get rid of sugary and unhealthy snacks Exercise more, as it produces healthy chemicals in the brain Try talking to a friend or a family member when you feel stressed. TAKEAWAY Feeling stress and binge eating is a normal behavior but you must not let that destroy your health. Food is the fuel you need to live a healthy lifestyle. Wrong food decisions may as well destroy your mental wellbeing.

https://medium.com/@parihansafdar/how-to-overcome-stress-eating-4ee6ccc3f1b6

['Parihan Safdar']

2020-12-24 05:00:40.915000+00:00

['Health', 'Lifestyle', 'Stress']

Class is in Session: Geography 101 for Fantasy Writers

In fantasy, anything is possible. Floating cities, dragons and mystical beasts, palms that can conjure roaring flames — your fantasy world can be anything and more. Perhaps you’re a fan of fantasy for that reason; you enjoy the lack of logistical restraints. However, even in fantasy, a genre that allows for incredible things, there are certain elements of realism that are necessary to maintain the illusion of your setting’s corporeal existence. Map-making is a widely expected practice when it comes to fantasy writing; it comes with the territory. It’s by no means necessary to make a map should you not be interested in doing so, but if you do intend to give your readers a physical representation of your world, there are some things you definitely don’t want to get wrong. First thing’s first: NO COAST TO COAST RIVERS. If a river flows from one coast to the other, that’s not a river; it’s more likely to be part of a sea, and the land it’s dividing are two separate masses. Likewise, rivers don’t flow from ocean to ocean; rather, they have a point at which the gather from a high elevation and then flow towards lower elevations. It’s incredibly unlikely that your continent or country is one massive incline that pushes the flow of the river from one side to the other. On the same note, because rivers flow downward with the pull of gravity, rivers don’t split; they converge, or join together in order to create a singular, larger stream. Ultimately, a river’s primary goal is get to a larger body of water, like the ocean, and thus it will take the path of least resistance to do so. This means that if two rivers are flowing near one another, one or both of them will divert to whichever path gets them moving downward the fastest. In my experience, the best place to start drawing rivers is within mountains. The precipitation — be it rain, melted snow and ice, or a combination of the two — will flow from the mountain down to the lowest point, which will inform not only potential water sources, but also the varying elevations of your land mass. On the topic of rivers and bodies of water, it’s also important to note that lakes will usually only have one river that leads off into the ocean. As mentioned before, rivers tend to take the path of least resistance, and thus it’s unlikely for there to be two lowest points instead of just a single stream downward. On Mountains: Just like rivers usually join together, the same applies to mountains — nature’s favorite polygamous points. Mountains will almost never be off by their lonesome, as mountains are created by the shifting of tectonic plates, which means that they’ll always arise in ranges and not as singular peaks. If you take a look at mountain ranges on the world map, you’ll see what I mean. From the Himalayas, to the Andes, to good ole Appalachia, Earth’s mountains have formed in clusters; thus, unless explained by some magical or supernatural occurrence, your natural stone skyscrapers should never be solitary. Another common mistake when it comes to etching mountains into maps is that many writers will place lush, forested land on both sides of a mountain or mountain range. The rain shadow effect explains how mountains will usually have one lush side, while the other is dry and arid. In layman’s terms, dominant wind flow will carry moisture towards the mountain range, usually blowing from the ocean, and that side of the mountains will become ideal for plant growth, while the other side of the range will be blocked off from that moist air and thus become dry. Typically, the wet side of the mountains will face the coast, but this isn’t always true. The amazon rainforest in South America is on the inland side of the Andes Mountains, while the coastal side appears quite parched. On Climate: This brings us to the point of climate, and how many writers have a tendency to put vastly different climates far too close together. A tundra is not going to be directly north of a desert, and a temperate, deciduous forest will not suddenly become a tropical rainforest if you ride a few miles down the road. Even if your world doesn’t abide by the laws of our Earth’s equator, pay attention to how and where climates shift to determine how much distance should reasonably stretch between them. Again, if your story contains a magical or perhaps even technological reason opposite climates would be close together, that’s different, but if you’re looking to make your setting as realistic as possible (yes, realism has its place, even in fantasy) it’s important to learn to keep track of these facets of your environment. On Character and Setting Logistics: A character’s physical environment can affect both their temperament and the customs and culture of their region. How your characters experience their environment depends on exactly where they’re settled, and the geography of your setting will dictate that. The most common mistake I see in association to this point is too many folks putting large scale settlements or cities in areas with little to no access to water. An immediate source of water is critical for a settlement’s survival. Aside from folks simply needing water to live, an immediate water supply is necessary for a load of other things, too: You need irrigation for agriculture, because crops feed hungry mouths, and those hungry mouths belong to the citizens who work to turn a profit both for themselves and the city depending on how they’re taxed — citizens like farmers, who tend to the fields, or the soldiers that protect them. Armies need lots of food, and lots of food requires lots of water, and the more food they make and sell, the more money the city has, and the more money a city has, the bigger it might get, which means more people, which means more hungry mouths to feed, which means a growing need for more food, which means a need for more water. Ya get what I’m saying here? Access to food, water, shelter, and other natural resources might not seem like a vital detail for your story, but the reality is those things will drastically affect the quality of your characters’ lives and how the setting around them behaves. If their city is starving and low on food stores, it’s possible there could be an increase in thievery or trouble between citizens. If the noble population is hindering the common folks’ access to clean water, perhaps they’d have a conflict or riots on their hands. The circumstances of the world around your characters will directly influence the plot and how surrounding characters will behave in response to their environment, which is what makes setting details so important. Speaking of characters making choices based on where their live, keep in mind that many cities back in the day — should your story be taking place in a past analogue — were not planned out as they are now. Cities wouldn’t fit evenly on a rectangular or geometric grid; rather, the original city would sprawl and spread outward as the population grew, creating a much more chaotic and less orderly map of the city. In addition, the placement of citadels and fortresses was strategic. Generally speaking, the primary fortress of a city will be built on higher ground. Higher ground makes invasion and attack more difficult, not to mention high elevation makes for easier aerial views and assaults. The goal was to dissuade or delay enemy attack by making it difficult to get to them, which is also why port placement was so crucial. Many fantasy writers jump to place their port cities on a long, open coastline, but no founder worth their salt would do such a thing. Ports are far more likely to be positioned closer inland within a bay or an inlet — somewhere that doesn’t make for easy attack by sea. In addition to whatever defenses might’ve been built and placed out in the waters off the shore to discourage naval attack, the land around the port provides a bit more natural protection and less opportunity for a large number of ships to reach the port quickly. On Scale: As far as biggest new map-making mistakes go, I’d say the most frequent one I see (other than rivers) is trouble with scale. Obviously, it’s difficult to determine exactly how big a nonexistent land mass is, but no matter how big you decide to make your city, country, or continent, the key to realism in your setting is consistency. Use real world references and decide on a scale. For the most part, it can arbitrary at first, but whatever scale you choose for your map needs to remain a constant, especially if characters in your story will be traveling long distances. Otherwise, the readers might pick up on the discrepancies and feel as though they traversed similar stretches more quickly or more slowly depending on what the plot calls for. My advice? Decide on a real-world equivalent for distances between your key cities and locations. Use more populated areas for metropolises and kingdoms and farm lands or low-population regions for the more sparse places in your setting. If you are in fact creating an analog of the past, perhaps take some time to research the population of certain areas around the period closest to the one you’re emulating to get a better estimate of city size and density. Of course, most fantasy writers — myself included — aren’t also geologists, but in the age of the internet, information about how the natural world works is much more easily accessible. We’re very fortunate to have so much knowledge at our finger tips; why not put it to good use? That said though, don’t feel obligated to create some massive world if that’s not necessary for your story. You don’t have to design a map to go with your fantasy story if that’s not something you’re interested in, but if it is, also remember that you don’t have to worldbuild anything that isn’t directly tied with the story. If your characters will only be visiting two places, it’s completely acceptable to only worldbuild those two places and forego anything that isn’t relevant. All in all, worldbuilding is a super fun and engaging way to practice a slightly different element of creativity amidst the writing process. It’s something I love to do — probably a little too much — and I look forward to hearing all about your worlds in the future.

https://medium.com/@atlasmodiah/class-is-in-session-geography-101-for-fantasy-writers-b09a940752e9

['Atlas Sallow']

2020-12-18 19:03:03.725000+00:00

['Fantasy Writing', 'Maps', 'Worldbuilding', 'Fantasy', 'Writing Tips']

Why So Many People Have to Travel for IVF Treatment

I am not a numbers person, but let’s have some fun with math. Take one 39-year-old single woman, add in eight unsuccessful intrauterine insemination treatments, deduct $12,000 in savings, insert two recommendations for IVF, factor in a 16 percent chance for success and where does that land you? At the corner of desperate and impoverished, which for me, was a block away from the Dairy Queen and down the street from a McDonald’s. It was a lonely, expensive, and high caloric corner. My Indianapolis-based fertility clinic had just told me that with my age and my response to treatment it was time to get aggressive. Aggressive meant IVF and a price tag of upward of $21,000 for just one cycle of treatment and zero guarantee of me having a baby. Unfortunately, insurance was no help. According to Resolve: The National Infertility Association, there are only 17 states in the nation that require coverage for fertility treatments, and Indiana is not one of them. My only hope of starting a family would be an Uber ride somewhere far far away. Okay, maybe it wasn’t really an Uber, but it was a pretty long car ride in a Honda Accord. Once I had come to terms with my IVF diagnosis, and the sticker shock of local treatment, I began to look for hope outside of my own backyard. Through the power of social media and Google, I began to learn of a dedicated and mighty tribe of patients who were traveling cross-country for IVF. A good number of these travelers had ventured to New York to the Syracuse location of CNY Fertility, which promotes “making priceless affordable.” With a single session of IVF starting at $3,900, CNY was offering the same services I had been quoted in Indy for a fraction of the cost. My mind was blown. After a few phone calls with CNY physicians and reference checks with other Indiana-based travel patients, I too signed on to be a long-distance patient of CNY Fertility, which keeps prices low as a personal choice. As a road warrior patient, I underwent three IVF cycles, refinanced one house, drove over 6,440 miles, became a part-time Uber driver, missed roughly 10 days of work, made three trips to Niagara Falls, underwent weekly acupuncture, injected myself with enough needles to fill three large detergent bottles, yet spent far little to what I would have spent had I sought treatment in Indiana. Reasons Why Patients Travel for IVF Treatment Truth is, I was not and am not the only Accord on the baby making highway. Hopefuls across the U.S. are jumping into planes, trains, and cars for the chance to try for a baby without sacrificing care or every dollar they have earned. According to Josef Woodman, CEO of Patients Beyond Borders, an organization dedicated to researching quality international health care, a little less than 5 percent of U.S. medical travelers are leaving the country for reproductive care and are finding significant savings by going the distance. “American patients can save 30–65 percent by crossing borders for fertility treatment, at clinics, such as Barbados Fertility Center (Barbados); BNH Hospital (Thailand); Centro Fecundar (Costa Rica); LIV Fertility Center (Mexico),” says Woodman. Stateside, medical tourism is also on the rise, specifically at clinics which offer similar prices to the clinics found abroad with the added convenience and security of being treated at a U.S.-based clinic. In recent years, CNY Fertility has seen a remarkable surge in the travel patient sector, according to William Kiltz, CNY Fertility’s communications director. “In 2015, about 20 percent of our patients came from out of state,” says Kiltz. “Today over 50 percent are out of state and 5 percent come internationally. We have people who travel from Canada, India, the Philippines, Iran.” Aside from the cost savings, Kiltz attributes this growth to a couple of key factors. “We accept a lot of people that are turned away from other clinics for being too old, having a high BMI, or low AMH levels. People similarly seek us out for challenging cases involving repetitive IVF failures and recurrent pregnancy loss because of our expertise in reproductive immunology.” Do Your Homework On a Clinic Beforehand But keep in mind: While the cost savings and access to high quality care is quite attractive for many patients, it isn’t necessarily the right fit for every patient. Traveling brings an added bit of complexity to an already delicate situation. Before packing your bags, Woodman recommends doing your due diligence first. “Start researching the facility, the doctor, and the staff,” he says. And always make sure to dig deeper. Read through patient reviews and look for evidence of legal complaints. “If you see one complaint, maybe not a concern, but if you see 20 that might be a problem,” says Woodman. If planning to travel internationally for treatment, take a look to see if the website is in English (if it’s not, that can indicate you’ll have bad communication) and see if the clinic caters to international patients by offering things like airport transport and partnerships for accommodations. For me, the math was never simple, but it was reproductive. Add up all the miles, all the failed pregnancy tests, all the needles, each doctors visit, every tear. They all came together and equaled one healthy 9-pound, 13-ounce baby boy, and that is all that math that mattered.

https://medium.com/@angelahatem/why-so-many-people-have-to-travel-for-ivf-treatment-a7f24a0f83b0

['Angela Hatem']

2020-01-09 18:07:44.667000+00:00

['Single Moms', 'Health', 'Baby', 'Ivf']

#ClimateFinanceNG: Bridging the Investment Gap For Nationally Determined Contributions (#NDCs) — By Dr. Jubril Adeojo

What are the inhibiting barriers and apparent disconnect between the purported available or required finance and the actual finance invested in sustainable development? I believe part of the supposed barriers to funding, range from the cost of some green technology assets, to the perception that investment in climate actions is risky, the corporate governance structure of companies. Time period in deployment of some Renewables, Short term ROI focus of investors and the current credit line structure of banks. All these most especially my last point to a very large extent are the disconnect in SDGs. Onewattsolar, an investee Company of SMefunds. They have a tech solution where business and individuals pay for the energy they consume only. Energy users do not need to won the solar assset, so they pay for the energy they consume. Do you think a far more coordinated effort is required to encourage investments in long-term and sustainable landscape-scale initiatives? Certainly, a coordinated effort needs to be encouraged. Financial institution, banks need to mainstream climate change into their lines of credit. We need to understand that right now topping the chart of all types of risk is the climate risk. How do you function as a bank when flood affects their investments or how do we investment in food production when drought is spreading or flood destroys crops. The issue is, banks are not looking at the climate risk as investment strategy. Currently, we are advising AFDB on new guidelines to mainstream climate change into lines of credit released to African banks. This will support Financial Institutions to identify and adopt innovative practice on sustainable financing measures to help sustainable businesses. We are facing uncharted territory that requires taking unprecedented action to recalibrate globally towards a low-carbon economy. How do we unlock private finance as a solution to achieving change? Indeed scary times. To unlock private financing, not just unlocking but unlocking at massive scale. A. Increase transparency,- investors should readily know their exposure to carbon risk as well as their carbon impacts. The Govt at all levels should make it mandatory for companies to disclose their carbon risks and impacts. B. Redirect savings to investing in sustainable solution (green bonds): to achieve a low carbon economy fast enough we all need to get involved. Considering the low interest rate we have currently in Nigeria, how savings should be channelled to investing in sustainable solutions that will give you good return and also move us closer to a low-carbon economy. Government participation at all levels- all levels should invest in low carbon infrastructures. For instance local govt and state govts can issue a green bond in order to develop low-carbon infrastructurea to accelerate low carbon economy. We shouldn’t assume that people understand climate change. Continuous discussions like this so that people can understand climate change and its effect. Govt could introduce a label system that would indicate the carbon risk and impact. Heavy Sanctions: Governments should impose heavy sanctions on companies contributing to the environmental degradation and emissions. There should also be in place high carbon taxes. Reward those complying. The world is in a transition phase propelled by ensuring global average temperatures remain below 2°C above pre-industrial levels amidst a rising population. Can sector investment help to achieve a sustainable future? Yes. Investors need to use their understanding of the climate change we face now as pragmatic guide to analyse the manner in which they are investing. I believe using the principles of sustainability to guide investment makes business sense. It is a known fact, scientifically proven that if we continue to burn fossil fuels which aggravates climate change, economic activities will be utterly interrupted. Current floods and extreme weather should serve as warning of things to come. So investors should blink an eye before investing in the sector. This is a global challenge; I would say it is achievable but the way in which financial markets, Investors respond will be a great enabler to achieving the set target There is a long-standing awareness dat funding for environmental & climate efforts is scarce. However, there is a growing discourse claiming the availability of trillions of dollars to finance d global envtal agenda? What’re ur thoughts on this? It was Bill gates who said that to combat and defeat climate change we have to deploy green technologies are massive scale. Innovative ways of deploying capital at massive scale is equally paramount to achieve the set target.Saying there are trillions available and its sitting in the bank won’t move us nowhere. That’s just what I think. The trillion should be deployed to achieve the said global environmental agenda via innovativ financing models What is your recommendation for the government in bridging the investment gap for Nationally Determined Contributions (#NDCs) There should be heavy sanctions and high carbon taxes for business who emit. B. Do more of implementing mitigation measures that will promote low carbon economy as well as sustainable and high economic growth. Continue to enhance national capacity to adapt to climate change. D Invest heavily in climate change related science, technology and R&D that will enable the country participate in ground breaking scientific and technological innovations Significantly increase public consciousness/awareness on climate issues. F Involve private sector participation in addressing the challenges of climate change with possible tax incentive. Strengthen the national institutions to establish a highly functional framework for climate change governance. Enforcement of environmental laws is the vaccination needed now to protect us from dire effects of climate change on our lives and business. SDG13Climate action is the most strategic because the success of other goals depend on it. This is a tweet-chat series on #ClimateWednesday — #ClimateFinanceNG

https://medium.com/climatewed/climatefinanceng-bridging-the-investment-gap-for-nationally-determined-contributions-ndcs-6221f56932f1

['Iccdi Africa']

2020-10-18 16:20:08.252000+00:00

['Investment', 'Ndc', 'Finance', 'Climate Change', 'Renewable Energy']

User Experience as a Process

When we talk about user experience, we mostly think about mobile applications, websites and product design. Two days ago I was with my team we were discussing that how we can improve our team work and coordination within team. We discussed a lot of working process, for example six sigma, agile, waterfall and many more. But what I was thinking that most of us forget or don't know about User Experince. I think every individual or company who providing their services or selling their products to user or even they are supervising people, everybody needs to lear and understand user experience as a process within their working capacity. “ User experience is god of all working processes” If a marketing manger is thinking about new marketing strategies I think first of all he/her has to learn user experience then he/her can make better strategies. Even a CEO or Head needs to learn user experience because he /her supervising some people. He needs to understand problems of people who are working under him/her. What I am trying to say that we have to understand the importance of user experience in our daily life. If I am not wrong whole world is user experience, everyone is user of everyone.

https://medium.com/nyc-design/user-experience-as-a-process-5b92f683e59f

['Salman Habib']

2019-04-22 14:29:53.430000+00:00

['User Experience', 'User Research', 'Psychology', 'New York', 'UX']

Understanding New Location Permission Changes in iOS 13

1. “Allow Once” Prior to iOS 13, there were two location permissions: When In Use (foreground) and Always (background). iOS 13 introduces a third option: Allow Once . The “Allow Once” option is considered a temporary authorization, with the app prompting again the next time it’s opened. This option allows users to grant When In Use for a single session: After the session ends, you must request When In Use again. If a user who previously granted When In Use or Always upgrades to iOS 13, they will be grandfathered into that authorization status after upgrading. When you request location permission trough CLLocationManager , the user will see this popup with three choices: Share the location just once with the app and ask again Share the location with the app when the app is in use Don’t share location with the app at all If the user taps option 1: “Allow once”, your app will be notified that the CLAuthorizationStatus changed to authorizedWhenInUse . Just as you’re used to in older iOS version when you get a permanent permission. It is now allowed for your app to start requesting locations — no code changes necessary. Users can jump out and back into their app, and you will still have location permission. It’s only after a (longer) period of inactivity that iOS will revoke the permission and turn the CLAuthorizationStatus back to notDetermined . Your CLLocationManagerDelegate will get notified of the change in location permission when the app is back in the foreground so the UI can be updated accordingly. This makes the new ‘allow once’ feature a nice privacy improvement for users. It also lowers the bar for users to give the location features in your app a try and decide later whether to grant it a more permanent permission.

https://medium.com/better-programming/understanding-new-location-permission-changes-in-ios-13-6c34dc5f54da

['Tejeshwar Singh Gill']

2019-10-18 05:34:30.167000+00:00

['Location', 'Ios 13', 'iOS App Development', 'iOS', 'Gps']

A Path Through Polarization

​December 2020 Recently I was approached by an HR professional who was curious about how the vision work that we do in Genysys might address the polarization of relationships in the workplace. The environment of polarization continues to escalate in today’s world. His question reminded me of a comment of a participant in an envisioning workshop that I facilitated almost ten years ago. This workshop was for members of a historical society that was deeply divided over what to do with a very unique asset. They had been given a castle in the middle of the local community. A majority of the society members didn’t want to have anything to do with the castle. ​ After the workshop one of the participants, who represented the majority of those who wanted nothing to do with the castle, came up to me and after thanking me for being willing to facilitate this workshop in such a contentious environment, made the following comment: “The common vision that we were able to develop today about the future of the castle has brought needed healing to our society.”​ ​ Upon reflection, I believe that the key to developing some healing and common ground was first to identify the common questions that all of the participants had about the future of the castle beyond the present reality. As they thought beyond five years, which is where we in Genysys begin, it was amazing the common ground in interests, hopes, and concerns that began to emerge. When the results of the visioning exercise around the questions of the long-term future of the castle began to be shared the participants began to see that they often had much more in common about the future than they ever thought possible. As one participant indicated, “Eighty percent of what we shared today is common and/or complementary, our problem was that we had, up to now, no forum or way to discover our common ground.” ​ Here are two questions that might help in discovering common ground in an environment of polarized differences: ​ What common questions do we, in any group of which we are a part (work, family, community, church, etc.), have about our future beyond five years? How does each participant answer these questions as they look to that year of focus beyond five years? ​ The common and complementary responses to those answers can provide a bridge of hope for a common and positive future for those involved as it was for the historical society and its castle.

https://medium.com/the-consultant-school/a-path-through-polarization-e8753a1b7345

['Ray Rood The Genysys Group']

2020-12-22 21:27:11.729000+00:00

['Consulting', 'Organizational Culture', 'Polarization', 'Ending Polarization']

World Environment Day 2021: Revivify the Planet.

The Earth’s average temperature is increasing. Desert encroachment is intensifying. Polar ice melting is accentuating. The climate is capricious. Plant and animal life are going extinct and the ecosystem is at a tipping point. The beautiful planet Earth — the only planet in the ecosystem that can support life is sitting on a keg of gun powder, waiting for that last damage before it becomes antiquated. Man is in the midst of all of this chaos, ironically he has contributed immensely to its occurrence. Man’s activities on Earth may have been of great benefits but the indiscriminate cutting of trees, burning of fossil fuel, air, water and land pollution, plastic dumping in the ocean and his desultory hunting of wildlife is causing serious imbalances in the Earth system and there is a need to correct this. In light of this, World Environment Day 2021 is aimed at resuscitating the planet and its theme is Ecosystem Restoration. There is a dire need to correct all the wrongs that have been done to our dear planet. Global warming and climate change would cause much more problems than all our activities combined can bring about. To revivify the ecosystem, conscious efforts need to be taken with alacrity to bring about quick positive changes. Plastic pollution has become a serious threat to aquatic life and an eyesore on land. They are not biodegradable and when they get to landfills they just remain there causing more pollution and preventing plant growth. In the water bodies they are broken into tiny pieces which are taken in by aquatic creatures such as fishes, turtles, porpoise etc and these driblets of plastics remains inside them which may lead to their death or its transfer through a process known as biomagnification. We cannot stop the use of plastics abruptly, but to fight plastic pollution, we need to reduce, reuse and recycle plastics. We reduce the amount of plastics at our disposal by reusing the ones we already have. By so doing, the demand of plastics are drastically reduced. There is also a need for communal sensitization on the use of plastics and its impact on the environment. Everyone has a role to play. In cases whereby we cannot reuse, we recycle. Less than 30% of plastics ever produced have been recycled, the rest end up in landfills and water bodies. The recycling of plastics would be of tremendous benefits not just to man but to the Earth in general. The environment is no one’s property to destroy; it is everyone’s responsibility to protect. Let’s restore the ecosystem, take responsibility and build back better. #WorldEnvironmentDay2021 #EcosystemRestoration #ReduceReuseRecycle #PlanetFirst #SaveEarth #ReviveEarth #Recycle #StepUpGreen #Environmentalist #TakeResponsibility #NoPlanetB 8th June, 2021 Imoikor Joshua

https://medium.com/@stepupgreen/world-environment-day-2021-revivify-the-planet-50ed23545b2c

['Step-Up Green Climate Warriors Initiative']

2021-06-08 14:15:22.258000+00:00

['Cleanup', 'Recycling', 'Plastic Pollution', 'Climate Change', 'World Environment Day']

Latest picks: What does GPT-3 mean for AI?

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https://towardsdatascience.com/latest-picks-what-does-gpt-3-mean-for-ai-fb01ae90116c

['Tds Editors']

2020-10-15 13:27:14.177000+00:00

['The Daily Pick']

TLX contract upgrade

Dear All, The anticipated TLX token contract upgrade has been completed. We have successfully pushed our new custodial contract model to the Ethereum mainnet, which occured at block 6177787. The new contract address is 0xb3616550abc8af79c7a5902def9efa3bc9a95200. The upgraded tokens have been distributed to the old TLX holders according to the snapshot taken at block 6160000. Thus, the old TLX tokens are now null and void. You may want to use the “burn” method of the old contract to dispose of your old tokens to prevent future confusion. Additionally, we are reaching out all of the token directories — including etherscan.io — to make sure our new contract information is accurately reflected. Please note that, from now on, the TLX markets at Yobit are totally irrelevant to the actual token, and your TLX balance at Yobit does not represent any right with respect to the TeleX AI project. We encourage those who are interested in trading the token to use the decentralized exchange ForkDelta. You may reach the TLX/ETH market at ForkDelta at market.telexai.com. If you think there is an error with the new TLX token distribution, please reach us at info@telexai.com. The 20th of October 2018 is the deadline for us to accept any dispute regarding the TLX balances. After that date, no refund, swap, or any other change-of-balance request will be considered. Best, TeleX AI Team

https://medium.com/telexai/tlx-contract-upgrade-ab504cd8dad3

['Can Soysal']

2018-08-20 00:29:22.863000+00:00

['Telex Ai', 'Bitcoin', 'Ethereum', 'Telegram', 'Blockchain']

Short Story Sunday: The (crazy) Woman

The (crazy) Woman Feeling lost and confused is starting to become abnormally comfortable. Living a life of constant change isn’t what I imagined at this point in my life but it’s definitely what I chose. This unfortunate feeling seeps into my system from time to time and I resort to an activity that I know best: Roaming around Los Angeles on foot looking for clarity. It’ about 11pm and I just started heading towards a grocery store more known for it’s people than produce. It’s called Ralphs but I found out that everyone calls it “Rock and Roll” Ralphs, why? No Idea. But, I’m making my steps towards Rock and Roll Ralphs and I’m feeling a major mental block with work. Currently I have a writing deadline, I’m supposed to have a writing sample submitted to someone in two days, and in about an hour when it reaches 12am it will be one day. I’m confused on a few levels. First: “What the Hell am I going to write?” Second: “I’ve had one month to write this, I can’t think of anything, what the hell is wrong with me?” Third: “What if this writers block never leaves? What if my ideas are just somehow gone?” The typical questions about my placement in this world begin to arise, I try and tell myself to stop looking so much into things but I can’t help it. I start wondering, what does it say about me that I analyze everything? Then — Shit, what does it say about me that I analyze me analyzing everything? I’m starting to fear that I’m the guy who just can’t get things done because I’m too busy thinking about doing it. This walk leads me no choice, it leads me right into the very busy Ralphs grocery store to sit and people watch. If there’s one thing I need right now it’s to sit and make shallow assessments of people. I wish I didn’t have these thoughts and make these assessments sometimes but I’m human, it happens. As I walk in I notice the groups of stereotypes. I see the husband and wives, the boyfriends and girlfriends, the single women buying vodka already drunk walking around the store, the single men trying to talk to the single ladies buying vodka. The Ralphs is a gathering of every culture in Los Angeles, and fortunately it has a seating area off to the side by a coffee bean. I’m planning to sit and just let my thoughts go, I’m about 30 seconds away from people watching mode when a piece of luggage is rolled next to me. The luggage belongs to an older woman, probably about 65 years old, instantly I smell something sour and notice that her clothes haven’t been washed in who knows how long. The woman has a perpetual deer in headlight look, she may have had some eye surgery at some point in her life but I doubt it. She’s got some dirt scattered on her, I checked her hands and fingernails to see if they were clean — they weren’t. But, something was in her hands, a US Weekly magazine (which consists of all the Hollywood gossip) my mystery woman was clearly homeless, and she was standing looking at me. She said: “Are you waiting for someone?” Should I lie? Should I tell her I am so I don’t get caught in this conversation? “No, I’m just sitting here…. I’m Josh” “I’m Beth.” It was at that moment without hesitation my Midwestern roots popped in and I heard my dad’s voice echo in my head — Always extend yourself and shake someone’s hand when you meet them. I stood up and extended my hand. “Pleasure to meet you” I felt the dryness of her hand hit mine, it felt like I was shaking dirt. I instantly knew I had to wash my hands. I’m naturally a person who likes to use my hands to think, which means I touch my face a lot. I really need to wash my hands, but I can’t be rude so I’ll do it later… just don’t touch your face. Beth sat down in the unoccupied space next to me plopped her magazine on the table and said: “I knew he was gay.” “…What’s that?” “I knew he was gay. Ricky Martin, I knew it.” “Oh. (fake smile) Okay” “My girlfriend was the one who injected the blood into him.” This woman is starting to fill the shoes of the stigma she carries. Unfortunately many of us have encountered unfortunate individuals who at some point in their lives start losing touch with a certain reality. Which isn’t a bad thing, because something tells me this woman lives in her own reality, and that may be a different place than mine… good or bad. “Blood? What?” “You know the man’s blood into his penis. To make him homosexual.” WHAT!? I just nodded and gave a half -hearted smile because quite frankly I didn’t know what she was talking about. Although I’m about 250 percent certain one’s sexual preference isn’t determined by blood being injected into their reproductive organs I let her keep talking about her US weekly. She proceeded to make assessments about random celebrities and then began to discuss her former life as an actress. Apparently Beth had worked in a few films in her life and now she’s still waiting for her big break. Beth discussing her former life made my head wander. How can I not think my fate will take her road at some point? It sounded like she and was chasing a dream, a dream that never stopped or maybe never happened. There is something I find admirable about chasing what you actually want to do, probably because I’m currently doing it. But, more so because I like the idea doing what you want to do, and once you attain your dream it’s instantaneously your reality, and for me that’s what makes life exciting. Beth is all over the place now talking, I should have been paying better attention but I wasn’t. I clicked my head back into gear and started to listen to her talk again, I thought I would engage for the sake of being rude. “So, what are you doing here?” “Waiting to cook.” “Oh, okay.” “I love cooking, and I’m waiting for them to bring the organic flour, not that generic shit.” “I didn’t know flour could be generic.” “Flour can be anything.” Not sure if her comment just then was insightful or completely nuts but I nodded as if I knew exactly what she was talking about. “You know, there’s a place called Whole Foods just down the street, I think all there stuff is organic, maybe they have the stuff that’s not so generic.” “No! It’s from here. They told me they’d have it from here but their shipment isn’t in yet.” I’m uncomfortable and I want to go. My Mr. Nice guy talk to this woman routine is dried up, I felt sorry for this woman but now I feel sorry for myself for even being here. In some odd way I think I was hoping this woman would create inspiration for me to write later on but actually she’s created fear. I’m planning my escape. “Well, I think, I uh — “ “Will you look and tell me if there is flour?” “What’s that?” “Organic flour, I want organic flour. I need the flour, I need it for my daughter, and she likes the organic flour. It’s right over there in aisle 7 or 8.” I feel bad for Beth. “Sure, but I need to get going after, is that okay?” Not sure why I just asked her if it was okay for me to leave but screw it, I’ll find this organic flour and be on my way. Maybe I should do some more walking and not get stuck sitting anywhere. Maybe I should just go home and try to write and wash my hands. One way or another, I need to find this woman some flour. I stood up and smiled at Beth and started to make my way to look for some organic flour. As I did I immediately noticed the security guard begin to walk over towards me. Security and cops always make me feel like I’m up to no good, as he makes his way to me I subconsciously put on my annoyed face so he won’t talk to me. But, he talks to me. “Excuse me man.” I’m looking back at a harmless 20 something security guard in a grocery store, he’s staring back at me like he knows more than me. “Yeah.” “Hey, that woman over there, she’s nuts man, she’s crazy.” “Okay.” “The one you’re talking to man.” “No I know who you meant, I’m just looking for something for her.” “I know, she always comes in here, she doesn’t buy anything. Man, I’m telling you she’s crazy man, crazy. I always kick her out, but she just keeps coming back in.” That word crazy stuck out. I admittedly also think this woman is crazy but to hear it from this guy made it sound worse for some reason. Crazy carries a connotation of… well… crazy. It’s a word that get’s loosely tossed around and could potentially actually tell you if someone is crazy or not. “Well, let me just find something for her.” “Is it about that flour she wants? We don’t have it, that’s what she’s always talking about, some special flour for some cookies or some shit.” “Listen man, I’m just going to get going okay.” “Can you just tell her we don’t have it, tell her we never have it?” This is just weird now. I walk back to my lady who, I can tell has been eyeing me like I’m in the wilderness. I tell her that they don’t have organic flour, even though I already think flour is organic. She tells me it has to SAY it’s organic, and they never say organic flour. Whatever. “Hey, I’m going to get going, good luck, I have to get home.” As I extended my hand again (MAKE SURE I WASH MY HANDS!) she didn’t extend back. Apparently she knew I had a conversation with the security guard: “What did the rent a cop say to you?” “Oh, uh, nothing.” “I know he thinks I’m crazy, he tells me I’m crazy and I need to go home, but I’m not crazy, I don’t think I’m crazy. Do you think I’m crazy?” If there is one thing I have learned in my life it’s to never tell a WOMAN that she’s crazy. I don’t care who the woman is, you never tell them they are crazy…. Especially one’s you’re dating… But that’s beside the point. I don’t think you can tell a homeless woman she is crazy because who knows what will happen, she has nothing to lose. “I don’t think you’re crazy.” “Liar!” Woah! Her yell caught me off guard. “Okay good luck Beth.” As I started to make my way out she stung me with something, whether or not it she meant it when she said it I thought about it the entire walk home. “They told me they would have the organic flour! And now they don’t! I’m not the crazy one. I’m trying to make something perfect, something that requires the perfect flour, okay! I’m not crazy, I just want what they told me they would have, this is what I want, I want the perfect flour.” Then she mumbled… “People don’t understand that passion and crazy are the same thing, and I want to cook all night. I want perfect flour.” And that was it, that’s what led me to the door. That seemingly odd conversation to an even odder previous set of events had me walking at a fast pace to get home, I knew exactly what I was going to write. I walked into my house quickly and quietly and headed straight for the computer. I knew I should go and give my girlfriend a kiss and let her know I’m home but I needed to type. I had been gone for almost 2 hours and I need to turn in a story to use as a sample. I began typing at a very rapid pace. It was as if my walk of clarity worked even though I didn’t do much walking, I immediately typed the title: Adventures of Ingredients It was about a woman banished to a grocery store, only able to leave when the perfect ingredients come in, and she has to cook her way out. Sounds cheesy yes, but it was somewhat of a child adventure. Most importantly I was flowing with ideas. Before I knew it, it was 3:47am and I’m not too sure I had moved from the computer. I heard the bedroom door open and footsteps coming to me. It was my girlfriend. I imagine that when she opened the door only to see the light of my monitor blasting off my face I may have looked like a mad scientist. She said: “Babe, what are you doing? Come to bed.” “I can’t, I can’t I need to finish this writing, I’m almost there.” “How much longer?” “Not sure? Maybe a few hours?” “You’re crazy babe, just come to bed when you can.” My girlfriend meant no harm but little did she know she used the keyword of the night — CRAZY. As she headed back to the bedroom I wanted to yell to her that I’m not crazy I’m just passionate about this and it needs to be perfect, I need to get it done. My perfect ingredients are coming together to make my story and I need to utilize them. Whether or not Beth knew it she really got to me with those final comments: “People don’t understand that passion and crazy are the same thing, and I want to cook all night. I want perfect flour.” Sure, the context sounded completely ridiculous but I get it. The store told her she would have exactly what she needed and now she’s waiting it out, is she really that crazy? Is she crazy to want that perfect thing? Is her craziness what got her to that position in the first place? My girlfriend gave me a moment to let this all sink in. With some sort of passion there is most definitely some sort of crazy. These two words are holding hands as far as I’m concerned and this is in every area of life …love…work…family’s…emotionally…physically… sport…the list goes on. I don’t know where this leads me and I certainly hope one day I’m not roaming into Ralphs for perfect food, but I do know that my passion to do what I want is not going to go away, and I’m not sure where that will lead. I’m pretty sure this lives in all of us, and the more we express our crazy the more we express our passions.

https://medium.com/joshhallman/short-story-sunday-the-crazy-woman-b27941066864

['Josh Hallman']

2016-06-12 03:03:16.444000+00:00

['Short Story', 'Stories', 'Woman', 'Sunday', 'Writing']

Productizing Your Design System

This article is the second of a three-part series that takes a deep dive through Workday’s experience of developing, productizing, and eventually releasing their design system out into the open. Check out Part I, Design Systems are Everybody’s Business. Embrace your complexity Design systems are the industry secret to scaling enterprise user experiences. Depending on your scale and complexity, we believe that a design system can range from a simple sticker sheet to a fully matured product. At Workday, we’ve made the differentiating decision to treat our design system as a product. Since the inception of our design system three years ago, Workday has grown tremendously. We now have over 12,000 workmates and hundreds of unique product applications, all working to support customers who have anywhere from thousands to hundreds of thousands of their own employees. To call our ecosystem complex would be an understatement. The Workday Canvas Design System was built to fully embrace our scale and complexity. It has evolved to operate like a standalone product, allowing it to do what design systems do best — empower users to efficiently create consistent, high-quality user experiences. In this article, we open up about how our design system became a “product for products” and what that means to us as designers. We realize there’s no such thing as “one size fits all” in the world of enterprise design systems, but we hope our perspective and learnings can shed light on the struggles and successes of productizing your design system. Treat your design system like a design problem Although it seems obvious now, one of the trickiest parts about designing systems in the enterprise space is distinguishing and prioritizing all the users and stakeholders impacted by your system. Unlike teams focusing on a specific product or user, the users of our design system are widespread. We identified a range of user groups, such as an employee using Workday, a professional working in Workday, an internal developer building Workday, or an external developer creating a unique application outside of Workday. One way our team identified and prioritized our most valuable user groups was through a stakeholder mapping activity. As a team, we listed every role, team, and organization that is either impacted by Workday Canvas or has the ability to influence the system. Through this exercise, we discovered that designers and developers are our most valuable user groups. We then began to conduct qualitative and quantitative research with these groups to understand more about the parts of our system that were working for them and the parts that weren’t. Canvas Stakeholder Map This research created a repository of insights around design system-specific themes like communication, documentation, and education. These insights now directly inform our priorities. They ground us when we lose focus or question our purpose, or when we receive ad-hoc requests outside the defined scope of our team. Takeaways: Approach your design system like a human-centered design problem. Try a stakeholder mapping exercise to determine who your primary users are and to gain perspective of who is impacted by changes to your system. Prioritize dedicated resources Another way we reframed our system into a product was by hiring dedicated product management and engineering resources to work with our team of designers. As a newly resourced team, our first initiative was to open source developer kits for our design system. (We’ll go into more detail in part three of this series.) Our product manager created artifacts like roadmaps and backlogs and set up rituals like sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retros. Our designers created a process for building global, accessible, reusable components, and then worked closely with our dedicated team of developers to define and build our system in code, strengthening Workday Canvas as the ever-evolving source of truth. This was our first attempt at operating as a fully cross-functional product team and it proved to be a major success. Sprint planning helped us stay focused and prioritize our efforts, daily stand-ups kept us accountable and aware, and our retros gave us time to reflect, improve, and celebrate our wins. In the world of enterprise systems where things can easily feel complex, having the right process, structure, and resources in place demonstrated just how successful our team could be. Takeaways: If your design system is going to operate like a product, it needs dedicated engineering, design, and product management resources. Establish rituals and processes that give your team tangible goals and focus. Mature your consulting practice If you work on design systems, you’re probably used to people Slacking you messages like, “Hey, there! I want to use this new button component I created for my very specific use case.” Sounds a lot like a feature request, right? Before approaching our design system like a product, those types of requests would make our team gasp in unison, appalled by such an audacious ask! But realistically speaking, it felt impossible to evolve as quickly as we needed to with the number of dedicated resources we had. Trying to completely control our design system was a bad practice we held onto for a long time. Our ego and the idea of forcing conformity was making the evolution of our system feel difficult. We realized we needed to let our primary users, our product designers, and the needs of their users drive the evolution of our design system — not us. This powerful realization shifted our mindset from controlling the evolution of our system to us facilitating and guiding it through designer and developer contribution. During the open source project, we began to encourage the design and development of our open source kit through a federated approach. Getting outside contribution from development and design teams who wanted to help build or reuse our components spread the workload and increased wider adoption across the company. To handle the “feature” requests that come in, we created an intake process that starts with listening to our users. We’ve learned to ask questions like, “What is your use case?”, “Why aren’t the existing components meeting your needs?”, and “What are the variables and properties you need to make this component work for you?” Conversations like these share the responsibility and ownership of the system, empowering the user to have a direct impact on making our system better. While having these conversations, we simultaneously ask ourselves, “How could this be leveraged by other apps and product teams?” Thinking holistically and making connections across all of our products and platforms is just as important as listening to our users. Mapping our intake process to our design process Takeaways: Listen and always ask why. Make designers and developers on product teams your primary contributors. Know when to leverage systems thinking. Define your change management process Like creating a product, creating our design system has involved many stakeholders along the way. Back in January 2019, we started working on taking our design system open source. Working toward this milestone opened our eyes to the implications of change within our complex enterprise ecosystem. As more users began to employ our system to build products, we realized that more dependencies were creeping in — especially those related to maintaining the integrity of our ever-evolving system. While crafting and evolving our design system for the open source milestone, we were overlooking how our proposed changes would ripple throughout the company. For example, we decided to change the color of our primary buttons from orange to blue for accessibility reasons. We knew that changes like this had massive implications for designers and developers but had failed to see the larger impact on the teams we hadn’t considered. Our education team, for instance, saw a large impact on the learning materials they created. For our team to operate as a product supporting other products, it was important to be intentional with change management and to carefully consider new additions to the system. Implementing change management measures meant we needed to create environments to test and verify contributions before pushing to our master library, and then to communicate regularly to all affected stakeholders. Change management helps us manage the quality of our master component library. It reduces the pain points caused by lack of communication and small but deadly production missteps. Like most painful experiences, we learned a lot and grew from it as a team. The impact of changing a button caused by a lack of communication Takeaways: No matter how big or small your design system gets, figure out how to evaluate the dependencies of each change. Create a QA process and test environments before pushing to your Master Library. Never stop growing At Workday, we recognize the challenges of creating a trustworthy system that can scale and adapt to change. In 2016, we knew that our company was growing fast and that we needed a way to maintain consistency and quality. It took us years of trial and error to find processes that work in practice. As we continue to evolve, we’ll continue to iterate because design systems are constantly changing — and that’s the exciting part. The benefits of productizing our design system gave us tangible results. It helped us identify and prioritize our most valuable user groups, it created rituals and artifacts to guide our focus, and it enlightened us on the ripple effect of our decisions. Where are we going now? As a product, our next steps are to dive deeper into research and validation, develop more education and training, and continue to empower our users to create consistent, high-quality user experiences — all while making their jobs a little bit easier.

https://medium.com/workday-design/productizing-your-design-system-1ae44f94b06

['Workday Design']

2020-02-25 19:08:04.531000+00:00

['Open Source Design', 'Design Systems', 'UX Design', 'Product', 'Change Management']

‘Sugar daddy’ dating app banned by WeChat, labeled an ‘abnormal enterprise’ by authorities

‘Sugar daddy’ dating app banned by WeChat, labeled an ‘abnormal enterprise’ by authorities Well, that was quick Obviously jealous of its incredible breakout success, WeChat has now banned China’s hottest social media app, one which aims to bring “sugar daddies” and “sugar babies” together — and which may not be around in China for long. The American dating app “SeekingArrangement” has become a surprise overnight success in China, topping the charts this week for the most recent downloads of a free social networking app on China’s iOS app store, surpassing even WeChat itself. In case you’ve never heard of it, SeekingArrangement, founded in 2006 by Singapore-born, MIT-graduate Brandon Wade is the the world’s premier “Sugar Daddy” dating site, claiming to have 10 million active members across 139 different countries with four “sugar babies” for every one “sugar daddy/momma.” While the app’s business plan has often been criticized in countries around the world for exploiting young, naive women and for being little more than a prostitution service, SeekingArrangement claims that it is merely helping its users form “balanced” relationships on their own terms: Where Sugar Babies enjoy a life of luxury by being pampered with fine dinners, exotic trips and allowances. In turn, Sugar Daddies or Mommas find beautiful members to accompany them at all times. We want relationships to be balanced. We give our members a place for this to happen. The app’s popularity suddenly exploded in China this week after the state-run Global Times published an article warning its readers that the infamous app had arrived in China, reporting that the company had been registered in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone in 2015 and had launched a Chinese website and app (甜蜜定制). While the tabloid’s warning achieved much the opposite of its intended effect, with Chinese web users rushing to download the app, it seems unlikely that SeekingArrangement’s success will last long, considering Chinese censors’ attitudes towards sex and social media. In an apparent attempt to win over China’s Net Nanny, the company has rephrased things a bit for its Chinese app, replacing “sugar daddy” with “successful man/woman” and “sugar baby” with “charming sweetheart.” An anonymous worker at the company told China Daily that SeekingArrangement’s Chinese website and app are designed as a “premium platform that functions like any other legal dating site in China,” with the only difference being that SA targets “successful men of high quality and fine taste.” The worker added that the company manually screens words like “sugar daddy” or “sex-for-cash” on member profiles in China, trying to distance itself from charges of prostitution. “Our Chinese product is exclusively developed for the local market and would definitely abide by the law here,” the worker insisted. Meanwhile, on the front page of SeekingArrangement’s Chinese website there’s a notice that reads: “SA’s Chinese version is an absolutely independent brand… do not be misled by biased media reports. SA Chinese will continue to build a high quality space for high quality people!” The company’s website and app remain up in China, as does their Weibo page which has close to 11,000 followers. However, along with being disappared from WeChat, SeekingArrangement has also been placed under investigation by authorities in Shanghai which announced earlier today that the company has no operations in Shanghai and as been entered into the FTZ’s Lists of Enterprises with Abnormal Operations. But hey, even if the company does get completely shut down in China by the end of the week, at least they’ll have gained a good bit of free publicity out of this whole drama.

https://medium.com/shanghaiist/sugar-daddy-dating-app-banned-by-wechat-labeled-an-abnormal-enterprise-by-authorities-f820c105cc46

[]

2018-05-25 10:38:18.866000+00:00

['Censorship', 'News', 'Apps', 'China', 'Dating']

My 6-Year-Old Is Chill AF. She Also Has Anxiety and OCD.

Over the past eight months, I have been routinely amazed by my kid. The coronavirus pandemic changed her life. Preschool shut down. We quit going shopping, quit dining out. Her Frozen II birthday party was canceled. We didn’t get to go to the pool this summer or hang out with friends. There’s a whole lot we quit doing, all to be safe, just in case. I never expected that to be easy for my daughter. I know it’s tough. It’s hard on me and we miss everything from leisurely Target trips to Saturdays spent at the library. I keep waiting for her to have a meltdown because she misses the McDonald’s play place, or because we drive past the old “bounce house” every single day. The bounce house was one of our favorite hangouts — a place where I could work on my writing and she could play with other kids — but they had to close their doors months ago. Many of our favorite places have closed over the past few months, even the American Girl store just outside of Atlanta, where we always planned to have her golden birthday in a few years. It feels like life has been one disappointment after another this year, and yet, my daughter takes it all in stride. Nothing is quite “normal,” but my kid’s easygoing nature means that every socially-distanced holiday so far has been her definition of the “best day ever.” Seriously. Her Zoom birthday party and home festivities? “This is the best birthday ever,” she declared. No trick or treating this Halloween, but we still managed to do a socially-distanced play date. “Best Halloween ever!” She talked about that celebration every day for a week. In a lot of ways, I’ve lucked out because my daughter is so damn easy to please. Sure, she’s still a kid, so she sometimes thinks she wants every single toy she sees on TV, but she totally gets it when I tell her no, not today, maybe never, etc. She trusts me, I think, to look at most situations on a case-by-case basis. I trust her to not lose her shit when I say no. “Hey, I don’t think I’m up to putting the big tree up for Christmas this year,” I told her last week. “I feel bad about that. What do you think? What if we do a real small tree instead?” My daughter barely missed a beat. “Yeah, we could use my doll tree,” she said. “That would be fun.” “I’ll put an advent calendar tree on the wall too,” I told her. THIS is the only tree I feel like putting up in 2020 | Image by Pottery Barn Kids “Ooh, yeah!” As she replied, I almost couldn’t believe it. How did I ever get such an easy-going kid?

https://medium.com/honestly-yours/my-6-year-old-is-chill-af-she-also-has-anxiety-and-ocd-8137beda9d85

['Shannon Ashley']

2020-11-16 23:52:53.142000+00:00

['Parenting', 'Life Lessons', 'Family', 'Life', 'Mental Health']

Some Republicans plan to challenge Biden’s Electoral College victory. Here’s what happened when Democrats challenged Bush

When Congress met to tally the results of the 2004 presidential election, then-Sen. Barbara Boxer stood alone on the Senate floor to object to President George W. Bush’s reelection victory in Ohio over Democrat John Kerry, forcing the House and Senate to vote for only the second time in a century on whether to reject a state’s Electoral College votes. It’s the same scenario that could play out next month with President Donald Trump publicly urging his supporters in Congress to object to President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in battleground states that expanded mail-in voting amid the coronavirus pandemic. https://www.vlive.tv/post/0-20547819 https://www.vlive.tv/post/1-20554712 https://www.vlive.tv/post/1-20554761 https://www.vlive.tv/post/1-20554827 https://www.vlive.tv/post/0-20548107 https://www.vlive.tv/post/1-20555047 https://www.vlive.tv/post/1-20555064 https://www.vlive.tv/post/1-20555105 https://www.vlive.tv/post/0-20548259 https://www.vlive.tv/post/1-20555157 Congress has the next — and final — vote in the 2020 election. Here’s how it works A group of House Republicans is preparing to object, and they need at least one senator to join them to force the chambers to vote on the matter. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has privately urged Senate Republicans to steer clear, several senators have declined to rule out taking part, and incoming GOP Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville of Alabama has left open the possibility he will join the effort. Democrats and even some Republicans are warning against a challenge, despite the precedent laid by Boxer. In an interview with CNN, Boxer said that the circumstances are totally different this year, when Trump and his allies are seeking to overturn a national election result, than when she joined with then-Ohio Democratic Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones to object to Kerry’s loss. “Our intent was not to overturn the election in any way. Our intent was to focus on voter suppression in Ohio,” said the retired California Democrat, who says her objection was her proudest moment on the Senate floor. “They’re talking about the vote that the presidency was stolen from Donald Trump. It’s not even a close comparison.” Congress will count the Electoral College votes in a joint session of Congress on January 6, which represents Trump’s final chance to try to overturn the election result he lost to Biden. In reality, Trump’s Republican allies have virtually zero chance of changing the result, only to delay the inevitable affirmation of Biden as the Electoral College winner and the next president. That hasn’t stopped Trump — who has spread baseless conspiracy theories to falsely claim he won the election — from pressing for Congress to dispute the result next month. Just before Christmas, Trump hosted House Republicans at the White House who have been spearheading the effort to object to the Electoral College results, led by GOP Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama. “I believe we have multiple senators, and the question is not if, but how many,” Brooks said last week. Brooks said the Republicans are preparing to object to Biden’s win in as many as six states, which would force a dozen hours of debate on the House and Senate floors, turning the counting of Biden’s victory into a political circus. GOP senator leaves door open to objecting In order to force a vote to challenge a state’s election results, however, a senator must join with a member of Congress in writing to object to the results. McConnell, who has recognized Biden’s victory, has warned his conference not to join the House GOP effort and force the Senate GOP conference to take a politically toxic vote on whether they’re siding with Trump or not. But Tuberville, who beat Trump’s former Attorney General Jeff Sessions in the Alabama Republican primary, left the door open last week to objections to the Electoral College results. Tuberville’s comments prompted Trump to tweet multiple stories about the new Alabama senator potentially defying McConnell and speak to him over the weekend. “I spoke to a great gentleman, Tommy Tuberville, last night, and he is so excited,” Trump told Rudy Giuliani during a brief call to Giuliani’s WABC radio show on December 20. “He said, ‘You made me the most popular politician in the United States,’” Trump added. “He’s great.” Should Tuberville or another senator join the House objections, the two chambers would separate and debate each state’s objection for two hours before voting. Because Democrats control the House, the effort has effectively zero chance of succeeding, and even in a Republican-controlled Senate, numerous Republicans have said there was not widespread fraud. “In the Senate, it would go down like a shot dog,” South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the №2 Senate Republican, said last week. “I just don’t think it makes a lot of sense to put everybody through this when you know what the ultimate outcome is going to be.” Previous objections have failed without Senate backing The joint session to count the Electoral College votes on January 6 will be led by Vice President Mike Pence, who attended Monday’s White House meeting with Trump and House Republicans, raising questions about how he will handle being in the awkward position of affirming Biden’s victory over his own presidential ticket. It’s the same position that former Vice President Al Gore faced in 2001 following his razor-thin loss to Bush that came down to a disputed recount in Florida. During that vote, House Democrats protested the Florida result, but no senator objection, and the effort died. That’s also what happened in 2017, when a group of House Democrats objected to Trump’s win in several states, citing Russia’s election interference and problems with voter suppression. No senators joined the House members, however, and Biden — who was presiding over the session in his role as president of the Senate — gaveled down and dismissed the objections, certifying Trump as the winner. “We were trying to focus attention on (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s efforts to undermine and sabotage the American election,” said Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, one of the Democrats who raised an objection on the floor in 2017. “There’s certainly a lot more evidence of Vladimir Putin’s cyberattacks on the DNC and the (Hillary) Clinton campaign and efforts to manipulate American public opinion through social media than there’s been of any fraud or corruption in the 2020 election.” House GOP leaders have cited past Democratic objections, including Boxer’s and House Democrats’ 2017 objections, to justify disputing Biden’s victory next month. “If any Republicans did it, it’s clearly not the first time it’s been done,” House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, who has yet to acknowledge Biden as President-elect, said last week. “Every Republican president in the last three terms have been objected to by Democrats.” ‘People wanted to strangle me’ In 2005, Boxer joined forces with Tubbs Jones to protest Bush’s victory in Ohio, which was the decisive state in Bush’s 2004 election victory against Kerry. Since the Electoral Count Act was passed in 1887, it was only the second time a protest had forced the two chambers to vote on accepting a state’s the Electoral College result, according to the Congressional Research Service. The first was over a single “faithless” elector from North Carolina who cast a vote in 1969 for George Wallace instead of Richard Nixon. That objection was also rejected by both chambers. Boxer said that Tubbs Jones, who died in 2008, convinced her to join the 2005 objection by showing her the problems that took place with Ohio’s votes, including hours-long lines at polls, broken voting machines and high rates rejection rates for provisional ballots in the state’s African American communities. “This objection does not have at its root the hope or even the hint of overturning the victory of the president,” Tubbs Jones said on the House floor when the two chambers separated to debate. “But it is a necessary, timely and appropriate opportunity to review and remedy the most precious process in our democracy.” In the Senate, Boxer’s fellow Democrats spoke in support of addressing problems with voter suppression. But when it came time to vote, only Boxer cast a vote to sustain the protest. She lost 74–1. In the House, the vote was 267–31 against the objection, and Ohio’s votes were counted. “It was one of my proudest moments, even though I stood alone,” Boxer told CNN. “I was very unpopular that day in the Senate — people wanted to strangle me.” In the weeks after they had raised the Electoral College objection, Boxer and Tubbs Jones joined with then-Sen. Hillary Clinton to introduce new voting rights legislation, though it didn’t advance in the Republican-held Senate. “Looking back on it, I think we were so prescient because after that, things got even worse with voter suppression,” Boxer said. “We had hoped that our taking that stand would set the stage for legislation, but we could never get it done in the Republican Senate. We could just not get it out.”

https://medium.com/@ukosasih54/some-republicans-plan-to-challenge-bidens-electoral-college-victory-92e212ed8d4c

[]

2020-12-27 17:45:12.762000+00:00

['Biden', 'Electoral', 'Republicans']

Dropping Aug 10, ~3:00pm PST

Dropping Aug 10, ~3:00pm PST Get ready for a drop today from Gala Labs that everyone’s been talking (and dancing) about. Each VOX in the inaugural series is a unique Town Star inspired character with a randomized set of traits true to that character. CollectVox.com Complete with an FBX source file, VOX are versatile companions who can be animated, 3D printed, used in augmented reality and more. Every VOX will also generate future play-to-earn rewards by interacting in various ways with the Gala Games ecosystem. 8888 VOX will be sold in the first series drop. Each VOX will be sold for 0.0888 ETH (plus gas fees). VOX may only be purchased with ETH. The inaugural series of VOX will be available for sale at CollectVox.com starting August 10, 2021 at 3:00 pm PST. You won’t want to show up fashionably late to this party. Own Your Expression We can all agree that the art of digital expression has taken a massive leap forward in recent years. From the chat rooms of the 90s where we piled our favorite qualities about ourselves into one glorious screen name, to the sideways punctuation we used to express some of the earliest iterations of the emoji :) ❤ on a freakishly durable Nokia phone. Now, thanks to blockchain technology, we can actually own things. With cartridge video games, cassette tapes and DVDs, we were brushing on the idea of real ownership, but then the share-it-all culture that came with the early internet changed the rules. For two decades the digital property ownership battles have raged on. Until the rise of blockchain, players and collectors could never be empowered by real ownership. As the players of the world continue waking up to the idea that they can own the things they play with, blockchain-backed ownership will become the new standard for digital possession. Virtual Self One of the most fascinating things about the emergence of NFT collectibles, blockchain gaming and crypto assets into the mainstream is what it says about individuality. By opening the door to an entirely new level of economy and society, people are given greater freedom and more opportunities than ever before to express their unique identities. Your “identity” is simply a collection of stories. More specifically, it’s the collection of stories you tell yourself about yourself. An identity can be as large or as small as anyone can imagine. Like a holiday tree that you can decorate with an endless amount of ornaments, your identity forms throughout your life. Now that digital asset ownership is being gradually intertwined into our lives, it can be a source of joy, solace or fond memories. Our digital belongings will be direct reminders of some of the most important stories we tell ourselves, the stories that make up our identity. Being able to own unique virtual items will enrich our natural abilities to know ourselves, as we begin to craft virtual versions of ourselves. Unique in Multiple Ways Every VOX is unique. Think about that for a moment. Until you open the box, you don’t know anything about the VOX. It could be an incredibly rare combination of traits, the rarest of which will earn greater defi rewards in upcoming games. No matter what, your VOX will be one-of-a-kind, a unique part of your digital identity. In addition to each VOX being an individual, the idea is brand new as well. Of course there have been other avatar NFT projects. Some of them have even offered randomly generated unique traits (like VOX) and fetched high prices on secondary markets. By offering source files as an ownership benefit, Gala Labs is creating the opportunity for your VOX to boldly go where no avatar has gone before, no matter the metaverse. VOX is the beginning of something big, something all across the metaverse, something that will earn, and something that is provably yours. Avatars that Defi We don’t think it’s too soon to turn defi into a verb! There is no better word for what these VOX avatars will do as the project unfolds. They will defi! Just owning a VOX will unlock your future ability to earn gaming rewards like VoxCoin. The more rare the VOX, the more epic the rewards! Join the Party! This isn’t just another party where everyone tries to fit in. This is the party where absolutely everyone stands out! Express your digital self with Vox! CollectVox.com Discord Community

https://blog.gala.games/join-the-party-with-vox-b414ad3de889

['Gala Games']

2021-08-10 14:41:56.149000+00:00

['Blockchain Game', 'Nft', 'Gala Games', 'Vox', 'Cryptocurrency']

Professional Team Management 2: How to Discover Root Issues to be Solved

This is a continuation of the previous article. I’m going to write some more specifics about individual topics. Once again, in a nutshell, the role of a product manager is to bring the maximum value to users through some kind of product or service. To achieve this, the mission is to define the value to be provided to the users, share it as a vision with the people involved, and execute everything necessary by any means necessary. However, even if we say we are going to do everything, we have a limited amount of time. How do you find out what you really need to do in that limited time? In this article, I will write about the approach to discovering issues. Discover the Bottleneck First of all, I would like to conclude that what we need to do at that moment is, in a word, to “solve the bottleneck”. This is one of the basic ideas of TOC (Theory of Constraints), which is one of the theories used to solve problems in SCM (Supply Chain Management) in the manufacturing industry. #If you have time, please read the book “The Goal” for more details. In a simple diagram, when there are processes A to D from input to output, in order to increase the overall throughput (speed of output), it is necessary to strengthen B, which is the weakest process. In this case, at least at that moment, no matter how much you strengthen A/C/D, it will not contribute to the overall throughput improvement. In fact, to improve them, you may take away the time of the person in charge of B (very common), or you may create more to-dos than necessary in front of B by improving A too much (also very common), both of which will have the opposite effect and result in a decrease in overall throughput. In other words, the only thing that needs to be done at that moment is to improve and strengthen “B”, and this “B” is the immediate bottleneck. Theoretically, it is very simple, but in reality, it is not easy to find bottlenecks because the process is not always this simple. Because it is not easy, it is a very important task for product managers to identify and eliminate the “bottlenecks” in creating value. The Complexity of Reality In reality, many people are involved in the creation of a single product or service. The product in the AI business that I am in charge of right now is very complex and consists of a combination of many elemental technologies such as voice recognition and natural language processing. If I dare to describe the complexity in two dimensions, it looks like this. In this situation, it is difficult to discover the bottleneck by decomposing the process and measuring the speed of each output. This is because there are too many dependencies. Also, as a matter of course, if a bottleneck will be solved, it will shift the bottleneck to another place. The fact that bottlenecks keep shifting one after another means that the cost/effort of discovering bottlenecks needs to be minimized. If the discovery cost is too high, it becomes practically difficult to keep discovering the changing bottlenecks quickly. Therefore, decomposing the process to discovering bottlenecks is too costly and not an effective method. So, what do we do? I recommend to focus on human relationships and information flow. Focus on Where the Communication Path is Concentrated Find out who the communication is focused on, as shown in the diagram below. Repeated interviews with the relevant people inside and outside the team can reveal this rather easily, as long as you ask the right questions.” Who are the people involved? What is your role with them? How do you interact with them?” etc., draw a communication path as shown in the figure above, and figure out who the path gathers. The solution depends on the situation, but for example, in case of a person who many members are dependent on, he or she may need to: 1. separate the tasks that can only be done by that person from those that cannot be done by that person, and distribute the roles. 2. if this is not possible, automate or make it efficient as much as possible. 3. if it is difficult to do even 2, encourage the person to manage the difficulties and be prepared to do 1 and 2 when there’s more time. I choose the best solution based on the person’s situation, role, and feelings. Otherwise, if he or she is the kind of person who holds on to their tasks, I often redistribute work and roles, even if rather forcefully. When the communication path is concentrated, it is rather easy to detect and often does not take long to solve. However, there is another pattern that can easily become a bottleneck. It is the loop structure. Focus on Where the Communication Path Loops You should also pay attention to the points where communication loops, as shown in the diagram below, i.e., where the conversation does not go forward. In this case, it is most likely that the communication protocol between the people in the loop does not match and they are not able to communicate with each other. For example, planning and business, business and development, planning and development, etc. are supposed to be expressing the same thing, but the protocols are so different that the conversation is not taking place. Also, in an environment with strong diversity, such as one where people from various backgrounds are gathered, differences in work style ideology may be the cause. For example, in a culture that values autonomy and consensus, and a culture where the scope of responsibility is clear and where superiors are in charge, interactions between people and teams from these two cultures can easily create a situation where trust isn’t built well. This is because they have different ways of thinking about decision-making. Such conflicts are often not verbalized (it is hard to imagine where the gaps are even between the people involved), so it is necessary to use intuition and experience to discover the issue. In such cases, it is often difficult to expect a resolution between the members within a short period of time. If you don’t have much time, you can get help from a director who can talk about diverse protocols, or you can intervene yourself to solve the gap. Read About Changes over Time This is a unique point of a professional team. People with very high abilities, without exception, learn and grow very fast, and they do not stop while they are working on one business or project. Therefore, what may be a bottleneck at a given moment may naturally become less of a bottleneck with the speed of growth. Therefore, for a professional team, it is necessary to take a clairvoyant view of the growth speed of each person in his or her role and find the bottleneck with a time frame in mind. In the above diagram, the filled area is the current throughput, and the dotted line is the future throughput, but improving “B” is not effective, and the correct answer is “D”. It’s really hard to predict this correctly. I often find myself wishing I hadn’t done it this way after the fact. The reason for this is simple, though: many people grow beyond their imagination. Users, Teams, and Stakeholders So far, I have written about the approach to solving the issues within the team. Of course, if there are issues with the users, it means that the vision is not good, which means that the realization of the vision will not bring much value. If there are issues with stakeholders, it means that the company is not making sense of the business and setting KGI/KPI. Of course, if you are going to create a vision from scratch, you will need to start from scratch to formulate it and organize expectations with stakeholders (I’m not going to talk about how to define a vision or how to determine KGI/KPI because that is not the subject of this article). On the other hand, there are many cases where there is some kind of team in place, such as when you join the project from the middle. In such cases, it is recommended to approach the team first. As a result, even if the bottleneck is not in the team, but between users or stakeholders, approaching the team is often the fastest way to discover the bottleneck no matter where it is. This is because most of the time, the people on that team already understand the issue itself, they just don’t know how to identify and solve the bottleneck. So, as I mentioned earlier, when you are working on a project, if there is a team there, don’t start thinking by yourself, but talk with them first. In a nutshell, I think this is the fastest way to discover the bottleneck that needs to be solved first, and that is to talk to as many people as possible before thinking alone. In the End I wrote about the approach to finding issues that product managers need to solve in product management where many people and things are moving dynamically. The topic of productivity is often discussed, and I feel that people who have a high level of productivity have no hesitation in solving problems, but they are also very accurate in identifying the root issues and very fast in identifying them. Whenever I meet someone who feels this way, I always role-play what I would do if I were them, and then I often ask them directly how they set the problem.This is because it is easy to see from the outside how the problem was “solved”, but it is sometimes difficult to see how the problem was “discovered”. Then, I match the results with my own role-playing results. In the end, the accuracy of finding and solving problems depends on the number of experiences, but since there is a limit to the number of experiences you can have in your own time, I think the best shortcut is to increase the number of experiences by using the time and experience of other excellent people. So, that was my approach to discover issues. I will try to write about other know-how and tips as a product manager when I feel like it.

https://medium.com/@hirokinakamura614/professional-team-management-2-how-to-discover-root-issues-to-be-solved-e1e4e1519a82

['Nakamura Hiroki']

2020-12-27 14:48:00.963000+00:00

['Product Manager', 'Product Management', 'Problem Solving', 'Management']

Customizing Google charts — part 2

Customizing Google charts — part 2 Creating a custom legend for Line Chart NOTE: This article contains snippets of code from a project I worked on in 2016! It uses jQuery and Google charts API that could have changed. In the first part of this series, I talked about Treemaps and the usage of getBoundingClientRect() method, that helped us to recreate the rectangles. Now we will take a look at Line chart and we will build a custom interactive legend that will highlight the lines in the chart. As before, I won’t cover everything here and you can check the code to see implementation details (one can learn a lot just by reading a code). Photo by Isaac Smith on Unsplash A few points I will describe: initializing Line Chart using DataView class constructing the custom legend labels (using template literals) toggling the state of checkboxes Here is an image of the customized chart we are going to build. Line chart with a custom interactive legend In order to show the lines in the chart, we have to feed it with some data. All charts store their data in a table and there are several ways to create them. The tables are either represented as: DataTable or DataView. (For example, in the 1st part of this series, we created DataTable for Treemap using helper function arrayToDataTable()) Initializing Line Chart using DataView class We are going to create an interactive legend, so when we click a label or a line, it will be highlighted. For that we need to get some information from the chart. Let’s read a summary of the 2 main representations: A DataTable is used to create the original data table. A DataView is a convenience class that provides a read-only view of a DataTable , with methods to hide or reorder rows or columns quickly without modifying the linked, original data. As we can see, DataView provide us with various methods that we can use for example for showing/hiding the rows/columns and getting some data. That’s why DataView is the candidate we choose. We are going to use for example getNumberOfColumns() and getColumnLabel() methods. Our data in the demo comes from JSON, so we have to first format it to proper DataTable format before we can pass it to DataView object. The format we have to follow looks like this: { "cols":[ {"id":"Col1","label":"","type":"date"} ], "rows":[ {"c":[{"v":"a"},{"v":"Date(2010,10,6)"}]}, {"c":[{"v":"b"},{"v":"Date(2010,10,7)"}]} ] } We parse our JSON, construct the rows and columns as above, fill them with the values and create a new DataTable. We have the function called formatDataForLineChart(data) that does just that and return formatted data. // This is a part of the snippet to demonstrate how we can create the // rows. Check out the demo for more details. var formattedData = $.parseJSON(jsonData); var dataCols = [ {id: 'id' + 0, label: 'Date', type: 'string'} ]; var dataRow = []; ... $.each(formattedData, function(index, days) { ... dataRow[i++] = { c: [ { v: formattedDate } ] } ; $.each(v, function(index, val) { dataRow[i - 1].c[index + 1] = { v: val }; }); ... } When we have that we can create the LineChart and display it. Yay! var data = formatDataForLineChart(json); var view = new google.visualization.DataView(data); var chart = new google.charts.Line(document.getElementById('linechart')); chart.draw(view, options); Constructing the custom legend labels We want to display the labels in columns like in this example: Custom interactive legend When the chart is ready (event listener) we get the number of columns and iterate through them to create the labels with checkboxes. google.visualization.events.addListener(chart, 'ready', function() { var colsNum = data.getNumberOfColumns(); var legendAr = []; ... for (var i = 1; i < colsNum; i++) { var legendName = data.getColumnLabel(i); var id = data.getColumnId(i); var label = createLabel(legendName, id); ... } } Again, please check the demo for more details. Let’s take a closer look at createLabel() function though. We define HTML as a string and return it. Since it’s a longer string we use ‘+’ operator to join it together. function createLabel(name,i) { var label = '<label for="'+i+'" class="niceCheckbox on" data- group="suppliersGroup">' + '<input class="legendCheckbox" type="checkbox" id="'+i+'" data-id="'+i+'" name="filterCheck" value="'+name+'" checked>' + '<span class="text">'+name+'</span>' + '</label>'; return label; } That’s the old fashion way, but we can improve it by using template literals! Template literals are string literals allowing embedded expressions. You can use multi-line strings and string interpolation features with them. This is great, because we can omit all the single quotes and pluses. We just have to enclose our string with the backticks ` ` and use placeholders with ${expression} It would look like this: function createLabel(name,i) { var label = `<label for="${i}" class="niceCheckbox on" data-group="suppliersGroup"> <input class="legendCheckbox" type="checkbox" id="${i}" data-id="${i}" name="filterCheck" value="${name}" checked> <span class="text">${name}</span> </label>`; return label; } It looks cleaner isn’t it? Ok, lastly let’s see how we can select the lines and labels. Toggling the state of checkboxes As you might notice, we added data attributes on the elements we created with JS (i.e data-id=”${i}”. We did it also for the lines in the chart (targeting the SVG paths). This enable us to make it interactive and highlight the lines/labels on click. There is a function called updateLineChartCols() that contains a bunch of other functions that help us to style the elements and determine whether we should select or deselect the checkboxes. We can target the checkboxes in the legend, loop through them and toggle the ‘checked’ state like this: for(var i = 0; i < inputsArr.length; i++) { inputsArr[i].prop('checked', false); } We either set ‘checked’ to true or false based on some previous logic. DEMO link Even though I described only a few selected parts of the code I hope you find the overall process useful and you learnt something new. Thank you for reading!

https://miroslav-slapka.medium.com/customizing-google-charts-creating-a-custom-legend-for-line-chart-58facd6a5760

['Miroslav Šlapka']

2020-11-29 18:17:46.629000+00:00

['Google', 'JavaScript', 'Charts', 'Web', 'Web Development']

How PEL anonymized patient data

Since the publication of `Optimising mHealth helpdesk responsiveness in South Africa` paper in the BMJ Global Health, the Patient Engagement Lab team has been working on language understanding and interpretation in a low-resource language setting. To further our work we had to bridge the gap between university research and its real-life application. We discussed the data that we had collected with academics, and realised that these data were incredibly rare, and would be extremely valuable to other programmes in ‘resource-poor language’ settings. There are substantial opportunities for win-win collaborations with universities in which we operationalise research grade work. There are numerous challenges with establishing this, but also substantial benefits. In this blog we provide guidelines as to how we did this so that other organisations can take these into consideration. In a future blog we plan to detail the substantial outputs that came from this collaboration. Given that we work within South Africa, we took our lead from the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI). Both POPI and the more well known General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) frameworks take a ‘consent driven’ approach to data sharing. Under this umbrella, users own their identifiable data. This means that identifiable user data can be shared only if the user has given permission to share the data. Consent to share personalised data is often difficult to obtain, particularly in programmes that are at scale. The logistics involved in ensuring that people really understand what they are consenting to are prohibitively complicated and expensive. For example, typical research studies may require a 10–15 minute verbal explanation of risks etc. In the absence of explicit user permission or consent, we can only share anonymised data. Correctly anonymised data minimises the risks associated with re-identification of individuals, but when one dives into the implementation of anonymisation, the concept immediately becomes complex — much more complex than the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) laws would lead you to believe. Simple removal of prescribed meta-data does not guarantee anonymity. Someone trying to identify you may be able to use contextual information (i.e. your participation in a programme) to further identify you. For some context, Latanya Sweeney [1] showed that: 87% (216 million of 248 million) of the population in the United States had reported characteristics that likely made them unique based only on {5-digit ZIP, gender, date of birth}. About half of the U.S. population (132 million of 248 million or 53%) are likely to be uniquely identified by only {place, gender, date of birth}, where place is basically the city, town, or municipality in which the person resides. And even at the county level, {county, gender, date of birth} are likely to uniquely identify 18% of the U.S.population. In general, few characteristics are needed to uniquely identify a person. Given the above, one needs to exercise a great deal of caution when considering sharing personal data. The question then remains, how does one institute an anonymization process? And, more importantly, is there a cost-effective way for organisations to do this and thereby enable research collaborations? GDPR does not provide technical guidance as to how to implement anonymisation. However, a very useful guide from the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office does provide guidance in the form of the ‘motivated intruder test’: The ‘motivated intruder’ is taken to be a person who starts without any prior knowledge but who wishes to identify the individual from whose personal data the anonymised data has been derived. This test is meant to assess whether the motivated intruder would be successful. The approach assumes that the ‘motivated intruder’ is reasonably competent, has access to resources such as the internet, libraries, and all public documents, and would employ investigative techniques such as making inquiries of people who may have additional knowledge of the identity of the data subject or advertising for anyone with information to come forward. The ‘motivated intruder’ is not assumed to have any specialist knowledge such as computer hacking skills, or to have access to specialist equipment or to resort to criminality such as burglary, to gain access to data that is kept securely. Certain data are clearly more identifying than others. We therefore know that sharing certain variables will more likely fail the motivated intruder test than sharing others. For example, knowing a first name is identifying; knowing the first and last name is more identifying. A field of statistics called disclosure control divides variables in a dataset into two groups: identifying and non-identifying. These categories are split further, as illustrated in Figure 1. In this post we will focus on the left branch of Figure 1, namely on the direct and quasi identifiers. Figure 1. Direct identifier variables can either be removed from the dataset prior to release or combined with a one way hash together with a random number (to avoid incorrectly assuming that a MD5 has of a number is sufficient see) e.g. in SQL: In addition we can apply the technique of k-anonymisation [4] to ensure that no record has fewer than k other records that are similar to it, thereby reducing the chances of re-identification. This can be achieved either through generalisation or redaction. In order to improve the utility of the data, one can also transform the data to remove absolute quasi-identifiers. For example in a dataset that contains event timestamped data (e.g. a pregnancy with expected delivery date and dates that indicate attendance at a clinic), the dates of clinic attendance (e.g. 2019–03–25) can be replaced by time intervals to the expected delivery date. There will be more instances of given time intervals than absolute dates, thereby improving the k-anonymisation of the data. Guidelines [4] for applying k-anonymisation do not provide a fixed value to choose for k; the difficulty and risk of re-identification is typically hard to calculate and will depend on the quasi-identifiers available, externally available data sets, etc. Having said that, typical values for k are between 5 and 15 in health care data when shared with a small group of researchers. We used a value of 50 to be very conservative when sharing with our research partners at the University of Stellenbosch and Duke University. Hopefully this blog has provided some food for thought in this arena. We are aiming to publish another blog detailing our collaboration model, which we also think is worth sharing. In terms of sharing data more publicly, we do not currently think that sharing our data publicly is feasible, but are exploring other means of anonymizing the data, including differential privacy. Please let us know your thoughts!

https://medium.com/patient-engagement-lab/how-pel-anonymized-patient-data-158f3bdc46b5

['Monika Obrocka']

2019-10-07 13:11:42.319000+00:00

['Privacy']

How to Set Goals for Aggressive Business Growth (Museum Hack Case Study)

This article was inspired by Noah Kagan’s conversation with Michael Alexis from Museum Hack https://okdork.com/museum-hack/ Looking for a framework on how to set business goals for the new year? Here’s a real-life case-study on how Museum Hacks thinks about setting corporate goals and how to measure progress towards those goals. Including: How to drive growth using ambitious goals How to get alignment and company-wide buy-in on goals Why hope is a terrible strategy Think Aggressive Museum Hack had hit a plateau in revenue. Museum Hack offers renegade tours of the world’s largest museums. They grew revenue from $1.2 million to $2.6 million between 2015 and 2017. Pretty awesome growth! In 2018 they grew $200,000 to $2.8 million. They had initially set their 2019 goal to be $3 million. Not quite the 2x growth they had seen before. They first had to set a more aggressive goal. “Aggressive” means different things for every company. But aim for at least 25% growth. Michael spoke with his team and they came back with a profit goal that was 40% higher than the year before. Setting a challenging goal can spur creativity and provide focus. Get Focused Almost everyone has heard of the 80/20 rule. It’s cliché, but if you look at any company, you’ll see that relatively few things bring in most of the money. Allocate most resources to the thing that is bringing in the most money. Be experimental and long-term with the rest. For Museum Hack, the majority of their revenue came through corporate tours and the remainder came from public tours and museum consulting. Michael already believed that growing corporate sales would be the best way to hit their new goals. He realized that growing corporate sales would need to come at the expense of something else. The team decided to move resources from lower priorities, like pure brand plays, to doubling corporate sales because they had bought-in to the goal. Become Aligned Everyone at your company (or at least in your management team) should know your goals. This helps everyone be on the same page and work towards the target. Then you just have to check-in on progress towards that target. At AppSumo, the Groupon for software, they have an all-hands meeting every week where they review the progress towards the yearly revenue target. Museum Hack had a system to check in on their goals where they would: look at the previous year’s numbers make predictions on how much each category could grow and look at what strategies they could use to grow in each area. Each month they would review the financials to see what was growing. In this method, they were looking at the results but not the inputs. 👎 Measuring Inputs There are a million things that we could try to use to grow our business but only a few strategies will actually make a large impact. The specific tactics are particular to each industry and company. You have to plan backward from the goal and decide what inputs will output the results you want. Measuring your team’s inputs allows you to decide which strategies to remove or double down on. You can use a proactive dashboard (coined by noah kagan) because it gives you a view of what was done each week. It gives each employee clarity on what they should be prioritizing and gives the management team clarity on what is working. Museum Hack had success with organic SEO and used cold emails and ads as needed. They now have a controllable dashboard where they can see progress towards: Cold email: outreach/week SEO: content/week Ad spend: spend/month They review the dashboard every 4–6 weeks. These strategies allow them to track their progress towards achieving their new aggressive growth goal.

https://medium.com/@learnthenapply/how-to-set-goals-for-aggressive-business-growth-museum-hack-case-study-eae61483b06

['Aswin John']

2020-12-15 02:56:39.886000+00:00

['Goals', 'Planning', 'Business Strategy', 'Goal Setting', 'Growth']

5 Tips to Make Your Fashion Shopping Sustainable

Being a personal stylist has helped me realize that for a few years now, people have started changing their minds, asking for information, and being aware of what they are buying. At the beginning of my career, not many of my clients would ask me for the quality of the products, or if the brands were fair trade or where the clothes were made. But little by little, I can see how society is in a constant change. We still have a long way to go but this is a good sign of what is to come. I would like to share with all of you, a bit of myself, and my relationship with fashion over the years. I used to be a girl who was crazy about fashion but I didn’t care about quality or who made my clothes — at that time not many people spoke out about this issue. I found myself shopping for new clothes, shoes, accessories every single week, and as you can understand, nothing I really need. Something really helped me to stop shopping in a compulsive way was to ask myself, “Do I need this product?”. As you can imagine, most of the time the answer was “No, I don’t need it”. But my consumerist mind was saying to me “you really love it, you can’t live without it and is going to be out of stock soon because it’s a very cool piece” obviously I could live without it and didn’t need it. What I started doing it, was asking myself in three weeks' time, first, if I still needed it, second, if I still loved it as much as the first day and third, if I really thought it was a good purchase. Photo by Jacek Dylag However, the reality is that I needed to re-educate myself again. It took me time to stop buying and think further than I want this or that. I started thinking about who made my clothes or the impact my acts had on the environment among others and that’s what made me change my lifestyle and start being more sustainable. As a consequence of the Mundial crisis we are living in, the big brands will have to take decisions and change their business model into more sustainable and caring options. Right now, the fashion industry is the second most polluting in the world. Society is asking more than ever for a change. We all showed, in these last three months that if we consume responsibly, the pollution falls to disappear in many countries, and we leave the earth breathing again. Photo by Charles Etoroma So, let’s bet for sustainability. Making some changes in our habits, for example: Buy vintage clothes instead of brand new. Customize those items you have in your wardrobes that you don’t like anymore, or you are tired to wear. If you decided to go for a brand new item, find out about the brand you are going to buy. Where they made your clothes? Are the people who make your clothes in good working conditions? The fabrics they use, if they are recycled, organic, fair trade, or sustainable? Buy items with quality that you don’t need to renew every year. Choose timeless outfits that you can wear over and over during the years and you won’t be bored with them. Those are some of the ideas I try to introduce when I need to buy something. Also, no one is perfect and sometimes I don’t tick all the boxes. But it will be amazing if all of us, next time we go shopping, we can keep in mind some of these tips and put them into practice. You will save money, space in your wardrobe, you will be helping people, you will help people with their rights as workers and you will help take care of our planet!

https://medium.com/an-injustice/5-tips-to-make-your-fashion-shopping-sustainable-2e144e83c8de

['Maria Pastor Paz']

2020-07-16 10:30:06.001000+00:00

['Shopping', 'Lifestyle', 'Fashion', 'Sustainability', 'Environment']

Hollywood and Film vs. AAA and Indie Games: Who Is Losing Least in LGBT+ Representation?

A lot has been said recently about how so-called “AAA” video games are moving into the same cultural space that major Hollywood studio releases occupy — they are becoming places where we spend our time, mental energy, and, well, money, as a culture. Less has been said, and more should be, about how LGBT+ people — and here I primarily mean “lesbian, gay, and bisexual people who are open about it,” because the truth is that nobody is representing transgender or asexual people and other sexual and gender minorities very well — are not represented well in either, but how the gap of representation seems substantially smaller in video games. Off the top of my head before I started doing research for this article, I could name dozens of fairly high-profile video games, including Skyrim and The Sims, which combined across platforms constitute a substantial percentage of all video game sales ever, where LGB couples are present. The only film with a significant budget that I could think of off-hand was Independence Day: Resurgence, which against what I would have thought were significant odds has a gay couple as important background characters. That offhand impression isn’t the whole story. In the wake of the decision of Jurassic Park: Fallen World’s creative team to delete an (extremely minor) scene which would have had a character inform the protagonist that she was gay, and the fact that this, like the deletion of the bisexuality of the character Valkyrie from Thor: Ragnarok, was blamed on “time constraints” and not bigotry, I have developed two hypotheses: either same-sex female relationships distort the fabric of film’s space-time, or a bunch of people in Hollywood are lying to cover their bigotry. (The frequent excuse about the importance of Chinese box office and the alleged bigotry of Chinese censors doesn’t hold up when you consider that both these examples are minor scenes that were, in fact, deleted from the film without affecting its coherence, and that films are edited for foreign markets all the time. Remember when the Harry Potter filmmakers reshot every scene that mentioned the [thing] Stone because Americans don’t know what a Philosopher is? Because I do.) Conversely, video gaming, despite being the home of, well, GamerGate and its assorted hordes of bigots, has recently foregrounded LGB representation with promotional materials for The Last of Us: Part II and Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, and even took a crack at representing nonbinary people in Battletech (which is fairly easy and inflamed bigots to a ridiculous proportion, given that it is literally canon that no one cares about your gender in a giant stompy robot, so the player’s ability to select from three instead of two pronouns is irrelevant because no one uses them anyway). So, are games better than movies? Are games getting better at this than movies? These are two separate questions. I had a number of questions, but what they boil down to are: In raw numbers of significant, meaningful depictions of gay/trans people that aren’t obviously characterized as bad or wrong, who’s doing better: film or games? Who spends more money developing titles that feature LGBT+ representation? Who is doing better at sales with LGBT representation? The results are interesting. Film obviously has a significantly longer history than video games (although with Tetris still holding the title for best selling game in history, games go back farther than one might think.) That history has included representation of people who are not straight. The first same sex kiss occurred in Wings (1927), which you may recognize as the movie Rian Johnson copied an entire shot for for the casino scene in Star Wars — the Last Jedi. Strangely, he couldn’t manage to snag any of that progressive 1927 lesbian representation. Obviously, this was before the censorship regime that would soon take hold of Hollywood and help contribute to it becoming the propaganda machine that it is today. If we look more recently, 1969’s highly controversial Midnight Cowboy, one of the first films to be rated by the Motion Picture Association of America, featured a bisexual male main character and received the “X” rating (now roughly equivalent to NC-17) for, well, having gay people in it. That probably didn’t help representation moving forward. As I found in my other recent Medium piece about gay representation in gaming, technically the first LGBT+ representation people can point to in games was in 1986, which in the defense of games, was not far from the time where video games were first figuring out how to actually have characters who related to one another at all. The first high profile example of games where LGB relationships were there and more or less normalized was 1998’s Fallout 2. The Sims, in 2000, was notable for allowing gay relationships but not marriage but also more or less forgetting to implement straight marriage, and all subsequent Sims titles — which, again, constitute one of the most important and highest grossing franchises in video game history — allow same sex couples to do everything that mixed-sex couples can do. The Sims 4 added explicit transgender and nonbinary representation last year. Meanwhile, the 1990s brought us some really terrible examples of trans representation (Silence of the Lambs, The Crying Game) and some cult classics (Bound, But I’m a Cheerleader). The negative-representation trans examples were culturally significant at the time, while Bound and But I’m a Cheerleader are gay cult classics but didn’t get a lot of recognition when they came out. What touched off this discussion was studio tampering, and specifically the removal of discussion of same-sex interest from a character in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and the same event not long before in Thor: Ragnarok. It’s worth noting that video games also dealt with this — but most prominently, from film executives, although they aren’t the only culprits. What I mean by this: both Bioware’s 2003 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Obsidian’s 2005 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II were originally planned to include the possibility for a female player character to pursue a (chaste, because this is Star Wars) relationship with other female characters. This was forbidden at the behest of Lucasfilm, the film studio which had the final call on these games — some claim at the behest of George Lucas himself. In 2011, when the massively multiplayer sequel The Old Republic was released, Lucasfilm again forbade the inclusion of gay relationships; after the Disney buyout of the Star Wars franchise, which notably made the entire Old Republic series non-canon with respect to new material, Bioware was allowed to include token same-sex relationships (which technically makes Star Wars: The Old Republic, with its $200 million development budget, the most expensive anything with gay representation, ever, giving video games a highly sketchy but significant data point over video games). In any case, in the same decade where Lucasfilm was suppressing gay Star Wars characters, film made some pushes to be at least seen as diverse when it came to gay relationships. Brokeback Mountain is probably the most notable gay film of the 2000s. It did not, however, make a dent in the box office. Meanwhile, in games, Bioware’s Mass Effect series released two titles in the 2000s, each of which had the potential for a bi or lesbian female protagonist, and two other titles (Dragon Age: Origins and Jade Empire) that had the possibility of gay or lesbian relationships for their protagonist. The current decade is where it gets interesting. There’s been increasing press around movies about gay and transgender people: Moonlight, Tangerine, Love Simon, Call Me By Your Name. There’s been continuing release of games with same-sex relationships by Bioware (although their next game, Anthem, has been stated to not include any form of romantic relationships). Joining them have been numerous independent developers ranging from zero-budget to extremely large budgets; Bethesda’s Skyrim, which has the potential for same sex protagonist relationships, is, like The Sims, one of the highest grossing titles of all time across all platforms. They also included same-sex attraction in Fallout 4 (if the main character is same-sex attracted, they appear to be specifically bisexual, as the plot requires them to have a dead spouse of the opposite sex with whom they had a child). Obsidian’s Fallout: New Vegas also included the possibility of the expression of same sex attraction by protagonists, although it didn’t include “romances”. Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us splits protagonism between Joel, a presumably straight man, and Ellie, a lesbian teenager who will be the protagonist in the upcoming Last of Us Part II, which recently made waves with an E3 trailer containing the most motion-captured-lip-smacking-detailed kiss in video game history, which just happened to be gay. In the medium-to-low budget range of games still developed by studios, DONTNOD’s Life is Strange series has, in its currently released titles, centered on lesbian and bisexual women and their relationships. To Sum Up: Video Games Are Doing Less Worse Than Film Here’s what it boils down to: if you look at all of film history, there’s almost no films that are both successful and well-funded by studios that also represent LGBT+ characters well. If you look at video game history, you see inclusion of same-sex attracted central characters for at least the past two decades. Furthermore, it’s clear that many creatives in games would like to be doing more, and that in one high profile case, an entire series was planned with LGB representation and that representation was removed or not implemented because of a film studio’s decision. Video games are still overwhelmingly about straight people. None of this is to suggest we should be complacent — my other Medium article on this subject showed that games with LGBT representation, much less protagonists, are a miniscule fraction of games as a whole. However, Hollywood is so incredibly worse at this, deleting offhand references to the sexuality of background characters. The kicker: if you look at the top 50 films of all time in terms of how much money they made, zero of them have any gay representation at all. In video games, one of the three main characters of the third best selling game of all time, Grand Theft Auto V, Trevor, is bisexual. Having played the game, I wouldn’t trumpet it as good representation, but it’s there in a way nothing on the top 50 in film has. It’s also notable that GTAV is only beaten by Tetris and Minecraft, neither of which have anything resembling characters with relationships at all. Skyrim is the twelfth best-selling game of all time, The Last of Us is number 38, and The Sims is number 42. Four out of fifty of the top video games of all time have gay people in them; zero of the top fifty movies do. Let’s be honest, Hollywood: deleting people’s sexualities and never including queer characters isn’t about how they affect the “time balance” of your movies. It’s an excuse, just like the vaguely-racist “Chinese censors” thing is. Out of the high-budget films I found that did have positive gay representation, by the way, the Wachowskis and Roland Emmerich, all queer directors, were responsible for a disproportionate number, whereas game developers who put gay characters in their stories are frequently not queer-identified. If video games, the industry that brought us GamerGate, can take some tiny, half-assed strides toward inclusion, then Hollywood needs to drag itself out of this non-inclusive bog of its own making. Dr. Eleanor A. Lockhart holds a Ph.D. in communication from Texas A&M University. She is a former professor of communication studies, and unable to work due to disability. If you want to support her health and ability to do research like this, you can support her Patreon, PayPal, or Cashapp. Her Twitter is @BootlegGirl

https://medium.com/ellies-pop-culture-disc-horse/hollywood-and-film-vs-aaa-and-indie-games-who-is-losing-least-in-lgbt-representation-6160cb9eee3b

['Eleanor Amaranth Lockhart']

2019-05-27 03:10:36.223000+00:00

['Entertainment', 'Representation', 'LGBTQ', 'Film', 'Videogames']

Racial Supremacy and Ethnic Preservationism

Opposite sides of the ‘racist’ coin Note; eksentric spellings are deliberate — see https://equanimity.blog/spelling-change-implementation/ As a word, ‘racism’ is used somewhat indiscriminately. This is unfortunate, because there is a world of difference between racial supremacy beliefs and a group’s desire to retain its ethnic character. The former is held by a tiny minority. The latter is widespread. This distinction is lost in the heated, moralistic debates about race and immigration, and an opportunity to find common ground, sadly missed. The ‘Anglo-zone’ in particular is grappling with this issue — each country in its own way — as the movement of people continues its trend from global majority areas; just about every other country in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, South and East Asia. Meanwhile, globalization undermines and destabilizes them as functioning nation-states. Let’s look at an historical example, and use the wisdom of hindsight to postulate a better outcome that might be applied to our present circumstances. The USA’s Civil War was fought over the issues of racism, slavery and the right to seccede. The different distribution of wealth and development played an important role in the dynamic between the industrial north and the agrarian south. The North (the Union) eventually sought to abolish slavery, upon which the economy of the South (the Confederacy) depended. Instead of spending enormous numbers in finances and human lives pursuing a punishing war, what if the North had said to the South, ‘we’ll help you turn your slaves into employees’? This sounds simplistic, but it illustrates a strategy of owning each other’s problems and finding a shared solution. It wouldn’t have solved the issue of co-existence because the actual manumission, or emancipation of slaves in the USA was complicated by racial supremacist beliefs. The idea of transportation back to Africa was widespread and in fact birthed the nation of Liberia. Nonetheless, if the industrial strength of the North had been invested in transitioning the South’s economy towards a more employee and technology-reliant one, there would have been few losers, many more winners, and a lot less carnage. Of course, hindsight is an easy thing. How can we apply this to today’s problems? As I said, every immigrant nation is responding differently, although there are common threads; Brexit and Trump are cries to reclaim control of borders. In the United States, a recent documentary filmaker, Lourdes Lee Vasquez produced Immigration Paradox and found that many people in the so-called ‘alt-right’ were not racial supremacists; all they wanted was for their country’s border laws to be respected and put into practice. This shows that the divide is not as extreme as it appears. In Canada and Australasia the discussion is possibly a little more advanced, although there is still no distinction between supremacy and preservation. Let me speak as an Anglo-Celtic Australian resident and citizen. Even here, there is polarization around these issues. The only way to overcome this is to reach out to your ‘enemy’ and find common ground, with a sincere desire to understand and look for solutions. This involves give and take. The ‘watermelons’ in the Greens and the ‘rednecks’ in the countryside may seem a world apart, but there is commonality; a concern for humanity and our future together. Whilst one side may be keen to see racial and ethnic differences melt away and our human commonalities emerge, the other side seeks to retain the colour of national diversity and the time to absorb and process changes. Whilst for one side, change can’t happen soon enough, the other side calls for change to stop. In reality, neither side is as extreme as they appear. In a democratic community, it means there HAS to be a compromise to avoid conflict. Ethnic preservationists ask for a slow-down, a chance to assess mutliculturalism and make it true. To me, multiculturalism has become bastardized by economic opportunism and rapid, high levels of immigration. A significant drop in Australia’s immigration levels would slow the unprecedented rate of population growth and prevent the ravaging to the environment that breaks the hearts of Greens. It would also afford time to make sense of our current cultural mix. Business, government and other open-border advocates have different motives, but they all give little consideration to the social stresses their policies create. Living cheek-to-jowl with every conceivable ethnic group increases the psychological load on individuals, many of whom are already cognitively occupied with issues of sex and sexuality, not to mention putting food on the table. The complexities of these issues are repeatedly underestimated by the advocates of non-discriminatory, high immigration levels. It’s a win-win for both sides to slow this down. However, the radicals on the left will have to accept that ethnic diversity between nations remains more or less as it is for the time being and borders are not going to be as open as they’d like them to be. What will the ‘alt-right’ have to compromise on? The momentum behind current immigration patterns comes in part from perceived historical injustices. The Age of European exploration, colonization and imperialism included tragedies and atrocities that are shared by countless earlier invading, conquering tribes and nations. The pattern continues today, and not just by Europeans. This pursuit of glory has earned the nation-state a bad rap. If we are to learn anything from it, it is that the desire to dominate is at the core. The biggest culprits today are, not uncoincidentaly, the biggest nations; the USA, China, Russia and the EU. They have only come to be because individuals, rich and poor, have lent their support to competitiveness; the competition for economic, military and material supremacy. What the ‘alt-right’ should yield on is this tendency to dominate. Australia can lead by example by calling for multi-lateral disarmament, a military retreat to within our borders, greater economic self-reliance and a massive beefing up of the United Nation’s capacity to host conflict resolution and conduct peace-keeping interventions. It is a very difficult thing for a country like ours not to be caught up in the geopolitical shenanigans of larger nations. But we should at least do what we can to diffuse their combustibility. And by the way, the far left would do well to also drop its habit of attempting to dominate debate. 843 words

https://medium.com/@saimoncole/racial-supremacy-and-ethnic-preservationism-7075571a9653

['Simon Cole']

2020-10-16 01:53:52.073000+00:00

['Anglophone Crisis', 'Ethnicity', 'Solutions', 'Immigration', 'Racism']

What’s new in wifi 6 router and how fast it is?

What’s new in wifi 6 router and how fast it is? In case you’re experiencing buffering, ensure that your router isn’t the reason! Jump on the super-quick roadway with the quickest WiFi 6 innovation. Intended to expand network limits and improve the exhibition of your home organization, WiFi 6 (802.11ax) is the most recent age of WiFi innovation. It will enable you with quicker WiFi speeds with solid associations, so you can appreciate cradle-free streaming, quicker downloads, and add more shrewd home gadgets without hindering your web insight. Photo by Compare Fibre on Unsplash Wi-Fi 6 is the next-generation technology in WiFi standards as you are using now. Wi-Fi 6 can also be known as “AX WiFi” or “802.11ax WiFi”. Initially, Wi-Fi 6 router was built to respond to the growing devices around the world. A Wi-Fi 6 router helps to use many devices simultaneously like if you have a VR device or many smart home devices or have a large number of household devices as they are fast, have increased efficiency, and are better at transferring data than previous generations. This is to a lesser extent a one-time speed increment and even more a future-confronting overhaul intended to ensure our velocities don’t come to a standstill a couple of years not far off. Wi-Fi 6 is simply beginning to show up this year, and there’s a decent possibility it’ll be inside your next telephone or PC. This is what you ought to expect once it shows up. Wi-Fi 6 is the upcoming age of Wi-Fi. It’ll do a similar essential thing — interface you to the web — just with a lot of extra innovations to get that going all the more proficiently, accelerating associations all the while. How Fast Wi-Fi 6? From the start, Wi-Fi 6 associations aren’t probably going to be significantly quicker. A solitary Wi-Fi 6 PC associated with a Wi-Fi 6 switch may just be marginally quicker than a solitary Wi-Fi 5 PC associated with a Wi-Fi 5 switch. Wi-Fi 6 acquaints some innovations with assistance to relieve the issues that accompany putting many Wi-Fi gadgets on a solitary organization. It allows switches to speaking with more gadgets on the double, allows switches to send information to different gadgets in similar transmission, and lets Wi-Fi gadgets plan registration with the switch. Together, those highlights should keep associations solid even as an ever-increasing number of gadgets begin requesting information. The maximum velocities of those gadgets won’t be helped, yet the paces you see in normal, day by day utilize likely will get a redesign. Precisely how quick that redesign is, however, will rely upon the number of gadgets are on your organization and exactly how requesting those gadgets are. Wi-Fi 6 uses both 1024-QAM to provide signals stored with more data (providing you with more efficiency) and with a 160 MHz Channel catering a wider channel to make your WiFi faster. It also allows you to experience fault-free VR or enjoy remarkably realistic 4K and even 8K streaming. Exactly how quick is WiFi 6 versus WiFi 5? To start with, we should discuss hypothetical throughput. As Intel put it, “Wi-Fi 6 is equipped for a most extreme throughput of 9.6 Gbps across numerous channels, contrasted with 3.5 Gbps on Wi-Fi 5.” In principle, a WiFi 6 fit switch could hit speeds over 250% quicker than current WiFi 5 gadgets. Remote neighborhoods give web admittance to numerous clients in quickly developing numbers in homes, workplaces, production lines, and public spots. The development rate is so quick, truth is told, that what had been the worldwide norm for remote systems administration, IEEE 802.11ac, delivered in 2014, can at this point don’t keep up. Wi-Fi 6 enhances the exhibition of Wi-Fi 5 by obtaining helpful methods from 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) cell radio innovation, in the expectation that Wi-Fi 6 will give the expanded limit expected to a developing number of interconnected remote gadgets. These reach from the Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and more astute 5G remote cell phones to try and associated vehicles. For numerous clients in thick conditions with a large number of remote gadgets, Wi-Fi 6 expands upon the different client, various info, and different yield (MU-MIMO) reception apparatus designs utilized in Wi-Fi 5, with broadened abilities. Wi-Fi 5 switches, with their different radio wires, are intended to deal with upwards of four synchronous clients or information streams. Huge information moves are conceivable, yet just on downlinks from switches or APs to client gadgets.

https://medium.com/@szq545/whats-new-in-wifi-6-router-and-how-fast-it-is-766acbc660c1

['Saurabh Sahani']

2020-12-26 13:26:25.760000+00:00

['Wifi', 'Wifi Router', 'Tips']

Converting an Array to JSON Object in JavaScript

Converting an Array to JSON Object in JavaScript If you have an array of data but the program you’re communicating with requires an object, don’t fear, we’ll go over some easy conversion methods. The post Converting an Array to JSON Object in JavaScript first appeared on Qvault. JSON, or “JavaScript Object Notation”, is one of the most popular data exchange formats, particularly in web development. If you have an array of data but the program you’re communicating with requires an object, don’t fear, we’ll go over some easy conversion methods. Quick Answer — JS Array to JSON Arrays are actually valid JSON, so if you just need to prepare your array in order to make a fetch request with it, it’s as easy as using the JSON.stringify() method. const resp = await fetch('https://example.com', { method: 'POST', mode: 'cors', headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' }, body: JSON.stringify([1, 2, 3, 4, 5]) }); The JSON.stringify() method converts a JavaScript object, array or value to a JSON string that can be sent over the wire using the Fetch API (or another communication library). Weird Answer — Array to JSON with indexes as keys If you didn’t want the direct string representation of a JSON array, perhaps you want an object where the keys are the indexes of the array. For example: ["apple", "orange", "banana"] // becomes { "0": "apple", "1": "orange", "2": "banana" } To get a JSON object from an array with index keys you can use the Object.assign method in conjunction with `JSON.stringify` following code: const array = ["apple", "orange", "banana"] const jsonString = JSON.stringify(Object.assign({}, array)) // jsonString becomes // {"0":"apple","1":"orange","2":"banana"} Thanks For Reading! Take computer science courses on our new platform Follow and hit us up on Twitter @q_vault if you have any questions or comments Subscribe to our Newsletter for more programming articles

https://medium.com/qvault/converting-an-array-to-json-object-in-javascript-f9f1d163cb34

['Lane Wagner']

2020-12-28 15:07:04.778000+00:00

['Webdev', 'JavaScript', 'Languages', 'Front End']

Announcing XD to Flutter v2.0!

That means that, with the XD to Flutter plugin, you can get your designs running on virtually any device with the click of a button. It’s not going to code your whole app for you, but it’ll give you a head start. XD to Flutter is built by gskinner in partnership with Adobe, and is published as a plugin for Adobe XD itself, so you can use it with any existing Adobe XD design you’re building. Awesome! So what’s new? The initial release of XD to Flutter had great support for outputting all the different visual elements in a design — vector graphics, images, rich text, background blurs, blend modes, shadows, and similar — but the result could be static and inflexible. While it was handy for grabbing an icon or text style, we wanted it to do more! XD empowers designers to create dynamic UIs, with tools like responsive layout, scrollable areas, stacks, and grids; we want the plugin to support every one of those capabilities, and with v2.0 we’ve made a lot of progress. Responsive Resize XD to Flutter supports the responsive layout features of XD, which lets you “pin” elements within their enclosing parent and precisely control how they resize. Responsive design in Adobe XD Responsive resize in Flutter This is achieved in Flutter by using a custom Pinned layout widget in the open-source adobe_xd package that developers can leverage directly in their projects. Pinned widget code example Stacks & Scroll Groups “Stacks” and Scroll Groups provide new ways to lay out content on-screen dynamically in Adobe XD. Stacks in XD let you arrange a bunch of different elements in a horizontal or vertical list, with varying spacing between them; they are more similar to a Flex widget in Flutter than their namesake Stack widget. Scroll Groups predictably let you define an area to scroll a larger group of content vertically or horizontally, right inside your design. XD to Flutter v2.0 supports both of these features, converting them into common Flutter widgets ( Column , Row , and SingleChildScrollView ). You can even put a stack into a scroll group to easily create a scrolling list of items. Stacks & Scroll Groups in XD (left) and Flutter (right) Padding & Background Elements Another new feature is background elements, which let you designate a visual element as the background for a group. This can be paired with padding to space the background’s edges from the content. The Flutter export uses a Stack widget to layer the background element behind the content, which is placed into a Padding widget. Padding & Background in XD (left) and Flutter (right) Flutter 2 & null safety The layout features described above enable much more responsive UI, complimenting Flutter 2’s increased support for form factors like desktop and web. Flutter 2 also introduces sound null safety — a language feature that helps developers catch nullability issues before they cause problems in apps. XD to Flutter v2.0 includes a new setting to “Export Null Safe Code”, ensuring that the generated code is future-ready. “Export Null Safe Code” setting and output Sounds great! How do I get started? Whether you’re using it to copy the code for a tricky gradient, or to export fully responsive, parameterized, interactive widgets, it’s simple to join the thousands of creative professionals that are already using the XD to Flutter plugin. You can install it by selecting “Browse Plugins…” from Adobe XD’s “Plugin” menu and searching for “Flutter” (strangely, searching for “XD to Flutter” doesn’t work), or just visit adobe.com/go/xd_to_flutter. Once you have it installed, open the XD to Flutter panel from the plugins panel, and tap the “Need help?” link to check out the plugin documentation. Flutter 2 is an exciting step forward for the framework, with a focus on building beautiful apps that run virtually anywhere. At gskinner, we’re thrilled to be working with Adobe and Google to ensure that XD to Flutter continues to make the process of faithfully translating a delightful design to a working product even easier. Stay tuned for more exciting updates to the plugin soon!

https://medium.com/flutter/announcing-xd-to-flutter-v2-0-c743bac2aeeb

['Grant Skinner']

2021-04-29 14:03:15.612000+00:00

['Mobile App Development', 'Flutter', 'Adobe Xd', 'App Development', 'Flutter App Development']

Advanced Dependency Injection in React

Advanced Dependency Injection in React Dependency injection is a pattern that reduces hardcoded dependencies. It promotes composability by enabling one dependency to be replaced by another of the same type. This article will evaluate the dependency injection support in React and how we can extend it using InversifyJS. Why Dependency Injection? Dependency Injection (or, more broadly, inversion of control) is used to address several challenges. Loosely coupled modules — This can be used as a software design tool, forcing to keep code modules separate. — This can be used as a software design tool, forcing to keep code modules separate. Better reusability — This makes it easier to substitute modules of the same type. — This makes it easier to substitute modules of the same type. Better testability — Makes it easily testable by injecting mock dependencies. Besides, when it comes to React, it has inbuilt support for dependency injection. Dependency Injection with React However, we may not necessarily think of it as dependency injection. Let’s take a look at few examples to understand them better. 1. Using props allows dependency injection. function welcome(props) { return <h1> Hello, {props.name}</h1>; } The welcome component receives the props parameter name and produces an HTML output. 2. Using context is another method for dependency injection. function counter() { const { message } = useContext(MessageContext); return <p>{ message }</p>; } Since context is passed down the component tree, we can extract it using hooks inside components. 3. JSX is also a method supported by React for dependency injection. const ReviewList = props => ( <List resource="/reviews" perPage={50} {...props}> <Datagrid rowClick="edit"> <DateField source="date" /> <CustomerField source="customer_id" /> <ProductField source="product_id" /> <StatusField source="status" /> </Datagrid> </List> ); The perPage parameter is passed to the <List> component, which fetches the “/reviews” route from the REST API. However, <List> does not directly render the reviews. Instead, it delegates to the child component <Datagrid> , which renders the list as a table. This signifies that the rendering of <List> is dependent on the <Datagrid> . And it’s the caller of <List> that sets this dependency. So the parent-child relationship, in the above example, is a form of dependency injection. However, these strategies may be helpful for a small application. But if it scales, you need better support for dependency injection beyond these basics. So let’s look at few libraries that extend the dependency injection support for React. Extend using InversifyJS InversifyJS is a JavaScript dependency injection library that is powerful, lightweight, and simple to use. However, using it with React as a component feature is still challenging. This is because InversifyJS uses constructor injection, whereas React does not allow users to extend the constructors of its components. However, let’s look at how we can solve this challenge with an example. If you take a closer look, the IoC initialization and the NameProvider class return a name displayed by the React Component. And do you know that it’s a typical InversifyJS use case? This will create a new instance of the class for every injection as a Transient scope declaration. Besides, Singleton scope (the same instance for every injection) and Request scope (the same instance for one container.get ) are also available. However, let’s look at few InversifyJS extension libraries we can use to expand its behavior. 1. Using inversify-inject-decorators When we can’t perform a constructor injection, this is the preferred technique to use with InversifyJS. This library has four additional decorators to be used in different projects, namely: lazyInject lazyInjectNamed lazyInjectTagged lazyMultiInject This gives a lazily evaluated injection. It means that the dependence isn’t provided while the object is initialized. Instead, it is provided at its first usage and cached for later. During the initialization, a correct Boolean value can be used to switch off caching. Besides, you can also go through the complete example by using the Inversify-Inject-Decorators link. 2. Using inversify-react Inversify-react is a library that uniquely performs dependency injection. By using it, we get a React component provider for our use. This provider holds the IoC container and passes it down in the React tree. Besides, we also get four decorators; provide provide.singleton provide.transient resolve And the entire code example is given in Inversify-react-example. 3. Using react-inversify Although the name is similar to that of the previous library, this one takes a very different approach. Here, we have a provider component that is comparable to inversify-react. Since we need to construct an additional class and wrap our component in a higher-order component, usage is somewhat more challenging. However, this approach is closer to React because objects are passed as properties rather than instantiated inside the component. Another benefit is that we can make full use of InversifyJS. That means we don’t have to rely on what the library has to provide. However, it does require writing a lot more code than other solutions. Besides, you can access the complete example via the React-inversify-example link. Conclusion Dependency Injection is being used by many popular libraries in the React ecosystem, such as React Router and Redux. Additionally, React also has direct support for dependency injection. However, for advanced use cases, we need libraries such as InversifyJS. Thank you for reading. At last, if you have any clarifications, feel free to comment down below.

https://blog.bitsrc.io/advanced-dependency-injection-in-react-af962bb94d35

['Minura Samaranayake']

2021-08-29 12:38:10.586000+00:00

['Web Development', 'JavaScript', 'React', 'Dependencies', 'Dependency Injection']

Dear Anna…

Dear Anna… Here I stand listening to your praises from different tongues. They seem to have forgotten the day you walked down the aisle and I stood at the end with tears flowing down in awe of the union to be sealed, or maybe they feel I didn’t know of certain qualities you possessed. Whatever the reason, my ears are bleeding and I wish to plug their mouths and shut them off. Sadly, that is not the worst, dealing with your compliments are fine enough. However the chants of “Olorun a wo, Olorun a da si", whispers of “Omo lo ma sin iwo o” or those with nerve to pat my shoulder and tell me “omo yii ni ko toju o”. How could you leave me with a child, Anna, I can’t even carry her properly. I’m still learning to change a diaper, just this morning, I accidentally put the milk in her nose, Anna. Please just wake up, fulfil your promises or don’t you remember? We agreed to see our grand children, when we have heads brimming with gray hair, after laughing at each other for crying over a sad movie and making fun of our toothlessness. We said we would hold hands and sleep to awake into a perfect light. You breached that contract, Anna. You cheated! You are making these people say things they shouldn’t bother thinking of. Please Anna, you even got your wish, our daughter looks like my twin, you now have two of us in the house just open your eyes. Oh! My love, stop lying still in that rose pink dress. Take my hand and come out of this box. You never liked confined spaces so I see no reason why you are lying like a log of wood. I laid our bed just the way you like it with three pillows on your side, all for you. Come lie beside me till the end of time.

https://medium.com/@Mo.Alfy/dear-anna-af7a9ee06ae5

['Olamide Mariet']

2020-08-07 11:43:54.681000+00:00

['Death', 'Tears', 'Baby', 'Yoruba']

How to become a Hadoop Developer?- Job Trends and Salary

Hadoop Developer is the most aspired and highly-paid role in current IT Industry. This High-Caliber profile takes superior skillset to tackle with gigantic volumes of data with remarkable accuracy. In this article, we will understand the job description of a Hadoop Developer. Who is a Hadoop Developer? How to become a Hadoop Developer? Skills Required by a Hadoop Developer Salary Trends Job Trends Top Companies Hiring Future of a Hadoop Developer Roles and Responsibilities Who is a Hadoop Developer? Hadoop Developer is a professional programmer, with sophisticated knowledge of Hadoop components and tools. A Hadoop Developer, basically designs, develops and deploys Hadoop applications with strong documentation skills. How to become a Hadoop Developer? To become a Hadoop Developer, you have to go through the road map described. A strong grip on the SQL basics and Distributed systems is mandatory. and is mandatory. Strong Programming skills in languages such as Java, Python, JavaScript, NodeJS Build your own Hadoop Projects in order to understand the terminology of Hadoop Being comfortable with Java is a must. Because Hadoop was developed using Java is a must. Because Hadoop was developed using Java A Bachelors or a Masters Degree in Computer Science Skills Required by a Hadoop Developer Hadoop Development involves multiple technologies and programming languages. The important skills to become a successful Hadoop Developer are enlisted below. Basic knowledge of Hadoop and its Eco-System and its Able to work with Linux and execute dome of the basic commands and execute dome of the basic commands Hands-on Experience with Hadoop Core components Experience with Hadoop technologies like MapReduce, Pig, Hive, HBase. Ability to handle Multi-Threading and Concurrency in the Eco-System and Concurrency in the The familiarity of ETL tools and Data Loading tools like Flume and Sqoop and Data Loading tools like and Should be able to work with Back-End Programming. Programming. Experienced with Scripting Languages like PigLatin Good Knowledge of Query Languages like HiveQL Salary Trends Hadoop Developer is one of the most highly rewarded profiles in the world of IT Industry. Salary estimations based on the most recent updates provided in the social media say the average salary of Hadoop Developer is more than any other professional. Let us now discuss the salary trends for a Hadoop Developer in different countries based on the experience. Firstly, let us consider the United States of America. Based On Experience, the big data professionals working in the domains are offered with respective salaries as described below. The entry-level salaries starting at 75,000 US$ to 80,000 US$ and on the other hand, the candidates with 20 plus years of experience are being offered 125,000 US$ to 150,000 US$ per annul. Followed by the United States of America, we will now discuss the salary trends for Hadoop Developers in the United Kingdom. The Salary trends for a Hadoop Developer in the United Kingdom for an entry-level developer starts at 25,000 Pounds to 30,000 Pounds and on the other hand, for an experienced candidate, the salary offered is 80,000 Pounds to 90,000 Pounds. Followed by the United Kingdom, we will now discuss the Hadoop Developer Salary Trends in India. The Salary trends for a Hadoop Developer in India for an entry-level developer starts at 400,00 INR to 500,000 INR and on the other hand, for an experienced candidate, the salary offered is 4,500,000 INR to 5,000,000 INR. Job Trends The number of Hadoop jobs has increased at a sharp rate from 2014 to 2019. to It has risen to almost double between April 2016 to April 2019. to 50,000 vacancies related to Big data are currently available in business sectors of India. vacancies related to Big data are currently available in business sectors of India. India contributes to 12% of Hadoop Developer jobs in the worldwide market. in the worldwide market. The number of offshore jobs in India is likely to increase at a rapid pace due to outsourcing. due to outsourcing. Almost all big MNCs in India are offering handsome salaries for Hadoop Developers in India. in India are offering for Hadoop Developers in India. 80% of market employers are looking for Big Data experts from engineering and management domains. Top Companies Hiring The Top ten Companies hiring Hadoop Developers are, Facebook Twitter Linkedin Yahoo eBay Medium Adobe Infosys Cognizant Accenture Future of a Hadoop Developer Hadoop is a technology that the future relies on. Major large-scale enterprises need Hadoop for storing, processing and analysing their big data. The amount of data is increasing exponentially and so is the need for this software. In the year 2018, the Global Big Data and Business Analytics Market were standing at US$ 169 billion and by 2022, it is predicted to grow to US$ 274 billion. However, a PwC report predicts that by 2020, there will be around 2.7 million job postings in Data Science and Analytics in the US alone. If you are thinking to learn Hadoop, Then it’s the perfect time Roles and Responsibilities Different companies have different issues with their data, so, the roles and responsibilities of the developers need a varied skill set to capable enough to handle multiple situations with instantaneous solutions. Some of the major and general roles and responsibilities of the Hadoop Developer are. Developing Hadoop and implementing it with optimum Performance Ability to Load data from different data sources from different Design, build, install, configure and support Hadoop system and Hadoop system Ability to translate complex technical requirements in detailed a design. Analyse vast data storages and uncover insights. vast data storages and uncover insights. Maintain security and data privacy. and Design scalable and high-performance web services for data tracking. and web services for data tracking. High-speed data querying. data querying. Loading, deploying and managing data in HBase. and data in Defining job flows using schedulers like Zookeeper Cluster Coordination services through Zookeeper With this, we come to an end of this article. I hope I have thrown some light on to your knowledge on a Hadoop Developer along with skills required, roles and responsibilities, job trends and Salary trends. If you wish to check out more articles on the market’s most trending technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Python, Ethical Hacking, then you can refer to Edureka’s official site. Do look out for other articles in this series which will explain the various other aspects of Big data.

https://medium.com/edureka/hadoop-developer-cc3afc54962c

['Shubham Sinha']

2020-09-11 06:23:19.072000+00:00

['Big Data', 'Hadoop', 'Hadoop Developer', 'Big Data Analytics', 'Hadoop Training']

The Reserve Bucket

The Reserve Bucket and why you should hold on to that lame ass story you wrote I don’t want to write a book or a novel. It’s never been my goal. I have the attention span of a bouncy ball, or a drunk person who keeps forgetting they were in search of a public restroom. Sure I can write 50,000 to 80,000 words, just not on the same subject at one time. Maybe at some point I’ll consider publishing a collection of essays, but for now I’ll stick with writing and publishing those essays as standalones. There are times I’ve fallen short or felt creatively drained when “Fuck it” feels the best route to take. Other times I could write three stories a day, swiftly and with grace, and at times I’m even willing to lose sleep to keep the groove going. I utilized both as the positive and negative they are. I discovered this thing I’ve come to call my reserve bucket. It’s sort of a never empty bucket of stories and articles. It’s never ending because you regularly take stories out and put stories in. As writers we’re going to come up with just as many bad ideas as we do good. We’ll write as many shit stories as we do perfect stories. It’s a legitimate part of the writing process. There are aspects and loopholes and all sorts of #lifehappens we weren’t prepared for, but we were prepared to keep our writing career rolling, no matter what, with our reserve bucket. The definition of a writer is not to just sit down, pump out a story and poof our job is done for the day. That’s not how being a writer works at all, no. Just, no. In a sense being a writer is similar to a plague. It’s 24/7/365. Generating ideas never stops nor does our power of observation. It’s more like; Dear lord, please let me take this train ride into the city without a single realization that, whoa, I just had an idea! This is the real deal. The reality of writing, writer, write. It’s a process that never ends. There are three #major #valuable #important reasons why every writer should have a reserve bucket of stories and articles.

https://erikasauter.medium.com/the-reserve-bucket-ca3547c4bccb

['Erika Sauter']

2018-07-20 18:11:33.129000+00:00

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

Fluent: Design Behind the Design

Purpose and process This month, we’ve launched an update to our Fluent Design System website. The update represents our approach to helping our designers and developers build and design products for our customers. Fluent Design is a collective, open design system that ensures people, teams, and their products have the fundamental components and processes to build coherent experiences across platforms. Earlier this year, I wrote about how we’re evolving the Fluent Design System to be “more than a set of outcomes” and how we use it to collectively design and build products. The evolution of Fluent represents a critical moment for our design system at Microsoft. At Build 2017, we introduced Fluent as the latest Windows design language with a focus on bridging user experiences across multiple devices and 3D environments. Both figuratively and literally, Fluent became defined by its focus on fundamental principles and building blocks: light, depth, motion, materials, and scale. Today, Fluent is simple in its emphasis on systematizing the fundamentals. It’s an attempt to optimize the process for both designers and developers through a shared foundation. At least in its initial stage, it’s as much about process as it is about pixels and interactions. It’s less about creating something new and more about establishing coherence. Coherence relieves cognitive overload, helping people focus on what they’re trying to accomplish and not on how they’re trying to accomplish it. Essentially, the updated Fluent website is a representation of this evolution to broaden this story of coherent experiences. Simply put, it’s about designers and developers working better together to create best-in-class experiences that empower our customers.

https://medium.com/microsoft-design/fluent-design-behind-the-design-973028062fcc

['Joseph Mclaughlin']

2019-08-22 17:25:43.526000+00:00

['Fluent Design', 'Microsoft', 'Fluent Design System', 'User Experience', 'Design']

GiveCrypto’s October Monthly Report

Overview Donations — $13,926 People Impacted — 854 New Experiments — 7 Experiment Details GiveCrypto’s short term focus has been rapid experimentation; we want to learn as much as possible about transferring cryptocurrency to people in need. Some of the early experiments were pretty basic; with modest goals like the recipient’s ability to receive and utilize crypto. We are already implementing more sophisticated experiments that test vectors like previous crypto activity, purchase/cash-out options, duration/size of transfers and macroeconomic conditions. Future experiments will continue to build upon the lessons learned from this work. Below is a table of all experiments that ran in October followed by a brief overview of each experiment. Zuck Donate non-trivial amount ($50 USD) in BTC to four trusted individuals in Uganda; two nationals and two refugees. This was our first experiment and outcome tracking wasn’t well planned. Cancelled on Oct 22nd. Solidity Training Subsidizing solidity training courses for five computer savvy Somali refugees in Uganda. We will pay them $50 (paid in BTC) for completing the final course. Sempo Basic income of $75 per week (paid in DAI) for five Syrian refugee families living in Lebanon (Beirut). Also have a grocery store and pharmacy that accept payment in DAI for food/medicine. Bonnum Basic income of $1 per day (paid in EOS) for twenty Venezuelan refugee families in Paracaima, Brazil. Also have a bodega in a local church that accepts crypto payments for food and exchanges EOS for Brazilian fiat. CryptoDiana Paid a local Venezuelan to cold-call restaurants that accept crypto and pitch them on distributing $100 worth of food to local community. This was an attempt to scale the work that was done during the work-trial, but wasn’t successful. Cancelled on Oct 13th. Coinbase Ambassador Giving $100 (in ETH) to Coinbase employees and ask them distribute the funds to people in need. Wala Donating $20 (in DALA) to fifty different people in Uganda; twenty-five had previously used crypto and twenty-five are new to crypto. Next phase will involve an ambassador component; to see how/if they give to people in need. Brito Giving $10 (in BTC) to 100 different people in Venezuela. First redemption option is a food truck that will accept crypto for discounted meals. We are also subsidizing some of the software development for the recipient’s wallet. AirTM Giving $20 (in BTC) to 250 different people in Venezuela and Argentina. The recipients will be grouped by light (< 2 Tx per month) and heavy (> 2 Tx per month) activity users to see how the different groups behave. Most of these experiments are still running and it would be premature to draw any definitive conclusions. But, we have already learned some (mostly intuitive) lessons. Generosity is powerful — we all have an innate desire to help other people, most of us just lack the tools and resources Crypto is confusing but almost all recipients have figured out how to receive, hold and use the funds Food > medicine — although recipients asked for a pharmacy option (in the Sempo experiment), they all used the funds to purchase food New crypto users convert to cash, existing crypto users are more likely to hold crypto or make crypto purchases Ambassador Dapp The ambassador dapp runs in the Coinbase Wallet and will allow anybody to donate funds on behalf of GiveCrypto. The first version of the application will be invitation based and restricted to individuals that are trusted by GiveCrypto partners. The ambassador dapp is the first component of a larger ‘distributed charity’ platform. Our preliminary vision is that future enhancements might include components like: Block tracking — scripts that analyze downstream transactions Purchase validation — tools that validate use of proceeds Identity verification — maximizing the likelihood that our recipients are who they say they are Reputation scoring — maintaining a score of our users based on their behavior Distribution dashboard — real-time, quantitative information about how funds are used Content management system — collecting and distributing qualitative and visually appealing stories about how funds are used Operational Foundation We are beginning to create an operational foundation that will allow GiveCrypto to scale fundraising and donation efforts. The primary components of the operational platform are: Financial system — NetSuite Donor relationship management system — Salesforce NSP Security/custody protocols — Coinbase Custody Content management system — TBD Fundraising We have explicitly decided not to focus on fundraising for Q4 of 2018. We want to better define GiveCrypto’s strategy and create supporting content before we reach out to current/prospective donors. We feel like we are making good progress on both fronts and will be well positioned to begin fundraising in earnest in 2019.

https://medium.com/givecrypto/givecryptos-october-monthly-report-5c191bc03b56

['Joe Waltman']

2018-11-02 16:00:59.502000+00:00

['Blockchain', 'Charity', 'Nonprofit', 'Coinbase', 'Cryptocurrency']

How to Get Unstuck

How to Get Unstuck By Deepak Chopra, MD There are lots of reasons to consider the human mind is unfathomable, beginning with simple evidence like the thousands of psychology books on the market and the years of training required to become a licensed psychiatrist. But it is possible to create huge changes in how your mind is working, here and now, that do not require in-depth knowledge. Instead, all that is needed is the habit of watching yourself. Life is about action and reaction. Very complex and tangled influences may be at work — and almost certainly are — but they mostly remain undercover. What we experience is action and reaction, which leads to each person’s unique pattern of behaving. Looking at your behavior on the scale of months and years, or even days and weeks, is impossible, because everyone has thousands of thoughts that lead to thousands of actions and reactions. But it is very different, and much easier, to simply look at what happens next. If you look at your next reaction to anything — an incident at work, a phone call, your child running in with a scraped knee — the same thing happens next: you do something based on the past. You possess a backlog, a virtual library, of memories that imprinted how you acted and reacted. Some people are more predictable than others in how they act and react — a frontline soldier confronts very limited options compared with a philosopher. But everyone consults a library of set responses when the next thing happens. If these set responses work out reasonably well, most people are satisfied. They react and move on. But if you take a moment to observe your next reaction, some disturbing clues emerge about what is actually going on inside you. These observations include the following: · Your reactions are knee-jerk and not actually thought through. · Being the product of memory, your reaction is repeating the past rather than meeting the present moment. · Set responses make you a robot of the past. · If you think you are living in the present, you are the victim of an illusion. These observations describe someone who is stuck. Stuckness doesn’t need a technical definition. Look around, and you will see people repeating themselves all the time, engaging in mindless daily routines, arguing over the same old things in relationship, feeling uncomfortable with change, and suffering pain and frustration because their lives never seem to improve. None of that sounds desirable, so why do we content ourselves with being stuck? Again observation provides an answer. If you look at your next reaction, there is a push-and-pull between the positive and negative aspects of being stuck. Positive: Routine makes life predictable and reassuring. Repetition is the path of least resistance. It feels safe to know where you stand. Fixed reactions remove the threat of the unknown. Negatives: Routine is stifling and boring. Repetition is stultifying. It feels empty to think of yourself as a known quantity, with nothing new to offer. By not welcoming the unknown, all avenues of creativity, discovery, and curiosity are cut off. If you consider the positives and negatives for a moment, there’s no contest. Everyone would want to get unstuck. Tolerating a routine, repetitive existence leads nowhere. We all know this inside, even if we have to dig deep to admit the truth. Money, skill, and status don’t make a difference, which is why doctors have a high burnout rate. The real problem isn’t stuckness but not knowing how to get unstuck. The simple step already mentioned — observing your own reactions — is the key. Stuckness represents a surrender to unconscious habits, beliefs, and old conditioning. To undo their hold on you, you must first observe how these influences work. You cannot change what you aren’t aware of. What should you start noticing? Very simple things, really. Notice when you say something you said before. Notice when you react the same way you reacted in the past. Notice when other people tune you out. Notice how you actually feel, here and now. Notice when you resort to anxiety or anger. Many times, all you have to do is to observe these repeated reactions and they will start to dissolve and dissipate. You are exchanging an unconscious existence for a conscious one, and living consciously is both the remedy and the goal of getting unstuck. But there is also a simple action you can take. When you notice any of the reactions on the list — in other words, any obvious repetition of old conditioning — stop at once. By stopping you tell your unconscious mind that you don’t want to operate on autopilot. What happens next? Wait and see. Most of the time, especially at first, the old conditioning will force its way back. Autopilot has had years of reinforcement. It thinks it knows what to do in any situation. Only you have the power to wake up from this fixed notion, because only your conscious mind can turn the autopilot off. Getting unstuck requires nothing more than what I’ve described. Everyone has conscious moments, many of them in fact. No one is ever completely robotic. We sense the upwelling of love, joy, curiosity, altruism, sympathy, insight, and intuition. These are non-reactive responses. Diminish your automatic reactions and expand your responses to life here and now. Again, that is both the remedy and the goal. The fully conscious life is the best life. To discover that this is so, the place to begin is by getting unstuck. Deepak Chopra MD, FACP, founder of The Chopra Foundation and co-founder of The Chopra Center for Wellbeing, is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation, and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. Chopra is the author of more than 85 books translated into over 43 languages, including numerous New York Times bestsellers. His latest books are The Healing Self co-authored with Rudy Tanzi, Ph.D. and Quantum Healing (Revised and Updated): Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine. Chopra hosts a new podcast Infinite Potential and Daily Breath available on iTunes or Spotify www.deepakchopra.com

https://deepakchopra.medium.com/how-to-get-unstuck-5940d81b9e8f

['Deepak Chopra']

2019-07-29 14:19:00.470000+00:00

['Self Improvement', 'Getting Unstuck', 'Consciousness', 'Overcoming Habits']

Increasing Self Productivity by 99% via 6TPD Rule

How I Stay Productive Every day? Background It is interesting to see how the society function around us. We live with many kinds of people with various traits, activities, attitudes, believes, and interest. We can easily notice this if we take some time to observe two or three people around us. Once in a while I love to observe people that I know and strangers that I have no clue of their background. It is very interesting observing them as I can learn about them, what they do, what their action and reaction towards something and consecutively do my own reflection based on personal observation. From here we can continuously improve ourselves. There are many types of people out there. In the context of this article, I categorize people into two types: (1) People with a lot of free time (relax) and (2) People with a lot of responsibilities (busy). Plenty can be discussed from these two types. Both have their own stories and perks. I would also further segment people into two kinds, which are (1) genius, and (2) ordinary. The reason I did this is because once again, I observed people around me. I am working in a place where there are plenty of highly intelligent people, as I work in a university. To make it even more competitive, it is one of the top university in my country and the university I am at working at is a research university status. It is amazing to see so many genius people around me at work, plenty of them who excelled superbly in their tertiary education up till their highly decorated successes in their career. Being employed as an academician specializing in chemical engineering, I am also demanded to achieve numerous key performance indicators (KPI) from all sort of levels and directions. I find myself to be in the “people with a lot of responsibilities” type, which after this I will just use the term busy; and also the “ordinary” kind. Since I fall under both of the unfavorable types, I cannot afford to just lay back and just be a spectator witnessing people around me marching with success. I cannot be ordinary. I need to move forward. I know that I need to work harder, in fact double or triple harder than others in order to produce spectacular outcomes. That is when I feel that I need to be more productive than before. Like anyone else, I only have 24 hours a day. But I know I need to be able to produce and deliver more. I need to make my results and products do all the shouting. But how could I do or achieve this? Few years back, I read an incredible book — The 10X Rule by Grant Cordone. We were taught to set targets 10 times greater than what we believe we can achieve and to take actions that are 10 times greater than what we believe are necessary to achieve our goals. Cordone’s message was strong and anyone who can successfully apply it is a winner. I realized that we need to multiply our believes and actions to produce dazzling outputs. It’s partly from this book that inspired me to think bigger and out of the box. If I cannot be up to Cordone’s standard, I need to establish a reasonable standard I can follow consistently and keep on growing. Being in a world where social media presence always hijacks our precious time to do work, I know that I need to have my own formula to overcome this, not to be a victim of social technologies. Not to suffer from unproductive life. I need to device a simple yet powerful recipe that can work for me (and perhaps for others too). 6TPD Rule Concept My immediate solution is very simple and straight forward. I just need to plan and organize my limited time as wise and as strategic possible. Brian Tracy in his book “Eat that Frog” and and Mohd Daud Bakar in his book “I Have 25 Hours a Day” gave me some insights, strategies and motivation on how to complete more tasks, cleverly. I integrated some of their methods and wisdoms, and design it to suit myself. That’s when I created my own version set of rule, the 6TPD Rule. It simply means 6 Tasks Per Day rule. The concept is simply to perform, complete or execute 6 selected tasks, jobs, activities in a single day. Why 6 and not 5 or 4 or any other digit? The digit is just a number assigned to how many tasks we are capable to humanly accomplish per day. It is subjective. It can be different from one person to another person. A very highly efficient person could designate his version of 11TPD Rule and accomplish far more than a person who sets himself to be a 4TPD Rule. You define your own “X”TPD Rule. There is no point to be rigid or limit yourself. Sometimes, you set 6TPD Rule, but in a very productive day, you can complete 12 tasks. That’s fine. Nothing wrong with that. However there will be days that only 3 tasks could be accomplished. Again, it is just a number, a guide for your subconscious mind or a daily goal for you to achieve. But the most important point is that you strive your best to accomplish 6 or more tasks per day, which eventually the average will reflect 6 tasks per day. Let say once you set yourself to the 6TPD Rule consistently and manage to stick to the plan for 2 months, you can upgrade yourself to 7TPD Rule or even more. You know yourself better and you know your own potential. Hence, you decide the best that works for you. The figures below show examples of the list that I made everyday using my mobile phone note app, which then I crossed the tasks once I have done it. Every time I cross a task, I felt boosted, motivated and excited. It made me want to keep on working and crossing more tasks. This indicates that my dopamine hormone, the motivation molecule, is flourishing positively in my body. Dopamine is our achievement hormone. The higher the hormone concentration, the higher will be our focus, alertness, creativity and long-term memory. Dopamine drives us to seek rewards in achieving goals and position us to be in the fight mode effort to be successful. Measuring Productivity The quantification of productivity in the self help segment is debatable. There are no specific methods to measure it. It is not as simple as a mathematical formula that you can know the answer swiftly. It is also not a simple programming that you can insert data to your coding and then yield the output data within seconds. Human like us have certain tasks and responsibilities which gets bigger and heavier as we grow. When we were kids, our main duty is to study besides enjoying our childhood activities. The day we graduated from university, that marks the commencement of a more serious business. Older generation will say to young graduates, “Welcome to the real world”. Sigh. But, still we never really measure productivity. Me included. Early last year, I gave it a serious thought. To keep moving forward, we need to measure productivity as best as we can. Car manufacturing companies measure their productivity by quantifying the number of cars they produce and sell per day, per month and per year (just a simple example). Same goes for other businesses or organizations. So, I felt it is better to have a number of tasks that we used to complete on average for the past months or years, as a benchmark. This is important data that you can easily trace if you have a proper record, either in your to do list, note book, laptop, blog or anywhere. Before this I believe, I am at 3 to 4 tasks per day. Maybe because at that time, my responsibilities are less and I am relatively younger. However, as we grew and became more matured, more appointments, more projects, more responsibilities are given whether we like it or not. This was when I felt that 24 hours a day was not enough. I considered 3 tasks a day as my personal benchmark based on my previous performance. I doubled that amount and it became 6 tasks per day, which is basically the 6TPD Rule I devoted to. In my mind, whenever I can, I will attempt more than six, if circumstances permit. When I first implemented 6TPD Rule, it was a shaky start. It was tough mentally and psychologically because I pushed myself (out of my comfort zone). However, as times goes by I began to better grasp the philosophy of it. I became more comfortable and turned to be more driven. I noticed that I can double what I accomplished per day compared to the point where I initially benchmarked myself. It is worth it. My personal productivity literally doubled. Truly, it is very simple, yet powerful. It’s possible and realistic. Lets look at how we can accomplish the 6TPD Rule. There are simple steps that can be followed to ensure the success of the method. The steps are elaborated below: Make A List It all starts with making a list of tasks to do. Every day I jot down a list of tasks I need to do. I will do it either before I sleep at night or very early in the morning. By doing this, my subconscious mind has set myself to perform predetermine tasks to be executed immediately next day in the morning. When I list down my tasks, it will comprise of official tasks and sometimes unofficial tasks such as personal or house chores that I need to do. When I list down my tasks, it will usually be as low as 10 but sometimes as high as 20 tasks per day. It depends on the situation at that particular time. Every moment is different, but the game plan is the same. Do not complicate this step. It is very simple. You can use a note book, paper, your note aps in your mobile phone or anything that you can list down your tasks. For me, it is seasonal. Sometimes I write my list tasks in a book and sometimes in my note aps in my mobile phone. List as many as possible tasks that you want to do or to achieve in that particular day. 2. Take Action — Just Do It! Now that you already have that list, you can target which one to execute first. You should start taking action. Be discipline, responsible and accountable to yourself. This is your tasks and you need to perform them. Normally, I will dwell with it one by one until I managed to cross at least 6 to 10 of them per day. What I meant by cross is that I marked the tasks as done. It is ok for me not to be able to cross all of the tasks in a particular day, if the lists are too long. The fact that I managed to complete 6 to 10 tasks per day is considered a massive achievement and a productive day for me. Most of the time it is quite impossible to complete all tasks since we have other routine official and unofficial tasks to perform. Sometimes, on a particular day, I managed to cross more than 10 tasks, whereas sometimes I could only do 3 tasks. Again, it depends on what happen on that day since other responsibilities are there plus sudden unplanned important events sometimes hijack the time. 3. Focus and Consistency This part is easier said than done. It is not easy to stay focus and be consistent if we do not have a clear goal in mind what to achieve in that particular day. More often, the tasks that we want to perform could be small components of our short term goals. The more tasks you complete, the more closer we are to our short term goals. On contrary, sometimes the listed tasks are normal chores such as repairing sink in the toilet, servicing the car, making donation to an organization, calling someone to discuss something and so on. My point here is, whatever you have listed in Step 1, just focus to perform the tasks, and do it consistently till you managed to cross more than 6 tasks that day. Believe me, being consistent to cross 6 tasks per day means you successfully complete performing 42 tasks per week; 180 tasks per month; 2190 tasks per year. If your efficiency is down by 10%, it is still good enough because you will be completing 162 tasks per month and 1971 tasks per year, which is still better than NOT having a clear plan of action. If your efficiency is up by 10%, that is excellent as you will accomplish 198 tasks per week and 2409 tasks per year. This is an interesting way of looking at the overall concept right? Since “focus and consistency” plays a huge role in the 2nd step that is “taking action”, I would like to break down the discussion into smaller pieces, so that it is easily digestible and easier to be done. 3.1 Wake up early & complete half of the tasks before afternoon. By doing this, you will feel the sense of satisfaction and joy as you have completed quite a number of tasks. Imagine the pressure if you start to work on your list after lunch time, you will indulge yourself in unnecessary stress. 3.2 Complete the most important tasks before afternoon. This is the imperative message conveyed by Brian Tracy in his best selling book. I’ve tried this a lot and it gave me sense of relieve after finally settling the most challenging part in the list, ie. to eat the frog. Often, among the listed tasks, there will be one task that applies to 20–80 rule as stated by Ryan Tate in his book The 20% Doctrine. That particular task resemble merely 20% but in actual fact it had covered 80% of the overall commitment for the day. 3.3 Limit social media moment while working on the list. When you start dealing with the tasks, put your mobile phone away and do not open the social media browser. Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Linkedin will not run away from you. Just be patient till you complete most of the listed tasks, then later in the day you can read updates / reply comments on your social media account. 3.4 Segment huge task into several smaller fragments. Sometimes you work on a big project that it is impossible to be completed in a day. This project or task may require 3 months or 7 months or 1.5 years or 3 years. It doesn’t matter. Break it down into smaller segments. If the smaller segments need to be broken down into tinier segments, just do it. For example, you probably are a full time research student who need to do your master thesis in 2 years time. Plan carefully your 2 years research work and break it down in to several parts. 3.5 Reward yourself. Every one needs a motivation. Hence, let say after successfully completing 6 activities within 7 consecutive days, you can reward yourself with something of great value, inline with your goal or simply some relaxation moment. The 5 above mentioned points hopefully can guide you to stay focus and consistent towards making you sharp and sensible when executing the listed tasks. 4. Be Creative & Innovative Being creative and innovative strategy can also be used for other purpose for yourself. There are various approaches and benefits from the 6TPD Rule implementation such as: 4.1 Developing new habits. There will be time you want to transform something to be your habit or routine. Include them in your daily list, do it consistently, until it becomes a routine, than omit it. A simple example would be exercising 5 minutes a day. It is not easy to do this for some people even though they know the importance of it. Hence, if you include it in the list, you may want to do it once and for all for that day. And after the 5 minutes exercise, you can slash that task just like that. Repeat the same thing tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. After 2 or 3 weeks, it will appear to be a routine for you. You no longer need to list 5 minutes exercise in your list. It really help us to nurture the discipline and character within our self. 4.2 It will eventually be done. Do not worry for the listed tasks that are not completed on a particular day. There will be tomorrow for you to cross that incomplete tasks. Normally this is the kind of tasks that are not important and not urgent. Re-list it again. Just recycle it and crush them on a brand new fresh day. Recycle them repeatedly until you execute them. This always happen to me and I will keep on relisting the tasks. Eventually, it will be crossed and disappear from my next list. 4.3 List an activity that you don’t want to commit . There maybe some activities that is very natural to you, that you are always motivated to do but it’s NOT GOOD for you. You can list that too in the 6TPD Rule. List it as “Not to do that activity” and train yourself not to do it. For instance, “Not to eat junk food”, “Not to sleep in the morning”, “Not to smoke cigarette”, “Not to spend more than 1 hour on social media in the morning”, “Not to watch TV — more than 2 hours per day” etc… Once you manage not to do it on that day, you can cross that item. It will be help you be a better version of yourself. Concluding Remarks The list of tasks can be a great mixed between office jobs, personal, family and friend stuffs. It’s really up to you to custom the 6TPD Rule. Be flexible. Yeah… just be flexible. Stay positive. Know your short, medium and long term goals. With this you will always be on high alert and your activities will have the right navigation. The most important thing here is to be able to accomplish 6 or more tasks per day so you make your life more productive and meaningful. It’s your life and you know what matters the most in your life. Go ahead and design your own version of 6TPD Rule. All the best. Stay productive!

https://medium.com/@zakiyamani/4-steps-towards-increasing-self-productivity-by-99-via-6tpd-rule-4538147d5bfc

['Zaki Yamani Zakaria']

2021-06-14 12:01:41.430000+00:00

['Checklist', 'Self Help', 'Efficiency', 'Effectiveness', 'Increase Productivity']

The Basics of EDA (with candy)

The Basics of EDA (with candy) “The goal is to turn data into information, and information into insight.” Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard As a data scientist, it is said that we will spend about 80% of our time on EDA. Therefore, as tedious as it may seem, it is a good idea to master the process before moving on to the fun stuff. The process which includes cleaning, sorting, and checking feature correlations to weed out the noise and hopefully gain some insight to what pieces are most useful. The dataset for this example is the candy hierarchy for 2017 from the Science Creative Quarterly website. You can find and download the csv here if you want to follow along. I’m using Python 3.7 in Jupyter notebook. Some of the steps I share here will be personal preference and you can modify as you like, however, these first few steps are pretty important to ALWAYS do. Import: Pandas — data analysis library, necessary for almost all data manipulation Numpy — for linear algebra functions, good to have even if you’re not expecting to need it. Matplotlib — visualization library for plotting and graphs Seaborn — for more customizable data visualization Read in your data: Using pandas pd.read_csv function, enter your data source as a string and save it as a variable which will be the name of your DataFrame going forward. Many people use df, I like to use something more descriptive so i’ll go with candy this time. Next you’ll want to check the first few rows of the data to get a peak at what you’ll be working with.

https://towardsdatascience.com/the-basics-of-eda-with-candy-83b2e8ad9e63

['Rachel Koenig']

2019-07-19 05:29:22.552000+00:00

['Data Science', 'Candyhierarchy', 'Pandas Dataframe', 'Statscandy', 'Exploratory Data Analysis']

The Importance of Diversity in the STEM Sector

Learn more. Medium is an open platform where 170 million readers come to find insightful and dynamic thinking. Here, expert and undiscovered voices alike dive into the heart of any topic and bring new ideas to the surface. Learn more Make Medium yours. Follow the writers, publications, and topics that matter to you, and you’ll see them on your homepage and in your inbox. Explore

https://medium.com/supplierty-news/the-importance-of-diversity-in-the-stem-sector-15c15157a989

['Jaymie White']

2020-10-14 14:16:34.872000+00:00

['STEM', 'Diversity In Tech', 'Diversity And Inclusion', 'Diversity']

Developing Content Layouts for Content and Experience Cloud

Prerequisite Please refer to the previous post Developing for Content and Experience Cloud (CEC) using Sites Toolkit for an introduction to Sites Toolkit and installation. This post assumes that the Project Creation and Installation step is completed. Content Layouts Content layouts help users view the data in content items through content list or content placeholder components used in sites pages. You can create multiple content layouts for a content type to create different views or to represent different parts of a content item. In this post, we will explore how to use Sites Toolkit to develop content layouts. Creating a content layout To create a content layout, a content type is required. The template named BlogTemplate has the ‘Starter-Blog-Post’ content type. Let us create a template called ‘Starter-Blog-Template’ from the BlogTemplate. cec create-template Starter-Blog-Template -f BlogTemplate Now create a content layout for the ‘Starter-Blog-Post’ content type. cec create-contentlayout My-Blog-Layout -c Starter-Blog-Post -t Starter-Blog-Template Options: — contenttype, -c <contenttype> Content layout is based on [required] — template, -t <template> The mapping is for [required] — layoutstyle, -s <style> Content layout style My-Blog-Layout will be created under src/main/components/My-Blog-Layout. Also, add the content layout mapping to the Starter-Blog-Template. cec add-contentlayout-mapping My-Blog-Layout -c Starter-Blog-Post -t Starter-Blog-Template -s Summary Making simple changes to a content layout You can edit the following files in the generated content layout to modify the content layout. assets/layout.html assets/design.css assets/render.js To make simple UI changes, you need to change only assets/layout.html and assets/design.css. Making advanced changes to a content layout To add more dynamic behavior to the content layout, you can edit assets/render.js. This section explores the code in src/main/components/My-Blog-Layout/assets/render.js. RequireJS module definition The RequireJS module is defined in the render.js file. Sites loads the dependencies, such as for JQuery, Mustache, the RequireJS Text Plugin, and the RequireJS CSS plugin. The mustache template system is used to render the layout. But you can use any library. define([ 'jquery', 'mustache', 'text!./layout.html', 'css!./design.css' ], function ($, Mustache, templateHtml, css) { // Content layout code goes here } The assets/render.js file for a content layout has the following properties: It should be a RequireJS module It should return a JavaScript Constructor function. Sites invokes the Constructor function by passing a parameter object. The parameter object has the content item data and the APIs required to render the layout. This Constructor function should have a render(parentObj) method that handles rendering the content layout. This function should append the content layout DOM object to the parentObj object that is passed to the render()method. The RequireJS module can use the dependencies, including JQuery, Mustache, the RequireJS Text Plugin, and the RequireJS CSS plugin. These dependencies will be loaded by Sites. You can use other libraries too. Constructor function parameter When Sites creates a new instance of the constructor function, it passes a parameter that contains contentItemData, scsData, and contentClient to help with Content Layout development. Here is example code for the constructor function, render() method and returning: // Constructor function function ContentLayout(params) { this.contentItemData = params.contentItemData || {}; this.scsData = params.scsData; this.contentClient = params.contentClient; } // Prototype ContentLayout.prototype = { contentVersion: ">=1.0.0 <2.0.0", render: function (parentObj) { var template, content = $.extend({}, this.contentItemData), scsData = this.scsData, contentClient = this.contentClient, contentType, secureContent = false; // Merge the properties from params.scsData into // content, so the template can make use of them too. if (this.scsData) { content = $.extend(content, { "scsData": this.scsData }); //.... } //.... } return ContentLayout; The constructor function parameter includes the following objects: params.contentItemData : Contains the content item, including its name, description, ID, and data. For example, the field blogpost_ title in the content item can be accessed using params.contentItemData.data[‘blogpost_ title’]. params.scsData : This object passes in information when the constructor is called from within sites. This object doesn’t exist for content layouts rendered in third-party applications. This object contains the SitesSDK, the method contentTriggerFunction to raise a trigger, and the Details page links. params.contentClient : This is the contentClient object created from the Content Delivery SDK. It is therefore configured with the appropriate parameters for the content server. If you need to make additional calls to the content server, you can use this contentClient object rather than creating your own. This object contains client APIs for the content. APIs are available to query, search, and get content items and their content types. Other helper APIs are also available; for example, expandMacros() to expand the macros used in rich text. Rendering a content layout The render(params) method of ContentLayout renders a content layout from a template. The Mustache template is used by default for content layouts, but you can use any template technology you want. The render(params) method of ContentLayout can use the following code to render the template with the data: try { // Mustache template = Mustache.render(templateHtml, content); if (template) { $(parentObj).append(template); } // Dynamic DOM Manipulation can be done here } catch (e) { console.error(e.stack); } You can add the required data to the content object created from params.contentItemData .The rendered template should be appended to the parent object passed to the render() method. Getting reference items You can get a reference item for a content type with a reference data field that refers to another content type. For example, the starter-blog-post_author field in the Blog-Post content type is a reference to the Author content type. The this.getRefItems() method can be used to query the referenced items. if (data["starter-blog-post_author"]) { referedIds[referedIds.length] = data["starter-blog-post_author"].id; } //.. this.getRefItems(referedIds).then(function (results) { var items = results && results.items || []; // use the reference items Getting a media URL You can use contentClient.getRenditionURL() to get the default rendition of a digital asset, such as an image. blogImageRenditionURL: contentClient.getRenditionURL({ 'id': data['starter-blog-post_header_image'].id }) If you need other renditions, such as thumbnail , you can get the digital asset using contentClient.getItems() and refer to item.data.renditions.default and item.data.renditions.thumbnail . Raising triggers You can use scsData.contentTriggerFunction(payload) to raise a trigger from a content layout. Getting rich text fields If the content type has rich text fields and if the content layout will be used in a content list, query the item again to retrieve rich text fields. Additionally, if there are embedded images in rich text, use expandMacros(). // query the item again to get the rich text fields contentClient.getItem({ "id": content.id }).then(function (itemdata) { content = itemdata; //.. data["starter-blog-post_content"] = contentClient.expandMacros(data["starter-blog-post_content"]); Linking to the Details page The Details page link of the current content item is available through scsData.detailPageLink . Generating a URL for the other content items Details page Some times current content item refers to other related content items and you want to get the Details page URL for those items. The following function can be used. function getDetailsRelatedPageLink(scsData, reatedContentItemData) { // Get the parts of the current detail link var uriParts = scsData.detailPageLink.split('/'); var length = uriParts.length; // Fill the details of the related content item uriParts[length - 1] = reatedContentItemData.name; uriParts[length - 2] = reatedContentItemData.id; uriParts[length - 3] = reatedContentItemData.type; // Got the url return uriParts.join('/'); } Generating URLs to local assets in a CEC content layout Sometimes you may want to use a static asset that is locally available in the content layout itself such as a background image for styling purposes. For example, in the content layout that follows, the absolute URL to the images/background.jpg can be generated in render.js and used in layout.html. The simplest way to generate an absolute URL is to use the built-in RequireJS module. Define ‘require’ as the dependency and use require.toURL() to generate the URL, as follows. define([ 'require', 'jquery', 'mustache', 'text!./layout.html', 'css!./design.css' ], function (require, $, Mustache, templateHtml, css) { 'use strict’; var imageURL = req.toUrl('./images/building.jpg'); Testing a content layout As you modify the code in your editor, you can test the content layout in the local test harness. Since the content items are available locally in the Starter-Blog-Template, choose local and choose the Theme Design to preview. You could also test the content layout in the Starter-Blog-Template. Testing a content layout in local test harness Reviewers Thanks to Bonnie Vaughan, Igor Polyakov, Kamal Kapoor, and Steve Burns for reviewing this article. Reference: Developing for Oracle Content and Experience Cloud

https://medium.com/oracledevs/developing-content-layouts-for-content-and-experience-cloud-a81bdbf39f62

['Sivakumar Balagopalan']

2018-06-14 09:22:47.755000+00:00

['JavaScript']

The Mercle published a feature article on the Ubcoin Market project!

The Merkle brings the latest Crypto, Finance, Infosec, and Tech news. In a story about Ubcoin Market they focus on the team that is developing the project. The team behind Ubank and Ubcoin Market consists of 50+ highly skilled tech professionals, world-class top managers, and experienced marketing officers. The advisory board is an impressive collection of global business professionals, thought leaders of their fields, and long-term partners of the Ubank team. Read the full feature story here: https://themerkle.com/ubank-launches-blockchain-based-platform-to-enable-mass-consumer-investment-in-cryptocurrency/ Ubcoin Market ICO Pre-Sale will end on March, 31. Hurry up and buy tokens with a stunning -57% discount on https://ubcoin.io !

https://medium.com/ubcoin-blog/the-mercle-published-a-feature-on-the-ubcoin-market-project-b8ccbf471daf

['Ubcoin. Cryptocurrency Reimagined']

2018-09-21 16:40:10.637000+00:00

['Blockchain', 'Ubcoin Media', 'Bitcoin', 'Ubcoin']

Durian!

How the stinky yellow flesh of a fruit became the king of all fruits. Image via Unsplash by Pesce Huang With its hard green shell and spiky thorns, one wouldn’t assume too much about this fruit especially from the stinky odor it gives out. For some years now its pungent, yellow, sticky flesh has been a hype and I can say it is for a good reason. Some people love it and some people don’t, some people think its aroma is sweet and some people think it’s unpleasant. Well either you love it or hate it we can all agree that this fruit evokes deep appreciation and mortification. Its odor has been described by some as somewhere between rotten onions, smelly wet socks, turpentine and all the way to a rich custard highly flavored with almonds. As a durian connoisseur I have to say that the breed of the durian has everything to do with its taste. Here is a useful list to guide you through the breeds and taste to help you pick the right durian. Image via Google image Background The island of Borneo is generally accepted as the original geographic origin and center of diversity of the genus Durio. It has been reported that Durio has about 27 recognized species. The island of Borneo has 19 indigenous or native species of Durio while the island of Sumatra has 7 native species. Peninsular Malaysia has 11 species. Myanmar has 2 recognized species indigenous to the country. It was also hypothesized that a land bridge connected Palawan in the Philippines with Borneo during the pleistocene era with D. zibethinus L. found occurring naturally on Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago as well as Palawan. How its name came to be is quite an interesting topic. At the beginning of the 15th century, many famous European travelers called the durian with names such as “doriones”, “ durion”, “duryaoen”, “durean”, and “durioen”. There was no accurate descriptions of the durian then. The durian was very often confused with another green thorny fruit known as the soursop (Annona muricata). In 1741, a famous German botanist, G.E. Rumphius, published his famous book called “Herbarium Amboinense” which contains several pages devoted specifically to the plant which he called ‘durioen’ ( known nowadays as the common durian). Rumphius had detailed descriptions of the durian had contributed significantly to our current knowledge of this unique tropical fruit. He was accredited with creating the genus “Durio” and clearing the confusion between soursop and durian. The durian tree can grow up to 120 ft (approximately 36.6 m).13 It has a straight trunk from which numerous horizontal branches extend. The bark of the tree is flaky and has shades of grey or reddish brown. Its leaves are simple and vary from a pale olive color to bronze green. Durian trees reach maturity between five and seven years, and produce fruits twice a year. Flowers are borne only for a day, during which they are pollinated and drop off. The melon-shaped fruit then takes approximately three months to ripen, before falling and splitting on the ground. This attracts many forms of wildlife to eat the fruit and then disperse the seeds, thus propagating the fruit. Propagation can also be achieved with grafting and budding. Typically, the quality of the durian fruit is best when the tree is 30 to 60 years old. Why has it gone viral over the recent years? I would like to describe this fruit as akin to wine. To properly enjoy it you need to appraise it and you need to understand its flavor, depth, and type. Is it more savory, bitter, sweet or creamy? It has gone viral globally because of tourists coming over to Southeast Asia discovering this delight but locals have been enjoying it for as long as they can remember. There are so many products that are made from durian and it had always become a hit. Did you know that there is Durian Whisky? And other products such as: Dessert Products — Cakes, Jams, Ice cream and Pastries Snacks — Biscuits, Buns, Chocolates, Confectionary (Candy), Crackers and Chips Beverages — Milk, Tea, Coffee and Juice New products are being developed all the time and major global companies like McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Nestle, Cadbury, F&N and Lays have released products to capture the growing market. Image via Google image Durian has many health benefits such as: Helps to reduce constipation, bloating and indigestion Strengthens cardiovascular health Provides relief from insomnia Helps to reduce cholesterol Helps to prevent cancer and anemia Reduces the risk of infertility in men and women Boosts bone health and prevent osteoporosis Anti-aging It contains many vitamins such as Vitamin C, folic acid, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, B6 and vitamin A. The fruit holds important minerals such as potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, sodium, zinc and phosphorus. It also contains nutrients such as phytonutrients, water, protein and dietary fats. But beware as durian is high in calories and there are some foods you must not eat with or after consuming durian. How much does durian cost? $24 (USD) dollars or $30 (AUD) can buy you the following Durians:

https://medium.com/crave-foods/durian-a7f5090986d3

['Jewellery Of Classic Age']

2020-11-02 06:37:11.246000+00:00

['Fruits', 'Foodies', 'Trending']

Perform K-Means Clustering in R

Plot by author Introduction K-means clustering is one of the most popular unsupervised learning methods in machine learning. This algorithm helps identify “k” possible groups (clusters) from “n” elements based on the distance between the elements. A more detailed explanation would be: the algorithm finds out the distance among each element in your data, then find the number of centroids, allocate the element to the nearest centroids to form clusters, and the ultimate goal is to keep the size of each cluster as small as possible. K-means can be used in multiple ways. For instance, customer segmentation, insurance fraud detection, document classification, etc. One of the common questions regarding the K-means algorithm is if it can handle non-numeric data. The short answer is NO since the algorithm is using the distance between the observations. However, there are many algorithms out there that can help convert non-numeric features to numeric features, which will allow you to apply the K-means algorithm to your data. For example, the “node2vec” model, an algorithmic framework for representational learning on graphs, can convert the data to embeddings, which can later be used in K-means. Another interesting fact is unlike most unsupervised learning algorithms that you have to make empirical decisions on tuning parameters (or keep trying different parameters until you reach a state where you are satisfied), you can somehow perform hyperparameters tuning on K-means. I will demonstrate how to do that in this blog. Case Study Loda Data I used the “iris” dataset in R in this case study. data("iris") ?iris Edgar Anderson's Iris Data Description This famous (Fisher's or Anderson's) iris data set gives the measurements in centimeters of the variables sepal length and width and petal length and width, respectively, for 50 flowers from each of 3 species of iris. The species are Iris setosa, versicolor, and virginica. Source Fisher, R. A. (1936) The use of multiple measurements in taxonomic problems. Annals of Eugenics, 7, Part II, 179–188. The data were collected by Anderson, Edgar (1935). The irises of the Gaspe Peninsula, Bulletin of the American Iris Society, 59, 2–5. References Becker, R. A., Chambers, J. M. and Wilks, A. R. (1988) The New S Language. Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole. (has iris3 as iris.) Preview of the data Before I performed the K-means algorithm, I first checked the labels to see how many clusters were presented in this dataset. > levels(iris$Species) [1] "setosa" "versicolor" "virginica" Then I separated the labels from the original data. In this way, we can treat the data as new, unlabeled data for unsupervised learning purposes. iris1 <- iris[,-5] iris_label <- iris[,5] Since all the variables in the iris data are numeric, I did not have to do any data preprocessing. I pretended that I never saw this iris data before, so I wondered what the best K for the model (hyperparameters tuning I mentioned at the beginning). Find K In this step, we would need to know two terms, “wss” and “elbow rule,” to help us find the best number of centroids. WSS: The sum distance within the centroids. Since the K-means algorithm's goal is to keep the size of each cluster as small as possible, the small wss indicates that every data point is close to its nearest centroids, or say the model has returned good results. Elbow rule/method: a heuristic used in determining the number of clusters in a dataset. You first plot out the wss score against the number of K. Because with the number of K increasing, the wss will always decrease; however, the magnitude of decrease between each k will be diminishing, and the plot will be a curve which looks like an arm that curled up. In this way, you secondly need to find out which point falls on the elbow. # to reproduce the results # you have to use set.seed() set.seed(1) wss<- NULL for (i in 1:10){ fit = kmeans(iris1,centers = i) wss = c(wss, fit$tot.withinss) } plot(1:10, wss, type = "o") WSS vs. K Read the Plot and Apply the Elbow Method Based on the graph above, we can tell that k = 3 probably will be the answer. And if you recall, the original data indeed has three different species. So far, we are doing a good job! However, you have to keep in mind that the data tends to be neither perfect nor labeled in the real world. And the relationship among the groups is way more complicated than what we have here. So you might discover multiple K that could meet your needs. Then, you will have to try them out one by one, study the groups, and justify your answer by doing more in-depth research. Fit & Plot Then, I fitted a K-means model with k = 3 and plotted the clusters with the “fpc” package. fit <- kmeans(iris[,-5], 3,) library(fpc) plotcluster(iris[,-5],fit$cluster,pointsbyclvecd=FALSE) Clusters Plot with k = 3 Note: When pointsbyclvecd = TRUE, the graph's data points will be represented by more reasonable symbols like numbers of letters. When the parameter is set to FALSE, the symbols will become less “reasonable,” like what the featured image of this blog displays. Evaluation When you apply the K-means algorithm in R, the function will help you generate multiple statistics of the model simultaneously, including TSS, BSS, and what we have discussed above— WSS. TSS: It stands for Total-Sum-of-Squares, the total distance of data points from the global mean of the data. BSS: It is the sum of each cluster's distance to the global mean of the data. And, TSS = BSS + WSS. Here, we can use another method to evaluate the model you fit. Since I have repeatedly mentioned that we want to keep the WSS as small as possible, therefore, theoretically, a high ratio of BSS to TSS is what we are looking for. > fit$betweenss/fit$totss [1] 0.8842753 If you want to test the accuracy of your model, here is how I did: # First, relabel the data with the cluster number iris$cluster = fit$cluster for (i in 1:length(iris$Species)){ if (iris$cluster[i] == 1){ iris$label[i] = "setosa" } else if (iris$cluster[i] == 3){ iris$label[i] = "versicolor" } else { iris$label[i] = "virginica" } } # Second, calculate the accuracy score > mean(iris$label ==iris$Species) [1] 0.8933333 Sometimes, if you have multiple groups, it would be hard to relabel the data properly with the for loop. Or you just want to explore the data from the same cluster since your original data is not labeled. You may subsample them based on the cluster numbers. I think this is also a universal way to handle your data. You may modify the code according to your needs. subsample <- list() for(i in 1:3){ subsample[[i]]<- iris[fit$cluster==i,] } > table(subsample[[1]]$Species) setosa versicolor virginica 50 0 0 > table(subsample[[2]]$Species) setosa versicolor virginica 0 2 36 > table(subsample[[3]]$Species) setosa versicolor virginica 0 48 14 > 134/150 [1] 0.8933333 Conclusion As one of the most popular unsupervised learning algorithms, K-means can help us study and discover the complicated relationship, which will rather likely be ignored if we observe by eyes only, among the unlabeled data. In this blog, I’ve discussed fitting a K-means model in R, finding the best K, and evaluating the model. And I’ve talked about calculating the accuracy score for the labeled data as well. Related Blogs Use R to Calculate Boilerplate for Accounting Analysis Linear Regression Analysis in R Analyzing Disease Co-occurrence Using NetworkX, Gephi, and Node2Vec

https://towardsdatascience.com/k-means-clustering-in-r-feb4a4740aa

['Jinhang Jiang']

2021-03-23 15:38:23.328000+00:00

['R', 'K Means', 'Unsupervised Learning', 'Data Science', 'Machine Learning']

Yield Guild Explains: Play-to-Earn and Scholarships

To understand the decentralized digital economy that underpins all Yield Guild’s activities, it is important to know how play-to-earn games work and how yield is generated from non fungible tokens (NFTs). The role of “scholarships” in NFT games is also explained in this article. What is Play-To-Earn? Play-to-earn is a new business model where real money can be earned by playing video games that are centred upon cryptocurrency-based assets, known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). By actively participating in these virtual economies, players can earn rewards such as in-game assets and tokens which can then be traded or sold on an open market, if the player chooses to do so. This represents an important shift in the gaming world, because traditionally, in-game assets were confined to centralized protocols and players were prohibited from trading or selling their digital assets external to the platform. Play-to-earn games have been particularly popular in developing countries where local jobs and income earning opportunities are limited, but most people have access to a digital device and an internet connection. This mini documentary, titled Play-to-Earn: NFT Gaming in the Philippines, tells the story of a rural community that played the NFT game, Axie Infinity, to earn money during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Players reported that they were able to earn up to US$400 within their first few weeks of playing, an amount that is two to three times greater than local minimum wage. Yield Guild’s goal is to accelerate the play-to-earn phenomenon and help more players monetize their time in-game, by investing in NFTs that can be leased to guild members via scholarships. What is a Scholarship? The idea was originally introduced by the Axie Infinity player community. Owners of Axies, the NFT pets that are required to play the game, would loan their assets to new players who didn’t own any Axies of their own. With the rising popularity of Axie Infinity, the price to buy the NFT pets needed to play the game has increased significantly. This has created a barrier to entry for some players, especially those that are new to play-to-earn. Understandably, not all people are willing or able to invest in purchasing their own NFTs upfront. As such, a scholarship is a popular pathway to onboard newcomers to NFT games. Yield Guild provides scholarships to new players as a profit-sharing model, where the guild invests in NFT assets and rents them to new players so they can start playing and earning in-game tokens without having to invest any money upfront. The recipient of a scholarship is known as a scholar. The only upfront requirement of the scholar is their time spent playing the game, their enthusiasm and their willingness to learn. The scholar’s earnings are split between the scholar (70%), Yield Guild (10%), and the Community Manager (20%). The Community Manager is responsible for recruiting, training and mentoring the new player. Currently, Yield Guild has over 2,500 Axie Infinity scholars that have earned more than 22M SLP — the in-game reward token that can be earned by winning Axie battles and completing quests. The value of these tokens is equivalent to around US$4M. What does a Community Manager do? In addition to the NFT assets leased by Yield Guild, scholars also receive training and guidance on how to play the game from Community Managers. Community Managers are the “boots on the ground” that are key to Yield Guild’s scalability and success around the world. They take Yield Guild’s NFTs and distribute these assets to new players in their local network that have been identified as high potential. In this way, Yield Guild does not manage any scholars directly, but rather, the guild seeks to work with reputable Community Managers that can nurture up-and-coming talent and play a personal role in the player’s development. The co-founders of a scholarship program called “Axie University” (AxU) were interviewed in the mini documentary, Play-to-Earn: NFT Gaming in the Philippines. AxU is now a “sub-guild” beneath the overarching Yield Guild, and they play the role of Community Managers who recruit, train and mentor Yield Guild’s scholars. This article published on Bitpinas is an interview with Ken Garancho, John Emmanuel Dela Peña (Pot), and John Carlos (Spraky), the three founders of AxU, which is now part of Yield Guild Games. Does Yield Guild offer play-to-earn scholarships in games other than Axie Infinity? Yield Guild scholarships are not limited to Axie Infinity. Besides Axie, Yield Guild also has in-game assets and land investments in League of Kingdoms, F1 Delta Time, The Sandbox, Star Atlas, Illuvium, ZED RUN, Guild of Guardians, Ember Sword, and most recently, Splinterlands. Yield Guild’s plan is to provide scholarship opportunities across all these games, and more, to lower the barriers to accessing these yield-generating NFTs and help onboard more people to the play-to-earn revolution. To learn more about Yield Guild, read the whitepaper, key takeaways from the whitepaper, join the YGG Discord or follow us on Twitter.

https://medium.com/yield-guild-games/yield-guild-explains-play-to-earn-and-scholarships-bb1e097c2a61

['Yield Guild Games']

2021-07-07 03:48:56.155000+00:00

['Games', 'Earn Money Online', 'Nft', 'Cryptocurrency', 'Community']

Make Money Online For FREE In 2021 💰 (No Credit Card Required)

So today i’m going to be talking to you guys about 10 websites that will allow you to make money for free in 2021 without the use of things like credit cards I’ll be talking about some of my favorites even though 2021 this is information that you’ll be able to use even beyond that a lot of people on this way are trying to make money online + So i thought this would be a fitting video because most of these sites still working and with that said let’s get straight, today we are covering more than print printing demand i will be talking about 10 websites that will allow you to make money for free without any sort of investment without any credit cards. Some of the sites and the methods i’ll be talking about you may have heard about some of them i know for a fact a lot of you have never heard about some of these. don’t miss out on an opportunity that could potentially change your life maybe even your bank account a quick disclaimer as well these things will not make you a millionaire overnight but when you put the time in you get to a point where you do start bringing in some money and also everyone is different and that is one of the main reasons i’m covering 10 different methods mainly because if one method doesn’t work for you you will be able to find one that does get straight Into this with the first website we have redbubble now this is one of my personal favorites as i use this quite a lot i’ve covered this and it works i have gotten sales from this people got sales from this now for anyone who doesn’t know what redbubble is It’s a website that works very very similar to amazon and the fact that you can go on here and search for a product now they cover a variation of 93 different products from t-shirts to mugs and one thing i really do like about redbubble is the fact that one it’s easy to create an account and two once you have your account created when it comes to uploading designs don’t have to actually create complicated designs just to show you an example of the designs that do well on redbubble if i was to type in funny t-shirt and then search that up on redbubble i can almost guarantee you that you will see that some of the t-shirts that pop up here aren’t really complicated So i’ve got a lot of text based designs and if i was to search by best selling so if i go up to most relevant here and then click best selling it will show me what people have actually bought a lot of in terms of t-shirts so at the top we’re seeing some more artistic based t-shirts and i understand not everyone can make these but as you go lower you can see the simple text based designs that pretty much anyone can make and for people that might be thinking i’m not artistically gifted i can’t make really cool designs you don’t have to be creating text-based designs is very easy you can do it through photoshop if you don’t have photoshop there’s free alternatives this one right here photo p.com is one of them it’s very similar to photoshop if i was to click on it to open it you can see here it pretty much looks like photoshop and you guys can actually create your simple text-based designs on here and let’s say you don’t have a laptop or a pc you can also make designs on your phone by using apps like the over app which you can find on the play store you can also find it on the apple store and i’ve covered videos about how you can use apps like this once again redbubble is a game changer this is an example of a simple design someone created that’s been selling well if you’re read this and you’re thinking i want to try redbubble don’t know where to start i actually have a free print-on-demand starter guide linked down in the description that helps you guys get into redbubble so after redbubble another site you guys can go on to for completely free without having to pay any money at all is fiverr now a lot of people probably know fiverr as their website that allows you to get services for fairly cheap and yes one way you could make money on fryer essentially is by becoming maybe someone who designed t-shirts for people you can create simple text-based design and do it as a service for people and this doesn’t have to be the only service you can offer if you’re talented at different things you can offer different services but one thing that people don’t really know about fiverr is that they offer an affiliate program what this means is that if you can get people to sign up to fifo or to get services from fifer through your affiliate links you can actually get commissions off that once again this isn’t anything you need to pay for it’s something you can do for completely free and this is something that you guys could implement very easily especially if you know people that are looking for certain services or you could even use fiverr to drop service and drop servicing is pretty much the process in which you make yourself the middleman so in the instance where someone wants a website you can say okay i’ll get the website sorted for yourself maybe on fire for someone is charging a hundred dollars you can then charge the person 200 and then keep a hundred dollars difference so there’s a lot you can do when it comes to fifa third thing we have here is youtube now a lot of you guys know that people can make money from youtube but you probably for the most part don’t believe you can do it yourself or you don’t have the confidence to be on screen and make videos now one thing that’s good about youtube is the fact that you don’t even have to show your face if you want to make money through youtube you can create faceless niched down youtube channels where you could be making videos talking about types of dogs types of cats without even showing your face and with channels like that you can get them to a point where they potentially get monetized and you can start making money and another thing with youtube is the fact that there’s so many different niches as well and depending on which niche you’re in you can potentially earn more per thousand views which is known as cpm if i was to quickly take you into my youtube back office and just to quickly go through some of my daily earnings with you guys you would see that it ranges anywhere from see 32 pounds here for the day 26 pounds highs of 59 pounds and obviously it’s up and down and this is something that’s happened within six months of being active on this youtube channel now if this is something that i can do you guys watching this video can do it as well all you need to do is find a niche the most profitable niches when it comes to youtube are within the finance niches car niches real estate niches so if you can make videos that fit into those kind of niches you can actually start making money from nothing given though with youtube depending on how hard you work it could take you anywhere from a month to a couple of months until you do get monetized in my case it took me two months to get to a point where i was actually monetized on this channel the fourth website we have here is tea public now tea public is very similar to redbubble in fact the owners of redbubble bought tea public but they’ve kind of left tea public with its own unique stance and the way t public works like i said is similar to redbubble with its own few differences one thing you’ll notice with tea public is the fact that they are always having sales and also when you post a design on t public the first 48 hours that design is up it is actually put on sale so it’s cheaper for customers to buy one thing that’s good about tea public is the fact that those kind of sales allow you to get sales from customers quicker but a downside of using t public is the fact that they have less products in comparison to redbubble next up we have lester now a lot of you watching this video are probably thinking what is listed like what does this do and i’ll tell you straight up guys lister is a game changer now what lister allows you to do is to pretty much drop ship without any cost to you at all now how lister works is that you create an account and once your account is created they will actually give you a list of products that are selling on amazon that you can then sell over on ebay now the great thing about this is that those products that are listed are products that you do not have to have at the end of the day you are drop shipping so leicester will give you a set of products that are cheap on amazon that through their system you can automatically list on ebay and if you get sales from ebay using the money that you receive from ebay you can then buy those products from amazon and send them to the customer’s address allowing you to keep the difference lister allows pretty much anyone to sign up giving them access to their free option which gives people 50 products that they can list on ebay the main thing you need to take note of when it comes to lister is the fact that you do need to keep an eye out on your lister account in case prices are updated but besides that this is a free option of potentially getting into drop shipping and making some money from absolutely nothing okay i hope i haven’t lost you guys if you have any questions so far at this point of the video let me know down in the comment section and i’ll try to go through them and answer them once the video is out and moving on to the sixth website we have clickbank a lot of you have probably seen clickbank advertised in many different places but once again clickbank is a website that allows you to make money from nothing now the good thing about clickbank is that it allows you to pretty much promote and sell other people’s products and if you can actually get to the point where you’re selling those things you are given commissions the commissions can range anywhere from 10 to even over a hundred dollars when it comes to clickbank and there’s various ways you guys can actually promote these products for completely free for example they’ve affiliate links in relation to products within the sport niche when it comes to things like protein shakes so let’s say for example you has to create a youtube video talking about five underrated protein shakes and then you link them down in the description if someone clicked on your clickbank search in google and bought that protein shake from you you would then get a commission on that and once again posting on youtube is completely free signing up to clickbank is completely free and advertising your clickbank links through that method is also completely free so you’ll be able to make money from absolutely nothing it’s definitely something to try out some people will have a lot of success with it some people may not but that is why i’m making this video going through 10 different options so everyone can find at least one thing that works for them next up with spreadsheet and a spreadsheet is another print on demand sign now this one’s a little bit underrated not too many people use this but it works in a similar way once again to redbubble and teepublic you can upload your designs on them choose which market you want them to be on so whether the uk market or the u.s market and if you get sales on spreadshirt you will get paid on those sales in the following month spreadshirt do have a little bit of a payment hold i’m pretty sure you need to be hitting at least 10 dollars in sales to be able to cash out that money but once again it cost you completely nothing to put designs on spreadshirts and if people buy you can potentially make yourself some extra money on the side and number eight we have amazon associates now this is a fun one a lot of people don’t actually know that you can do this but once again through the power of affiliate links you can actually make money through amazon associates now what this is it’s a program that allows you to sign up and then once you sign up you can actually get custom links for any product you can find on amazon and if you can get anyone to buy that product through your link amazon will give you a commission now depending on the type of product the commission will be different for example with home furnishings you might make more than you would do with electricals but either way you would still get a commission now this is something that usually does really well with people that do reviews on tech products let’s say for example a new iphone comes out or a new apple macbook comes out that’s available on amazon if you can do a review or if you can share those links in groups where people may be interested in those types of products if people buy those products you get a commission and the best thing about those links is that they are amazon link so if someone clicks on it you’ll just be taken to an amazon page there’s nothing that shows that it’s in relation to any sort of affiliate program and even if you have friends that want to buy something from amazon you can just come into your associates back office get a link for that product send it to them and if they buy it you will get a commission it won’t cost them any more or any less the only difference is that you would get a little bit of a kickback and this is a very easy way to make money from nothing especially if your friends and family that like buying through amazon or even if you want to start doing things like reviews on youtube for certain types of products that you already like the ninth website we have on the list is merch by amazon once again it’s linked to amazon but the difference with merch by amazon is it allows you to sell things like t-shirts through amazon now this is kind of similar to the other print and demand sites i’ve covered so far in the video but the only different with merch by amazon is the fact that you have a wider audience of people to reach amazon is the biggest marketplace on the internet so if you can get designs uploaded onto merch by amazon and those shirts get approved you could potentially line yourself up to be in a position to make a lot of money there are people in the past couple of years that have made six figures through merch by amazon alone the only downside is that not everyone gets accepted into merch by amazon but it’s worth a try because if you do you never know your 2021 or whatever year you decide to start on this could end up completely different to what you would have expected once again it’s completely free to apply to create an account to put designs up and merged by amazon you just need to be patient at the start because they only allow you to post one design a day to you have 10 designs and you’re only allowed more slots for designs once you actually start to get some sales 10th website i’m going to be talking about to finish us off today is amazon kdp also known as amazon kindle direct publishing now a lot of you might be familiar with kindle devices they’re the little amazon devices that you can read books on now if you think of that it then kind of seems obvious what this is about and amazon kdp is a program that allows you to sell books with low content no content or just normal box with content in them once again amazon is a big marketplace so if you can get yourself some books even diaries or coloring books on the amazon market using this you could potentially end up making a nice amount for yourself and the good thing about this as well is amazon kdp allows more people into the program in comparison to merch by amazon so it’s something to definitely try out and once again a lot of people online are making money from this that started from nothing and if they can do it so can you okay guys there are 10 websites i thought i’ll share with you guys to show you guys how you could potentially make yourself a lot of money in 2021 from completely nothing if there’s any particular site that you saw in this video that you feel like you want to hear more about or that you want to see more information about let me know down in the comment section and i might get to working on a video that goes in depth onto whichever site you want me to talk about if you’ve gotten any sort of value from this video at all a like rating would be very much appreciated make sure to subscribe if you’re new to the channel and at the end of the day when it comes to anything whether that’s making money whether that’s achieving your goals always remember that everything is rigged in your favor and manifest success .

https://medium.com/@dorbinnews24/make-money-online-for-free-in-2021-no-credit-card-required-2790cd80822

[]

2020-12-23 18:15:23.033000+00:00

['Work From Home', 'Money', 'Freelancing', 'Online', 'Make Money Online']

Radio #LatentVoices. Intro. 01–04

Do you know this feeling: you wake up with a melody in your ears, a beautiful, unique song. And while you are trying to capture it (with a notation if you can scores, humming if you have a recording device near your pillow), this unearthly music vanishes, being overlayered by everyday sounds, thoughts, and needs. It’s gone. And you realize you were the only one person who could listen to this melody. Nobody else in this world. Because it was inside your dreams. Then you are deluged by the melancholy of happiness. Happiness — because you are the lucky one to experience this harmonious sensation. Melancholy — because you won’t be able ever to share it with somebody. Entering the epoche of Artificial Intelligence, you can. Well, it isn’t quite your dream, it’s a dream of a machine. But you can embrace its uniqueness and share it with the world. That is what I love in JukeBox: But let’s forget technology for a while. Because of the Music in the Air.

https://medium.com/merzazine/radio-latentvoices-intro-01-04-fc51aff2f717

['Vlad Alex', 'Merzmensch']

2020-11-16 22:34:58.294000+00:00

['Music', 'Culture', 'Artificial Intelligence', 'Art', 'Jukebox']

Laid Off During The Pandemic?

Laid Off During The Pandemic? Illustration by the talented Bro Ojrot. I’d admit it. When the pandemic hit Canada in mid-March, I think we were all a little scared. I sure was. I have a staffing and recruitment firm. The only way my company makes money is if I get people out to work. Overnight, I saw my business start to dwindle. I knew that if I was feeling worried, there would be loads of others feeling the same way. I felt I needed to do something. Something to help the loads of people who were laid off as a result of the pandemic — and the loads more that were frightful of losing their job at any moment. Back in April, I launched a webinar series for job seekers. The content was based on my first book, “Hired! How To Get The Zippy Gig. Insider Secrets From A Top Recruiter.” I’ve delivered my lively action-packed, in-person keynote to well over 5000 job seekers throughout Canada and the USA. I chopped my keynote into three, lively (yes, resume writing & interviewing webinars can be lively!) 30-minute webinars. I thought I’d deliver the series once and we’d be done with the pandemic and back to business as usual. Boy, was I wrong! 20 webinars later — I’m thrilled to have had nearing 1000 job seekers from around the world on my webinars. Attendees joined from throughout Canada, the USA, France, Germany, England, Bermuda and even Japan. It felt good to help alleviate some of the stress of job searching. I started each webinar with the message of “let’s focus on the things we can control.” We can control what your resume looks like and how well you interview. Those are the things that will help you to be hired. Let’s get you ready for when companies are hiring again. Set a bit of the worry aside. For now. Hiring managers and recruiters like to see current dates on your resume. If you were laid off at the beginning of the pandemic, your last role would have been 9 months ago. That’s a bit of time. Here’s the thing. You likely haven’t been binge-watching Netflix throughout the last 9 months. GRIN. In my resume and interview coaching program — I’ve worked with job seekers who’ve done some incredible things during the last 9 months. I’ll bet you have too! Have you: Home schooled your kids? Started on a fitness program? Learned how to do a home renovation project using You Tube? Taken on an extensive gardening project? Took on line courses or done volunteer work to do a career pivot? Started a new business? Learned a new language? Rather than leaving that big blank on your resume — write this on your resume: COVID Lay Off — and then add the dates — March 2020 — present And, list your achievements. We all know how hard these last 9 months have been if you’ve been out of work. Talk about all of the things you have accomplished. Be proud of what you’ve done outside of your traditional career. You’re showing a hiring manager that you’re resilient and creative during these times. Thank you for reading! I’m re-running my “Hired!” webinar series in January. Here’s the link to register: https://tinyurl.com/y7pqao4o Please share freely.

https://medium.com/illumination/laid-off-during-the-pandemic-e13f73517785

['Sheila Musgrove']

2020-12-22 16:22:02.793000+00:00

['Resume Writing', 'Job Hunting', 'Career Advice', 'Resume', 'Jobs']

Here’s the Most powerful Autoresponder you can own for life (no monthly fees ever! OPEN UP)

Grab It!!! → Life-Time Email Autoresponder Account — No Monthly Charges! (MailPanda) What MailPanda Exactly Is? MailPanda is a premium email marketing software which allows you to send unlimited emails directly to unlimited subscribers. MailPanda is also the easiest email editor to convert templates. It starts to get more opens, sales, clicks and conversions, all it takes is just three easy steps… · Upload Your contacts — just upload or create the opt-in templates with your existing lists in no time. You are not afraid to lose or reject a single lead and you are ready immediately for an extremely profitable campaign. Send Unlimited emails — Select our high conversion email campaigns, customize them to your business or campaigns, just plan or send them straight away. Just relax while MailPanda does all the grunt work for you and you are all set to get the best out of your campaigns. Plan or send right away — Select the list and press the send button to send to unlimited email addresses and sit back. Let MailPanda accomplish all the grunt work and you enjoy more profits. What MailPanda Can Do For You? · Send Unlimited emails to unlimited subscribers · ​Upload and email unlimited leads · ​Most advanced email marketing platform ever · ​Skyrocket your open and click rates · ​Generate More Leads from any blog, ecommerce or WordPress site · ​100+ high converting templates for webforms, emails and more · ​Spam score checker to ensure maximum · ​GDPR Can-Spam Compliant · ​Complete Step-by-Step Video training and tutorials Included With commercial license WHO IS BEHIND THIS AMAZING PRODUCT? Let me introduce to you the prominent figure behind this outstanding software: Daniel Adetunji. He has been in this online marketing thingy for last 5 years and after serving 50000+ customers and generating over 2 million in revenue, one this was super clear. Throughout the journey, he has gained so much experience and perfected his skills in designing products that can help users maximize their potential of making money online. Some of his successfully launched products that you may have heard of are: NoClick Profits, Instant Video Sales Letters, InstaFunnel Formula, Flexsocial, SociOffer, SociClicks, SociLeadMessenger and I advise you to keep an eye out for more wonderful products to come in the future. =>> Get EARLY ACCESS to MailPanda Software Here How MailPanda Differs From Other Tools? Now no more Guessing Game, No more losing your business to cash sucking email autoresponders, Step up. Just upload and send email and let the software take care of the rest. · Forget paying $100/m for autoresponder · Forget lower inboxing and open rate · Forget the fear of autoresponder account being suspended · Forget the fear of import list being scrutinized and rejected · Unlimited Emails, Unlimited Leads, Unlimited Campaigns. · High Inboxing by Reverse Engineering Latest Email Algorithm · List Management — Import, Custom Fields · Single optin/double optin feature · Personalize your emails for high engagement · No Blocking, No Leads Upload Restriction, · 100% secure system and backup of data · Spam score checker · With Commercial License to start your own email marketing Agency MailPanda Review — Reasons Why MailPanda Is a Good Software ♦ POWER OF SUBSCRIBERS ♦ BROADCASTS OR AUTORESPONDERS ♦ SKYROCKET YOUR OPEN AND CLICK RATES ♦ TAKE AUTOMATION TO NEXT LEVEL ♦ CRAFT CONTENT YOUR WAY ♦ PERSONALIZE CONTENT TO FOSTER ENGAGEMENT ♦ DFY Email Templates ♦ MEDIA INTEGRATION ♦ 100% SECURE SYSTEM AND BACKUP OF DATA ♦ DEEP ANALYTICS MailPanda Review — Pros and Cons Pros · Easy save, draft and duplicate campaigns to save time and boost productivity · Complete Step by step video tutorials · ​CAN SPAM and GDPR Complaint · ​Complete and Dedicated Support · ​No Coding, Design or Technical Skills Required · ​​Regular Update · ​Complete Step-by-Step Video training and tutorials · ​Newbie Friendly & Fully Cloud-Based Software · ​With Commercial License Cons · No cons until now MailPanda Review — My Final Thoughts It’s every marketer’s headache: You spend time crafting the perfect message for your subscribers with a clever subject and creative body. You hit send and, voila! Or so you expect. Instead, your open rate tanks. A small segment of your audience reads your message. You waste time and don’t get the ROI you expected. Low email open rates are a pain. What’s going on? Your Emails are landing in spam, open rates are at all time low and your autoresponder isn’t helpful at all Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo are filtering your messages and they never get read. The list you import is constantly being rejected or they scrutinize 20% of your imports And Still pay hundreds of dollars for non-effective non-performing email autoresponders and one bad day Your account has been suspended. Just because your autoresponder doesn’t find you “Legit”. Checkout the crazy open and click rates I got for a simple email I sent using MailPanda. I love this tool. You will love it too. =>> Get EARLY ACCESS to MailPanda Software Here

https://medium.com/@kinginsurance99/heres-the-most-powerful-autoresponder-you-can-own-for-life-no-monthly-fees-ever-open-up-e29f682957f8

[]

2020-12-21 10:32:26.245000+00:00

['Email Marketing', 'Email', 'Leads', 'Free Email Marketing', 'Mailpanda']

2020年 良かった買い物7選

in The Brain is a Noodle

https://medium.com/@masas-masas/2020%E5%B9%B4-%E8%89%AF%E3%81%8B%E3%81%A3%E3%81%9F%E8%B2%B7%E3%81%84%E7%89%A97%E9%81%B8-1edca2836a08

['Masasuke Suzuki']

2020-12-26 08:40:16.967000+00:00

['Review', 'Japanese', 'Work From Home', 'Gadgets']

Model Sub-Classing and Custom Training Loop from Scratch in TensorFlow 2

In this article, we will try to understand the Model Sub-Classing API and Custom Training Loop from Scratch in TensorFlow 2. It may not be a beginner or advance introduction but aim to get rough intuition of what they are all about. The post is divided into three parts: Comparable Modelling Strategies in TensorFlow 2 Build an Inception Network with Model Sub-Classing API End-to-End Training with Custom Training Loop from Scratch So, at first, we will see how many ways to define models using TensorFlow 2 and how they differ from each other. Next, we will see how feasible it is to build a complex neural architecture using the model subclassing API which is introduced in TF 2. And then we will implement a custom training loop and train these subclassing model end-to-end from scratch. We will also use Tensorboard in our custom training loop to track the model performance for each batch. We will also see how to save and load the model after training. In the end, we will measure the model performance via the confusion matrix and classification report, etc. Comparable Modelling Strategies in TensorFlow 2 In TF.Keras there are basically three-way we can define a neural network, namely Sequential API Functional API Model Subclassing API Among them, Sequential API is the easiest way to implement but comes with certain limitations. For example, with this API, we can’t create a model that shares feature information to another layer except to its subsequent layer. In addition, multiple input and output are not possible to implement either. In this point, Functional API does solve these issues greatly. A model like Inception or ResNet is feasible to implement in Functional API. But often deep learning researcher wants to have more control over every nuance of the network and on the training pipelines and that’s exactly what Model Subclassing API serves. Model Sub-Classing is a fully customizable way to implement the feed-forward mechanism for our custom-designed deep neural network in an object-oriented fashion. Let’s create a very basic neural network using these three API. It will be the same neural architecture and will see what are the implementation differences. This of course will not demonstrate the full potential, especially for Functional and Model Sub-Classing API. The architecture will be as follows: Input - > Conv - > MaxPool - > BN - > Conv -> BN - > Droput - > GAP -> Dense Simple enough. As mentioned, let’s create the neural nets with Sequential, Functional, and Model Sub-Classing respectively. Sequential API Functional API Model Sub-Classing API In Model Sub-Classing there are two most important functions __init__ and call. Basically, we will define all the tf.keras layers or custom implemented layers inside the __init__ method and call those layers based on our network design inside the call method which is used to perform a forward propagation. It’s quite the same as the forward method that is used to build the model in PyTorch anyway. Let’s run these models on the MNIST data set. We will load from tf.keras.datasets. However, the input image is 28 by 28 and in grayscale shape. We will repeat the axis three times so that we can feasibly experiment with the pretrained weight later on if necessary. Output Sequential API 469/469 [==============================] - 2s 3ms/step - loss: 7.5747 - categorical_accuracy: 0.2516 Functional API 469/469 [==============================] - 2s 3ms/step - loss: 8.1335 - categorical_accuracy: 0.2368 Model Sub-Classing API 469/469 [==============================] - 2s 3ms/step - loss: 5.2695 - categorical_accuracy: 0.1731 Build an Inception Network with Model Sub-Classing API The core data structures in TF.Keras is layers and model classes. A layer encapsulates both state (weight) and the transformation from inputs to outputs, i.e. the call method that is used to define the forward pass. However, these layers are also recursively composable. It means if we assign a tf.keras.layers.Layer instances as an attribute of another tf.keras.layers.Layer, the outer layer will start tracking the weights matrix of the inner layer. So, each layer will track the weights of its sublayers, both trainable and non-trainable. Such functionality is required when we need to build such a layer of a higher level of abstraction. In this part, we will be building a small Inception model by subclassing the layers and model classes. Please see the diagram below. It’s a small Inception network, src. If we give a close look we’ll see that it mainly consists of three special modules, namely: Conv Module Inception Module Downsample Module A small Inception network, src. Conv Module From the diagram we can see, it consists of one convolutional network, one batch normalization, and one relu activation. Also, it produces C times feature maps with K x K filters and S x S strides. Now, it would be very inefficient if we simply go with the sequential modeling approach because we will be re-using this module many times in the complete network. So, define a functional block would be efficient and simple enough. But this time, we will prefer layer subclassing which is more pythonic and more efficient. To do that, we will create a class object that will inherit the tf.keras.layers.Layer classes. Now, We can also initiate the object of this class and see the following properties. cm = ConvModule(96, (3,3), (1,1)) y = cm(tf.ones(shape=(2,32,32,3))) # first call to the `cm` will create weights print("weights:", len(cm.weights)) print("trainable weights:", len(cm.trainable_weights)) # output weights: 6 trainable weights: 4 Inception Module Next comes the Inception module. According to the above graph, it consists of two convolutional modules and then merges together. Now as we know to merge, here we need to ensure that the output feature maps dimension ( height and width ) needs to be the same. Here you may notice that we are now hard-coded exact kernel size and strides number for both convolutional layers according to the network (diagram). And also in ConvModule, we have already set padding to the ‘same’, so that the dimension of the feature maps will be the same for both (self.conv1 and self.conv2); which is required in order to concatenate them to the end. Again, in this module, two variable performs as the placeholder, kernel_size1x1, and kernel_size3x3. This is on the purpose of course. Because we will need different numbers of feature maps to the different stages of the entire model. If we look into the diagram of the model, we will see that InceptionModule takes a different number of filters at different stages in the model. Downsample Module Lastly the downsampling module. The main intuition for downsampling is that we hope to get more relevant feature information that highly represents the inputs to the model. As it tends to remove the unwanted feature so that model can focus on the most relevant. There are many ways we can reduce the dimension of the feature maps (or inputs). For example: using strides 2 or using the conventional pooling operation. There are many types of pooling operation, namely: MaxPooling, AveragePooling, GlobalAveragePooling. From the diagram, we can see that the downsampling module contains one convolutional layer and one max-pooling layer which later merges together. Now, if we look closely at the diagram (top-right), we will see that the convolutional layer takes 3 x 3 size filter with strides 2 x 2. And the pooling layer (here MaxPooling) takes pooling size 3 x 3 with strides 2 x 2. Fair enough, however, we also ensure that the dimension coming from each of them should be the same in order to merge at the end. Now, if we remember when we design the ConvModule we purposely set the value of padding argument to `same`. But in this case, we need to set to `valid`. Model Class: Layers Encompassing In general, we use the Layer class to define the inner computation blocks and will use the Model class to define the outer model, practically the object that we will train. In our case, in an Inception model, we define three computational blocks: Conv Module, Inception Module, and Downsample Module. These are created by subclassing the Layer class. And so next, we will use the Model class to encompass these computational blocks in order to create the entire Inception network. Typically the Model class has the same API as Layer but with some extra functionality. Same as the Layer class, we will initialize the computational block inside the init method of the Model class as follows: The amount of filter number for each computational block is set according to the design of the model (also visualized down below in the diagram). After initialing all the blocks, we will connect them according to the design (diagram). Here is the full Inception network using Model subclass: As you may notice, apart from the __init__ and call method additionally we define a custom method build_graph. We’re using this as a helper function to plot the model summary information conveniently. Please, check out this discussion for more details. Anyway, let’s check out the model’s summary. raw_input = (32, 32, 3) # init model object cm = MiniInception() # The first call to the `cm` will create the weights y = cm(tf.ones(shape=(0,*raw_input))) # print summary cm.build_graph(raw_input).summary() # --------------------------------------------------------------------- Layer (type) Output Shape Param # ================================================================= input_6 (InputLayer) [(None, 32, 32, 3)] 0 _________________________________________________________________ conv_module_329 (ConvModule) (None, 32, 32, 96) 3072 _________________________________________________________________ inception_module_136 (Incept (None, 32, 32, 64) 31040 _________________________________________________________________ inception_module_137 (Incept (None, 32, 32, 80) 30096 _________________________________________________________________ downsample_module_34 (Downsa (None, 15, 15, 160) 58000 _________________________________________________________________ inception_module_138 (Incept (None, 15, 15, 160) 87840 _________________________________________________________________ inception_module_139 (Incept (None, 15, 15, 160) 108320 _________________________________________________________________ inception_module_140 (Incept (None, 15, 15, 160) 128800 _________________________________________________________________ inception_module_141 (Incept (None, 15, 15, 144) 146640 _________________________________________________________________ downsample_module_35 (Downsa (None, 7, 7, 240) 124896 _________________________________________________________________ inception_module_142 (Incept (None, 7, 7, 336) 389520 _________________________________________________________________ inception_module_143 (Incept (None, 7, 7, 336) 544656 _________________________________________________________________ average_pooling2d_17 (Averag (None, 1, 1, 336) 0 _________________________________________________________________ flatten_13 (Flatten) (None, 336) 0 _________________________________________________________________ dense_17 (Dense) (None, 10) 3370 ================================================================= Total params: 1,656,250 Trainable params: 1,652,826 Non-trainable params: 3,424 Now, it is complete to build the entire Inception model via model subclassing. However, compared to the functional API, instead of defining each module in a separate function, using the subclassing API, it looks more natural. End-to-End Training with Custom Training Loop from Scratch Now we have built a complex network, it’s time to make it busy to learn something. We can now easily train the model simply just by using the compile and fit. But here we will look at a custom training loop from scratch. This functionality is newly introduced in TensorFlow 2. Please note, this functionality is a little bit complex comparatively and more fit for the deep learning researcher. Data Set For the demonstration purpose, we will be using the CIFAR-10 data set. Let’s prepare it first. samples from cifar-10 Here we will convert the class vector (y_train, y_test) to the binary class matrix. And also we will separate the elements of the input tensor for better and efficient input pipelines. Let’s quickly check the data shape after label conversion and input slicing: for i, (x, y) in enumerate(train_dataset): print(x.shape, y.shape) if i == 2: break for i, (x, y) in enumerate(val_dataset): print(x.shape, y.shape) if i == 2: break # output (64, 32, 32, 3) (64, 10) (64, 32, 32, 3) (64, 10) (64, 32, 32, 3) (64, 10) (64, 32, 32, 3) (64, 10) (64, 32, 32, 3) (64, 10) (64, 32, 32, 3) (64, 10) so far so good. We have an input shape of 32 x 32 x 3 and a total of 10 classes to classify. However, it’s not ideal to make a test set as a validation set but for demonstration purposes, we are not considering the train_test_split approach. Now, let’s see how the custom training pipelines consist of in Tensorflow 2. Training Mechanism In TF.Keras, we have convenient training and evaluating loops, fit, and evaluate. But we also can have leveraged the low-level control over the training and evaluation process. In that case, we need to write our own training and evaluation loops from scratch. Here are the recipes: We open a for loop that will iterate over the number of epochs. For each epoch, we open another for loop that will iterate over the datasets, in batches (x, y). For each batch, we open GradientTape() scope. Inside this scope, we call the model, the forward pass, and compute the loss. Outside this scope, we retrieve the gradients of the weights of the model with regard to the loss. Next, we use the optimizer to update the weights of the model based on the gradients. TensorFlow provides the tf.GradientTape() API for automatic differentiation, that is, computing the gradient of computation with respect to some inputs. Below is a short demonstration of its operation process. Here we have some input (x) and trainable param (w, b). Inside the tf.GradientTape() scope, output (y, which basically would be the model output), and loss are measured. And outside the scope, we retrieve the gradients of the weight parameter with respect to the loss. Now, let’s implement the custom training recipes accordingly. Great. However, we are still not talking about how we gonna add metrics to monitor this custom training loop. Obviously, we can use built-in metrics or even custom metrics in the training loop also. To add metrics in the training loop is fairly simple, here is the flow: Call metric.update_state() after each batch Call metric.result() when we need to display the current value of the metric Call metric.reset_states() when we need to clear the state of the metric, typically we do this at the very end of an epoch. Here is another thing to consider. The default runtime in TensorFlow 2.0 is eager execution. The above training loops are executing eagerly. But if we want graph compilation we can compile any function into a static graph with @tf.function decorator. This also speeds up the training step much faster. Here is the set up for the training and evaluation function with @tf.function decorator. Here we’re seeing the usage of metrics.update_state(). These functions return to the training loop where we will set up displaying the log message, metric.result(), and also reset the metrics, metric.reset_states(). Here is the last thing we like to set up, the TensorBoard. There are some great functionalities in it to utilize such as: displaying per batches samples + confusion matrix, hyper-parameter tuning, embedding projector, model graph, etc. For now, we will only focus on logging the training metrics on it. Simple enough but we will integrate it in the custom training loop. So, we can’t use tf.keras.callbacks.TensorBoard but need to use the TensorFlow Summary API. The tf.summary module provides API for writing summary data on TensorBoard. We want to write the logging state after each batch operation to get more details. Otherwise, we may prefer at the end of each epoch. Let’s create some directory where the message of the event will be saved. In the working directory, create the log/train and log/test. Below is the full training pipelines. We recommend reading the code thoroughly at first in order to get the overall training flow. Voila! We run the code in our local system, having RTX 2070. By enabling the mixed-precision we’re able to increase the batch size up to 256. Here is the log output: ETA: 0.78 - epoch: 1 loss: 0.7587890625 acc: 0.5794399976730347 val loss: 3.173828125 val acc: 0.10159999877214432 ETA: 0.29 - epoch: 2 loss: 0.63232421875 acc: 0.7421200275421143 val loss: 1.0126953125 val acc: 0.5756999850273132 ETA: 0.32 - epoch: 3 loss: 0.453369140625 acc: 0.8073400259017944 val loss: 0.7734375 val acc: 0.7243000268936157 ETA: 0.33 - epoch: 4 loss: 0.474365234375 acc: 0.8501200079917908 val loss: 0.64111328125 val acc: 0.7628999948501587 .. .. ETA: 0.35 - epoch: 17 loss: 0.0443115234375 acc: 0.9857199788093567 val loss: 1.8603515625 val acc: 0.7465000152587891 ETA: 0.68 - epoch: 18 loss: 0.01328277587890625 acc: 0.9839400053024292 val loss: 0.65380859375 val acc: 0.7875999808311462 ETA: 0.53 - epoch: 19 loss: 0.035552978515625 acc: 0.9851599931716919 val loss: 1.0849609375 val acc: 0.7432000041007996 ETA: 0.4 - epoch: 20 loss: 0.04217529296875 acc: 0.9877399802207947 val loss: 3.078125 val acc: 0.7224000096321106 Overfitting! But that’s ok for now. For that, we just need some care to consider such as Image Augmentation, Learning Rate Schedule, etc. In the working directory, run the following command to live tensorboard. In the below command, logs are the folder name that we created manually to save the event logs. tensorboard --logdir logs Save and Load There are various ways to save TensorFlow models depending on the API we’re using. Model saving and re-loading in model subclassing are not the same as in Sequential or Functional API. It needs some special attention. Currently, there are two formats to store the model: SaveModel and HDF5. From the official doc: The key difference between HDF5 and SavedModel is that HDF5 uses object configs to save the model architecture, while SavedModel saves the execution graph. Thus, SavedModels are able to save custom objects like subclassed models and custom layers without requiring the orginal code. So, it looks like SavedModels are able to save our custom subclassed models. But what if we want HDF5 format for our custom subclassed models? According to the doc. we can do that either but we need some extra stuff. We must define the get_config method in our object. And also need to pass the object to the custom_object argument when loading the model. This argument must be a dictionary mapping: tf.keras.models.load_model(path, custom_objects={‘CustomLayer’: CustomLayer}). However, it seems like we can’t use HDF5 for now as we don’t use the get_config method in our customed object. However, it’s actually a good practice to define this function in the custom object. This will allow us to easily update the computation later if needed. But for now, let’s now save the model and reload it again with SavedModel format. model.save('net', save_format='tf') After that, it will create a new folder named net in the working directory. It will contain assets, saved_model.pb, and variables. The model architecture and training configuration, including the optimizer, losses, and metrics are stored in saved_model.pb. The weights are saved in the variables directory. When saving the model and its layers, the SavedModel format stores the class name, call function, losses, and weights (and the config, if implemented). The call function defines the computation graph of the model/layer. In the absence of the model/layer config, the call function is used to create a model that exists like the original model which can be trained, evaluated, and used for inference. Later to re-load the saved model, we will do: new_model = tf.keras.models.load_model("net", compile=False) Set compile=False is optional, I do this to avoid warning logs. Also as we are doing custom loop training, we don’t need any compilation. So far, we have talked about saving the entire model (computation graph and parameters). But what, if we want to save the trained weight only and reload the weight when need it. Yeap, we can do that too. Simply just, model.save_weights('net.h5') It will save the weight of our model. Now, when it comes to re-load it again, here is one thing to keep in mind. We need to call the build method before we try to load the weight. It mainly initializes the layers in a subclassed model, so that the computation graph can build. For example, if we try as follows: new_model = MiniInception() new_model.load_weights('net.h5') -------------------------------------- ValueError: Unable to load weights saved in HDF5 format into a subclassed Model which has not created its variables yet. Call the Model first, then load the weights. To solve that we can do as follows: new_model = MiniInception() new_model.build((None, *x_train.shape[1:])) # or .build((x_train.shape)) new_model.load_weights('net.h5') It will load successfully. Here is an awesome article regarding saving and serializing models in TF.Keras by François Chollet, must-read. Evaluation and Prediction Though not necessary, let’s end up with measuring the model performance. CIFAR-10 class label maps are as follows: 0:airplane, 1:automobile, 2:bird, 3:cat, 4:deer, 5:dog, 6:frog, 7:horse, 8:ship, 9:truck. Let’s find the classification report first. Next, multi-class ROC AUC score: Confusion Matrix: cifar_10 confusion matrix Prediction / Inference on new sample: EndNote This ends here. Thank you so much for reading the article, hope you guys enjoy it. The article is a bit long, so here is a quick summary; we first compare TF.Keras modeling APIs. Next, we use the Model Sub-Classing API to build a small Inception network step by step. Then we look at the training process of newly introduced custom loop training in TensorFlow 2 with GradientTape. We’ve also trained the subclassed Inception model end to end. And lastly, we discuss custom model saving and reloading followed by measuring the performance of these trained models. There are many new kinds of stuff introduced in TensorFlow 2. And TensorFlow developers are actively working to improve it in every release. Recently (5 days ago) they’ve released TensorFlow 2.4 with lots of modifications. For example, these works use TensorFlow 2.3.1, differ from it, in 2.4 the tf.keras.mixed_precision is no longer experimental and now it allows the use of 16-bit floating-point formats during training, improving performance by up to 3x on GPUs and 60% on TPUs which are really cool. Jokes aside, Medium developers should add the code syntax highlighter by default; copy-paste — copy-paste from gist is annoying (IMO). However, in case you want to play with the colorful code, here.

https://towardsdatascience.com/model-sub-classing-and-custom-training-loop-from-scratch-in-tensorflow-2-cc1d4f10fb4e

['Mohammed Innat']

2020-11-09 21:22:26.536000+00:00

['Deep Learning', 'TensorFlow', 'Keras', 'Machine Learning', 'Research']

STUDYSEC+ {Part3}

Defined as unsolicited bulk email (UBE), or junk email. The spammer is hoping that the recipient will buy a product or service: it usually put on the SMTP server to reduce the amount of spam that is received. 2. Recipient Filter: 3. Sender Filter: 4. Sender ID Filter: Occur in 1978 which involved an advertisement for Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) computers While the reaction for UBE is negative, but it did some sales. The term is known as UBE. Because of Monty Python’s flying Circus for the term SPAM in 1970. This effectively may block the useful information A system designed to protect network from malicious content that is on the internet. These can also be use as a data loss prevention (DLP) measure: Often called as packet sniffer. Examines the network behaviour at very basic level; they allow for the examination of the individual packets of data. Can be used to see what consuming network resources is (e.g., is something going bad with the interface). Can be use to identify network breach or attack. Can be used to study the method used to create the network breach. Tools:

https://medium.com/@tekashi99/studysec-part3-18f0edcee1c8

[]

2020-12-21 11:15:38.401000+00:00

['Computer Science', 'Networking', 'Study', 'Cybersecurity', 'Security']

Why Volunteer?

Hello to anyone that is stumbling upon my blog. This pandemic has definitely taken a toll on all of us, and it got me thinking about the effects it has had on people in need and the greater community. Previously, I used to spend my spare time volunteering, but since the start of Covid, I unfortunately stopped. It’s such a shame because I was able to gain even more than I was able to give from the experience, whether that be finding friends, connecting with a community, or learning new skills. Giving in simple ways can help others but also help you improve your happiness and well-being. One great benefit I experienced from volunteering was the connections I formed with others. Volunteering is a great way to meet new people. It strengthens your ties to the community and broadens your support network, exposing you to people with common interests, neighborhood resources, and fun and fulfilling activities. While some people are naturally outgoing (uhmm like me), others are shy and have a hard time meeting new people. Volunteering can give you the opportunity to practice and develop your social skills since you are meeting regularly with a group of people with common interests. Another incredible thing about volunteering is the wonders it does for the mind and body. Maybe this is just me but I’ve found that nothing relieves stress better than a meaningful connection to another person. What I do know is common is the immense pleasure people feel when they help others. I think the more we give, the happier we feel. Doing good for others and the community can provide a natural sense of accomplishment and also give you a sense of pride and identity. The better you feel about yourself, the more likely you are to have a positive view of your life and future goals. When I was volunteering I noticed it helped take my mind off my own worries, keep me mentally stimulated, and add more zest to my life. For these reasons alone I need to get back into volunteering as soon as I can, but also for the great ways it can help advance my career. I don’t think it’s shallow to admit that volunteering can help you get experience in your area of interest and meet people in the field. Throughout my volunteer experiences, I’ve gained important skills that I’ve used in the workplace, such as teamwork, communication, problem-solving, task management, and organization. To be honest, I felt much more comfortable stretching my wings in a work environment once I honed some of those skills I mentioned in a volunteer position first. Lastly, I’ve found volunteering to simply be fun and fulfilling because it became an easy way for me to explore my interests and passions. I found it to be a great escape from my day-to-day routine of work, school, and family commitments. My parents themselves were big on volunteering because they believed that it inspired creativity, motivation, and vision that could carry over into my personal and professional life, and I have to say that they were right. Once I started identifying some of my goals and interests it made the volunteering experiences I chose to partake in that much more meaningful and enjoyable. Since the start of Covid, I haven’t really done much volunteer work, and after writing this blog it got me thinking about why I love volunteering and it’s hitting me how much I miss it. I can’t wait to seek out opportunities that match both my goals and my interests once this is all over and I encourage you to do the same!

https://medium.com/@tavakian/why-volunteer-7f212c1faf33

['Tanya Avakian']

2021-03-08 08:46:31.254000+00:00

['Wellness', 'Happiness', 'Volunteering', 'Wellbeing', 'Volunteer']

Why is hiking considered healthy and why can’t I seem to remember I’m 70?

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash Hiking to Feather Falls It all began at nine in the morning. My friend Hooper and I had been talking about hiking to Feather Falls for three months, but our schedules kept conflicting. Finally the day arrived, a clear crisp Saturday, we were ready. We had water, walking stick, sandwiches, emergency chocolate, knife (in case of bears), boots, coats, sweaters, all in all, about twenty five pounds of equipment. I had driven past the Feather Falls Scenic Trails Road for two years so I knew exactly where to go. We turned down the small two lane road and drove to the Feather Falls parking lot. It was beautiful with tall trees and a rustic out house. I thought, yes, the adventure begins. There are two trails into the falls. The lower trail is 4 miles over rough ground. The upper trail is five miles over a less rugged path. We took the low road. The first two miles were enjoyable, but I began to notice that there wasn’t any wildlife in the area, not even squirrels. It was cold but by mile three I began removing cloths and doubting my intelligence for presuming I could ‘hike’ in the first place. I realized that the reason there wasn’t any wildlife was because the area was too rough even for animals, only humans put themselves in the wilderness for no good reason. I walked awhile more, and my heart began a chaotic beat somewhere between clog dancing and cardiac arrest. This caused me a little concern. What was I going to do, call a cab? So I continued. My companion, a man who is married to a treadmill, kept assuring me that the falls were, “just around the corner”. Unfortunately the corner was located half way up the mountain. My legs began to throb. They seemed to pulse with the beat of my heart. Then perspiration began dripping down my forehead, depositing my high salt diet’s excretions into my burning eyes. Small gnats began flying toward me, presumably hoping to beat the blow flies that were sure to follow. We climbed the small trail past Bald Rock Dome which the Native Americans are said to revere. I decided to pray too, but an escalator didn’t appear. Over rocks and broken ground, we traveled. It wasn’t pretty, but I made it, legs shaking, heart spasming. We wound our way over the trail on the sheer face of the mountain. It was cold and windy. Feather Falls was in its full splendor, but all I wanted was, food and/or a helicopter. We went back down the trail a bit and ate a sandwich on a bench overlooking the falls. We rested and then the realization struck home. I had to walk back! Old Mr. Fitness decided we had better take the easy trail back. Easy is a relative term. The upper route was 1.5 miles longer then the lower trail with long level stretches and long gradual up-grades. He kept telling me there were no more uphill sections. I stopped believing him after the fifth broken promise. I still haven’t been able to figure out how we moved uphill going and uphill coming back and still wound up at the parking lot. It was like ‘Deliverance’ without the banjos. The last thing I can remember was the site of my sweet red Jeep waiting to take me home. My sister and grandson visited the day after the hike and they had a wonderful time commenting about my funny walk. It was a painful stiff legged gate involving as little knee movement as was humanly possible. I still have the occasional painful twitch in my legs, but I’m relatively healed now. At least I don’t need a stress test at the doctors. If this hike didn’t kill me, nothing well.

https://medium.com/@lunax-89279/why-is-hiking-considered-healthy-and-why-cant-i-seem-to-remember-i-m-70-e452b4304854

['Pam Saraga']

2020-12-20 06:56:05.462000+00:00

['Fitness', 'Hiking', 'Health', 'Humor', 'Aging']

I Met Someone. And That Someone Left.

I Met Someone. And That Someone Left. Photo by Roberto Nickson on Unsplash I met someone, he makes me smile, he makes me laugh. I met someone who makes me feel like I can forget about the pain. I met someone who I can finally open up to. He makes me realise the romance behind the tragedies. I met someone who takes me out to fancy restaurants and shows me off, he makes me feel like a star. I met someone I can bring home, the type of person I can watch mafia films and Fast and Furious with. I met someone who allows me to speak my mind, to explore my options and contemplate everything I think and feel. Someone who won’t judge me. Someone who is willing to give me advice and listen to every word I say. They’re the first person I call, text and think about every day and every night. I met someone who I can make love to, the type of person who doesn’t judge me for the rolls on my stop or the lumps and scars on my body. I met someone who makes love to me without ulterior motives. He makes me feel beautiful even when I take off the clothes, the makeup and let my hair down. I met someone who made me realise the type of love I’m deserving of. I met someone who’ve I’ve fallen in love with. I’ve met the person I may want to marry, go house hunting with and have children with. The type of person I wanna take with me to my home away from home. The type of person who’s become a home to me. Especially when I had no home. I met someone who’s made me believe in love again.

https://medium.com/@nobodyknowsher/i-met-someone-and-that-someone-left-dbcefa645a26

['Nobody']

2020-12-22 12:18:26.493000+00:00

['Essays And Letters', 'Self', 'Heartbreak', 'Poems On Medium', 'Love']

Anthropomorphism: Essential for Science

0 and 1 = F and M. No getting around this. Zero (One) ( Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash ) It is impossible to have science (mathematics) (technology in general) without the zero and the one (also known as female and male). Female and Male This is because the zero and the one are, more technically, circumference and diameter. Circumference and Diameter Exposing ancient thought (yin and yang) and how it integrates, its ‘self’, with modern thought (zero and one). Yin and Yang That is, zero and one (ancient) is yin and yang (modern) and, always, vice versa (any combination) (including yin and yin) (yang and yang) etc. Zero and One This is because zero and one (circumference and diameter) are the basis for linear movement (sequence in general). Zero to One Explaining everything we know, and everything we ‘want to know,’ about everything. One to Zero (Everything to Nothing) Meaning, it is impossible to have the zero without the one (the female without the male). They share a linear (and, thus, a circular) relationship. Linear and Circular (One is Zero) (Zero is One) Conservation of the Circle (zero and one) (circumference and diameter) explains (what humans call) ‘reality.’ (Nature in general.) Nature’s constitutents, to be specific (the circular relationship between Nature and its constituents). Proving the base requriement for science is anthropo-morphism (movement from X to Y) (combination of X and Y) (separation of X and Y) (F and M)(in any system) (all systems).

https://medium.com/the-circular-theory/anthromorphism-essential-for-science-ff7b9304a8d4

['Ilexa Yardley']

2020-12-10 05:40:27.345000+00:00

['Math', 'Science', 'Technology', 'Philosophy', 'Psychology']

Revisiting the iconography of Apple Maps

A few years ago we published a post examining the point of interest (POI) icons within Apple Maps titled More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Apple’s Spotlight Location Icons. POI icons have existed in Apple Maps since Google was the maps provider. But with iOS 6, Apple took full ownership of Maps and introduced a selectable, color-coded POI system with all new iconography. We took particular notice of the icons included with iOS 8 when Apple began using larger versions of these icons at the system level as part of their new Spotlight search feature. Apple has continued to iterate on these icons and has made several additions and refinements. With iOS 10 for example, Apple redesigned the Maps app to use the larger POI icon set directly on the map itself. This post will examine how the system has grown and evolved over the past few years. Why go to the trouble? Our interest in the Apple Maps iconography is rooted primarily in our fascination with large icon sets and the challenges involved in creating a cohesive collection. Apple’s icon set for Maps isn’t readily available and had to be tracked down individually, which only added to our interest. Finding new icons — literally spread all over the world — became a scavenger hunt of sorts. (Think of it as an advanced game of Pokemon Go.) As new icons were added and icons and colors changed, examining these revisions and additions further fueled our interest. Gotta catch ‘em all! We’re also hyperaware of the fleeting nature of our work. Because of this, creating some sort of documentation/historical archive for this icon set interested us. One of the rewards of our field is that our work has the potential to reach a mass audience. The trade-off however is that the shelf life for our work is often exceedingly small. On the print side, design work is quickly discarded, forgotten and lost to decay. Little of a designer’s work is sacred. Highlighting this fact, take something as culturally significant as the Olympic games. Ben Hulse and Greg Durrell of design firm Hulse & Durrell travelled the world researching Olympic branding for past games — pouring over old artifacts and when available, graphics standards manuals — in an attempt to create as historically accurate and authentic a representation as possible of past games for the Olympic Heritage Collection. In the process they painstakingly digitally recreated emblems, mascots, and pictograms for past games, many of which had previously been recreated inaccurately and were being used incorrectly. Tokyo 1964 Summer Olympics logo You might think that in the digital world it would be easier to keep track of and archive past work. Unfortunately with digital work, archiving in a way that the work can be experienced as originally intended is often even more challenging. With print, there is a physical artifact at the end of the process that is given a fighting chance at survival. However, with digital work like websites — and especially software such as the mobile applications we develop at Mercury — once a software update is pushed live or hardware becomes obsolete, previous versions all but fade away. Apps that we created just a few short years ago have long since had their backend services disabled and no longer run on newer hardware. These applications live on now only through screenshots and the occasional video. The ephemeral nature of software can be disheartening at times. It is not unusual to see designers repeating mistakes made in similar applications that are no longer around to actively reference. In this instance, since Apple hasn’t collected these icons and presented them in a way that they can be viewed and considered as a collection, we did. History Current infographic systems such as this can often be tracked back at least in some small part to the AIGA Symbol Signs that were originally designed for the U.S. Bicentennial celebrations. Apple’s POI icons are no exception. The AIGA Symbol Signs, a set of 34 symbols designed by Roger Cook and Don Shanosky and commissioned by the AIGA and the U.S. Department of Transportation, were originally released in 1974 (expanded to 50 icons in 1979 and 55 icons in 1985) and were produced because as AIGA states, “While effective individual symbols had been designed, there was no system of signs that communicated the required range of complex messages, addressed people of different ages and cultures and were clearly legible at a distance.” Apple’s icon set references almost half of the AIGA Symbol Signs in the POI system. Most of the icons are almost one-to-one, with the most signifiant changes being a Ferry with more windows and less waves, the removal of the sash and passport perspective for Immigration, and a less crowded Elevator. Comparison of AIGA Symbol Sign iconography and Apple’s POI icons If you are interested in learning more about the history of the AIGA Symbol Signs, Atlas Obscura wrote about the symbols in detail in 2015, noting that the original nursery symbol (a baby bottle) drew complaints from nursing mothers, prompting a change to the “Helvetica Baby” symbol in 1979. Helvetica Baby Additions Since we first examined the POI icons with iOS 8, Apple has made several additions to the set in an attempt to improve Apple Maps usefulness and more accurately represent human interest. There was a fairly significant number of new icons added with iOS 9 (37) with fewer additions for iOS 10 (17) and iOS 11 (7). Primarily because of the newly added ability to zoom in to airport terminal interiors, iOS 12 saw an uptick with 27 new icons. Disclaimer: It’s possible that some of the icons we’re noting as new at particular system levels were available earlier, and we didn’t discover them until a later version of iOS.

https://medium.com/@mercury/apple-maps-iconography-revisited-82513e8b6871

['Mercury Intermedia']

2019-06-25 14:57:56.656000+00:00

['Design', 'Maps', 'Mobile', 'Icons', 'Apple']

Putin Says “MENA conflicts are hotbeds of terrorism”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said conflicts in Libya, Yemen and Syria constitute hotbeds to spread terrorism into the Middle East and North Africa. Speaking at the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit yesterday, the Russian president said the most worrying phenomenon is if the militants leave the region because this “would increase the intensity of conflicts.” “There is still a serious case of instability prevailing in the Middle East and North Africa where armed confrontations in Libya, Yemen and the remaining gang pockets in the Syrian territories constitute sources for the spread of terrorism, drugs and weapons,” he added. Commenting on the ceasefire agreement signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan on Monday, Putin said: “It is true, to resolve such difficult, tightly wound conflicts, it is necessary to look for compromise, to reach this compromise, and this requires courage from the side of those making the decision.” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced the end of the conflict over the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region in a Facebook post , saying that the government signed a deal with Azerbaijan and Russia to cease the fighting. According to the peace deal, fighting and movement on all sides were to cease by midnight, and Armenian forces are to withdraw from territories internationally recognised as Azerbaijan’s by 20 November. The five kilometre-wide Lachin corridor will also be opened to facilitate the withdrawal and movement between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, with Russian peacekeeping forces guarding the corridor for five years while Azerbaijan is obliged to guarantee safe passage.

https://medium.com/@adilmurphy098/putin-says-mena-conflicts-are-hotbeds-of-terrorism-bb8a11a002ad

[]

2020-11-12 07:54:31.441000+00:00

['Russia', 'Middle East', 'Putin', 'Terrorism']

Remembrance IncARnaTe In Inherited Memories

at Castelli Art Space, Los Angeles Reviewed by Genie Davis Inherited Memories, at Castelli Art Space in Culver City, is a graceful, poignant, intensely moving exhibition from Shula Singer Arbel, Dwora Fried, and Malka Nedivi. Each of the three artists has created powerful, transcendent work that deals with the fact their mothers survived the Holocaust. They acknowledge their mothers’ traumas and the way in which their mothers’ memories have affected their own work, and their own lives. The result is rewarding, deep, and haunting, as the artists pay tribute to their mothers’ survival and serve as the next generation of witnesses to the horror and hate of the Holocaust. The work is important not just personally but contemporarily: our current political and social landscape has seen a devasting increase in hate craimes and anti-Semitism. To say we as a society “must never forget” the Holocaust is somewhat facile, for to not forget we must in fact remember, and to remember we need to evoke memories as passionate and profound as those which these three artists allow viewers to witness here. Shula Singer Arbel, When We Were Whole #1 (detail of installation view) Each artist shapes work in a different medium. Arbel’s paintings are lyrical and lovely, awash in a color palette that is achingly beautiful. What they represent are some deeply intimate places and events. In When We Were Whole #1, we see five people in a vivid inky blue with an inscription reading Chust 1933 beneath them. Chust was a town that was wholly devastated by the Holocaust. In Recovering an Interrupted Life, a rich green background includes swoops of darkness wavering like ghosts, and washes of yellow as if beams of sun were breaking through the dense green. This evocative background surrounds a line of five faceless people, a woman carrying a briefcase in the lead. They’ve made it through the terrifying darkness of the recent past, and now must stride onward, still a long journey passing out of the fecund growth of fear and hate. They are faceless: they have lives to reclaim, new selves to become. Similarly faceless except for one, seemingly blind white eye, a dark haired man with a sheet of paper is poised at a table surrounded by and colored in a deep midnight blue, the Administrator of Broken Lives. Dwora Fried (details of installation views) Dwora Fried works in an entirely different medium: miniature mixed media shaped into intricate sculptural stories and placed inside the frame of wooden boxes. She also offers one large scluptural installation in this exhibition. Her always bold, immediate, and absolutely riveting work is brilliant here; frightening, sad — yet using deceptively cheerful colors, such as bright pink plastic dolls held in a wire cage, depicting The Lost Boys; or evoking the horror of Nazi experimentation in Conjoined. In the latter piece, she features a conjunction of two eerily salmon and pink plastic reindeer in front of a photographic image of dark, empty snow-tracked city streets. Christmas ornaments surround this aberration, while a nude doll watches from the very real shadows. In Pigeons, a large naked man wearing a military hat holds a small baby in his lap, another horrific image culled from the nightmare of the Holocaust. This boxed visual story is presented on two levels. Beneath him, two female figures are hung upside down as if they were deer hunted down in the woods, their bodies hung to drain. Dwora Fried (nude mannequins on bunk bed) and Malka Nedivi (foreground) Fried’s large installation, positioned upon entry to the gallery, features nude mannequin children above a top bunk bed. The bed, devoid of a mattress, is instead flled with vintage buttons. Suspended above a lower bunk is a smaller baby mannequin, floating as if levitating face down. A stylish red hat, red shoe, and purse are suspended and discarded around her; as is a delicate lamp shade and a menorrah. These all hang above a sea of more buttons strewn thickly across the lower bunk. Fried has said the buttons to some extent reference her mother’s survival through the efforts of a compassionate man to employ her in a button factory, but they are also emblematic of discarded possessions, as are the shoe, purse and hat, stolen from Holocaust victims. Nedivi’s distinct, highly textured sculptural work utilizes plaster, fabric, and paper mache in a tactile form that resembles, but is not, encaustic. Her human figures are filled with a sense of aching beauty and loss, of bowed heads, of a mother whose hands caress and hold tight against her daughter. One large sculptural figure, male, seems to be longing to reach the figure of mother and child. The artist also includes two-dimensional works on cardboad, depcitions of female figures, one of whom exhibits the head slightly forward, bent, prayerful or resigned pose; the other with head held high but partially cut from view. The positioning of these works within the gallery add to the intensity of the exhibition. Across from these works, a film runs, projected on the wall, depicting Nedivi’s mother, the hoarding behavior she exhibited later in life, and her everyday routines. In front of the film projection, a series of small sculptural houses rests, with gaping windows and doors. Who lived here once, and who will never live here again? Nedivi seems to ask. What house has been built from the ruins, what home lost? Malka Nedivi The scars of the Holocaust run deep; they are confined by love but not limited by it, and are passed into the nature, the emotions, the very genetics of the daughters of these deeply scarred survivors. What makes this exhibition all the more powerful, is that if you lift the thematic backstory of the Holocaust from it, viewers would still feel, as if imprinted in their bones, the fear, the hope, the longing, the aching and terrible loss in each of these creations even without even knowing their genesis. Fried’s work may well be the most charged: hers is an invocation to not only remember but to act, to preserve, to bear witness, and in doing so attempt to make certain this horror does not happen again and evil — which is out there, seething — does not triumph. Arbel’s work uses the most traditional medium — the painted image — to convey dark but hopeful stories of survival and remembrance. Her works are fused with both passion and elegy. And with Nedivi’s works, we are confronted with a great and profound sadness, one that is still rooted in hope, blooming along with the wonderful resilliance of the human spirit, with the reclaiming and making beautiful of scars. Her often elongated figures resemble Modigliani in part, they are dancers in a mournful but wonderful ballet of life, caught in a single moment, reaching out. The impact of the Holocaust is not just felt by these artists, but is shared by all of us. Like seeds carried in the wind, its memory must be allowed to grow and flourish, not be hidden or snuffed out. We must, these artists seem to attest, embrace the terror, the darkness, the evil; acknowledge its prescence, and use it to overcome and prevent a darker-still future. We must feel, empathize, embrace, endure, and reshape. In just such a way, Fried, Arbel, and Nedivi have reshaped their mothers’ terrible pasts, and made their own legacies into something amazingly wonderful: into art. If art is the salvation of the soul — and it seems here, certainly, that it is, then these three artists have saved not only their own, but those of viewers who have seen and been transformed by their work and vision. Shula Singer Arbel, “Administrator of Broken Lives” Shula Singer Arbel, “Recovering an Interrupted Life” @riotmaterial riotmaterial.com

https://cvonhassett.medium.com/remembrance-incarnate-in-inherited-memories-5d11c91b9c11

['Riot Material']

2019-05-29 16:36:46.226000+00:00

['Art', 'Artist', 'Culture', 'Review', 'Holocaust']

#Prochoice #Antichoice #Toxicmasculinity

After becoming pregnant I knew I had two choices that would be best for me. I could either continue with the pregnancy or I could have an abortion. I knew it was not a decision that I was required to make right away considering I was only 5 weeks along. After my third positive pregnancy test, I knew it was time to tell my previous live in partner that I discovered I was pregnant. When I told him I really just needed the moral support, the love and to not feel so alone. For a moment in time I just needed it to live in the air. I was immediately bombarded with a million text messages, him showing up at our home screaming at me that the only route we were taking was for me to get an abortion, that I was not the woman he wanted to have children with and that I would be a horrible mother. I knew it was anger and everything falling out of his mouth was to just convince me to make the decision that he wanted. The things he could say to control a situation that was not in his control.

https://medium.com/@ekelly72/prochoice-antichoice-toxicmasculinity-8642e9a5b9da

['Elizabeth Blaine']

2020-12-06 01:45:39.955000+00:00

['Abortion', 'Toxic Masculinity', 'Pro Life', 'Pro Choice', 'Feminism']

How to invest in 2021: Do not miss this opportunity!

2.1 Investing in the Stock Market The stock market allows anyone, no matter how much money they have saved, what their background is, to easily participate in the wealth growth of entire countries, industries, technologies and companies. All you need is an account with an exchange trader and some money. Essentially, you have the option of investing in individual companies through the stock market or putting your money into Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) which contain a whole basket of different companies [3]. While individual stocks allow higher returns than ETFs, the risk of a sharp drop in value is also greater and deficits of individual companies are easily offset by profits of other companies in the case of ETFs. Most people should usually prefer an ETF, as with individual stocks you should have a lot of knowledge and experience in the stock market. The top ETFs show a better annual return than most of the best money managers and are comparatively cheap in their fees. However, Single stocks are useful to a certain extent and should be present in every portfolio as it can easily increase the returns significantly. Of course, the time should be spent accordingly in the research of suitable individual stocks. Usually the fees are less than 1% p.a., but they should be considered in any case.Furthermore, it makes sense to invest in so-called accumulating ETFs, which reinvest their returns and thus create a tax advantage. Returns like dividends have to be taxed, therefore accumulating ETFs are more attractive in terms of the compound interest effect. So which ETFs should be in every portfolio? MSCI WORLD ETF One of the best known and most popular ETFs is probably the MSCI World. Although the name sounds like a globally diversified portfolio, about 65% of the companies are from the US. The MSCI WORLD mostly contains these companies with the following exposure in %: ISHARES MSCI WORLD UCITS ETF Company / Exposure(%) Apple Inc. / 4.31% Microsoft / 3.02% Amazon / 2.62% Facebook / 1.32% Alphabet / 3.44% Tesla / 0.89% Johnson&Johnson / 0.80% JPMorgan Chase & Co / 0.74% Visa / 0.70% The performance over the past decade is very nice (132% from top to bottom, dividends not included) and invesors can expect an average return per year of 6–10%. As mentioned above, this ETF is particularly heavily invested in US companies and therefore further ETFs should be added in any case. Motnhly Chart of the “ISHARES MSCI WORLD” ETF (by https:/tradingview.com) [4] NASDAQ ETF Alternatively or in combination to the MSCI World the “iShares NASDAQ 100 UCITS ETF” would be interesting. It contains some of the big technology stocks from the MSCI World with a greater exposure and has performed very well in the last 10 years. iShares NASDAQ 100 UCITS ETF Company / Exposure(%) Apple Inc. / 13.09% Microsoft / 9.90% Amazon / 9.65% Tesla / 4.63% Facebook / 4.14% Alphabet / 7.47% NVIDIA / 2.54% Paypal / 2.00% Comcast Corporation/ 1.83% Performance of the NASDAQ 100 Index (by https:/tradingview.com) Disruptive Technologies — Ark Innovation ETF Not to be neglected are companies that are making enormous progress in the fields of biotechnology, renewable energies, digitalization, artificial intelligence and next generation transportation etc.. Some of these are only included in the NASDAQ Index to a lesser extent. However, there are ETFs that focus particularly on these innovative companies. One of them is the “Ark Innovation ETF”. This includes the following companies and has been able to achieve an extraordinarily high return in recent months and years [6]. Ark Innovation ETF Company / Exposure(%) TESLA INC / 9.85% ROKU INC / 6.97% INVITAE CORP / 6.24% CRISPR THERAPEUTICS AG / 6.11% SQUARE INC — A / 5.30% TELADOC HEALTH INC / 3.91% ZILLOW GROUP INC — C / 3.04% SPOTIFY TECHNOLOGY SA / 3.00% PROTO LABS INC / 2.98% EDITAS MEDICINE INC / 2.77% Performance of the Ark Innovation ETF (by https://ark-funds.com/arkk) Other ETFs As you can see, the above mentioned ETFs are particularly heavily invested in US companies, which is in no way a bad thing, but it would be intelligent to invest more globally and also include companies with smaller market capitalization. There are several ETFs that can be included to provide good portfolio diversification. I will list some interesting ones here below. Invest into Emerging Markets The first ETF I would like to list is the “iShares Core MSCI EM IMI UCITS ETF”. The index provides access to mid- and small-cap stocks from emerging markets around the world, yet Asian companies account for over 70% of the total portfolio. iShares Core MSCI EM IMI UCITS ETF Company / Exposure(%) Alibaba / 5.89% Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. / 5.34% Tencent Holdings Ltd. / 5.06% Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. / 3.69% Meituan Dianping Class B / 1.56% Naspers Limited Class N / 1.06% Reliance Industries Limited / 0.89% China Construction Bank Corporation / 0.84% Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Ltd. / 0.83% JD.com Inc. / 0.83% Performance of the MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (by https://extraetf.com) Invest into Small Caps iShares MSCI World Small Cap UCITS ETF Company / Exposure(%) Caesars Entertainment Inc / 0.19% Entegris Inc / 0.17% Plug Power Inc / 0.17% Charles River Laboratories International Inc / 0.17% Nuance Communications Inc / 0.17% Five9 Inc / 0.17% Bio-Techne Corp / 0.16% Penn National Gaming Inc / 0.16% Graco Inc / 0.16% L Brands Inc / 0.14% Price performance of the iShares MSCI World Small Cap UCITS ETF (by https://extraetf.com) Invest into China Especially in view of the fact that China had recovered significantly better from the Corona crisis than the rest of the world, this suggests that the economy will continue to develop positively in the future. Of course, the risk due to the strong intransparency of Chinese companies and the government is a small drawback. Therefore, the majority of assets should probably not be invested in Chinese companies. If you want to invest into China stocks, you can consider to directly invest into a MSCI China ETF. Xtrackers MSCI China UCITS ETF Company / Exposure(%) Alibaba / 17.07% Tencent Holdings Ltd. / 14.36% Meituan Dianping / 4.60% China Construction Bank Corporation / 2.60% JD.com Inc / 2.51% Ping An Insurance (Group) / 2.41% Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited / 1.33% Baidu Inc. / 1.31% Pinduoduo Inc. / 1.30% Performance of the Xtrackers MSCI China ETF (by extraetf.com) Invest into Europe After the ETFs shown so far are more invested in the USA, China, Asia and other emerging markets, it would be interesting to supplement the portfolio with strong companies from Europe. There is also an interesting MSCI ETF on Europe, which has also achieved a decent performance in recent years. iShares Core MSCI Europe UCITS ETF EUR (Dist) Company / Exposure(%) Nestle S.A. / 3.34% Roche Holding AG Dividend Right Cert. / 2.49% Novartis AG / 2.10% ASML Holding NV / 2.01% LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE / 1.73% Unilever PLC / 1.59% AstraZeneca PLC / 1.45% SAP SE / 1.32% Novo Nordisk A/S Class B / 1.23% Total SA / 1.19% Performance of the iShares Core MSCI Europe UCITS ETF EUR (Dist) (by extraetf.com) Invest into Clean Energy The demand for clean energy will increase significantly in the wake of globalization and population growth. Therefore, companies that deal with this problem are very lucrative in the future and should be in your portfolio in any case. An interesting ETF for this purpose is the iShares Global Clean Energy UCITS ETF which is composed of the following stocks: iShares Global Clean Energy UCITS ETF Company / Exposure(%) Plug Power Inc / 6.01% Meridian Energy Limited / 5.66% VERBUND AG / 4.96% Enphase Energy Inc. / 4.90% Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy S.A. / 4.77% Contact Energy Ltd / 4.75% Vestas Wind Systems A/S / 4.62% Orsted / 4.43% First Solar Inc / 4.43% Xinyi Solar Holdings Ltd. / 4.06% Performance of the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (by https://extraetf.com) 2.3 Anti-cyclical investment With a smaller part of the portfolio, individual stocks should be purchased in any case, provided they have been carefully selected and researched. One of the best tips I can give you is to develop an anti-cyclical mindset in the stock market. What does that mean exactly? It essentially means avoiding stocks that have already risen extraordinarily strongly and rapidly and instead buying stocks that are comparatively cheap at the moment. As an example, we can look at companies that have been particularly devalued due to the Corona crisis and that have not yet fully recovered. However, we must of course also assume that the company will recover in the future and be able to operate a normal business. For example, companies in the travel industry have been hit hard by the Corona crisis due to severely restricted tourism and have so far recovered only weakly. However, it can be assumed that the industry will recover soon and I could imagine that many people will catch up on their summer vacation in the coming years and that there could be a real travel boom next year. That said, I would look at airport operators like Fraport, Paris Airport, Zurich Airport or Shanghai International Airport. But of course it can also be other airports. In addition, aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus, Boeing, etc. or travel companies and hotels such as Carnival and Marriot are interesting. It is possible that those who survive the crisis will strongly differentiate themselves from their competitors and take over a large part of the business. As can be seen in the following chart, the deviation from Fraport’s current share value is still about 100% from the all-time high and thus offers significant growth potential should day-to-day business return to normal. Chart of Fraport on XETRA Exchange showing 100% deviation fromprevious all time high (by https:/tradingview.com) 2.4 Cryptocurrencies In addition to the stock market, investors should also keep an eye on the cryptocurrency market. Especially in times of the Corona crisis and the currency crises of emerging markets, the particularly important role of digital currencies, digital gold and contactless payment methods has become clear. Bitcoin Most of you have probably heard of Bitcoin during its last rally in 2017, where the media hype around Bitcoin was particularly strong [7]. This year, Bitcoin has also performed particularly well and has seen growth of over 160% in 2020. The strong growth, especially at the beginning of the year, can certainly be attributed to the halving event in May, where the block reward is halved, thus drastically decreasing its supply. However, since the middle of the year, more and more companies such as Microstrategy, Square, Paypal and most recently MassMutual Insurance have published that they are actively holding Bitcoin as a protection against inflation or want to offer investing and storage of cryptocurrencies for the public. The general concept behind Bitcoin is more and more accepted as a store of value or digital gold. Price chart of Bitcoin in USD (by https://tradingview.com) According to the so-called stock-to-flow model, which was first used by PlanB for the price development and prediction of Bitcoin, more than 100,000 USD [8, 9] in value can be reached in near future as can be seen in the following figure. Even more so, after next halving in 2024, the model predicts 1,000,000 USD for one Bitcoin. Bitcoin Stock-to-Flow Model by PlanB [10] Update: As I write this article, Bitcoin has just hit a new all-time high, unbelievable. It’s a shame that so many people are missing the boat again, preferring to spend time on conspiracy theories during the Corona crisis rather than investing in the future. Congratulations to you, you are smarter than most people now. Ethereum Besides Bitcoin, Ethereum is the second largest digital currency and should definitely be part of your crypto portfolio. Ethereum provides the platform, software and toolkit for blockchain applications (dapps) such as NFTs (non-fungible tokens), smart contract applications, blockchain games and the DeFi tools, which is discussed in the next paragraph. This cryptocurrency still offers enormous growth potential and probably has the largest amount of talented developers and brightest minds in the entire crypto space. This year, Ethereum has achieved a performance of about 400%, but even stronger growth is possible next year. Price chart of Ethereum in USD (by https://tradingview.com) DeFi — Decentralized Finance Decentralized Finance, or DeFi for short, stands for the combination of traditional financial concepts and products, as they are known from banking, with blockchain technology. DeFi is about transferring well-known principles of the classical investment world into the world of cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technology. The problem with traditional financial services are increasingly becoming obvious to everyone: compounded costs due to middle(wo)men, slow transactions, delays for cross-border transactions, and inaccessibility to many sectors of the population. Financial services today are providing an important service, but at a very high cost. To that end, Decentralized Finance and blockchain technology offer trustless systems and smart contracts that allow to dramatically reduce transaction costs and transaction time while beeing fully transparent and fully accessible to everyone. DeFi offers a solution to the problems of traditional Finance and Fintech (image by DefiChain [11]) Cryptocurrency itself cannot be invested in the same way fiat money can be and require different instruments. DeFi providers use instruments such as decentralized lending, asset tokenization, decentralized exchanges, direct peer-to-peer currency exchange, liquidity mining and more to allow investments of cryptocurrencies and generation of passive cashflows. The promising potential of this sector has led to a small boom in DeFi applications since 2019, which has intensified in 2020. And indeed, the yield possibilities and the simple and fast usability of DeFi Apps are clear advantages that justify an investment in this sector. Cakepool and Defichain One of my favorite investments in this sector is the DefiChain coin [12], which is based on a fork of the Bitcoin blockchain but designed to financial application. The goal of Defichain is to give people transparent access to the world of decentralized financial services with high transaction throuput, reduced risk of errors, and great support. Cakepool [13] is a plattform, going hand-in-hand with DefiChain, that allows users to earn passive income with their cryptocurrencies like DefiChain, Bitcoin, Ethereum and many more. There are various possibilites like staking or liquidity mining which offer yields of approximately 6–11% per year. You can also recruit friends via a link and get a small advertising bonus. If you are interested in the Defi area and the Cakepool, I would be happy if you register via my link, which will give me a small bonus, there will be no extra fees for you. 2.5 Human Capital While investing in the stock or crypto market etc. are very important for one’s financial future, investing in oneself should always come first and take a special general stand in the whole construct. What I mean by this is commonly known as human capital and generally refers to improving and expanding your own skills and social network. You should always expand your own skills and regularly learn new things. Instead of mindlessly watching movies on Netflix, a good book or online course might be a good idea. A few good online services that offers a variety of online lectures and certificates are: Coursera, Udemy or edX-Learning. Likewise, you could use your time more wisely and specifically educate yourself professionally, generating more cash flow that can then in turn be better invested with your newfound knowledge. You also have the opportunity to meet new people and expand your social network during continuing education or seminars, the potential new opportunities are virtually endless. You can see the strong synergies that come from looking for opportunities and trying to combine them. In the same way, you should invest time in your health, because without a healthy body you cannot develop a healthy and positive mind, and vice versa.And last but not least, investing your time in your family, your wife or husband and also your friends is essential and extremely important. I think what I mean by human capital in general should be clear by now, and a whole series of books could be written on this topic. However, that is not the aim of this article, but should only be listed as a completion and spark your curiosity. So I hope that you will use your free time in the next year and perhaps also take some money in hand to invest in your human capital. 2.6 Diversification I would like to reiterate the importance of broad diversification and give a few tips. First of all, it should be emphasized once again that ETFs are to be preferred over individual stocks, as there is already a broad diversification in different companies. This avoids large fluctuations in the portfolio, while good gains of 7% p.a. or more are still possible as a general rule. The corona crisis has again shown that in general the stock market recovers from strong economic crises and especially broadly diversified ETFs have quickly regained a positive performance. Nevertheless, it should be said that some ETFs in particular, such as the MSCI World, are very heavily invested in companies in the U.S. and therefore other ETFs from the emerging market or Europe should also be used for compensation. In addition, some ETFs, like the MSCI World or the NASDAQ 100, are particularly heavily invested in large companies, so ETFs with a focus on small caps are also interesting as a complement. Last but not least, it should be mentioned that other asset classes, especially cryptocurrencies, definitely belong in the diversified portfolio. The risk/reward potential of Bitcoin and co. is significantly higher than for other asset classes. Risk/Reward of Bitcoin compared to other assets, by PlanB. Source: https://twitter.com/100trillionUSD/status/1338149844188344320/photo/1 The exact distribution of the portfolio is up to you, but I would recommend to invest the majority in ETFs and to diversify, especially if you have little experience in investing. Cryptocurrencies are cyclical assets and especially strong during the “halving” period, which occurs every 4 years. During this time, of course, you can diversify more in cryptocurrencies, as long as you have enough information and are aware of the risks and dangers. 3. Conclusions The financial crisis has widened more than ever the gap between poor people — who generally do not invest into the stock and cryptocurrency market and do not care much about finances — and the rich people who invest heavily into various market and have great financial knowledge. Everyone should therefore think about how they will start investing next year, should they not already be invested. In today’s world, various financial products such as ETFs or digital currencies and DeFi apps enable a broad diversification of one’s assets and above-average high return opportunities. Especially the technology sector will continue to grow strongly in the coming years and decades and enables enormously high returns for investors. Anti-cyclical investments, as shown by the example of the travel industry, also have a particularly high asymmetric risk-reward potential and should in any case have their place in a diversified portfolio. 4. References [1] https://wallstreetonparade.com/2020/10/the-new-york-fed-pumping-out-more-than-9-trillion-in-bailouts-since-september-gets-market-advice-from-giant-hedge-funds/ [2] https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/09/24/economic-fallout-from-covid-19-continues-to-hit-lower-income-americans-the-hardest/ [3] https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/investment-products/etf/what-are-etfs [4] https://www.ishares.com/de/privatanleger/de/produkte/251882/ishares-msci-world-ucits-etf-acc-fund [5]https://www.tradingview.com/ [6] https://ark-funds.com/arkk [7] https://money.cnn.com/2017/12/07/technology/bitcoin-explainer/index.html [8] https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD/modeling-bitcoins-value-with-scarcity-91fa0fc03e25 [9] https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD/bitcoin-stock-to-flow-cross-asset-model-50d260feed12 [10] https://twitter.com/100trillionUSD/status/1338809429345570818 [11] https://defichain.com/white-paper/#roadmap-and-milestones [12] https://defichain.com/ [13] https://pool.cakedefi.com

https://medium.com/@technologyinvestors/how-to-invest-in-2021-do-not-miss-this-opportunity-60e9f9476dc5

[]

2020-12-17 17:50:03.212000+00:00

['Etf', 'Investing', 'Wealth', 'Bitcion', 'Ethereum']

The Metaverse as Mediator between Technology, Trends, and the Digital Transformation of Society and Business

The Metaverse as Mediator between Technology, Trends, and the Digital Transformation of Society and Business Here is an intro abstract and link to a very interesting article, wrote in a collaborative effort between myself and two other Researchers: Sven-Volker Rehm and Lakshmi Goel, for the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research. In this reflective article we discuss the potential of recent developments in virtual worlds for offering novel value propositions for the digital transformation of society and business. In particular, we consider the role of a Metaverse, understood as a globally accessible 3D virtual space and computing infrastructure — and today still a conceptual vision — as a mediator between technology trends and societal and business applications. We outline how current technology trends can be linked with high-value added application scenarios through the Metaverse as a mediating design space. Our insights project both a push effect, i.e. novel technologies fostering radical shifts in society and business, as well as a pull effect, i.e. radical ideas stimulating technology developments. Leveraging both effects for creating high-value added applications however, requires an integrated, mediating design space, which can potentially be obtained through advances of virtual worlds towards a Metaverse. Read the full article here: https://journals.tdl.org/jvwr/index.php/jvwr/article/view/7149?utm_source=Journal+of+Virtual+Worlds+Research+Announcements&utm_campaign=9dfd81deef-Futures_is_Published&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_328ce3bba8-9dfd81deef-335680333

https://medium.com/@mattiacrespi/the-metaverse-as-mediator-between-technology-trends-and-the-digital-transformation-of-society-and-1e39fb21f764

['Mattia Crespi']

2015-11-12 08:58:39.009000+00:00

['Virtual Reality', 'Metaverse', 'Virtual Worlds']

When The US Dropped A Nuke On Itself

When The US Dropped A Nuke On Itself In 1958 the residents of a small town in South Carolina experienced a sight only experienced by residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a falling nuclear warhead. The subject of today's essay; Mark 6 Nuclear Bomb In 1958 the world was in the middle of the Cold War. In order to defend themselves nations around the world were arming themselves with more numerous, and more advanced nuclear arsenals capable of incinerating their enemies. America was very suspicious of the USSR following WW2 and with the war raging in Korea it was seen as inevitable that communism would sweep in and create a Domino effect onto other Asian nations. In order to secure their allies and ensure capitalism prevailed the US started sending nuclear weapons to other trusted nations such as the United Kingdom in order to deter the Soviets from invasion. The Manhattan project In 1938 three nuclear physicists working in Berlin discovered nuclear fission. This essentially means an atom of radioactive material splits into two smaller atoms, thereby releasing an explosive burst of energy. This powerful burst of explosive energy and radiation is what scientists would later attempt to replicate on a larger scale for military use. The following year when the war started many scientists fled from Nazi Germany fearing prosecution. Amongst these were Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner who would make it their mission to inform the US about the danger of nuclear weapons and the possibility of Germany making one first. They created what is now known as the Einstein- Szilard letter which was signed by Albert Einstein and eventually passed onto Franklin D. Roosevelt informing him about the danger of Atomic Weapons. In 1942 FDR approved the Manhattan Project, a codename for the group of highly skilled individuals with the goal of creating the first Atomic Bomb. On July 16th 1945, Trinity Test made history as the first-ever Atomic detonation. Emboldened by this only 10 days later the US called for Japans surrender, threatening if they did not comply the nation would suffer never seen before destruction. Trinity Test Unfortunately for Japan, they refused and so America stuck to their guns and deployed bombers carrying Atomic bombs. On August 6th the Uranium based “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima killing hundreds of thousands. Only three days later the plutonium-based “Fat Man” fell on Nagasaki. In the following months, almost 150,000 people died in Hiroshima with half of that from the initial blast. Approximately 80,000 in Nagasaki also perished, half of those can be directly attributed to the blast alone. Operation Snow Flurry During the Cold War, the United States Air Force had to train its pilots' using B-47 Stratojet bombers in order to ensure their accuracy in a combat scenario. Operation Snow Flurry was a collaboration with England to fly those bombers over to England and perform mock bomb drops and analyse the data to improve accuracy. B47 Stratojet The bombers were armed with actual nuclear warheads during these missions however they did lack the fissile nuclear cores which would be stored separately on the aircraft. These cores were only inserted into the bombs if the US wished to perform a nuclear strike on another nation. Dropping an Atomic Bomb on South Carolina On March 11th 1958 at 4:34 pm a B-47E-LM Stratojet took off from Hunter Air Force base in Georgia en route to the United Kingdom. The bomber was loaded with mock bombs as well as actual nuclear warheads in case the need emerged during their mission which would conclude in a US airforce base in South Africa. A short while into the journey the bombardier was summoned to the cockpit due to a fault light claiming the bomb harness locking pin was not engaged. This was a great concern as the last thing the crew would want to happen is a bomb get loose inside the bomb bay. The bombardier was then sent down to the bomb bay in order to fix the issue. In probably the worse case of poor hand placement in the world, the bombardier tried to pull himself up beside the bomb and try to find the safety pin. What he instead grabbed and pulled on with his whole body weight trying to haul himself up was the emergency release pin. This action promptly released the 3.5-ton nuclear bomb onto the bomb bay doors, these quickly give way and let the bomb fall onto Mars Bluff in South Carolina. Effect of the Bomb The bomb dropped and the conventional explosives used to detonate the core went off, incinerating the asbestos shed which the weapon landed on. The hole which the impact created was 11m deep and 21m wide, just from the conventional explosives alone. The explosion was so powerful people over 8 miles away in Florence Country reported hearing the explosion. Aftermath The blast was devastating for the area as houses within five miles had their windows shattered and residents injured. The weapon had landed on the property of Walter Greg whos whole life was destroyed by this simple mistake as his house was caved in, cars destroyed and livestock killed by the shockwave. Fortunately for the family, they were all fine considering they had just been victim to the US Airforce dropping an Atomic Bomb on their garden. The Gregg family house Soon afterwards the Air Force sent personnel to clean up the mess they had created and to ensure no radiation was present at the scene. The Greggs did end up suing and winning $54,000 in compensation equal to around $480,000 today in order to start their lives over. Apparently, after the event, Walter even became friends with the crew of the bomber and would exchange letters with them years after the accident.

https://medium.com/history-of-yesterday/when-the-us-dropped-a-nuke-on-itself-d526fc854ad9

['Oskar Bogdanowicz']

2020-05-11 18:46:01.265000+00:00

['Marsbluff', 'Nuclear', 'Bombing', 'History', 'Cold War']

Quick and Easy API with Python’s Flask

Flask Flask is a Python web framework with lots of capabilities. We’ll only explore a few of those in this article—only the most essential to get us quickly hosting our JSON. This should only take 10 minutes and less than 15 lines of code. So, without further ado, let’s install the libraries we’ll need. pip install flask pip install flask_restful pip install pandas Flask_restful will make our lives even with ready to go methods for building restful APIs, and Pandas will be mostly used for testing and reading the JSON files. We’ll also make use of requests and json but those should come by default with Python. Now we need a JSON file to use in this example. I’ll use https://calendarific.com/ to get the holidays for Canada in 2020. I’ll save that data and serve it in our Flask API. Requests and JSON If you want to use Calendarific, you’ll need to register and replace where it says ‘YOUR_KEY’ with the key they assigned you. You’re welcome to try the next steps with other APIs; there’s this great list of public APIs at GitHub you could try, or skip this part and go directly to the Flask API. import requests import json response = requests.get("https://calendarific.com/api/v2/holidays?&api_key=YOUR_KEY&country=CA&year=2020") with open('myfile.json', 'w') as json_file: json.dump(response.json(), json_file) Nice! That should get you a JSON file in your working directory. Now let’s try to open and see what’s in this file with Pandas. Note the structure of Calendarific response: Meta → Code Response → Holidays →Name, Description, Country, Date… I don’t want the full JSON; I want the Holidays part of it. So, I’ll select [‘response’][‘holidays’] . response = requests.get("https://calendarific.com/api/v2/holidays?&api_key=YOUR_KEY&country=CA&year=2020") with open('myfile.json', 'w') as json_file: json.dump(response.json()['response']['holidays'], json_file) Pandas can help us check the JSON file in a friendlier format. # pip install pandas import pandas as pd df = pd.read_json('myfile.json') print(df) That’s it; we have our JSON file in our working directory. Now we can build our API to serve it!

https://python.plainenglish.io/quick-and-easy-api-with-pythons-flask-dbf9eef79acc

['Thiago Carvalho']

2020-11-16 20:38:14.232000+00:00

['Programming', 'Json', 'API', 'Pyhton', 'Flask']

Create Interactive Map Applications in R and R Shiny for Exploring Geospatial Data

Create Interactive Map Applications in R and R Shiny for Exploring Geospatial Data Animation by Author The important stories that numbers can tell often involve locations. Geospatial data (or spatial data, also known as Geo Data) refers to any data that is indicated by or related to a geographic location (REF). Geospatial data combines the location information such as address, ZIP code, or zone with the corresponding attribute information associated with the location. For most people, it is really hard to explore geospatial data without using a map. With this application, we demonstrate how to create a free and open source (FOSS) solution using R and R Shiny, that allows users to interact with the geospatial data, and quickly find what they want to see using an interactive map. Web Application Design We choose to use the Freight Analysis Framework (FAF) data for this demonstration. FAF is a public data source that provides estimates and forecasts of freight movements among states and major metropolitan areas by all modes of transportation. The geographic information associated with the FAF data is defined as zones. There are in total 129 FAF zones in the continental U.S. region and every zone can be either an origin zone or a destination zone. In other words, there are 129×129 possible combinations of the origin-destination zone pairs. Users can explore the freight movement data between any origin and destination zone pair of their choices. Instead of selecting a zone from a long list of 129 zones, this tool offers an intuitive way to select a zone directly from the map where users simultaneously get the zone information of location, size and boundary. Freight Analysis Framework Zones (Image by Author) Users can choose what data they want to see by selecting origin and destination zone directly from the map by clicking on the zone. They can zoom in and out or pan the map to find the zone of interest. If an origin is clicked, the centroid of the origin zone will be displayed in green. If a destination zone is clicked, the centroid of the destination zone will be displayed in red. We will explain later in this article how to determine the zone type (i.e., origin vs. destination) when a zone is selected. Once both the origin and destination zones are selected, the R script at the backend of the application will query the FAF data and display the results as data tables and charts for the selected origin-destination zone pair. We will explain step by step the implementation of this web application as follows: A brief introduction of R and R Shiny Layout the user interface (UI) Set up the server to generate outputs Publish Shiny app for free Note: the code and data of this article can be found at this GitHub repo. 1. A brief introduction of R and R Shiny R is a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. One of R’s strength is the ease with which well-designed publication-quality plots can be produced. (REF) Shiny is a web application framework for R. It combines the computational power of R with the interactivity of the modern web. Shiny provides superb capability for developers to create web applications that can be deployed using your own server or R Shiny’s hosting services (REF). Structure of a Shiny App A Shiny app is a directory containing two R scripts, i.e., ui.R and server.R and other input files to the app. ui.R controls the layout and appearance of the app and creates the user interface in a Shiny application. It provides interactivity to the application by taking user input and dynamically displaying the generated output on the screen. server.R contains the instructions for building the app logic, so it acts like the brain of the app. It converts the inputs given by user into desired outputs, such as tables and charts, to be displayed on the screen. Alternatively, Shiny app can consist of a single file called app.R which contains both the UI and server components. The basic structure of a Shiny app with one file (i.e., app.R ) looks like this: library(shiny) ui <- fluidPage( # front end interface ) server <- function(input, output, session) { # back end logic } shinyApp(ui = ui, server = server) It is generally considered a good practice to keep two separate R files, i.e., ui.R and server.R , especially for larger applications where having separate ui.R and server.R files makes the code easier to manage. 2. Layout the user interface (UI) First we load all the required libraries to the app. The application interface is usually created using fluidPage which ensures that the page is laid out dynamically based on the resolution of each device (REF), so that the application interface runs smoothly on different devices with different screen resolutions. We use fluidRow and column to build our custom layout up from a grid system. Rows are created by the fluidRow() function and include columns defined by the column() function (REF). We also use Shiny’s HTML tag functions to add content to the user interface, such as br, div, span, HTML , etc. These functions parallel common HTML5 tags (REF). The title of the application “Freight Analysis Framework FAF4 vs. FAF5, Year 2017” added using a span() function is displayed at the top of the interface, followed by a fluidRow() with a map called “Zone” on the left, and a group of static (e.g., span("select") ) and dynamic text outputs (e.g., htmlOutput("od_info") ) on the right. Shiny apps contain input and output objects. Inputs permit users interact with the app by modifying their values (We will discuss input objects later). Outputs are objects that are shown in the app (REF). The output object is always used in concert with a render function, for instance: ui <- fluidPage( leafletOutput("Zone") ) server <- function(input, output, session) { output$Zone <- renderLeaflet({ # generate the map }) } In ui we use leafletOutput() , and in server() we use renderLeaflet() . Inside renderLeaflet() we write the instructions to return a leaflet map. Types of output objects shown in this app include: leaflet is used to create an interactive map, e.g., leafletOutput("Zone") html is used to display a reactive output variable as HTML, e.g., htmlOutput("od_info") DT is used to display data in an interactive table, e.g., DT:dataTableOutput("od_vol") plotly is used to create interactive graphs with data, e.g., plotlyOutput("od_ton_chart”) 3. Set up the server to generate outputs Import data files The data files are in the same location as the R files. We use read.csv() function to read the CSV files ( centroid.csv and od_mode_vol_45.csv ), and use readOGR() function of the rgdal package to read the shapefile of FAF zone ( faf4_zone2.shp ). Each feature in the zone shapefile is a multi-polygon. The following is a sample of the attribute data from the shapefile. Each row in the table defines a multi-polygon feature (i.e., zone) with zone ID, zone name and the geometry. Data Sample from faf4_zone2 (Image by Author) Each row in centroid.csv defines a FAF zone centroid (i.e, the center location of the zone) with zone ID, zone name, longitude and latitude. Note that the zone ID and zone name in centroid.csv correspond to those in the shapefile. Therefore we can use zone ID as the key to refer from zone polygon to zone centroid and vice versa. Data Sample from centroid.csv (Image by Author) od_mode_vol_45.csv contains the freight data in terms of weight and value by transportation mode (e.g., truck, rail, water, air, etc), for each origin-destination zone pair (defined using zone IDs). The data in this file was engineered from the original FAF version 5 (FAF5) data and FAF version 4 (FAF4) data. FAF5 data provides freight movement estimates of year 2017; while FAF4 data provides freight movement forecasts for year 2017. This application compares the 2017 data of FAF5 vs. FAF4, for each origin-destination pair. The origin ID and destination ID in file od_mode_vol_45.csv correspond to the zone ID field in centroid.csv and faf4_zone2.shp . Data Sample from od_mode_vol_45.csv (Image by Author) Use global variables to track zone selection Let’s address the elephant in the room first. The app needs to tell whether the zone clicked (or selected) is supposed to be an origin zone or a destination zone. We assume that when a user starts using the app, the first zone clicked would be the origin zone, and the second zone clicked would be the destination zone. However, what if the user wants to continue using the app by selecting another pair of origin and destination zones? What if the user continuously clicks on the map and keeps changing the selection? To solve this problem, we need to keep track of the total number of times a user clicks on the map. The following global variables are used to keep track of users’ zone selection actions. As we need to access and change the value of these variables in different functions, it is necessary that we define these variables as global variables. click_count <- 0 type <- 0 origin <- "" dest <- "" origin_id <- 0 dest_id <- 0 Variable click_count is used for tracking the accumulative total number of clicks on the map since the session starts. Note that its initial value is set to 0 . is used for tracking the accumulative total number of clicks on the map since the session starts. . Variable type is used for translating the click_count into zone type, i.e., origin zone or destination zone. It’s value is calculated by modulus click_count by 2: # with click_count initiated with value 0 type <<- click_count%%2 if (type ==0 ){ # treat as origin zone } if (type == 1){ # treat as destination zone } # add one to the accumulative map click counts click_count <<- click_count+1 The above code will be embedded in a function, and to change the value of a global variable inside a function, we need to use the global assignment operator <<- . When use the assignment operator <<- , the variable belongs to the global scope. Variable origin and dest are used for storing the descriptive zone name of the selected origin and destination zones. and are used for storing the descriptive zone name of the selected origin and destination zones. Variable origin_id and dest_id are used for storing the zone IDs of the selected origin and destination zones. Reactive programming in Shiny Shiny uses a reactive programming model to simplify the development of R-powered web applications. Shiny takes input from the user interface and listen for changes with observe or reactive. The reactive source typically is user input through a browser interface. We create reactivity by including the value of the input input$variable_selected in the reactive expressions (such as render*() and reactive() function) in server() that build the outputs. When input changes, all the outputs that depend on the input will be automatically updated (or rebuilt) using the updated input value. Leaflet maps and objects send input values (or events) to Shiny as the user interacts with them. Object event names generally use this pattern: input$MAPID_OBJCATEGORY_EVENTNAME For leafletOutput("Zone") , clicking on one of the polygon shape (i.e., FAF zone) would update the Shiny input at input$Zone_shape_click . The clicking event is set to either NULL if the event has never happened, or a list() that includes: the latitude and longitude of the object is available; otherwise, the mouse cursor; and the layerId, if any. In our case, a layerId field based on zone ID is included in the polygons object; so the value of the zone ID will be returned in event$Id of the input$Zone_shape_click event. addPolygons(data=zone.rg, col="black", weight = 1, layerId = ~id, label = zone_labels, highlight = highlightOptions(color = "blue",weight = 2, bringToFront = F, opacity = 0.7)) We want the server side of the application to respond to clicking on the map, so we need to create reactive expressions to incorporate the user choice using reactive() functions. Using reactive() functions also help to reduce duplications in the code. selected_zone() returns the centroid of the zone clicked (or selected). selected_zone <- reactive({ p <- input$Zone_shape_click subset(centroid, id==p$id ) }) selected_od() returns the information of the selected origin-destination zone pair (including zone names and zone IDs). Note that it waits until both the origin and the destination zone is selected to return the value. If a new origin zone is selected, the destination zone selected in the previous round will be reset. selected_od <- reactive({ p <- input$Zone_shape_click # return selected origin-destination zone pair }) Using Leaflet with Shiny Leaflet is one of the most popular open-source JavaScript libraries for interactive maps. The Leaflet package includes powerful and convenient features for integrating with Shiny applications (REF). A Leaflet map can be created with these basic steps: Create a map widget by calling leaflet() Add layers (i.e., features) to the map by using layer functions (e.g., addTiles, addMarkers, addPolygons) to modify the map widget. Repeat step 2 as desired. Print the map widget to display it. output$Zone <- renderLeaflet({ # create zone labels # create map widget called m # add base map and the FAF zone polygon layer }) Observers use eager evaluation strategy, i.e., as soon as their dependencies change, they schedule themselves to re-execute. Now we update the map corresponding to input$Zone_shape_click . The observer will automatically re-execute when input$Zone_shape_click change. observe({ p <- input$Zone_shape_click # get input value if (is.null(p)) return() m2<-leafletProxy("Zone", session = session) # get map widget # create zone labels selected <- selected_zone() # get selected zone centroid # create selected zone label type <<- click_count%%2 if (type ==0 ){ # clear the centroids displayed # add a marker, the centroid of the new origin zone } if (type == 1){ # add a marker, the centroid of the new destination zone } click_count <<- click_count+1 # keep track of map clicks }) First get the selected zone, and determine if the selected zone is an origin zone or a destination zone using the logic explained earlier. Update the map by displaying the centroid of the selected zone, and use different colors for origin and destination. To modify a map that’s already running in the page, we use the leafletProxy() function in place of the leaflet() call. Normally we use leaflet to create the static aspects of the map, and leafletProxy to manage the dynamic elements, so that the map can be updated at the point of a click without redrawing the entire map. Details on how to use this function are given in the RStudio website. Adding Outputs Now we show the data in the Shiny app by including several outputs for interactive visualization. The output$od_info object is a reactive endpoint, and it uses the reactive source input$Zone_shape_click . Whenever input$Zone_shape_click changes, output$od_info is notified that it needs to re-execute. This output dynamically displays the names of the selected origin zone and destination zone. Output from od_info (Image by Author) We use the R package DT to display the data objects (matrices or data frames) as tables on HTML pages. In output$od_vol , we first get the information on the selected origin and destination zone through selected_od() and then filter the FAF data stored in od_mode_vol to get the results for the selected origin destination zone pair. FAF data comparison for selected origin destination zone pair (Image by Author) In addition to showing the query results as a DataTable, we also display the results using bar charts and donut charts. Image by Author We use the renderPlotly() function to render a reactive expression that generates plotly graphs responding to the input value input$Zone_shape_click through selected_od() . To make a donut chart, the hole= argument of add_pie() function is used to set the fraction of the radius to cut out of the pie. The value can be between 0.01 and 0.99 . 4. Publish Shiny app for free Shinyapps.io is a software as a service (SaaS) product for hosting Shiny apps in the cloud. RStudio takes care of all of the details of hosting the app and maintaining the server, so we can focus on writing apps. A Shiny app can be deployed on shinyapps.io in just a few minutes. Just follow this detailed step by step instructions. Shinyapps.io offers both free and paid plans. With the free plan, you get up to 5 Shiny apps deployed simultaneously, and up to 25 active hours per month shared by all the applications hosted under the account.

https://towardsdatascience.com/create-interactive-map-applications-in-r-and-r-shiny-for-exploring-geospatial-data-96b0f9692f0f

['Huajing Shi']

2021-03-28 23:33:24.785000+00:00

['Freight', 'R', 'R Shiny', 'Data Visualization', 'Web App Development']

Fate of Saudi religious scholars on death row

Fate of Saudi religious scholars on death row “Comment: The arrest of three Saudi clerics in September 2017 triggered a chorus of condemnation from abroad, write Kristian Coates Ulrichsen and Giorgio Cafiero.” Last month, the London-based Middle East Eye reported that three Saudi religious scholars — Sheikh Salman al-Awdah, Awad al-Qarni, and Ali al-Omari — were going to receive the death penalty after the end of Ramadan. The report cited two sources in the Saudi government and one of the detained Islamic scholar’s relatives. Currently, Awdah, Qarni, and Omari are charged with terrorism and awaiting trial at the kingdom’s Criminal Special Court in Riyadh. The arrest of these three “moderate” clerics in September 2017 triggered a chorus of condemnation from abroad, including from the United Nations and numerous human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Their detention occurred two months before the Ritz Carlton saga in which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) ordered the arrest of scores of wealthy and prominent Saudi royals, merchants, and billionaire moguls during the infamous “anti-corruption drive.” Adwah, Qarni, and Omari have been tied to the Muslim Brotherhood-inspired Sahwa movement. Since the crown prince’s ascendancy, his fears of revolutionary activism in the region spreading into Saudi Arabia have prompted the authorities in Riyadh to wage a campaign of repression against Sahwa-affiliated Islamists in the kingdom. From MbS’ perspective, the potential for the movement to compete with him for power while operating outside of his control represents an unacceptable threat not only to the Saudi monarchy’s Islamic legitimacy but also to its survival. Awdah was punished for tweeting that he hoped for a resolution to the Qatar crisis shortly after MbS had a telephone conversation with the emir of Qatar on September 8, 2017. This cleric spent half of the 1990s behind bars because he advocated political change in the kingdom. Awdah has delivered hundreds of lectures and produced hundreds of articles that mainly address Islamic law. He is known for promoting “moderate” and “democratic” values. Awdah is the assistant secretary-general of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), a Qatar-based institution understood to be affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, which the Saudi government recognises as a terrorist entity. The kingdom’s public prosecutor has leveled 37 charges against him. Salman al-Awdah was arrested after tweeting about the Gulf crisis [Twitter] Qarni also landed in trouble after pushing for a rapprochement between Riyadh and Doha. He is a preacher, academic, and author who had 2.2 million Twitter followers at the time of his arrest. Omari, a popular broadcaster who has enjoyed much popularity with younger Saudis, has earned a reputation for being relatively progressive on gender issues and for condemning violent extremism. Omari has also been a member of the IUMS. Following his arrest, Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor charged Omari with “forming a youth organization to carry out the objectives of a terrorist group inside the kingdom” along with at least 29 other crimes, recommending capital punishment. These executions would further demonstrate that MbS is ignoring outside pressure regarding the kingdom’s record on human rights. The execution of 37 (mostly Shia) Saudi citizens in April was arguably about testing the waters to see how the international community, especially the United States, would respond. Considering the lack of any significant pressure on Saudi leadership from the White House throughout the Jamal Khashoggi affair, MbS likely feels emboldened to take actions without fearing any consequence in terms of a backlash from the Trump administration. If Awdah, Qarni, and/or Omari receive the death penalty, their executions could only reinforce this notion that America’s current leadership is indifferent to Riyadh’s human rights record or the Saudi government’s targeting of dissidents abroad, such as Iyad el-Baghdadi in Norway. “These executions would further demonstrate that MbS is ignoring outside pressure regarding the kingdom’s record on human rights” There are important geopolitical dimensions to these three scholars’ files. Odah, Qarni, and Omari are not dissidents or revolutionaries. None of them called for the royal family to step down from power. For most of their careers, they avoided criticizing Al Saud royals. Yet when MbS began changing Saudi conduct on the international stage in major ways, the crown prince did not receive their support. Given that all three expressed sympathy for Qatar, or at least support for a Saudi-Qatari rapprochement, their executions would be strong evidence of Riyadh’s refusal to soften its tone when it comes to Doha. Jamal Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul [Anadolu] The fate of these three Islamic scholars will likely have major ramifications for Saudi-Turkey relations too. On May 27, Yeni Safak published an open letter to King Salman written by Yasin Aktay, an advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Aktay warned the Saudi monarch against executing Odah, Qarni, and Omari. In his words: “That which will bring disaster to you is executing Islamic scholars, which was recently announced. Scholars are the inheritors of prophets, and each scholar is a world on their own. The death of a scholar is like the death of the world. The killing of a scholar is like the killing of the world.” Erdogan’s advisor also argued that the fate of these three Saudi scholars is not merely a domestic issue for Saudi Arabia. “The matter of Islamic scholars is not an internal affair. The scholars in question are assets who are acknowledged and revered by the whole Muslim community. They are not your subjects; they are our common treasures, whose advice we heed, and who are beacons of light with their knowledge and stance. The sin of detaining them even an hour in the dungeon, let alone executing them, is enough to destroy an entire life.” Aktay called on King Salman to use his country’s riches to alleviate problems across the Islamic world and to support Turkey’s quest to pursue justice in the case of Jamal Khashoggi, assassinated by Saudi agents in Istanbul last year. The advisor’s letter displayed respect to King Salman but did not addressing MbS. Erdogan’s circle is attempting to make distinctions between King Salman and MbS, for instance by emphasizing early in the Khashoggi case that King Salman was not implicated or when Erdogan exchanged Eid greetings with King Salman in June. By asking King Salman to spare Awdah, Qarni, and Omari from executions, Erdogan is attempting to use his relationship with the Saudi monarch to prevent what many in the Sunni Muslim world consider a major injustice. “The matter of Islamic scholars is not an internal affair. The scholars in question are assets who are acknowledged and revered by the whole Muslim community” Turkey may want to buy more goodwill from the Saudi king at a time when Saudi media outlets are calling for a boycott of Turkish goods. Nervous about how Saudi Arabia could hurt Turkey economically by pulling out its investments from the country, officials in Ankara are keen to prevent a further deterioration of bilateral ties that could severely harm Turkey financially. If King Salman intervenes to spare these three Islamic scholars from the death penalty, such a development could possibly reduce tensions in the kingdom’s relationship with Turkey. If not, Ankara and Riyadh could see a sharp increase in friction. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen PhD is the Baker Institute fellow for the Middle East. He is a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics Middle East Centre and an associate fellow at Chatham House in the United Kingdom. Follow him on Twitter at @Dr_Ulrichsen. Giorgio Cafiero is the CEO of Gulf State Analytics, a Washington, DC-based geopolitical risk consultancy. Follow him on Twitter: @GiorgioCafiero This article was originally published by our friends at Lobelog. Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen and Giorgio Cafiero To read the article on the original site Click here

https://medium.com/thenewarab/fate-of-saudi-religious-scholars-on-death-row-89ca292c90be

['Newarab Comment']

2019-06-17 21:09:15.899000+00:00

['Saudi Arabia', 'Comment']

Indeed if make dessert is one unique way to have fun.

Indeed if make dessert is one unique way to have fun. My dessert not always perfect, but it made me smile when see people enjoyed it :) thank you for sharing this, Darrin. Don’t forget to have fun today! ;)

https://medium.com/@listyaa28/indeed-if-make-dessert-is-one-unique-way-to-have-fun-af888ce60eeb

['Hapsari Listya']

2020-12-23 15:39:37.168000+00:00

['Fun', 'Family', 'Activities For Kids', 'Games', 'Life']

Instant Memory, by Sebastian Troy

We live in a day and age , when everything is at the swipe off a phone, a tap of an app, or a ping of a message. As a consequence, some things often don’t come across as sacred as they once did, or should. I lost a friend to a horrible tragedy today , and it had me pondering this. Though this isn’t the first time that I had. I am now in my forties, I just turned forty- two a few months ago to be exact. Anyway, I’m old enough to have seen a lot of changes, I remember cassette tapes, floppy discs, record albums, VHS tapes etc. I remember more of an analog time before the internet. It was a time when only the rich had cellphones, and the poor were lucky if they even had a phone period. There was one very important thing I remember about my past . If Uncle Frank, or one of your other relatives or friends suddenly passed away, it would take at least a day or two generally, to set up a memorial for that person. Half of the people in town wouldn’t even know about it, until the obituary was printed in the paper. Heck, some of the people didn’t even know about their passing until months or years later! Don’t get me wrong, I think that in some ways, it’s good that people find out about these kinds of situations right away . It’s horrible to find out, that your best friend from high school died months or years after the funeral. My friend died in an accident , late last night however, and by 6:00 AM .There are at least a dozen picture memorials posted to his memory on social media . The problem with this is , this is how I initially found out. Maybe this is how some of my recently deceased friend’s closest family members and friends found out….on social media! Social media , where people comment rumors about people’s lives and deaths, before they even know the facts. I say that because , there are always rumors you hear about people on the internet. You see them posted by other folks , before you actually hear the facts in life from a legitimate source. Another friend of mine died last summer. This was a very close childhood friend of mine. I found out about it , on social media first of course. ( We’ll call my friend Bob, to keep anonymity, and avoid confusion in this article) I first saw this, after I read a post that came across my screen . A friend of Bob’s sister, wrote that she was so sorry for her loss. At first, I didn’t realize exactly who had passed. I checked Bob’s profile, to see if it was an older relative , (of his and his sister’s), that I knew was having health issues, had died. That wasn’t the case when I went to the page however. The first thing that I saw, was a post that read “ R.I.P. Bob Johnson…thoughts and prayers. “ My head had begun swirling, my friend Bob was only three years older than me , I was forty-one at that time, and he was forty-four. As far as I knew, my friend was in good health . I scrolled down the page however. Other friends of Bob’s were saying things like….”Why did you have to do it man? I didn’t know things were going that bad! “ After reading a few posts like that it, it had finally sunk in, that my friend had taken his own life. I found it highly inappropriate however, that myself , or anyone else for that matter had to find out like this . What has happened to our society? We are living in a very tacky age. Is anything sacred anymore? Speaking of rumors , like I mentioned a few paragraphs up, things weren’t exactly like everything that I read, on that very tragic day. Yes my friend Bob did choose to take his own life. I read from some people, that he had taken pills, I read from others that he had shot himself In the head, when I actually talked to Bob’s brother in law, I found out that In reality Bob had hung himself. No one on social media had posted that fact. I guess it doesn’t make any difference, exactly how my friend had taken his own life. He was gone by his own hand , anyway that you want to look at it. I do find it ironic however , that these tacky know-it-alls , got it wrong! You may ask why would I write an article about something so personal to me, if I find it so very tacky? Well my name isn’t really Sebastian Troy( this is just a pen name) and his name isn’t really Bob, as I wrote earlier. So, I feel that I’m giving these details, the proper respect that they deserve. I would hope one day when I die, that my closest family and friends know about it first. I would also hope that my body remains cold for a few days, before anyone posts a memorial about me . I hope these these thoughts, because these thoughts are just relics from my past. A past where times seemed just a little more sacred , and less tacky. I guess everything doesn’t get better with technology…. Thank you for reading, Sebastian Troy

https://medium.com/@cannon.jason77/instant-memory-by-sebastian-troy-b41de9044eb9

['Sebastian Troy']

2019-03-18 23:52:52.514000+00:00

['Death', 'Humanitarian', 'Human Interaction', 'Humanity', 'Memories']

Trees for Life launches court challenge to Scottish Government’s ‘licence to kill’ beaver policy

Beaver © SCOTLAND: The Big Picture Trees for Life is to challenge the Scottish Government’s nature agency NatureScot in court over its failure to make the killing of Scotland’s wild beavers a genuine last resort when the species needs to be managed. The Highlands-based rewilding charity has launched a £40,000 crowdfunding appeal to cover the costs of a judicial review aiming to protect the endangered species. Trees for Life says that winning the legal challenge would help secure a better future for beavers, which can be key allies in tackling the nature and climate emergencies. “This is a matter of law, not of opinion. There’s a strong legal case that NatureScot is breaking the law by failing to make killing of beavers a last resort when they have unwanted impacts on agricultural land,” said Steve Micklewright, Trees for Life’s Chief Executive. “It’s clear from our correspondence with NatureScot that it is unwilling to change approach and properly consider moving beavers as an alternative to killing. So we’re having to launch a judicial review to secure the future of Scotland’s habitat-creating, biodiversity-boosting, flood-preventing beavers, and prevent more needless loss of life.” Although the Scottish Government declared beavers a legally protected species in May 2019, in the following months its nature agency NatureScot authorised the killing of 87 wild beavers — a fifth of the Scottish population. Trees for Life considers that NatureScot is failing in its duty to protect beavers and is breaking the law by issuing lethal control licenses without exploring all other options. Beavers are superb ecosystem architects, with their dams creating nature-rich wetlands, but sometimes have unwanted local impacts on agricultural land which need managing. Where this happens, laws governing protected species require any intervention to have the least possible impact on their conservation. NatureScot has identified over 100,000 hectares of suitable habitat for beavers. Yet the Scottish Government says beavers cannot be relocated to new areas within Scotland — significantly limiting the options for Tayside farmers whose crops are damaged by beavers. “The Scottish Government’s policy is making a mockery of beavers’ protected species status. By respecting the law and allowing relocation of beavers to suitable areas of Scotland, the Government could achieve a big nature-friendly, climate-friendly, farmer-friendly win,” said Alan McDonnell, Trees for Life’s Conservation Manager. “It would simultaneously prevent damage to farmers’ fields, ensure farmers are less often put in the unpleasant position of having to shoot beavers, allow more areas to benefit from beavers’ positive impacts on ecosystems, and help secure the future of a much-loved species which most people want to see properly protected.” A judicial review ruling in Trees for Life’s favour will ensure lethal control is a genuine last resort. Conservation charities and others will be able to identify — with proper community engagement — suitable sites around Scotland to which beavers could be moved and be safe and welcome. “There are several options available to NatureScot where it sees a need to mitigate beavers’ impacts on farming — but instead of adopting these, it has chosen killing beavers as its go-to solution. This approach is beyond their authority and ultimately illegal,” said lawyer Adam Eagle, Chief Executive Officer of The Lifescape Project, a legally specialist rewilding charity spearheading the litigation alongside Trees for Life. Trees for Life is dedicated to rewilding the Scottish Highlands. For more details on the charity’s Protect Beavers In Scotland crowdfunding appeal, see treesforlife.org.uk.

https://medium.com/@phil-pickin/trees-for-life-launches-court-challenge-to-scottish-governments-licence-to-kill-beaver-policy-90086fe9a434

['Phil Pickin']

2020-12-08 12:55:20.714000+00:00

['Nature', 'Wildlife', 'Beavers', 'Wildlife Conservation']

Online learning & COVID19 — lessons from the field

We have been working for years in providing educational technology solutions to the MEA region. I myself trained almost 10000 teachers within the last 15 years on how to use both hardware & software technologies in education. Yet what COVID-19 taught us is something we would never learn in our lifetime. It felt like a dream at first. We were rushed by schools to complete our regular teachers’ training on educational technology, as rumor has it, a lockdown is near. We did all we could to complete the training, but we only managed to do so for 5 schools. Lockdown came mid of March. Yet 1 day before I managed to pick up my studio recording equipment and bring them back home. During lockdown I recorded 8 videos offering tips on online learning, and hosted 9 sessions interviewing teachers from different schools, public and private, to share their experiences with online learning. The number of views on the channel grew to reach 50k within 2 months. The topic was a hot item and everyone was looking for guidance and advice. School principals & superintendents called almost everyday looking for answers to this new situation. I tried as much as possible to help. Yet I didn’t have all the answers. After all this is new and we are all learning. Yet I believe one story can conclude our experience with schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. It started when a school requested a presentation for online learning solutions, in case a lockdown occurred. The entire school management gathered for the presentation and we started by focusing on asynchronous learning and how teachers need to give more time on assignments and less on online live sessions. We clearly stated that: There are no classes in online learning No need for teachers to record sessions. They can find content on the internet Teachers must focus on giving more assignments and feedback Reflections, presentations, projects, and essays are recommended as assignments rather than multiple choice questions Weekly lesson plans should replace daily lesson plans For KG to G5 the school must use a homeschooling approach rather than an online learning approach. Parents must get heavily involved The feedback we received from the school management team was shocking. They first said that they don’t understand. Then they said: What should teachers do! Nothing! The teacher’s job is to lecture. We tried to explain that teachers facilitate and work to plan lessons and give feedback on assignments. Students still can reach their teachers during online office hours, but only when they need help. This offers proper differentiation and encourages students to learn on their own style and speed. The feedback we received is a big NO and that teachers must lecture. But where did that all come from! For years we were working with schools and all we hear is that teachers are facilitators and we need individualized learning, growth mindsets, innovations, and all the buzz words. Yet to achieve this we need less lecturing. Why with COVID-19 we want more lectures. What about parents? They must know that this is not the right way to go. We talked to parents and all they wanted to hear is online lectures, from 8AM to 2PM with short breaks in between. Even parents wanted online lectures. When people face stress and uncertainty they go back to the most solid & mature of their skills. Because they know it is guaranteed to work. In education this skill is lecturing. Same thing for parents. Most of them were brought up in a lecture based learning environment and this is what they know. This thinking is what made Zoom popular in the educational space during the pandemic. Teachers are on laptops or smartphones lecturing to students on laptops or smartphones watching. This is what they used to do and this is what they will continue to do digitally. It is a lecture digitization process. We all had to go through a learning curve in order to stop and think that this cannot be the right way. Students are tired from daily lectures in closed rooms with monitors on, all the time. Even a recent research published in 2020 by JAMA Network shows that too much screen time is bad for students’ outcomes even if the content is great. Today schools are calling us back asking for guidance. We needed this time to learn and reflect. Even what we recommended in the first month of the pandemic is now different. We are also learning from our mistakes and no one knows everything. What did we learn? Be learner centric: Each time ask yourself: How can it benefit the learner? It is all about teacher training & professional development Build support channels for teachers, students, and parents Even if there is no internet, you still can use paper, books, and phone. It works with parents support Schools are not only a learning space. They are a social space. We need schools Online learning is not a one-size fits all solutions Parents are to be heard & informed Education leadership needs to lead the change and not to be lead by parents demands or fear of the unknown Change is not something people welcome. Change needs to be managed In conclusion we need to have agile minds and be open for change. We need to try different solutions and build experience in order to find the right fit to meet learners’ needs to excel.

https://medium.com/@nidal/covid-19-online-learning-lessons-from-the-field-b905892ba053

['Nidal Khalifeh']

2020-12-18 18:00:51.674000+00:00

['Covid Learning', 'Covid 19', 'Online Learning', 'Lessons Learned', 'Edtech']

Why Do Archaeology Students Know Less Than Zero About Archaeology?

Let me start by saying this isn’t one of those “let’s take a shit on Millenials” posts. No, this is more about how students and newly minted archaeologists are not served the education that they need. That’s actually the whole reason for this Cultural Resource Management publication here on Medium — to help fill that hole a little bit. It’s worth explaining a bit what prompted me to start this publication now, though. After all, much of the material already published (like how to get an actual paying project as an archaeologist) was sitting on my computer already written. First, a bit about me. I own an archaeology company — or a cultural resource management company for those readers who don’t know the lingo. But I work very part time, as I have three small kids, there is only so much local work near me, and I am lucky enough to be the parent who does most of the kid chores like pick up and drop off on a daily basis. So I also like to teach college courses every once in a while, especially in the winter, when even North Carolina can get icy and unpleasant. When the class I was supposed to teach at a local university fell through (completely separate story, which I won’t get into), I was left scrambling to try to find one or two sections of history/anthropology/archaeology/whatever to teach. Luckily I live where there are 20+ colleges and universities within an hour of me, so I used my own job prospecting playbook and fired out emails to the various anthropology, history, classics, and religious studies departments in the area. My own undergraduate alma mater (not named, but I highly recommend them for a high-value undergraduate education even if you figure out who they are) was among many that didn’t have anything so close to the coming spring semester when stuff was already booked. But the chair went a bit further to say that they didn’t really emphasize contract archaeology (that is, doing archaeology for money in the private sector) and so had nothing for me. But, hey, did I take on interns, because they had some undergrads who were going to need to get jobs in the near future. Think about that. Within two sentences, the chair of this ancient, well-regarded, mighty anthropology department admitted they did not work to provide job skills to their archaeology students, but maybe I could do it for them by being saddled with unskilled interns? How do I know the interns (who were touted by name as having had not one, but two field schools) would be unskilled? Because I — like many of you readers — have hired, worked beside, or even worked under plenty of archaeologists who had just been handed that shiny diploma or graduate degree and sent out into the wilds of the job market with the assumption they wouldn’t get eaten by bears or fall into a messy crew vehicle, never to be heard from again. Which got me thinking for the millionth time: Why is this? The obvious answer is because anthropology and archaeology departments generally don’t teach the skills practicing archaeologists like myself (and maybe you) use. Well, yeah, but why not? It occurred to me that I probably had more hours of archaeological experience than the entire anthropology department faculty did. You could maybe even throw in the Classics department as well. And I’m not an old guy — I’m in my mid-thirties. (CORRECTION: I do not. I had forgotten that they have on staff a really awesome archaeologist from the CRM world whom I have been lucky enough to work with a time or two. He knows who he is. Tip of the hat to you!) Sure, there are archaeologists in anthropology, Classics, religious studies, and even history departments all around the US (and the world). But these are mostly people who talk about archaeology. Who think about archaeology. Who read about archaeology. Who write about archaeology. But don’t actually do much archaeology. In that context, how could anyone reasonably expect even a professor with an active fieldwork program that digs two months every summer to know as much about how to do archaeology as the greasiest, surliest, laziest archaeological field technician with a couple years of experience? It’s not really fair to expect them to be as practiced as someone who does this every day. Now, are there exceptions? I’m sure there are. Hopefully the reader went to a program that’s an exception, where they were taught things like how to draw a profile that’s not on a napkin from Denny’s, can tell you what a plow zone is when looking at the soil, and can tell the difference between a piece of ice and a quartz flake (I bet some readers know which guy I’m talking about with the ice mix up). There surely are exceptions, and I’d love to hear about them. But by and large, most archaeology field schools do not teach very many useful skills beyond the ability to show up for work after a long night of drinking. And the classroom is even worse. With the exception of some lab methods and perhaps artifact identification, I can’t really recall being taught much in either undergrad or graduate school that turned out to be useful in my job. In fact, my high school geometry class probably taught me more that I use than 95% of the wisdom imparted to me by awesome, entertaining, but totally-don’t-do-this-much-in-real-life professors. I don’t know what the answer to this problem is. I mean, it’s hard enough to find people to hire or work with who know which end of the shovel to put in the ground. So I don’t know how a university would be able to tell if someone should be teaching their archaeology classes. But then again, maybe that’s exactly why it’s so hard to find archaeologists who know their work — they end up needing years to develop the tools they were never given. This is where I kind of throw my hands up because I don’t see how to even bring this problem to the attention of archaeology programs. I mean, what do you say? “Hey, I know y’all already feel under fire as colleges use more adjuncts and fewer tenured professors, but you also are teaching a job most of you have never done. Bee tee dubs, you should probably also tell your PhD students that after wasting their youth, they’ll still be starting out as field technicians because there’s no full-time teaching jobs for them.” Yeah, telling hard-working, well-meaning faculty that to their face would probably fall under the heading of Acting Like A Bag Of Dicks if it showed up in Jeopardy. What are your thoughts? Feel free to comment below. Like archaeology-specific articles? Following A Bearing With A Compass Field Dogs: An Endangered Species Alcoholism In Archaeology Don’t Be “Mayonnaise Stan” 7 Hacks For Archaeologists To Save For Retirement

https://medium.com/cultural-resource-management/why-do-archaeology-students-know-less-than-zero-about-archaeology-843fdf6bedc7

['Archaic Inquiries']

2019-11-08 15:55:58.134000+00:00

['Anthropology', 'Skills', 'Archaeology', 'College', 'Education']

Why Do I Not Feel Sorry For Harvey Weinstein in Light of a Possible Final Battle

Year One The party was excruciatingly loud; speakers it seemed were everywhere and the music was on full blast. For anyone to hear anything but music required shouting at the top of one’s lungs. Also, the attendees were packed into the three-story bar-restaurant like sardines. It was more than a smidge uncomfortable. In other words, a typical late-night Sundance party. My wife was with me, and we thought if we escaped the madness from the first floor things may settle. Well, it took nearly 20 minutes to arrive on the second floor — that’s how crowded this thing was — and another 20 to make it to the third. There were no open seats to be found. We were ready to give up and get out at that point … but the stairwell was now completely blocked. We stuck it out when my wife elbowed me. Harvey Weinstein, sitting at a table with a dozen women; not a one of them could have possibly been older than 25. Harvey was by then perhaps the biggest producer in the business, best known for films such as the Best Picture Oscar-winning “Shakespeare in Love,” “The King’s Speech” and “The Artist,” “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy (multi-Oscar-awarded), “Good Will Hunting” (ditto), the “Scream” series, and numerous others. For whatever reason he caught my eye — perhaps one of the women keyed him in — and I took it as an excuse to open that door. My business is about networking, after all. I mentioned the acquaintance, and Harvey was actually receptive. “You’re kidding?” he asked. “It’s been a dog’s age.” That’s what the words sounded like anyway, which is my disclaimer. “No. For many years …” I responsed. We spoke for a few minutes, until he (rightfully) said he didn’t want to be rude to his “company.” We shook hands and that was that. My wife asked what we spoke about. I told her. “Nice guy?” she asked. “Seemed okay,” I said. “What do you think he’s doing with all those women?” Let’s just say my wife has the common sense in the family. No, neither of us knew a thing, but the scene was quite unusual. We forgot about it until the following year.

https://medium.com/@joeleisenberg/why-do-i-not-feel-sorry-for-harvey-weinstein-in-light-of-a-possible-final-battle-9a3028e4f00e

['Joel Eisenberg']

2020-11-18 22:24:06.730000+00:00

['Movies', 'True Crime', 'Harvey Weinstein', 'Metoo', 'Covid 19']